• Battle Cruiser

  • Lost Colonies, Book 1
  • By: B. V. Larson
  • Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
  • Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (4,751 ratings)

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Battle Cruiser  By  cover art

Battle Cruiser

By: B. V. Larson
Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
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Publisher's summary

One starship will either save Earth or destroy her.

A century ago our star erupted, destroying Earth's wormhole network and closing off trade with her colonized planets. After being out of contact with the younger worlds for so many years, humanity is shocked when a huge ship appears at the edge of the solar system. Our outdated navy investigates, both curious and fearful. What they learn from the massive vessel shocks the planet. The lost colonies have survived - but the reunion isn't going to be a happy one. Our descendants are vastly superior in the art of warfare. Worse, there are other beings undreamed of beyond the human frontier: strange, unfathomable...alien.

Battle cruiser Defiant, the first capital ship to darken Earth's skies, is tasked with exploring new passages to the younger planets. Old Earth must reunite with her children...but can humanity survive the inevitable conflicts? Captain William Sparhawk, determined to follow a path of honor and truthfulness, dares to rise to the challenge. Battle Cruiser is a military science fiction novel by best-selling author B. V. Larson.

©2015 B. V. Larson (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Battle Cruiser

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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    2,205
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  • 2 Stars
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Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,989
  • 4 Stars
    1,539
  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
    92

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing, Juvenile

The concept for “Battle Cruiser” could have spawned a dynamic, textured, engrossing world, but it was so poorly executed that tackling each chapter became its own, special chore. Frankly, the quality of the writing in this book was way sub-par, with all the sophistication of high school-level prose, however professionally edited.

B.V. Larson's first-person narrator tells the story strictly linearly, with no flashbacks or deep exposition beyond what's immediately necessary to the situation at hand. Add to that a complete lack of guile on the writer's part, and what might have been meant as plot twists are easily guessed well ahead of their would-be reveals. The idea of such a story suffering from a case of plot holes and loose ends ought to be ridiculous; sadly, the diagnosis is very real, and it's terminal.

The character development is just about as robust, too. The reader gains only the most superficial insight into any of the secondary characters, all of which have approximately as much dimension as the paper on which they were first printed. As for the main character, he tells the tale with such melodramatic (almost histrionic) bravado, as somehow to come across as a simultaneously whiny, pathetic, and pitiful, pompous ass.

The real disappointment here, however, is the dramatic reading. It might be better never to ask why Edoardo Ballerini chose to read this story in a breathy, somewhat hushed, NPR-style voice, all while playing up the writing's shortcomings. Granted, he didn't exactly start with the best story ever written. Still, the uncomfortable tone and unimaginative speaking styles only make a lousy book more boring.

To give credit where it's due, I've read some truly excellent work by both B.V. Larson and Edoardo Ballerini. These two really do have the capacity to engross their audience. Sadly, “Battle Cruiser” doesn't come close. If, as Audible suggests, this truly is Book One of a new series, let’s hope Book Two returns both writer and narrator to their usual high standards.

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62 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

First 2 hours One Star. Next 10 hours, Five Stars

I SUSPECTED SHE WAS CONFLICTED
Just before two hours I almost gave up, than they started talking about going back into space. While in space, things happen and the book is very entertaining. Larson will never win a writing award and I found very little I could quote, but he is fun. I enjoyed listening and wanted to get back to the story anytime I was away from it.

YOU DANCE VERY WELL
The first two hours is very soap opera and not good soap opera (if there is such a thing). The main character cries a lot about being a royal and people not giving him credit for his own accomplishments. As someone who has suffered under nepotism, I found it hard to empathize. Get through the first two hours and then you will be happy. The book as a whole is about 20% soap, 30% space battles, 30% science and 20% clones, skylifts, aliens, spies, assassinations, deaths that don't stick, love story and corn. By the way if someone is pronounced dead, don't believe it. Something is always happening, after the soap, their are no boring parts.

Edoardo is very very good. Sometimes he reminded me of Michael Kramer.

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49 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

An Unlikely Hero

From the master of military Sci-Fi, the creator of “Star Force,” and the “Undying Mercenaries,” B.V. Larson has developed a new trilogy that is somewhat different from his previous work called, “Lost Colonies.”
In this first book, “Battle Cruiser” we meet Captain William Sparhawk; an antihero type that seems to be lacking conventional hero qualities but it is through these flawed and questionable personality traits that some dark humor of this story shines. He is a complex and polarizing character that some listeners’ may not like or understand but I think most will as he eventually develops into the hero that is needed for this story to progress.
The narrator, Edoardo Ballerini, captures the essence of Captain Sparhawk perfectly and I can’t wait for the next book.

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47 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Frustratingly bad

Very shallow characters with no progressive development. Plodding and extremely predictable story. The author took a promising plot and destroyed it with dull witted unimaginative characters.

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28 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not BV's best work

I'm a huge fan of BV Larson's work and have purchased everything on audiobook from BV in the past, but this isn't BV's finest hour. The story is simplistic and contains no plot twists. Maybe it is the narrator but I found the story bland and pompous. The characters are flat. It just isn't the quality of story I've come to enjoy from BV. Also, why didn't Mark Boyett narrate?

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Story

Very good start to a series that I can't wait to continue listening to.
This story is based on earth hundreds of years in the future. The story tells that we previously discovered a means to travel outside of our solar system. After establishing several dozen colonies, a cosmic incident suddenly destroyed the routes previously used to travel to other systems. Years later, a captain of one of the few remaining military space vessels discovers a ship buried in a ball of ice on the outreaches of the solar system. This brings with it the revelation that there still exist routes to other systems, and that our colonies have since developed advanced technologies far surpassing those of earth.
Assassination attempts all over the planet and attempts to silence or destroy the discovery lead the main character to determine that one of our previously cut off colonies has since infiltrated earth and will soon attempt an invasion. He must prepare now using the newly discovered ship and whatever few resources they have to mount a defense.
Narration in this book was very good, and the story itself kept me interested and engaged until the end. I would definitely recommend to anyone who likes space sci-fi.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

SciFi Noise - Par for B.V. Larson

What would have made Battle Cruiser better?

Not having listened to it right after Book 2 of the Fear Saga. After you listen to a great SciFi book, a SciFi soap opera like Battle Cruiser sounds even sillier than it otherwise might.

Would you ever listen to anything by B. V. Larson again?

I've listened to all of one of B.V. Larson's stories. It's nothing but SciFi noise but that can be fun in moderation. Battle Cruiser was my first venture into another B.V. Larson series, and reminded me why I shouldn't go down that path. I just wish I could more reliably find good SciFi to listen to.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

So corny, but...can't stop listening...or laughing

Meet William Sparhawk; a lanky, responsible, and well intentioned captain of a struggling military. His stifled, but satisfying career goes off the rails after he is ordered to routinely investigate a comet far from earth. Suddenly, he is captaining a new alien spaceship, gained a odd new crewmember,  and is being randomly attacked by the paranoid people he works for.

The story is entertaining, but not necessarily for the reasons the book summary brings to mind. Instead of some riveting spacefaring survival adventure we get a laughably corny eighties style adventure where the main character seems to be the only one who attempts to think before they act. Every action Sparhawk takes is a declared attempt to help Earth, but at every turn he is hampered by the very people he is trying to assist. In fact, after Sparhawk's third superior in a row attempts to throw away billions of dollars in missiles in order to murder him because the new ship he found makes them nervous. Eyes will began to roll and chuckles will ensue as straight laced Sparhawk gets more and more frustrated with each repeated declaration of peace he makes.

With the writing and narration of Edoardo Ballerini, "Battle Cruiser: Lost Colonies Book 1" turns out to be a fun audiobook that a listener will feel oddly compelled to keep listening to the end. They might not be sure WHY or even if the entertainment value of the book was intentional, but it's there.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not Star Force

if you read Star Force and are looking to this, to fill the void, don't bother, its not the same. this is dry and long. The voice "talent", is no so. same voices for different characters. it gets confusing.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Pretty Good

I like this new series! It's kind of slow at first, but it gets going after a while, and there's lots of potential for the series going forward. I think V. B. Larson has grown a lot as a writer. His novels have been getting better over time. I also like the narrator. This is the second time I've heard him and he does a fine job!

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10 people found this helpful