Emerald Tears

Book One of the Sav'ine

By: Stacy Bender

Narrated by: Theo Holland

Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's Summary

Everything comes too easy to nightclub owner Gabriel Tanner, aka Emerald, as if his life is a dream. His recurring nightmare of a futuristic world where he is murdered seems more real. A beautiful cybernetic assassin who knows the truth comes into his life. Is she his savior or here to finish the job?

©2016, 2017 Stacy Bender (P)2017 Stacy Bender

Sci-fi noir at it's finest

This is a great novel, it takes into consideration the time and place it is happening. at the beginning of the book I was expecting a gritty noir style novel, and for the most part it is but has been, but still able to build off of the noir feel in ways I was not expecting. The character building and world building in this is amazing, while having few main character and a hand full of side characters the story builds organically on their motivations and characters, while still leaving enough out that makes you want to read more.

A slow start, but a great ride

It took me two starts to complete Emerald tears, but I am glad I stayed on board to finish the book. Theo Holland is a good narrator, but he reads a little bit robotic like, each word so distinct from the next, that it can be difficult to believe the characters are talking to each other. This is remedied a bit by his ability to put on voices, and you will not confuse various characters for each other, Theo does such a good job of changing their voices. It's a little hard to describe Emerald Tears without giving away the surprises. I'd call it a sci fi noir, but that's not entirely accurate. If you want a story of a good guy who does shady business in a gangster town, and has some high tech science fiction allies, then Emerald Tears is the one you're waiting on. One thing I REALLY appreciate it is never felt like we were idling in the story. There's no chapters where people are talking to each other to fill the pages. Each interaction is meaningful, and there's never a spot (aside from the first two chapters where we are building up for everything to follow) where I felt things were dragging.

Enjoyed

Time travel? Aliens? Excellent book. I enjoyed the characters and the story. I listened to the audiobook version and Theo Holland did an excellent job narrating.

Awesome story!

I really enjoyed this action packed and exciting fantasy tale. Excellent writing and narration come together to make it an enjoyable listening experience.

Really fascinating series

I loved this book. It's filled with really interesting twists and turns that create a very fascinating universe.

Sci-fi love story like no other!!!

I found this story unique and very entertaining. I loved the unusual sci-fi concepts like other worlds that are reachable through cracks or openings if you know where they are and how you can go to the past or future if you understand the rules of space and time. The characters were wildly unique and rough around the edges which Holland did a great job bringing to life with his creative character voices and the sound effects in a few places. Bender did a great job including science fiction, sass, creativity, love, action, etc.....all in one story. The compilation between her and Holland brought the story to a whole new level and they take you on a wild ride you won't soon forget. They really complimented each other and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was so easy and fun to listen to.

'Have you had a dream you were so sure was real?'

This is not a 'Come with me if you want to live' story. The main character is not some oblivious and helpless person waiting for rescue. The man known as 'Emerald' is no stranger to violence nor making sure he comes out on top. Until the mystery woman appears and his whole world shifts.

This book is Terminator meets the Matrix meets Universal Soldier as settings that are familiar are overrun by weirdness from somewhere else. The narrator does well with the tough job of switching between the sizeable group of main-secondary characters, especially during the many action scenes. Even some of the more normal scenes have their own brand of fast paced action.

The story revolves around the consequences of what can happen when things are discarded or mishandled because they are not understood by the people that find them. The platform of the book itself, the sa'vine is a far reaching enough idea that it can easily spread well beyond the bounds of this story into others without stretching or over-reaching anything. I'm hoping I can acquire book 2 to see how the story continues.

Sci-fi Noir!

If you could sum up Emerald Tears in three words, what would they be?

Science Fiction Noir.

What other book might you compare Emerald Tears to and why?

I can't think of one like it.

Which character – as performed by Theo Holland – was your favorite?

I liked Max's voice & his loyalty to Emerald.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Emerald heard of Emily's death.