Flagship

A Captain's Crucible, Book 1

By: Isaac Hooke

Narrated by: Peter Berkrot

Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

Captain Jonathan Dallas, Commodore of Battle Unit 72, investigates the disappearance of a military research vessel on the fringes of known space. When the unit is ambushed by a threat that endangers not only the fleet but also all of humanity itself, Jonathan must somehow find the resources to fight back.

Cut off from Central Command and faced with impossible odds, can Jonathan overcome his demons to save humanity and, more importantly, can he save himself?

Flagship: Where captains are made. Or broken.

©2016 Isaac Hooke (P)2016 Isaac Hooke

Scattering

This book , unfortunately, lacks thr capacity yo hold s reader's interest. It scattered mine at light speed. Initially I thought some interested in the characters, but it didn't happen. Perhaps I am jaded by reading so many in the same genre. It seemed the development was well on its way, then the initial hope faded. Too many planet killers and no planets.

Great

Great job of reading this book. Really nice being able sit back and listen to the story. Lots of action with excellent character development.

An extremely

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely. There is both excellently written space military strategy and the story is not just packed with constant actions. It actually dives into some of the psyche of the characters as well.

What did you like best about this story?

Issac has done it again with another phenomenal military strategy story. If you like his Atlas series, then you should definitely enjoy this book as well. He brings Rade into the story which I though was excellent as I loved his Atlas series. In Flagship, Issac not only brings out some great space strategy, but he allows the reader to really connect with the characters, and does a nice job with building a psychological profile to them. His writing allows you to feel connected with the characters and feel the pain and joy that they feel throughout the story.

What does Peter Berkrot bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Peter Berkrot does an excellent job with giving the story feeling and brings it alive with different inflections in his voice, and is able to change his voice slightly to help give each character more depth.

Really a great listen!

What made the experience of listening to Flagship the most enjoyable?

So, my expectations for Issac Hookes sci-fi is pretty high. He did a great job with this one.
Initially it took me a little time to get into the story, but once I developed a relationship with the characters, I was fully hooked. He also brings up elements from Atlas that keeps all the different stories in line and keeps the chronology of his different stories straight, something I really appreciate. In any case, I'm looking forward to seeing how humanity handles this new threat and getting answers to some of the older enigmas from previous books.

a good listen with plenty of action

Captain Jonathan Dallas is a complicated fellow. He lives with the nagging guilt that he could have saved a dying mountain climber and holds a simmering hatred for his admiral who wouldn’t help. Now he must face the moral dilemma of following orders to destroy an entire star system and its billions of human inhabitants or face down his past demons and do what he knows is right.

An unknown force has attacked the armada. They could be their human enemies, but more likely an alien force never encountered before. If alien, humanity will need everyone united to stand up to even have a fighting chance.

The action is nearly continuous throughout the novel as star-ships collide. It is a military Sci Fi novel after all and fans shouldn’t be disappointed. Set several years after the Atlas series, an older, wiser and bitter Rade Gallal makes a cameo appearance. Captain Dallas and his first officer are clearly the main characters though, and their friendship is the sub-plot that gives the story a human element.

The novel is performed by Peter Berkrot, who does an excellent job. Like all great narrators, he adds his interpretation to the drama. You will either love his performance or find it intrusive, but that’s why you listen to audiobooks and not computer generated readings. In this listener’s opinion, he added greatly to the story once you get used to his style.

You may enjoy listening to the Atlas series as a prequel to Flagship, but it is by no means necessary to its enjoyment. This is a new series and stands on its own. If you enjoy space battles with a little human drama thrown in for effect, you should put this one on your short list. It is a good listen with plenty of action. You’ll be looking forward to book two when available.

Audiobook was provided for review by the narrator.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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Ok story

But. Somewhat long. Maybe this is the difference between reading and listening - but some passages were deadly dull. Also have I issues with uneven volume - played this over car speakers and volume kept changing.

Flagship of Captain’s Crucible Series: 6/5 stars

I can listen to “Flagship” for hours and hours on end without getting bored. Couldn’t believe I found such an awesome Audible book!

** This review does not contain spoilers. **

I used to just listen to Audible while driving in the morning/evening, but with this I had no intention of waiting that long between listens of “Flagship”. This is an incredible value, and it’ll retain your attention like a fish locked in the jaws of a croc!

The various relationships add such value to the story, and perfectly complement the action packed scenes throughout. It’s such a fragile balance, and Isaac Hooke walks the precarious tightrope perfectly, dipping into more action here, then more character development there. Indeed, the character’s behaviour during the action scenes serves to further develop them (this is no surprise given the title of the novel: “Flagship (A Captain’s Crucible Book 1)”).

The narrator, Peter Berkrot does a bang up job of acting the myriad characters. It’s just uncanny how he can voice a macho fighter pilot one second, then switch to a swooning, soft, subtle female the next. Or, the transition from the cold, calculating voice of a virtually emotionless character, to a passionate, heated protagonist voice. I don’t know how he does that, as there is such a striking difference between all the voices; it really adds to the character development.

The overarching story is pretty magnificent, I have to say. No worrying about the story moving on, here: you’ll be swept away by it, rather than having to trudge through a quagmire. There’s no stopping once you start, and the various cliffhangers will leave you wanting for more and more. In fact, once it’s over, you’ll be sad!

But just pick up the next book: “Test of Mettle (A Captain’s Crucible Book 2)” by Isaac Hooke!

I need more series.

I liked this book very much. Too bad that the rest of the series isn't available. Need to get on that Audible!!!

Excellant narration.

Any additional comments?

When reading Isaac Hooke's book Flagship the first time I thought it had a slow and somewhat tedious beginning but Berkot's narration when I listened to it solved that problem for me.. Having read the authors Atlas Series and his track record for solid military sci-fi action packed content, I have no doubts that this series will not disappoint.New characters, new ship, and a story line that mixes faster than light travel with slipstreams, travel gates and space battles with a threatening alien race make this book a winner. I highly recommend this book and can't wait to see what Hooke has in store for us in his next book of the series.
If you purchased the book without narration I would highly recommend you buy the narration and try it again. It made it so much better.

"You wouldn't be planning a mutiny of some sort?"

What did you love best about Flagship?

I first read the Kindle edition some time ago and was delighted to revisit again through this audio book. The narration was good although I initially found Peter Berkrot's sometimes breathy presentation off putting at first. However, he brought an underlying excitement which enhanced the story once I was used to him.

What did you like best about this story?

All space battles have, essentially, the same ingredients - fire this, defend that, chase something, patch up bits that blew off and, sometimes, abandon ship. In that, this story is no different BUT I can honestly say that this was the most exciting and enthralling clash of the space battle fleets I have read: I could feel the terror of the crews facing apparent impossible odds where the consequences of failure were intolerable and the decisions made by the officers carried with them a legacy of fear and guilt

Which scene was your favorite?

So many:It starts with the mysterious disappearance of the crew of a research ship, part of a fleet in a lesser charted area of space; then a drone sent to find out why they weren't responding to signals is destroyed and a strange, ancient artifact (ship?) is spotted on the landmass below. The whole fleet under starship captain Jonathan finds itself under attack by unknown vessels, unlike anything previously seen. The order is given for a massive retaliation which would cause the deaths of billions.But Jonathan is not convinced that the right enemy is to be targeted and, being the sort of person who believes he is always right, he decides to take on his own side as well as the attackers.And I loved the dry humour of the AI when threatened with being turned into a toaster!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not really : I like to savour long sections rather than rush through in one sitting.

Any additional comments?

I didn't like Jonathan much as a person but, hey, he's a starship captain I don't need to like him - and all credit to the author for drawing sufficiently strong characters to elicit any feelings for them.