Forsaken Skies

By: D. Nolan Clark

Narrated by: Jack Hawkins

A small band of pilots fight against a seemingly unstoppable alien empire in this thrilling space opera.

Commander Lanoe's skills made him a hero of the interplanetary civil war, but he was left with nothing except battle scars and painful memories.

But now he faces the greatest threat mankind has ever known.

Once again, Lanoe must go to war -- but he does not go alone. A ragtag band of criminal and outcast pilots stand with him. Some are old friends, one an old enemy, and despite their own battle scars, they are the only ones willing to fight back.

Sometimes the few must stand against the many, but the best these aces can do might not be good enough.

This explosive first novel from D. Nolan Clark is an epic tale of a fight against the odds -- and the terror of realizing that we're no longer alone in the cold vacuum of space.

Critic reviews

"Unforgettable characters and is jam-packed with action [and] adventure... one readers will not want to miss."—Booklist

"About as exciting an action story set in space as any this reviewer has seen in print in quite some time. It is worth the read... a terrific and thrilling novel."—SciFi Magazine

"Gripping writing, a brilliantly realised future culture and sympathetic characters . . . an entertaining and compelling read."—SFX Magazine

A well done intro into new series.

Well developed characters without getting overly developed. Something that I'm sure many authors struggle with. The plot was interesting and again well developed without the need to constantly repeat the plot line over and over which is one of my pet peeves. This is a worthy addition to the space opera genre.
Don't be put off by the British accent of the narrator. He does a very good job of switching accents with the cast of characters to the point where I'm not really sure what his native accent is. Very well done. Up to this point John Lee had completely turned me off to British authors and in particular his narration. While I won't listen to a John lee narration, I may give some of the authors a second look.

Ignored frontier planet under attack

D Nolan Clark's Forsaken Skies is a sci-fi version of a classic theme previously rendered in western (gunfighters) and eastern (samurai) film motifs. In the this case, a planet on the edge of the human settled galactic expanse comes under attack from a mysterious invader. The geopolitical structure has planets mostly run by corporations with the Earth government coming to the aid of the underdog in any particular fight. In this case, no one cares about the planet which offers meager resources and a population of mostly religious pacifists. A retired and disillusioned fighter pilot comes to their aid after collecting a ragtag group of reluctant participants.

The sci-fi elements are limited to FTL wormholes travel and unremarkable electronic gadgetry and conventional space weaponry. The story starts quite slowly for about the first two thrids and picks up with lots of action, heroic action scenes, and unexpected surprises towards the end. All the characters are damaged in some way, either physically, mentally, or socially. Many of the plot twists are telegraphed a bit too obviously. In spite of a setup for a sequel, this is a self contained story that can be read as a standalone.

The narration is only moderately passable with poor gender distinction and overly dramatic accents. The speed is too slow for the pace of the tale.

Note: Audible lists the length as 20:05, but upon download, both AudibleManager and Android, list the run time as only 19:58 with no apparent loss of content.

I really liked this book quite a bit.

This was a very fun read and enjoyed every chapter of it. Please put the sequel on Audible!!!