Hand of Mars

By: Glynn Stewart

Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer

Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's Summary

Three years ago, as ship's mage of the starship Blue Jay, Damien Montgomery was pursued to the edge of human space by both the agents and enemies of the mage-king of Mars before being brought in from the cold. Now, trained in new skills by the mage-king himself, Damien has been sent to the planet Ardennes alongside Alaura Stealey, hand of the king. A rebel movement there has destroyed cities fighting a governor seemingly lost to corruption. But not all on Ardennes is as it seems. As allies become enemies and an entire world comes apart in chaos around him, Damien will find both his skills and integrity tested to the utter limit.

©2015 Glynn Stewart (P)2015 Tantor

Great story

This was a great follow up to the previous title, my one and only complaint would be the lack of emotion by the reader, although with some characters like the Mage King, it works well.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Just Okay

I think better character development and a deeper world history would go a long way to improving this series. I only read the second book because the character was heading to Mars for "training" and I thought we'd learn more about the history of the Mage King and the rune magic and how Humans got to where they are in this world. Instead, the second book starts after the training and plunges the reader right back into another fast-paced action sequence with one chase, and near miss after another. It's like the books are all third acts with no first or second acts. . I found it repetitive after a while and just wanted it to end. There's no story arc. The villains repeatedly underestimate heroes and lose again, and again.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

real good book

Its only let down was that it got predictable furing the last third of book.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Another Masterful Installment to this Series

This second book continues a few years following Damien's starship Blue Jay's exploits, just after he completed his personal education and further training by the mage-king of Mars. He has been promoted to an Envoy rank and is set off on another mission under the tutelage of Alaura Stealey, the Hand of Mars. The mission is to investigate and protect Ardennes from terrorist elements that are wrecking havoc on the government and citizens of the planet.

It will come to no surprise that it soon becomes obvious that things are not as straightforward as the Protectorate had been led to believe and both the Hand of Mars and Damien have their work cut out for them as they encounter multiple sources of subterfuge from a number of player elements in their attempt to sort out where all the fault lines exist.

While the writing continues with the fine blend of backstory and action, a special note of appreciation goes to the narrator for making the story unfold in an entertaining fashion.

Without being specific, I was saddened to find that one of the more interesting characters from Book 1 exits from this series. I would have enjoyed having that character continue on. Perhaps Glynn may decide to write another series that focuses on this person's expanded story.

{Light spoiler follows}
The only area where I was dismayed was where the villain turns out to be capitalist nut job who was every bit the robber baron but on a planetary scale. As my mind's eye ruminates upon Earth history, most of the large scale inhumane atrocities have come not from capitalists but from religious or secular ideologue regimes. Even so, that was only a wee bit of disappointment.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Good listen but bit of trouble keeping stakes high

This is a good story, but at times it lacks punch because the protagonists appear all but certain to prevail. Admittedly sometimes that is an illusion, but not always. Even when it is an illusion, in the moment that perception is reality, and the lack of stakes feel real. However even during the lulls in intensity, the story moves at a good pace, and doesn't reach the point of becoming boring.

All of this isn't to say there isn't real conflict or consequences.There most certainly are, and when it happens the story is gripping. It is just that the story feels compelled to undercut the danger and uncertainty as soon as possible after it occurs.

A little too simple

The basic plot is fair. The writer then seems to belittle the readers intelligence. The main character and his mentor are working for the King of Mars. The mentor is a Hand, the roaming judge, jury and executioner of the king. The main character starts story as an envoy. Envoys and especially the Hands are viewed by the general population with fear, mistrust and often hate. Envoys aren't treated much better. They go into volatile situations. The Hand is older and has survived many attempts on her life. She has had internal organs replaced from said attacks. At the beginning of the story, the main character and the Hand go to the planet in question with a warrant for the arrest of the villain. They know who he is. They are aware that he has been alternating facts in his favor. He is not just a local bad guy. He is governor of the planet. He is in position of much power. So why do they go into the situation with their eyes closed? Why isn't their star ship captain on alert? Why does the hand go towards the lions den and have a near fatal assassination attempt? Why does the hand then go into the lions den and get killed? Why are their supposedly protective troops unalert to the point they all get killed? Why is their starship captain and crew unalert to the same degree? If you can tolerate these poor facts in the beginning of the book, then you can tolerate the book. The reader does a good job. His tone in the narration portions are a little flat. But to me this makes the character impersonations easier to follow. His voice is clear and easy to understand. I enjoyed book 1 and was glad to see many books in this series available. But the quality of the plot has me not interested in the remaining books.

Good series if a little episodic...

I thoroughly enjoy Mr Stewart's space adventures and this series is not an exception. There's only one element that keeps me from giving this book (and the series as a whole) a 5 star rating. Each book has the feel of being a well crafted episode in an ongoing story. The individual installments do have plots that fully develop and resolve themselves at their endings, but they lack the broader subplots and scope that you expect from the genre or from a standard series. This ends up making them good bite-size stories, but keeps them from having the kinds of secondary characters and plot lines that are the hallmarks of a 5 star book.

Very good

Very good book, I did not want it to end. I can't wait for part 3.

it was ok. a little slow

this story didn't capture me like the first. it was very slow to start but didn't really pickup much after.

Paul Manning

In the realm of Si-Fi it is rare that someone comes up with a faster-than-light drive that isn't based on some mechanical device. Not only does our hero able to travel pass the limits of our solar system, it's through his sheer willpower and ability to do so. Yet the character remains humble and keep second guessing himself. I thoroughly enjoyed our hero stepping up to the challenge.

outstanding story, but...

Would you listen to Hand of Mars again? Why?

not sure, I think I'd rather read it next time

What did you like best about this story?

just that is was a continuation of the Starship Mage story

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Jeffrey Kafer?

John Lee or anyone really who is willing to make an effort

Any additional comments?

Please re-record this book with someone with some life, listening to Jeffrey Karcher was a chore, he used little inflection or emotion, obviously didn't care about the characters or the story in general, and I found it difficult to focus on the narration and was easily distracted.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

a typical story

a typical story with an evil governor and the hero sent to get rid of him and free a planet and its people from oppression.
I like those types of stories as long as they are not complicated like this one is.