Juggernaut

The Ixan Prophecies Trilogy, Book 2

By: Scott Bartlett

Narrated by: Mark Boyett

Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Captain Keyes has succeeded in forging an uneasy alliance - at the cost of making some powerful enemies.

Now, he's wanted throughout the galaxy. Even worse: they're after his ship. His enemies inside the UHF have realized that only the Providence stands even a slight chance of stopping them.

The Ixan Prophecies continue to come true, and humanity's doom is taking shape. The UHF ignores the mounting public panic, obsessed instead with waging prolonged war against a species that was recently an ally.

While the UHF attacks its allies, the real enemy is approaching. For Captain Keyes, there remains only one way to make sure there's something left of humanity to fight the coming Ixan onslaught: he must take down the UHF.

The juggernaut is coming.

©2017 Scott Bartlett (P)2017 Scott Bartlett

Ignore the negative reviews

I saw a number of negative reviews regarding slow plot, and no character development, and i have to say i wonder if these people read the same book. I very much enjoyed the quick pacing (as compared to many much longer and slower books i read) and I have a connection with the characters, as well as the overall story. You should give this a try. It kind of reminds me of the wing commander books.

"The Ixan Prophecies - Parables of Pogroms"

At the start of this book we are treated to newly-elected President Sonja Hurst putting on display her propensity for outrageous campiness. First, when informed that Ochrim's explanation of the universe's destruction with the continued use for wormhole creation and that it could happen in as little as 40 years and should be stopped being used, she muses, "I’ll be dead by then anyway. Or near enough." and ignores the danger. Soon thereafter, she upset with a crowd of demonstrators who are blocking a direct path to a meeting, she angrily says, "Why do the guards and police have guns if they aren’t going to use them?” and then orders the officers and guards to "gun them down" which they then obligingly do.

The story moves on from the comedic outrageousness to the more conventional kind where the human space fleet proceeds on its quest to eliminate pesky alien species and the Providence and its crew desperately attempting to prevent it. During the battles, while several marines are killed, as would be expected, regrettably, the Providence loses one of its finest, which took me by surprise and added a poignant pause to all of the death and destruction be waged.

There was one section where the author mentioned that since humans had ruined Earth's environment to sustain life, Mars had been terraformed to now have an ecosystem not dissimilar to old Earth. I found this confusing, for if technology had advanced such that they could terraform Mars, why could they not do the same to Earth?

Even so, the story continues with a multitude of story arcs, sub-plots, intrigue and betrayals to keep book 2 quite enjoyable.

I've enjoyed every single word of it. it keeps you

this Trilogy is kept me glued to the story from point A all the way through I'm getting ready to start the third third book of the trilogy

As good as the first one

Sequels like this are easy to review, if you liked the first then you'll enjoy this. These have to be done in order, so give the first one a listen.

liked the 1st, loved the 2nd!

i honestly thought i wouldn't like this series, so far i have been totally wrong! not a fan of some of the names, but whatever, this is a great story! if u like sci-fi, political intrigue, and raging against the machine u won't be disappointed!

Brilliant sequel!!

This is a really brilliant series that is a lot of fun, and a really exciting and interesting read.
I said in my review of ‘Supercarrier – Part 1’, that I thought this series had a lot of similarities to the reboot of BattleStar Galactica, and I still stick with that.
I also had a few comments about the quality of the dialogue in my review of ‘Supercarrier’, and it is was good to note that there was a subtle change in ‘Juggernaut’, that the characters matured, keeping their overall tone, but not quite as overdone as they were in the first book. This was definitely a better book.
The remnants of Humanity, fighting for their lives against hopeless odds, being pounded around the galaxy, looking for various bits and pieces to try and save themselves.
Only in this instance, there are multiple alien races. And thankfully some of them have decided to become allies with the humans.
In this particular episode, the President of the humans is basically in league with the Darktech industry, and so sets about trying to help them. As a result, she makes some horrendous decisions, and policy that leads to worse decisions.
UHF acts in a way that is beyond criminal, turning on their once allies, and in the middle of this Keyes decides he can stand for it no longer.
This is where other comparisons to BSG come in, the true integrity and moral fibre of the characters and crew of the Providence. Keyes in particular has so much in common with Adama, the two could be mirror images of each other. And it's what makes this series such a good read, the depth and character strength of each of the main characters that draws you to them, makes you follow them, and want to read the story into the late hours of the night.
‘Juggernaut’ is an exceptional sequel to ‘Supercarrier’, picking up almost straight away after the events of the first book. The characters are more developed and stronger in ‘Juggernaut’, the Author having had the chance to get to know them a bit more, and thus getting to explore them more in ‘Juggernaut’.
This also goes for the Aliens, and the Main Alien characters, in ‘Juggernaut’, we get a much greater in-depth view of both Fesky and Ek, but we also get to know more about Piper, the Tumbran from the short story ‘Traitor’, as well as the Gok. The aliens are a highlight of the series, each of them being so unique, bringing something rather amazing to the table. The individual Main characters are also wonderfully brilliant adding something special to the story.
The other thing that is touched on in this story thanks to the Aliens is the concept of discrimination. It's something that Bartlett does with a few issues, using his work to highlight these issues without making it either obvious, but it allows it to be a discussion point for readers. It is wonderfully clever.
Bartlett has subtly touched on a few topics in this series, such as mental health, discrimination etc, and it is very clever, letting you enjoy the series, and if you want, ponder these greater issues as well. It is a series that leaves you thinking after about some of the bigger issues in life and that is always a good thing.
Overall this is a brilliant sequel to an epic series and if you have read the first, then you have to read this!
I'm already into the 3rd book.
Mark Boyett is just outstanding as the Narrator for these books, creating this incredible audiobooks that flow with such ease, but telling us the story with so much passion, so much emotion in his characters. He has created an iconic voice for Captain Keyes, so much so, that even when just reading the books, I still just hear Boyett’s “Keyes” voice in my head, it is so good, and seems so perfect for the Captain. The same goes for Husher!!. He has also created a range of other voices, male, female, human and alien that are such masterful. His voices are so distinctive, that you can tell who is speaking individually, regardless if it is a female avian, or a Male human in their later years, everyone gets their own voice, so that they all stand out, it is so good. And just as good, he is able to create emotions for each of these characters, within the scope of their situation, whether they are excited by a social event, terrified by an attack on the ship or angry at the Captain for some politically charged reason. The Audiobook is just exceptional, and it makes the experience so much better than just reading this book – Boyett is a Genius!!

Books to keep going.

Narration was very good. Story was the first time I had to go back to listen over and over to see why something went on. Very good .******

Good Listen

Some of the plot is not believable. No one would put a "traitor" in control of a ship much less s weapon. Overall the series keeps me engaged.

Even Better than the First Book

I enjoyed this one even more than Supercarrier. I'm a sucker for massive space battles, and this book doesn't disappoint on that front. The story has kept me engaged the entire time. I'm headed straight into the 3rd book because I need to know how things wind up.

A must read o

Great science fiction thank you to to author for such great story telling and a great narrator