Jump Gate Omega

Star Lawyers, Book 1

By: Tom Shepherd

Narrated by: Scott Aiello

Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's Summary

Without Jump Gate Omega, the Terran Commonwealth may not survive.

Tyler shook his head. “Specify, Dad. What do you want us to do?” 

His father glared at him. “Go to the Rim, sue those amphibious bastards for everything they’ve got, and get Jump Gate Omega on track again!”

If the new Matthews Corporation Jump Gate fails to span 2.5 million light years to the Andromeda galaxy, the heavily invested star-faring civilization of the Milky Way will face economic ruin and brutal war. The Star Lawyers must run a gauntlet to the Rim, dodging pirates, politicians, prelates, and predatory star nations intent on seizing the new Gate to Andromeda.

Rollicking sci-fi fun, packed with humor, romance, and deep space adventure, punctuated with courtroom battles on alien worlds. Fans have dubbed the Star Lawyers series “Star Trek meets Law & Order”.

©2018 Tom Shepherd (P)2019 Podium Publishing

I love this book!

Great characters, good storyline. Exciting and fun. I can't wait for book 2 to be released!

Rich smart Playboy

Everybody in this Mega wealthy family is talented and stereotype. Right now I don't have any sympathy for Mega wealthy characters, no matter how entertaining they are. The sex assassination offended me. So I quit.

I doubt that it breaks any new ground in Space Opera but it's basic enough for those who like it.

Satisfied

Heard about it on Film Reroll. Tend to choose books based on a combination of narrator and story. Aiello is great in this and it is a good story to boot.

Total enjoyment

Wonder characters that make you want to go into space. Never thought I would enjoy a book portrayed a snake.

Wonderful!

First, let me say I received this audio book free from the author to advertise this series to a wider audience. Well, he has our attention (hubby & me). We thoroughly enjoyed this book, and the narrator performed the snarkiness of the characters well. It was amazing to follow the 3 adult children of a gazillionaire, 2 male lawyers and a younger daughter with secrets. They are up against a zealot religious 'democracy' who is reneging on an agreement of access to a specific area of space. Hubby already bought the next book in the series!

Decent Story w/out of place sex.

fun sci fi, but as others have mentioned, the sex/love interests are superfluous & annoying. Basically they take what is a fairly simple but fun & otherwise enjoyable & pretty fast paced sci fi & jolt you out of it into a juvenile romance tale.
It plain just doesn't fit. I mean, come on, please, guy has sex with his ship's AI come to life as a completely tactile hologram? And his straight laced brother has sex with his old, older teacher & they both do it together at the same time, AND all 4 of them climax at the same time?!! Really? Every teenage boys fantasy, right? Egads! Gag me with a spoon. That's asking me to suspend disbelief a little too much!! Even Hentai is better than that & that's not a compliment to either.
It's not that I'm against sex in a novel, I'm not a prude, but it has to have a purpose in bettering the story & make sense, unless it's purpose is just sex, in which case, make it hotter & heavier & pare the story down to the bate minimum. to set the scene/characters/frame the world, then have at it. (& as in usually has an X rating.)
And for goodness sake, if you're going to go there, do a better job of it. That's part if what makes it so painful, it's so lame.
Otherwise it was an enjoyable, don't have to think hard, let some of the science slide & you've got a book for a long drive or get thru a lot of housework or go to sleep listening to (not insult, I do this with all books).
I'm still interested in what comes next, so I'll probably get the next, depending on price, just wish it didn't have the useless sex.

Surprisingly, worth the time!

I've got to be honest. Due to the story being about lawyers (even space lawyers), I didn't want to like the book. I only gave it a chance because it was a free, Plus catalogue, title. Surprisingly, after getting past the initial irritation of a wealthy, seemingly spoiled, self-centered character, an interestingly fun & elaborate story unfolded. Not terribly difficult to see through, but good fun to 'read.' If you're in the mood for some light, fun, Sci-Fi, taking a peek at the way in which species from different planets across the universe may interact civilly, Jump Gate Omega will certainly fill the bill.

One of the Best Sci-Fi Series Out There!!

This is a cleverly crafted story, with some exceptional character work, that will not only leave you guessing, it will leave you wanting more.
I have to admit, that Jump Gate Omega is a bit different to a lot of the stories I have read in this genre. The story revolves around Lawyers and legal battles, court rooms a lot more than the normal Sci-fi story, you normally find this sort of material in a crime/mystery type of book, which to some extent, this is. It is just that in this case, the main story is about the fate of the rights to a Jump Gate that allows travel between two galaxies, and the subsequent trade routes that will be established.
Whilst this story does have a fair amount of legalese, it still has a fair amount of starship combat, a good amount of personal combat, and the technology is not only remarkable, but just stunning.
At the start of the book, we are introduced to the youngest son of the Matthews Family, Tyler Noah Matthews IV, who, is a young (26yrs roughly), cocky, arrogant, egotistical narcissist. He also has a Law Degree and is highly intelligent, as well as having several other skills, including a very cunning mind, and a mouth that can get him out of trouble, just as quickly as it gets him into it. He is also one of the funniest Characters I have read in a long time.
We also meet his brother J B Matthew (Jeremiah Berechiah), but the J.B. has this habit of standing for a variety of different things in the story, and it is rather amusing trying to keep track of all the different variants. JB, for all his physical presence, is rather shy, until you get to know him, but is actually a really lovable character, and those that do know him tend to make friends for life. JB suffers from a rare illness, a personality disorder, that can cause him to become quite angry, something that he can’t control, and makes it difficult for him to actually practice the law degree he holds. He is a brilliant lawyer though.
After a brief introduction to Tyler, and a short escapade, the story moves to Noah – or more correctly, Tyler Noah Matthews III, the Father of Tyler and JB, who goes by Noah, rather than Tyler, and is the current Patriarch of the Matthews Industries Company, and the richest man in the Galaxy.
He has called the two boys as he has a job for them, he wants them to go to the Suryadivan home world, and once there, argue in their legal system, to regain control of the space in which the Matthews Legacy Project sits – a Jump Gate that will allow connection from the Milky Way Galaxy to the Andromeda Galaxy. The Suryadivan High Pontiff has ruled that the space is currently no longer allowed to be entered by anyone other than Suryadivan’s, which is in breach of the contract that they signed.
The Gates are due to go online soon, and if they don’t have control of the space, and the gates, it will be a huge disaster, and cost a lot of money, as well as destroy a lot of companies, and potentially, could start a war between Companies – Companies actually have their own space Navies – Matthews Industries has one of the largest, which is run by Noah’s Wife, Bianca Matthews an Admiral with a fearsome reputation.
And so, this is where the story starts, Tyler and JB, joined by their sister Rosalie, who is a Linguist and knows multiple languages, off to Suryadivan space, to try and win a legal battle that is basically unwinnable.
This is just the main story though. There are so many substories, and additional plot lines that I could seriously fill another several pages discussing them (but I would also give away too much – and I don’t want to give away spoilers!!)
This is just an incredible story, this is so much depth to this book, at every single facet of the story. The Author has put so much thought into every aspect.
One of the really captivating, and truly awe-inspiring aspects of this series is the Galaxy-Building. From the very onset, you get an understanding of just how huge the Matthews Empire is, but it isn’t until you start delving into the various parts of the story, that you really get a feel for just how much detail and depth the Author has put into each little facet of each trait of each of the Characters, or the different Planets, or Races. There is so much detail backing up each and every attribute and feature of the Authors creations that Wikipedia would be put to shame.
Not only does it give you this incredibly multi-dimensional view of the Authors Universe, one with exquisite detail that in a world full of Lawyers, investigators and Criminals, makes for a far more comprehensive read, it just adds this level of reality that you don’t get in most stories – in fact, you don’t get this level of complexity in real life. It is just wonderful.
Because the Author hasn’t just used it to make sure that all of his story is factually correct, or to make sure that everything plays out nicely – but he uses it in every aspect of the descriptive work in his scenes, or in describing his characters, or the space battles, or the legal battles. Everything in this story has so much detail, it is just beautiful.
I have to say though, that he doesn’t overwhelm you, it isn’t like there is just the constant sensory overload, it is just that he never misses the opportunity to make sure that something has a full description.
The Galaxy(World) building is just exquisite, and with such complexity I have not seen in a book before, it is truly masterful, and makes this book, and this series something truly special.
The Character work is just as exceptional, with each and every character having a rich, and full background, making them not only very realistic, but clever, captivating, and incredibly gritty.
This book has just so many characters, and this is part of the reason it is actually so impressive. Sometimes a book that has so many characters can lose the integrity of the main characters, they get lost within all the additional characters.
However, given that each member of the Matthews family are such Powerful Entities within their own right, it is actually impossible for them to get lost within the story, or the slew of other Characters.
Tyler and JB are just brilliant, and Rosalie is just something special. Noah is exactly what you expect from the Patriarch of the biggest Commercial Empire in the Galaxy, although, to give him some credit, he has moments where he is almost human.
Another really remarkable thing about this book(and series), is the incredible range of aliens. Whilst there are a lot that fit into the 2 armed, 2 legged variety, there is also a lot that don’t. Tyler even discusses WHY there are so many species that have evolved in this galaxy with similar traits to Humans, allowing the Author to actually provide some of the theories that have been proposed as to why if we find life, they may not be all that different to us. It is a very clever bit of writing, and it just provides for that additional realism.
Overall, this is just a magnificent book, and start to the series, there is just so much to love about it, the characters, the mind-blowing Galaxy-Building and Tech, but most of all, just this wonderful story, told so well, that will have you laughing again and again. Tyler is just hilarious, and you will love JB, not to mention Rosalie, and, I don’t want to give away spoilers, but when you meet the other characters, you will not want to put this down.
Scott Aiello is one of the True Masters of storytelling, and it is an absolute joy listening to him tell this story. He is a beautiful Narrator, with a voice that is able to deliver a clear and concise version of the story. He is also able to create a multitude of different voices, both male and female, for all the different characters, with different accents, different ages, and even different races. These are done so well, and so easily, that you can tell the different characters by the tone of their voices, you don’t need to be told who is talking, you can just tell.
Even more importantly, The Narrator is able to convey the emotions of the characters, you know when Tyler is happy, or when Rosalie is sad, when JB is tired and grumpy. There are other characters I don’t want to say, due to spoilers, including aliens, but you can tell their emotional states as well. You will understand when you listen.
This just adds so much extra realism to the Narration, and the storytelling, and the experience of the Audiobook,
This is one of those times in which listening to the Audiobook is a far better experience that reading the actual book, as the Narration is so good, you will get so much more out of it – Exceptional Job!!

What a D-bag

If you are looking for a book about a pretentious Rick d-bag space lawyer whose family have more money than God this might be the book for you. The narrator would have got a 5 out of 5 if not for that terrible British accent. With this book I'm hoping the bad guys win just so this entire family gets knocked down a peg or two this is mainly based off the main character and his complete don't give an F attitude as my family is rich and I'll get off with doing what I want. This was not for me but if you get it I hope you can have a better time with the book than I did good luck and all the best to you.