Kobani

By: FX Holden

Narrated by: Gary Bennett

Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Kobani is an "action-packed thrill ride", exploring what impact new military technologies will have on the men and women who serve. From the author of the Future War series, best-selling winner of Readers' Favorite 2020 Political Thriller of the year, and a Publishers' Weekly Star.

Backed by Russian airpower, Syria has begun an operation to push Turkish troops out of Northern Syria. Despite US efforts not to get dragged into the conflict, the US 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines "Lava Dogs", find their hilltop combat outpost encircled and their Kurdish allies under siege. Further west, a Syrian armored advance across the border into Turkey pivots, threatening US troops at the Turkish and NATO airbase of Incirlik. But will Syria be satisfied with reclaiming its northern border region, or is the operation just the first move in a bolder plan to regain lost territories?

Inside Kobani, Kurdish Women's Protection Unit sniper, Daryan Al-Kobani, is fighting for her people, her city, and her mother and sister, hunting a Russian sniper who shoots to grievously wound his victims, not to kill.

At Combat Outpost Myer on the top of Mishte-nur Hill, Lava Dog Gunner James Jensen is field-testing the latest in autonomous ground weapons systems, the Legged Squad Support System 'Hunter'. And finding the weapons system's AI has more than a few potentially lethal bugs.

At Incirlik Air Base, laser air defense Tactical Control Assistant, Sergeant Alessa Barruzzi, struggles to keep her battery operational against an enemy who attacks with both cyber, electronic, and unconventional weapons.

Coalition allies, pilots Karen "Bunny" O'Hare and "Meany" Papastopolous, find themselves fighting for survival in the air over Turkey when Russia decides to unleash its newest stealth fighter on the battlefield, the Su-57 "Felon", and change the rules of engagement.

And in Istanbul, cyber-warfare analysts Shimi Kahane of Israel's Unit 8200, and Carl Williams, of the US NSA, put together the pieces of an intelligence puzzle codenamed "Operation Butterfly" that could signal Russia is planning the biggest test of US strategic resolve since the Cuban Missile Crisis.

©2021 FX Holden (P)2021 FX Holden

From the author

Just a note to say how much I love Gary Bennett's narration on this series.

The Future War series is a challenge for a narrator because the story is told from multiple points of view, on both sides of the conflict. That means multiple accents, sometimes in the same piece of dialogue. Gary achieves this without subtlety, there are no cartoon comic book hero or villain voices. He brings the characters to life in a way that makes even me, as the author, enjoy listening. The sign of a great actor!

Good, but…

Good book that raises some interesting thoughts on the future of warfare and potentially the cost of getting too much information on the battlefield. With that said, the book should have been part of a series. It was not. The ending just didn’t match the tone or tempo of the first 98% of the book. It was just, well, weird. It was almost as if the author got tired of the story he created and decided to put little thought into the ending. I would recommend this book, but I would warn of the ending.

great technical read

yes it's very detailed and technical, but if you want an understanding of what war in the near future will be like, the authors vision is well laid out.

Awesome

That WW3 itch can be hard to scratch, Red Storm it is not, however, the characters are all good, the story and setting are solid and realistic, the tech is futuristic but not too crazy, and the battles are well written. you get just enough politics and white house situation room to know whats going on, but not too much as to be boring. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and am looking forward to the rest of the series.

one question, why are only 2 out of the 5 books in this series on audible, and they arent even in order?? its book 1 and book 3, 2, 4 and 5 arent on audible, this should be fixed immediatly.

Luv it but a little loose

Great future AI tech in war. Sierra v Turkey and the Kurds. Which I really USA v Russia. Lots of action but it borders on too much tech

wrong choice of reader

the story was OK but I felt I was getting lost in some of the story as the reader tried to do different accents and female characters. to me it didn't work.

Entertainingly interesting plot scenario and clean writing style

Second novel by this author that I’ve listened to in audio format.Not quite as good as Bering Strait, but good enough

In his novels, Holden creates a grand scenario, spread over various parts of the globe at various points in the future, depicts what conflict might look like in consistent, plausible and well written prose which allows the reader to willingly suspend his disbelief.

His seemingly effortless, gritty, clear, no-nonsense style is engaging and efforts to put his characters’ mindsets on display without prejudice admirable.

My only criticism would be that his characters could use a little more care and feeding, a little more internal monologue to really bring them to life.

excellent look at possible war ahead

very good insights into a future conflict involving advanced technologies already in production. very good 👍