Mercury's Bane

Book One of the Earth Dawning Series

By: Nick Webb

Narrated by: Greg Tremblay

Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

They're all gone. We remember them like yesterday: pieces of our stolen heritage. Things like NASA. Football. Parades and pies. Good things, comfortable things. We remember a time when we were alone in the universe, safe and oblivious.

But it's all gone now.

We called them the Telestines, and in the face of their ruthless invasion we were powerless. By 2040, all the world's governments and militaries had fallen, and the remnants of humanity exiled to the solar system. We looked down on our blue planet, so close to our birthplace, so close to our home. But the miles may as well have been light-years.

Our anger smoldered in the darkness of space. On Mars. On Ganymede. In the dank, crowded filth of the asteroids. We swore: We will take our planet back.

And today it begins. Our fleet is ready. Our soldiers determined.

Earth will be ours again.

©2017 Nick Webb (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Interesting.

Maybe not the best book ever, but interesting enough that I'm planning to get the next one to see what happens next.

Enjoyed Nick Webb’s Legacy Fleet series, but not this book

I had to struggle to get through this one. The story was slow and uninteresting. I know this author can do better as Constitution and the other books in the Legacy Fleet were outstanding.

I won’t be reading the other books in this series.

Interesting story, supurb narration

The premise of the novel is actually a good one, if a bit light on details at times. For example, the causative reason for the Telestines invasion of Earth was due to their own sun dying yet there was little narrative as to why or how this happened.

The primary protagonist, Pike, is hardly a likable character what with his self-centered continued hatred toward his father due to his decision to save Pike's life when it became obvious that he could not save his mother and sister. His self-centerness shows itself in other ways as the story progresses.

There is an ample amount of intrigue and guile between competing human factions, along with a noteworthy plot twist that doesn't avail itself until two-thirds in.

I do have to give excellent marks to Greg Tremblay's telling of the story; especially when it comes to mimicking international characters. His voicing of Admiral Walker's Aussie accent, in particular.

decent book, Tremblay is phenomenal!

decent book, not as good as the legacy series however, eithee if them

Good

Good story so far. Looking forward the rest of the story. I hope the next two books are as good.

Take out the tyrant !!

As you begin this part of the trilogy, you learn characters, plots in plots and much more. It begins as Earth is being suppressed by an alien race. They are quite superior in many ways. Mankind is very resilient !! The aliens did not understand that part of humanity.The twists and turn in this book are amazing as one listens, while the imaginary in your mind unfolds like a play or movie. But the story does flow well with, the narrator; Greg Tremblay !!! Excellent reader. I enjoyed this book. Bought the other two already.
Book two tomorrow. Jupiter's Sword. Neptune's War, finishes series.

I’m so glad it’s just fiction!

Whew! What a ride!!! This book will have your emotions feeling like they’re on a roller coaster!

There are some very interesting characters in the book - some you will hate and several you will admire and root for. There’s one character I had very mixed feelings about, but he played a very important role and he serves as a reminder that wealthy geeks COULD be just as vital in a war as “grunts” on the ground are.

Will the underdog win? Will the hero live or die? Are you SURE you want us to discover that there’s another intelligent species out there somewhere in our universe that’s capable of space travel?!

I can hardly wait to get the next book in the series! I just hope my nerves can stand it! I really, REALLY enjoy Nick Webb’s writing and Greg Tremblay’s narration!

A shockingly bad book.

What disappointed you about Mercury's Bane?

FIRST, as an author myself I have maybe given 3 bad reviews ever. Generally I can find good in any book within the genre's I enjoy. Other than the outstanding narration, among the best to be honest, there is nothing redeeming about this book except as an example for other authors. This book was so bad that I had to force my way through it for the lessons in bad universe and storyline development it taught me. The story was so full of plot holes, dropped story lines, bad science...on and on and on and on....I simply cannot spell it out....Other than the narration it simply has no redeeming qualities. It actually made me angry to listen to this book. I found it horrifying that a professional writer allowed this to be sold to their customers/fans.What really gets me is that Nick Webb is a seasoned author in this genre. It is like he did not write this book. I have read and listened to all his other offerings and while they are not always a thesis on space flight tech and military culture they are generally enjoyable and I look forward to them. This book would not even make a good first attempt by a novice author with limited editing skills. In fact I cannot imagine an editor anywhere who would allow this anywhere near publication.

Would you ever listen to anything by Nick Webb again?

I don't know. I have his other books and have generally enjoyed them for what they are. However, I will think long and hard before giving him another chance after this.

Have you listened to any of Greg Tremblay’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have heard him on other Nick Webb books. He is always great and should be narrating far more prominent books. He is able to smoothly move between characterizations which many narrators struggle with. He can also pronounce words correctly. Something I am noticing an increasing problem concerning other narrators.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The Narrator is fantastic. He is the ONLY good thing about this book.

Any additional comments?

DO not waste a credit on this book. It is a creat example of how badly books going straight to press without professional editorial oversight can go horribly wrong. Even for an experienced author. I find it highly unlikely Nick Webb did not know this book was really bad and so full of holes it would make only good sandwich cheese.

blah blah blah

the premise was good but the story, dialog, and execution were absolutely horrible. listening wad a chore. I could only get thorough a few chapters before giving up

Not very deep

The author leaves out key details and his characters are superficial and childlike. Many holes in the story and things that just don't make sense. For instance, just when it is needed, a character produces his own fleet that is better and possibly bigger than the whole human fleet (the size is another ambiguous detail).