Necron: Beyond Einstein's Barrier

By: Oliver Strong

Narrated by: Craig Munns

Length: 3 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

It’s the 27th century and Victor Zellmann awakes to find himself drafted into an army of the dead travelling beyond Einstein’s barrier...his past lost and future uncertain he clings onto the present and the young lady who befriends him on reanimation.

©2015 Oliver Strong (P)2019 Oliver Strong

very good

Loved it !! this story. the narrator is so fantastic it's like your really there!! good overall

Mixed feelings

I really enjoyed the story and can’t wait to start on the sequel! I feel the narration was good but I wish there was more voice acting. Maybe I’m spoiled by other top notch narrators, but I had a hard time telling the different characters apart when they all had the same voice. Still I’d recommend this to any sci fi fan.

Good story overall, heading to book 2 now...

Overall the story was good, the narration made it a little challenging for me to listen. The narrator is not bad, but he didn't provide a rich enough voices to keep me interested in the story. I like the premise of the book and will be going onto book 2!

great 1st book

Very well developed story & characters! Narration was smooth & easy to listen to. Very few adult situations. Looking forward to the rest of the series!

A Good Start

🤖 Necron Beyond Einstein's Barrier - I'm a huge fan of sci-fi and action books, and this one got em both and it's short, hence it piqued my interest. Happening in the year 2682, the story takes place in the distant outer space where there are wars between different planets.

🤖 Necron is a huge corporation which takes over alien spacecrafts and their technology to mass market it back on Earth, making it one of the largest company in the known Universe. The story follows the protagonist Victor Zellmann, whom, after his death becomes a soldier for the Necron industries ( yeah in the future they can bring back the dead ) due to his tax liabilities. It is then his journey surviving the 6 months training, getting ready for the battles, falling in love, and rising in position, makes the story going.

🤖 Even though it's a short AudioBook which is only 3 hours long, there are some negatives I noticed. Lack of details is the main issue I faced. Since it's a short AudioBook and the sudden change of scenes without any details made me confused on the context of the scenes. Conversations are more dominant than the context details, making it hard to follow the scenes after dialogues.

🤖 If you're a fan of action and sci-fi do go for it, since it is short, you can finish it in a single stretch. If you're not into this genre, it might not be your cup of tea.

Good story, with a few minor issues

Let me start this review by saying... I am totally sucked in. I am most of the way through the second book and I am hooked and will read all of these books. If you like sci-fi, give this book a shot!

That being said the narrator has a tendency to not pause when switching between settings, chapters, or even when shifting from point of view to point of view. This can leave the reader wondering where they are and why this person said what they just said, until a few seconds later when they realize the setting changed, then they have to replay the last few sentences in their head to figure it out. This can be jarring.

Other than that one gripe I am really enjoying this take on space travel!

entertaining but not fully fleshed out

There weren't any outstanding potholes and the overall story was entertaining, however the story felt rushed. It felt like an early draft instead of a finished product at times. I enjoyed the concept and even the relationship between the main characters. I felt like the dialogue needed a lot more work and while the narrator did a fine job, he didn't bring any life to the characters. Overall it's worth a read, but I'd say more importantly it's worth the author spending the time to give it one more draft

A Grim Future

The 27th Century is harsh and Victor is in dire straights. He signs over his body (once dead) to a corporation to pay off his debts. Well, as reincarnated corpse, he's suddenly finds himself in training to be a space Marine. This entire first book is his journey through boot camp to his first Ship assignment. It is a brutal path that whittles down over 2,000 recruits to just a few. These is even a love story amongst all the carnage, but don't read unless you have a strong stomach for violence.

Good Start, Looking Forward to More!

Very familiar premise if you have read similar military Sci-Fi books (Heinlein Starship Troopers, and especially Scalzi's Old Man's War), but with some good original ideas around star travel and how the characters got into this 'military boot camp' situation.

Good book, well written, only minor issues were

- Narrator Craig Munns was competent but without much variance in his voice, making it difficult to distinguish between the characters other than the three main ones.
- Some of the brutality seemed exaggerated to me, even compared to other books of the genre.

Overall though I really enjoyed this first book and am excited to find out what happens to the characters and finding out the 'how and why' of what is going on in this intriguing world that Oliver Strong has created.

This is a Love Story!

I know this book is set in a fantasy military section and all, but don't be fooled this is a love story.

I'll start with the "criticism's" first, they are minor and more observation than true complaint. The narrator isn't necessarily bad, but he's not my favorite. Also I think some of the language was unnecessary. This first book definitely pulls from other fantasy military stories as has been mentioned in other reviews, but has it's on unique twist on the "dead" or life after death.

That being said, the overall story is entertaining. This series follows the Victor Zellmann and Diana, the love of his "afterlife", through their adventures serving in the Necron Marines. If you go into this series understanding that it is a love story set in an fantasy military setting you'll enjoy the books. In this first book its basic training and a general layout of their new life. Though the odds are stacked against them to survive and make it past training, they find each other and help each other through.