Ragamuffin

By: Tobias S. Buckell

Narrated by: Robin Miles

The Benevolent Satrapy rule an empire of 48 worlds, linked by thousands of wormholes strung throughout the galaxy. Human beings, while technically "free", mostly skulk around the fringes of the Satrapy, struggling to get by. The secretive alien Satraps tightly restrict the technological development of the species under their control. Entire worlds have been placed under interdiction, cut off from the rest of the universe. Descended from the islanders of lost Earth, the Ragamuffins are pirates and smugglers, plying the lonely spaceways around a dead wormhole. For years, the Satraps have tolerated the Raga, but no longer. Now they have embarked on a campaign of extermination, determined to wipe out the unruly humans once and for all. But one runaway woman may complicate their plans. Combat enabled, Nashara is more machine than flesh, and she carries inside her a doomsday weapon that could reduce the entire galaxy to chaos. A hunted fugitive, she just wants to get home before she's forced to destroy civilization - and herself.

©2007 Tobias S. Buckell (P)2014 Audible Inc.

As good as, or better than, book 1

A well tailored addition to the series with it's own story arc well integrated into the overall arc of the series. As with the first, there is a satisfying ending here so that you can choose to go on with the series to see how things develop or you can stop and still be satisfied.

Masterfully planned and very well read -- one of the few times that switching an narrator wasn't a disaster. I wish the narrator from the first could be there reading the parts from the characters he handled so well in the first, and that Robin Miles could be doing just the new main character here since it's nearly an even split. Still, she does a good job pulling it of.

I don't want to give anything away here, so no plot summary from me. I'll just say that it's a fantastic story in the same universe, that we learn much more about the aliens and humans, that we learn more about some of our favorite characters and are introduced to some good new ones.

Great follow up to Crystal Rain

Enjoyed book 2 in this series just as much as book 1. I loved that the first part of the book introduced us to Nashara & a completely new part of the Xenowealth universe. There are some really outstanding moments with John & Pepper later on in the book. Loved the space battles & the way that story was structured.

Robin Miles is a great narrator & I look forward to hearing more from her in book 4.

Disclosure: I received a free download of this newly re-released Audible book from the author. In spite of that, the views expressed here are my own & I did not commit to posting a review for the download.

Standalone sequel to Crystal Rain

Tobias S Buckell’s Ragamuffin is the sequel to Crystal Rain. Set in a universe where Earth is connected by a series of wormholes to other worlds, an alien intelligence oversees the network and constrains humanity’s technological development. An engineered human fighter with an embedded weapon is sent on a mission. She teams with a group of ‘ragamuffins,’ the name of a group of resistance fighters to take on the ‘benevolent’ overseers.

Buckell provided a bit more background into the universe where the action takes place. The action is almost nonstop with many space battles. Where Crystal Rain had more of a steampunk feel, Ragamuffin is pure space opera.

The narration is well done with decent character distinction. The Caribbean accent is not as prominent as it was in Crystal Rain. Pacing is brisk.

Entertaining world, one dimensional characters

Fantastic and interesting world. May be a few too many confusing aliens for me but still the complexity of cultures was fascinating. My only issue was the characters didn't seem to have much complexity. They all seemed to each have one main focus and not much else. I couldn't empathize with the characters as much as I liked them. However I did enjoy them enough to keep reading the series. It's so wonderful to read a book with more non-white characters than white for a change. In many Sci-fi books the assumption is that everyone is white unless described otherwise has always irked me. I am of Italian Irish heritage but I love diversity especially in science fiction books. This book having mostly people of color doesn't matter one bit to me. I've read enough with all white characters and it's time other cultures and races are shown in fantasy and sci-fi.