Raven's Peace

Peacekeepers of Sol, Book 1

By: Glynn Stewart

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman

Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's Summary

Ten thousand stars, once chained, taste freedom. An eternal empire, once undefeated, falls to pieces. An alliance, once united, now lacks a common foe. War was hard enough. Peace may be impossible.

For 17 years, Colonel Henry Wong and the United Planets Space Force have fought the Kenmiri Empire. They drove the alien overlords back from humanity's borders into their own stars and found allies among the Kenmiri's slaves and subjects.

Now the war is over. A great Gathering has been called of the allies who fought the war, but they only ever shared a common enemy. With the Kenmiri in retreat, a thousand new agendas are revealed.

The United Planets Alliance wants peace above all else. Their allies want everything from new homes to new empires - and all too many of them are prepared to do anything to achieve their goals!

©2019 Glynn Stewart (P)2020 Podium Publishing

An anomaly for this author.

Normally, when I read a book by Glynn Stewart I expect original characters and locations with a lot of action and excellent writing. This had some interesting locations and the characters were ok, but I never really “liked” anyone. If you have read any of the dozens of “collapsing empire” space operas out there, you probably already have an idea of 80% of the book. Is it entertaining? probably. Is Glynn Stewart still awesome? Definitely. Is he trying to highlight LGBQ culture in this book in the most politically correct possible way? Yes. Does it really affect the plot? No. My only complaint is that being gay is not really interesting enough by itself to give a character depth. I admire the open mindedness, but it isn’t enough to make an “ok” book as exceptional as we have come to expect from this author

Almost good

This was my first and probably last time listening to Glynn Stewart. The author seems obsessed with the main character's sexual preferences and constantly writes about them. Sometimes two or three sentences in a row will tell you that he's gay. Not that it's a problem for the captain to be gay, but it's out of place. The sexual preference doesn't come up as a plot device in the story at all. However, it's repeatedly mentioned for no apparent reason. Since this isn't part of the story, it just feels out of place and takes me right out of the story.

Also there are some holes in the story. One example is that the author makes a point to explain that all captains are made from XO's and XO's are made from tactical officers. Many other series involving space navies share a similar line of succession so it's something readers will probably be familiar with. It falls apart when you find out that the main character is a captain that was made from a fighter pilot. The reason for this is never brought up, it just hangs out there like a glaring error. Seemingly thrown in to give the captain a reason for liking an otherwise unlikable fighter pilot.

The author repeatedly shares that getting drunk and threatening to murder superior officers is common and doesn't get in the way of promotion. The story explains that the admiral promoting the main character did that to her superior in the past. The main character did it to the admiral, and a fighter pilot does it to the captain.

The narrator does a pretty good job with the book. I think they just got stuck with a stinker. Hopefully I'll encounter Oliver Wyman narrated stories from other authors in the future.

It was okay

It was okay. I felt like I came into the story in the second act. The whole destroyer thing and all. Also,the “he’s not my type” and “he’s my ex” didn’t seem to add anything but wokeness. I will probably purchase book 2.

Wow that is an intense story.

Oliver Wyman is an outstanding narrator. Glynn Stewart is the next Issac Asimov. I listened to the book at work and home.

Yet another new paradigm from Glynn Stewart

Stewart and Wyman combine to make a very rewarding tale for those who are in search for something just a little bit different from many of the current military science fiction series. What happens when old friends suddenly become enemies as the only thing that held them together expires. Another group of more local oppressors or freedom, what ever that might be?

Unnessesary PC

Of course the MC is gay... it's 2021 after all... . .. .. .. ..

Boring

Very standard plot, a few glimpses of something original, they are wasted and never touched on again.
Narrator although I enjoy him in other books felt extremely misplaced here.

I have no idea how they stretch this story out to 9 hours of audio but it's almost empty of anything. I only finished it out of spite

A surprisingly good find.

I'm not going to lie the gay marriage was a turn off but the author did a very good job and I recommend this anyone.

Good Glynn Stewart work

Other reviews convinced me to set it aside for a year or so. I picked it up after ignoring the negative comments regarding sexual statements. It is space opera with aliens and technology. Primary characters were developed. Two or three contextual statements about sex but they were not story plots just attributive commentary. Read the book.

This narrator is terrible

He actually ruined what could have been an enjoyable story but I could not get passed his over acting, staccato pronunciation, and just overall BAD reading. He was definitely trying to hard to sound manly and intense. If you want a good narrator, look up Ray Porter. He is the best.

Not good

I do not like to say bad things about books, but this one was not good. The storyline was good, however, the pace of the wring was not as for the presentation it was boring.

not for me

I didn't enjoy this one. I kept waiting for it to pick up but it never did. way too much discussion and politics

great story

I have enjoyed listening to this story from start to finish, will be looking at more stories