Ruins of the Galaxy

Ruins of the Galaxy, Book 1

By: Christopher Hopper, J. N. Chaney

Narrated by: R.C. Bray

Length: 14 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's Summary

The mission is simple. Escort an emissary to an intergalactic peace summit. Try not to get in the way.

Lt. Magnus and his 79th Recon Team have certainly handled worse, after all. 

But when an explosion rocks the tower and sends everyone into a panic, Magnus and his asset find themselves cut off from the rest of the team. 

Worse still, a dying alien chieftain gives them a priceless drive of intel, marking them for death. 

The mission has officially changed. 

With enemies on all sides, Magnus must do everything in his power to protect the emissary and escape the tower. There is no backup. There is no chance for failure. 

The fate of the entire galaxy now lies in the hands of a Republic Marine and a diplomat.

All they have to do is survive.

Experience the beginning of this sprawling galactic tale in this first entry to the Ruins of the Galaxy series. If you’re a fan of Star Wars, Galaxy’s Edge, or Battlestar Galactica, you'll love this military sci-fi epic.

Includes bonus Ruins of the Galaxy stories "The Night of Fire" and "Demons at War".

©2019 J.N. Chaney and Christopher Hopper (P)2020 Podium Publishing

Galaxys Edge much?! Decent knock off though....

Unapologetically stealing entire premise, characters even acronyms from Galaxys Edge. OTF! Own the field, are you kidding me. A straight laced military man and a rogueish smuggler.... cmon. This was a decent knock of while we wait for more Anspach and Cole but seriously shame on both of these authors. It’s like the Christian teenage cousin of GE,, meh.

Everything I Want and More!

What's not to love? Seriously.

The Hopper/Chaney/Bray trifecta had me from the opening sentence all the way to the end. I wanted something while I was waiting for the next Galaxy's Edge book to drop, and I found a whole new franchise to love!

Great characters, a really good mix of mil-inspired action, space fantasy, and awesome world-building. This is straight-up the kind of sci-fi I grew up on, but better.

As others have noted, I appreciated that it wasn't filled with gratuitous language as some mil-sci-fi can be; my kids are actually loving this as much as me, which is SO rare. And yet I don't feel like the writers skimped on the story or the intensity for their adult audience. That's an amazing feat. Bravo.

Über picky military-only listeners will probably knit-pick this apart for one crazy reason or another—that always seems to be their M.O anyway ("whose balls are biggest"). Whatever. I want to be entertained; if I want accuracy, I'll read a history book (this is 4,000 years in the future, people). Even so, the authors have clearly done their homework, and as a mil fan myself, I loved it.

On a personal note, I appreciated Hopper's author note at the end (powerful, actually; was someone cutting onions in here?). And Bray's outtakes were HYSTERICAL (the one place where there is some crude language, just FYI—but SO funny). Oh, and the bonus novellas had some great content to flesh out Magnus's backstory—super cool additions.

The good news is there are eight more books on the way. The bad news is I have to wait for them.

I'm totally hooked. This is what makes classic sci-fi!

A fun and exciting take on the genre

I'm a longtime and avid reader/listener to military scifi, having grown up with the classics and ultimately growing into the newer stuff. Ruins of the Galaxy delivered on all my expectations. I was initially uncertain, because I've never heard of the others, but I knew RC Bray because he'd handled some of my favorite series in the past, so I gave it a shot. I'm glad I did. This book was a thrill to listen to. Bray does an even better job on this one than many of his others, which is high praise when you're talking about the master himself (all his work is outstanding. This book just happens to be among the best). I hope the sequels come soon so I can get them quickly and continue the story. Apparently, this series already has 8 books out, but I'll wait for the audio so I can get more of this phenomenal narration.

In short, this book is great and a testament to what happens when you mix great writing with world class narrating. It's a fantastic combination that will leave you hooked and chomping at the bits for more.

Atypical Military Scifi

R.C. Bray is a fixture in audiobooks, so it's likely that if you were brought to this book by his name you'll enjoy it. His performance is, as ever, outstanding. The book's content, if you are expecting something similar to traditional military scifi, may surprise you, but I say this simply as a heads-up and not as a criticism. Christopher Hopper is mostly known for fantasy, and that background is apparent here. Without spoiling the narrative, there are several elements that make Ruins of the Galaxy more space fantasy like Star Wars than military scifi like Babylon 5. That doesn't mean there isn't overlap between the two, and the book strikes a reasonable balance, though it will err on the side of fantasy.

The presentation similarly feels more like Star Wars than Starship Troopers, which initially seemed to me a bad idea. By the middle of the book, however, I understood that it is intended to be approachable by all ages, a rare thing in military scifi. I think that's commendable, even if it means fans of the genre don't get all the usual grit and hyper-violence they're used to. Again, this isn't a criticism of the book, just a heads-up.

Overall, Ruins of the Galaxy is a solid introduction into military scifi for people new to the genre and young scifi fans not quite mature enough for typical content.

What a trip!

I’m never disappointed by J.N. Chaney or the books he publishes, but when you add RC Bray to the mix, then you really have something special! This book was an absolute TREAT! I am so pumped for the next one!

The Multiverse just got bigger... BAM

This is an EPIC military sci-fi adventure! Hopper and Chaney brought a group of rich VERY human characters to this book and after 14 hours I was rushing to the computer looking for the next audio book. This is Galaxy's Edge, Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy and Firefly dropped into the Ninja blender.... AND just when you think it can't possibly get any better - R.C.Bray is narrating it!!!

I highly recommend this book, you will not be disappointed. Hmmm ... lets search Audible to see what Hopper has cooked up elsewhere! The multiverse awaits !!!!

Loved the book. Love the audiobook even more!

Ruins of the Galaxy was a great book. I didn’t think something to top it. However, R. C. Bray did an excellent performance of Hopper and Chaney’s masterpiece! I highly recommend this audiobook, even if you’ve read it before. You won’t be disappointed!

So happy to be able to HEAR the story come alive on audible!

I own the Ruins of the Galaxy series on paperback but I’m so excited to hear book one on Audible now!! I’m only a few chapters in but I’m already really enjoying the story all over again and R.C. Bray’s performance. Fantastic!

Complete rip off of Galaxys Edge

I sincerely hope this author got permission from the authors of Galaxys Edge to write their book with different character names......

TO-96 is KRS88
Magnus is Chun
Kane is Goth Sullis
Piper is Prisma
The hyena species is the Gi

I mean it goes on and on! They are literally the same book.
RC Bray knocked it out of the park as usual though 😁

Fantastic storytelling!!

Fantastic storytelling, excellent characters, compelling drama and also some laughs thrown in. The thing that had me hooked the most were the realistic characters. I genuinely wanted to see what happened to each of them and can't wait to read the next book. R.C. Bray's narration adds even more depth and excitement to an already super compelling story. The way he reads makes it so hard to stop listening!

Really Excellent - Unexpected Surprise

With RC Bray knew that the narration would be great. There have been a lot of wooden, predictable, repetitive Sci-Fi Operas recently (despite the super amazing ratings and million book sagas).....so I didn't have high hopes. It's well written similar to the Arisen series. You have the Jaded Traumatized Space Marine, the Pre-cognizant Child with prophecies of an apocalyptic evil overtaking the galaxy, an Elvish/Vulcan Female Emissary and Roguish Bounty Hunter. It should be be generic but it was a really great well written story. Can't wait for the next part...would give it a try

worth reading

r c bray makes so much sound good. story is a bit confusing at times and things happen which don't seem to be part of the story but worth looking at.

Brilliant, a good story told well!

R C Bray brings a good well written story to life. I wanted to dislike it as I like the Galaxy edge series but this was more embracing because of the slight humourous occasions. The action is good and there are morally dubious and seriously thought out bad guys. In my opinion better than star wars just popping GE for entertainment. I also think the main characters are engaging and realistic. well done.

I can't bring myself to finishing it

RC Bray, narrator extraordinaire, didn't manage to save this one. it's intensely boring, the characters are paper thin, the world hard to relate to. I managed to make it past half of the book as sometimes books take time to get traction... no hint of this happening.

once again R.C.Bray nails it!

brilliant story narrated by R.C.Bray yet again.
totally immersed in the book , did not want it to finish.

Don't stop now!

Awesome as always. I have enjoyed all the series of these books and can't wait to start the next. R C Bray amazing as always and the story gets you hooked in minutes 10/10

Great start to the saga

always a little unsure when starting a new series of books or stories but this one delivers on all levels keeping you waiting for the next episode. Delivery was exceptional as always by R C Bray.

my new favourite books

if you like military sci-fi, good storylines, great characters. then you will love this.

Very good - the outtakes are fantastic

kinda like galaxy's edge. some elements clearly copied (3 letter acronym used by marines OTF Vs KTF, character names) but good overall. the authors back story makes an interesting addition. looking forward to the next one. make sure you listen all the way to the end

Blatant ripoff from Galaxy's Edge series.

Three book is essentially a ripoff of Galaxy's Edge series. Similar abbreviations, similar settings, similarly sounding enemies. similar everything. I mean if you had changed the names to those in Galaxy's Edge, I would have sworn that this book has been written by Anspach&Cole.

The story was a bit all over the place. Didn't really have a guiding middle topic to tie it all together.

Some characters are introduced.... and after half the book, not mentioned ever again. Instead a new story line is introduced, which adds little to the whole main story.