Death World

Undying Mercenaries, Book 5

By: B. V. Larson

Narrated by: Mark Boyett

Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

Unknown aliens attack Earth. Their planet is uncharted, mysteriously having avoided detection for centuries. It's a world packed with the most vicious aliens humanity has yet to encounter. James McGill has discovered: Death World.

In the fifth book of the Undying Mercenaries series, the war comes home, and aliens strike a devastating blow. Bent on revenge, Legion Varus chases the raiders to the stars and discovers a growing alien menace. A cancerous species has invaded our region of the galaxy and must be dealt with. McGill learns why the Cephalopod Kingdom has yet to attack Earth and what's happening behind the scenes in the Core Worlds. Throughout, he upholds his unique sense of right, wrong, and honor. Death World is a military science fiction novel by best-selling author B. V. Larson.

©2015 B. V. Larson (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

The series keeps improving

The first two books of this series were semi-painful because of McGill's righteous attitude. Now the story has progressed and operates more in a gray area, it is a sign of great character development that I wasn't expecting.

good listen

enjoying the series. nice to have a series where the characters demonstrate growth over time.

Nice continuation.

I've enjoyed the series very much so far. Looking forward to another book! Some of the love interests get tiring.

Great Story!!

What made the experience of listening to Death World the most enjoyable?

Exciting and you never know what the characters are going to do.

What other book might you compare Death World to and why?

Personally BV Larson is my favorite Author even surpassing RA Salvatore. So this is a hard question to answer so two othe authors i like are Keven Hearne and Nuttall

What about Mark Boyett’s performance did you like?

Wonderful as always

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Little disappointed

It seem to me that a lot of repeating was happening in book five of the previous books. Which never happen in the first four books.

Better than usual

I recently listened to Death World written by B. V. Larson and narrated by Mark Boyett. 

Before I begin this review I need to mention that this book is part of the Undying Mercenaries series. As it's almost impossible to review a book in a series without a few spoilers as to what came before. This is the obligatory warning. If you are averse to any spoilers, stop reading.

For those who haven't read a B. V. Larson book, I should provide some context. Almost all of his series tend to be military sci-fi combined with a heavy dose of teenage boy wish fulfillment. This generally is resolved by the tactics of our unlikely hero both on the battlefield and in the bedroom. I generally wouldn't look too closely at his plots, because the wish fulfillment side of the equation creates huge plot holes.

The start of this finds James McGill, our hero, unusually introspective. His parents find out he has a daughter on Dust World and want to see their grandchild. They are then treated to a bit of culture shock when Della, his erstwhile daughter's mother, stops by to shack up with him while on leave.

Della was raised in a wholly different culture on her perspective on some things create some friction, however, McGill's parents are determined to play nice. This includes going to see a military ceremony welcoming in the first freighter bearing minerals from Machine World. 

Unbeknownst to all at the ceremony, the freighter comes under attack as it enters orbit. The result of this is basically a kamikaze run smack into the ceremony killing the troops, thousands of onlookers, and wiping out multiple city blocks. 

McGill is revived, along with the rest of Legion Varus, during their pursuit of their attackers. Driven by his grief for his dead parents, McGill is at last determined to be the kind of Veteran that legion Varus needs.

Mark Boyett is an amazing narrator and, as usual, hits the ball out of the park. He really captures the essence of the characters to an extent that's immersive in a truly enjoyable way. 

Conclusion: This is the fifth book in the Undying Mercanaries series. While this book doesn't forego the usual James McGill shenanigans, oft resulting in amorous play, it does have a bit more than usual. 

The plot brings a lot to the table and leaves you wanting more of this universe and, wonder of wonders, McGill shows the first hints of maturity and responsibility. To be honest, I'm not wholly certain why I like this series as the writing oft leaves something to be desired. I'm still listening though, and this book was definitely one of the better ones in series. 

Addictive

the story is in many ways the same, a mixture of veiled sex and violence against aliens mixed with Intrigue among the humans. But this one at least introduces new Dimensions of the galactic conflict with the entirely vegetable race of Wur competing with the Squid. McGill begins to climb the ladder of promotions, and is therefore more restrained and less out of the box. Still an entertaining and amusing read!

Better than the last book

I’m liking the story better than the last few books. The main character is not completely out of control.

Just another great book

If you could sum up Death World in three words, what would they be?

Funny Bloody Griping

Who was your favorite character and why?

Toss up between Carlos, McGill a couple of guys that get the job done. There are the scum bags Winsleed,Turhov ( sorry about the spelling)

Which character – as performed by Mark Boyett – was your favorite?

McGill, to me it's amazing how he can maintain the voices though out the series.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I could easily listen to the whole series one after the other they are just that good. I would take a week of vacation to listen to all of them.

Any additional comments?

I wish these books could be made into a movie, but I doubt you could find the right producer/director team to stick with it. Not to many actors would sign on to a 5 or 6 movie deal either. But if they were done right they would out sell Star Wars.

Another great installment

Great casual read. Well-read, well-voiced, and easy to understand. But read in sequence or you'll be list.