Derelict

By: LJ Cohen

Narrated by: Bill Burrows

Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

When Rosalen Maldonado tinkers with the derelict freighter, she's just hoping to prove she deserves a scholarship to University. She certainly doesn't count on waking the ship's damaged AI or having three stowaways, Micah Rotherwood and brothers Jem and Barre Durbin, along for the ride. They all have their private reasons for hiding aboard and lives they are seeking to escape, but if the accidental crew can't work together and learn to trust each other, they'll die together, victims of a computer that doesn't realize the war ended decades before any of them were even born.

©2014 Lisa Janice (LJ) Cohen (P)2015 Lisa Janice (LJ) Cohen

I forgot how unlikeable the characters are.

I originally read this on Kindle a long time ago. I kept meaning to read the second book, but hadn’t in so long that I decided to “read” it again in audiobook format.

I forgot how unlikeable the characters are. Like... all of them. Everyone except for the comms officer. They are all so selfish and full of angst and drama about their own issues. None of them have any consideration for other people and how their actions will affect them. In a way, I suppose it is good writing, because the characters are almost all teenagers. I can remember being a teenager myself and realize that most of them are terrible people. Lol

I can deal with the teen angst for the most part, even if it aggravates me to no end. I also have an issue with how the characters treat adults with this “you will do what I want” attitude all the time and none of them ever get called on it. I can’t give any details without spoilers, but aside from the antagonist, nobody ever disciplines any of these brats.

All of that being said. I finally started book two. And I’m already hating on the MC for losing what little charm she had in book one.

These kids all need therapy. And discipline. Lol

What Teens can do !!

Would you listen to Derelict again? Why?

Oh, yes, indeed !! I could not put this audio book down !!
This story has a lot of twists & turns !! Plots within plots !!

What did you like best about this story?

How, Ro, Micah, Bear & Jim, got a 40+ year old transport ship to run. They worked together as a team.
With all the turn-a-bouts in this well written story, these teenagers, accomplished, victory !! And rewarded, as well !!!!

Have you listened to any of Bill Burrows’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I do not think so !! But I must say, that he kept me riveted to this book !! Excellent voice with each character too !!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Do not underestimate, four teenagers !!

Male narrator

Main character of the story is a young female woman. Narration is by an adult male with a deep voice. Really distracting and makes it hard to get into the book. Does a good job with voicing the other male characters.

Decent book

my only complaint was the narrator didn't quite fit the book. his voice was fine, it may have just been the way he read it.

This was ok

The book was ok overall. The characters were real but some of the relationships were strained to be dysfunctional. Pretty much every adult was cast as a villain that saw their kids as secondary. Also the main character's relationship with the communications officer was rushed and felt forced. Either this could have been cut from the book or more time should have been spent developing it. Overall a 3 3/4 stars book. If you like Sci-Fi read this, if not skip it there are better books out there.

Not quite what I expected.

It's a futuristic turn on the centuries old conflict of the passage to independence and responsibility. I hesitate to say adulthood because the parents of the four main characters do not embody the accepted norm for parents. It's a glimpse of what we might expect will be the environment that our future youth will grow up in with the PC so engrained in our lives that nothing can be done without it. The plot is well played and the young ones move on, matured by a wild adventure aboard their newly awakened ship. Mr. Burrows does a wonderful job, smoothly, making the story flow and taking the listener with it.

Great story. Excellent narration.

This was a welcome relief from the last few stories I listened to. The story wasn't as formulaic as most sci fi. The narrator did n excellent job as well. I didn't find his reading tedious half way through the book as I have in the last few books.

I would definitely buy another in this series of the writing style And narration were the same.

Egaging YA sci fi with some interesting dynamics.

Rosalen is a young teen who is brilliant with computers. Her cold hearted and abusive father refuses to sign papers for a university scholarship. Ro begins to tinker with a derelict freighter moored outside of their space station. She runs into another troubled teen, Micah, the son of one of the higher ranking officers. Micah is doing secret botany experiments on the freighter. Ro suspects his work may be illegal but she is willing to keep his secrets in exchange for hers.

Ro discovers another hidden cargo on the freighter that she thinks is connected to her own father. She is intent on getting the derelict ship to operate to show her own skills even if that action plays into her father’s plans. Ro enlists help from a younger friend, Jem, who has great programming skills. Jem doesn’t realize Ro’s intent but when he begins to think she can activate the ship he drags his brother Barre onto the ship too. Barre is a gifted musician but their doctor parents don’t appreciate his music. They are ready to send him away which would separate the brothers.

Ro manages to activate the damaged AI on Halcyone. When the ship takes off like a scared rabbit, it takes the combined efforts of Rosalen and Jem, with surprising input from Barre, to get and keep control of the AI. The teens are all in trouble just for being on Halcyone but they face greater danger from two leaders back on the station who are intent on getting the ship’s hidden cargo. They will take drastic measures, without regard to the lives of the teens, to complete their covert plans.

The story has some usual YA elements including dysfunctional parents and teenage angst as they try to establish independence. Each of the four teens struggles in their family settings with different reactions. I liked the inclusion of the AI as a side character and really enjoyed the unique interplay of the characters’ skills that allowed the teens to succeed only by working together. I didn’t care for the handling of the friendship of Ro with another female working in communications. The story moves a bit slowly at first with the introduction and development of the characters. Further on there is good action and suspense.

There are some unrealistic events near the end, but the ending leaves the storyline open to allow more adventures for Halcyone and the teens. I would like to listen to the next book to see where the author takes the characters. I recommend this particularly to readers who like easy sci fi.

Audio Notes: Bill Burrows does a good job with the character voices and the portrayal of emotions. I am pretty sure I would not have enjoyed reading this in print/ebook as much as I enjoyed listening to it.

I received this title through Audiobook Jukebox for an honest review.

Story was a solid "B"

This book had an interesting concept regarding an AI being an key part of every spaceship. Unfortunately the concept didn’t help this one fully developed into a “Great” book. Before you mark me as being unhelpful, I liked the story, I just don’t want to marry it. It was entertaining enough and the narrator did a good job. The story just needed something.

If you’ve got a credit burning a hole in your digital pocket I say go for it. You could do a lot worse than this book.

3.5/5 YA with Very Strong Language

Summary: Ro and a motley stow-away crew find trouble on a derelict ship.

Additional Comments:
What I Didn’t Enjoy:
- There’s a LOT of strong language in here, which is weird because the book otherwise seems aimed at young adults. I work with teenagers. There are some that curse, but very strong languages loses its impact when used this casually.
- There was not one fleshed-out, competent, sympathetic adult. The adults here come in three flavors: overbearing jerks or manipulative, overbearing jerks or manipulative, overbearing, psychopathic jerks.
- The friendships and rivalries seemed genuine but the subtle (F/F) romance thread was kind of bizarrely paced.

Neutral:
- At its heart, the plot’s actually rather simple. (Girl wants to get away. Girl and acquaintances get into trouble. Runaway ship nearly kills ’em all.)
- The purpose of Deadilus (sorry about spelling, I heard the audio version) was never really made clear.

What I Enjoyed:
- The technology aspects of this book were pretty cool. The computer programming aspects were nicely described.
- The way music is integral to Halycon is also neat.
- The narrator’s performance was nicely done.
- The 4 main characters were well-developed and likable. I enjoyed how their names unfolded piece by piece.

Conclusion: If you’re okay with a lot of strong language and quite a bit of adult-bashing, you would probably enjoy this book.
*I received a free copy of the audiobook. It did not affect my decision to review or the rating I gave.