Exploring the Colony Ship: After Recovery

Colony Ship Eschaton

By: John Thornton

Narrated by: Alexander Doddy

Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

The Earth is a dry, dead, wasteland. The last place livable was Dome 17, but it was failing. Those people made a last ditch effort to survive. Though a bold and daring plan, they were able to reach what seems to be a derelict colony ship, The Eschaton, which is in mid-flight. (Please see book one, Recovery of a Colony Ship).

The Eschaton had been designed to hold numerous and diverse immense biological habitats: flora, fauna, and everything needed to terraform a new world. It also carried thousands of people in suspended animation. The ship was designed to be tended by crews who would live out their lives in the journey between worlds. That journey would only be completed after several generations had lived and died while in transit. That was the plan. But something happened. The people from Dome 17 have reached The Eschaton, but what will they find in those habitats? What systems are still functioning? Did any of the crew survive? What lurks deep in the bowels of a colony ship? Jamie and Michael will seek to unravel these mysteries, and survive, as they explore the Colony Ship.

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Start with the first book

Jumping into the second was a little jarring and took a while to get into. Liked the premise. But found the narrator a bit stilted and mechanical.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

Who can you trust?

"Trust is all you need." And some blindly follow, while others trust no one. Worlds apart literally describes groups of people thrust together by life-and-death circumstances and are forced to survive either by learning to trust and lean on each other or by defending their own lives by any means available. The suspense and action continues in Book 2 of this series. John Thornton mixes in humor and pathos in this very human story set in an automated and mechanical environment. Alexander Doddy's beautiful British voice compliments the story and is a joy to listen to!

Great follow up to Discovery of a Colony Ship

This story picks up a little less than a year after Recovery of a Colony Ship leaves off. We find Michael, Jamie, and all the other Dome 17 survivors living happily in the habitat they discovered in the last book and are ready for their next adventure. In this one they track down and battle a native 'witch' and learn more than they could imagine about life on a Colony Ship.
As usual John delivers fun, adventure, and excitement.

A bit short for a standalone novel

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Not having listened to the first book I found it difficult to figure out who was who and who belonged to what group and where the story actually played. I would recommend listening to the previous book first.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Nothing really spectacular here. I was hoping for a bit more exploration and discovery.

What didn’t you like about Alexander Doddy’s performance?

What threw me off was that he tried to give individual voices to the characters, but then read all the 'said this person' and 'this person replied' in a very robotic voice and with strange pauses between those phrases and the things the protagonists actually said. This interrupted the listening flow and I sometimes didn't know which person did what.

Any additional comments?

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Looking forward to listening to more books

Any additional comments?

I have not read or listen to the first book but look forward to doing so.
Despite starting the series with the second book, I did not have difficulty understanding the circumstances of the involved characters. I enjoyed the premise of this book. The idea of a group of peoples last effort for survival- being to transport themselves onto an unknown ship and then attempt to learn what they need to know to survive on it- was engaging for me. The characters and dialogue were plausible. There was not any profanity or detailed violence.

The narrator did a good job bringing life to the characters. I have not listen to this narrator before but would enjoy doing so.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily left this unbiased review

start with book 1!

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

I'm struggling to objectively review this book, as I did not read or listen to the first book in the series. It was further complicated by the narrator being a bit dry and robotic. If you truly interested, you should probably start with book one.

Read the first book bfor the second but good book

This was a good book but probably should have read the first one before the second. I would recommend reading in order to get the best out of the book. So it is hard to give a proper recommendation. The plot was very good as were the characters. Very well developed.

Excellent book, just loved the story

Would you consider the audio edition of Exploring the Colony Ship: After Recovery to be better than the print version?

I never read the book but I assume it isn't any different, but you get to listen to an excellent storyteller which I think is much better.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Exploring the Colony Ship: After Recovery?

The fight in the zero gravity room, had me on the edge of my seat.

Which scene was your favorite?

Can't say there is one scene but for me the most interesting thing is the people living a old fashion lifestyle with technology all around them and how quickly they adapt when they are exposed to that technology.

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

I don't know

Any additional comments?

I "I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.l realized quickly that I wanted to listen to the first book before listening to this one so I paid for the first book. That is the best way to enjoy this book, you don't have to listen to the first book to understand this one but it really helps. It is well worth the two credits, makes it much more enjoyable.

Live aboard a ship that's forgotten what its past.

This is book 2 in John Thorton's Eschaton series. If you have not read the first book I would recommend doing that first.

Jamie and Michael are aboard the Eschaton with the survivors of Dome 17 but most of the ship is still cut off from them. While they and the rest of the crew have made allies out of some of the inhabitants there are others that do not want to play nice. To make matters worse these bandits seem to be able to go where they please unlike the rest of the people aboard the Eschaton.

With all but one of the onboard AIs non-operational there are choices to be made and as those aboard the Eschaton will find out not all of the AI systems should be tangled with.

The beauty of Thorton's work is honestly not in the telling of one specific tale but his desire to tell the tale from branching perspectives (different books/series). This allows the reader to gain multiple perspectives and find out more about the world/time Thorton has thrown his characters into. This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.