Invasion

Book One of the Secret World Chronicle

By: Mercedes Lackey, Steve Libbey, Cody Martin, Dennis Lee

Narrated by: Nick Sullivan

Length: 16 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

The world had become used to the metahumans - people sometimes perfectly ordinary, but sometimes quite extraordinary in appearance - who mostly worked with their governments as high-powered peace officers, fighting crime, and sometimes fighting rogue metahumans who had become super-criminals. Then that comfortable world ended in just one terrifying day.

Suddenly, all world governments were simultaneously attacked by soldiers in giant mecha robotic suits with the swastika symbol of the Third Reich on their metal arms. If these were Nazis, where had they been hiding since the end of World War II? And where had they gotten armor and weapons far in advance of anything on the planet? Weapons against which even the metahuman heroes seemed to be helpless…

©2011 Mercedes Lackey, Steve Libbey, Cody Martin, and Dennis Lee (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

It's ...okay.

For the first FIVE hours, the book is a relentless wholesale blowout of 'FLASH' 'BANG' 'WHIZ' 'BOOM', with very little in plot progression. You merely get to meet the enemy, and watch them get relentlessly blown to smithereens. FOR. FIVE. HOURS. And you never get the enemy's POV, or any insidious dialogue. They really read as these flat lifeless targets, for the good guy mutants to squish in fancy ways.

It introduces all the characters in that first round like members in a game show. You get their introduction, you learn their plight, and then you get to know them. It felt like I was being encouraged to form an emotional response for these characters before understanding them. The deliberately sparse revelations of the plot-line paired with the free-flowing interruptions of the character's personal emotional responses to said revelations was nerve-wracking. And the characters in this book aren't subtle mutations, we're talking blue people who heal with their brain, and fly. Extremely unlikely mutants, like the x-men.

A lot of the cultural concerns addressed in this novel are outdated from the Cold War, and a lot of the national view points are portrayed terribly wrongly (the Germans ALL liking WWII? My gran said there were curfews, patrols, and then one of your neighbors would disappear. There wasn't a brochure for what was happening.) I honestly began the book thinking it was based in a 1930's alternate history, the level of information granted is so palsy, until a guy whipped out a cell phone. I had trouble identifying or liking any of the characters, except for the burn victim.

Couldn't get me to "suspend my disbelief"

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

This is an alternate reality book, however, the authors presume that everything today would still be the same even though in WW2 era there was an emergence of super-powered meta-beings. That somehow there has been a secret struggle between good metas and evil metas, but it didn't really affect everyday normal people. Well, the whole time I kept thinking how 50 years of metas would have such a huge impact on the timeline and world scope ... how did the Vietnam War turn out? How come "normals" still run the country? What about Professional sports?

Long story short: I just couldn't buy into it at all, so even though the performance was well done, I can't take any more of these books.

Pointless

What would have made Invasion better?

This book is a disjointed mess.

The book hints that the characters all have troubled pasts, but none are explained.

There is action, but it never feels exciting. The story never seems to go anywhere.

Would you ever listen to anything by the authors again?

No.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

None that I can think of.

Meh

It’s an audio comic book. I have no use for super heroes. I didn’t make it through the second chapter.

Disappointed

I am a huge Mercedes Lackey fan and pretty much but everything she writes.

This will be the exception. I found I hated this book and won't be finishing it.

I cannot help but wonder exactly how much she wrote, not much I am guessing. The writing doesn't feel like her, lacking the level of character development I have grown to live in her books.

Failed to meet very modest expectations

This was hard to get through, which surprised me. I heard early excerpts of the brook on the Escape Pod podcast years ago and remember sort of liking it.
Unfortunately it doesn't hang together as a book. I wasn't expecting great literature, (its a book that combines super hero's, Nazis, space aliens, and random comic book tropes), but I found myself rolling my eyes constantly.
This is one of those guilty pleasures that is great for Audiobooks or Kindles (no one sees the cover) but honestly it was mostly guilt, an no pleasure.

really bad

This thing has a horrible plot. The presentation isn't any better. Out of hundreds of Audio books this has to be the worst one I have ever bought.

i made a choice. Really boring.

Would you try another book from the authors and/or Nick Sullivan?

I know and own may of Mercedes Lackey's books in series. The other others are new to me. Nick Sullivan was not very impressive but the book was so boring I feel I didnt have a chance to evaluate Nick Sullivan.

What could the authors have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Detailed insufficient in some areas, not enough history for other parts and that is the first hour. This is not my type of sifi. So I barely made the first hour.

What three words best describe Nick Sullivan’s voice?

Distinctive, multiple character typed voices or emotions down pat.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Invasion?

No one would let me edit this book. It would be unfair. Not my style.

Any additional comments?

Read the description of the book, listen to the sample and if they dont grab your heart, mind or are easily forgotten wo wanting to know more? Dont buy it. Trying a new type or style is good growth but if you cant remember what the first 20 min was about and you are only 1 hour into the book......let it go. This is suppose to be entertaining not a test in tolerance.

Yuck

Not worth the invisible paper credit. Giant mechanized Nazis? Fighting comic book super heros? Perhaps this book is meant as a spoof. I cannot imagine why Ms. Lackey decided to associate herself with this collaboration.

I gave the narrator 3 stars just because I couldn't blame him for the material.

I did not warm to this book

Baddies vs goodies, black hats vs white hats. Definitely no shades of grey in this book.
Silly names Yankee Doodle, Red Saviour Belladonna Blue and an uninspiring story means I won't be buying the second book. Pity because I normally like Mercedes' books, maybe she just put her name to this one and the other authors did the writing? Too many cooks?