Legion of the Damned

Legion of the Damned, Book 1

By: William C. Dietz

Narrated by: Donald Corren

Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

In the future, the terminally ill can prolong life by surrendering their consciousness to a cybernetic life form that is then recruited into the notorious Legion of the Damned, an elite fighting unit charged with protecting humanity.

Listen to more titles in the Legion of the Damned Series.

©1993 William C. Dietz (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Almost Great!

Any additional comments?

I have to admit i am NOT a big fan of the fact thet every Sci-fi/fantacy story has to have 30 sequels. So i started off with some expectations that i would not be completely satisfied by a books bearing "Book 1" as part of it's title...By the end that was not a big problem because most of the story is well wrapped up.Overall i enjoyed the book; the story is interesting enough to complel the listener to want to hear more. I was drawn into the characters more than what they were doing, and Donald Corren does a very good jod job af bringing them to life.The reason i deducted "stars" in my rating were more nuanced. I do not feel any author needs to write with so much description that i feel i am reading a technical instruction book but i think Dietz falls rather short explaing the various Cyborgs and some of the science untill too far into the book...i kept feeling like i had skipped a book where things were better set up. Also certain relationships (no spoiler alert needed) border on the ridiculous; one moment we are mortal enemies the next we are...well, lets say improbably enamoured.Once concluded, i realized i did enjoy the book. I did want to find out where things were headed; some very well deserved comeuppances are dealt out and our characters mature nicely...but I do not feel any need to rush out to get book 2.

Better Narrator Please!

This is one of the greatest sci-fi series written. I was so excited to find this available on Audible. The imagination and scope of the story is compelling and thought provoking, while inspiring the reader to root for the good guys and look at the corruption and pettiness that will always hold back any civilization.

The narration performance is so slow and mostly monotone. I believe the narrator was paid by overall time. Just by speeding up the narration, it would take off at least 2 hours off the length, and vastly improve the excitement of the story. The slow diction leaves the listener groaning with frustration!

Once of the good Sci Fi books

This is a good Sci Fi book. I originally read it when it was first released to paperback. While others have criticized the writer for too little character development it is hard to devote pages and pages to character development when the character will be killed off. I do with they would have used the narrator from the Lost Fleet series though.

Legion of the Damned

Great Book, I really enjoyed the story and the narration by Donald Corren was excellent.I am presently listening to the 3rd book in the series. Be warned, once you start listening it's hard to stop.

Good stuff!

Good book in joyed It. Probability will be getting the next book in the series

A fun Space Opera

Hmmm, I'm not sure what to say about this one. About half-way through I was convinced the entire book was going to be one long setup for a "To Be Continued" ending. I was wrong about that. The amount of loose-ends that got tidied up in the last few chapters was pretty phenomenal, although there's still plenty of scope for the sequels. Without straying into spoiler territory let's just say I was surprised at who was and wasn't standing at the end.

My main issue with the story is that it's a little trite and reads somewhat like early 50's sci-fi. On the pro side, I enjoyed the general plot, the chapter-starting quotes added nicely to the story. It's a fun, sometimes humorous read with an acceptable pace and the story never gets bogged down, although that is somewhat due to a lack of detail, which segues into the cons. There's obvious care gone into the depiction of some of the characters, but others are all but one-dimensional. Also, the constant stream of people falling in love (that I'm sure are a setup for later stories) was really starting to annoy me.

Overall, I'd say check it out if you're a Space Opera fan.

With regard to the audio, I found it mostly acceptable. It commits the cardinal sin of inserting music between chunks of narration although, thankfully, it only happens once about midway through the story (perhaps there's a Part I/Part II split?). Mr Corren did a great job and my only issues are with editing, as soon as the last word of a chapter is spoken there's almost no gap before "Chapter X" is announced, which can be a little jarring.

Audible needs to read this!!!!!!

Why in the world Audible can not absorb the concept of PAUSES in narration between chapters/and/or scene and time changes is beyond understanding. They ruin many an otherwise good story..............

my favorite series

I have enjoyed this series ever since I read the first book many yrs ago love the storyline and the characters great series

Fair first take on the Legion of the Damned

I came to this series after listening to the first three "Prequels" the Andromeda Saga

They are much better, more nuanced, better villains, more real worlds. The empress is a real bitch, where here her son is simply annoying.

Still I liked the characterisations, the depth on the Hoodatha, and the pace of the story. Worth sticking with the series I reckon

kind of boring..

great reading and kind of entertaining...