Lucifer's Nebula

Lucifer's Star, Book 2

By: Michael Suttkus, C. T. Phipps

Narrated by: Eric Burns

Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

From the best-selling author of The Rules of Supervillainy: Captain Cassius Mass can only run so far from his problems and the galaxy isn't big enough to hide from those pursuing him. Cassius soon finds himself blackmailed into a mission that will clear him of all charges as well as protect him from future persecution: bring an end to the civil war currently racking the galaxy. Accompanied by a new set of untrustworthy allies, the crew of the Melampus, and the A.I duplicate of his dead wife - Cassius needs to figure out how to not only deal with his target but also his employers.

Because the entire universe is at stake.

©2017 Charles Phipps (P)2018 David N. Wilson

Great action Sci-Fi

This has been a great series that I found it difficult to put down at times. The story was full of twists, lies, sex and action all put together with a nice dollop of dry humor. The narrator does a great job of bringing the characters alive with distinctive voices.

I believe that this is a two book series but I plan to look up other books from the author.

Please note that I was provided with a free copy of this audiobook to provide a non-biased review

Great Story

Filled with action, the plot was fun to follow. I literally had to stop the audio so I can catch up breathing from laughing at one point. I can't wait for the next one.

A good follow-up with a fast-paced story.

Over all, I really enjoyed this story. The characters are fun and the banter had me chuckling a couple of times. There were some definite good twists and turns in the story, Though occasionally the main character seems a bit slow for someone who's 10 times as smart as normal humans. That's part of his charm I suppose.

The narrator did a better job of not having loud inhales between every sentence as in the first book, though there were a few places where edits obviously not been taken out, a couple duplicate lines things like that. But the voices, except Clarice which started to grate after a while, we're well done and well-read.

Definitely Check This One Out

This is my eighth book by CT Phipps and there hasn't been a single one that I haven't liked yet.  Even some of the ones that aren't in my "normal" genres.  Lucifer's Nebula is the second book in the Lucifer's Star series by Phipps and Michael Suttkus and it was a blast to listen to.  Which, ironically is exactly what I said about the first book.

I went back and read my review of the first book and now I have to try really hard not to write the exact same thing.  I felt the same way about this book but it wasn't as much of a whodunit and more of a pure science fiction book.  It has alien races, alien god-like races, cognition AI's, deceit, double-crossing, cloning (legal and illegal), family issues, and so much more.  I've noticed that in these books I think I'm going to get one or two stories and arcs but Phipps and Suttkus always throw 10-15 at me.

I think my favorite parts of this book were just the attitude that Cassius had throughout it.  He grew, a lot, as a character and he both hated and loved himself for it.  His journies - both internal and actual physical ones were both extremely interesting to follow.  I felt like I was getting a deep psychological look into his brain as he was going through these things - without it feeling like too much.

Near the end of this book, I found myself needing to focus a lot since they were jumping all over the place.  I believe this was done on purpose and it caused some disconnect for me (not in a bad way) but just a "what in the heck is going on" way.  I think we were supposed to feel the same confusion and disorientation that Cassius felt.

Combine the excellent writing with the narration by Eric Burns who just brings their words to life - you have a winner in Lucifer's Nebula.  A blast of a book from beginning to end.  You should definitely check this one out. I requested a free copy of this book - it has not affected my review in any way.

Entertaining story

I like the science fiction stories written by C.T. Phipps. He has a certain style that give his characters a flawed personality which makes them more entertaining. The characters in this book are very entertaining as is the story. Well worth the listen.

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

Lucifer's Nebula: Lucifer's Star, Book 2

I thought I was going to be tired of Eric Burns' performance as the main character. I was wrong. I still want to hear it!
Great story! Great narration!
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

Fun twisted conspiracies, relationships &awareness

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

Eric returns to voice Cassius. He has a husky voice that feels to fit Cassius. He gets to play with accents too. A few characters have accents based on where they are from in the universe. We get slightly different tones to differentiate female and male characters, along with personality to go with emotions and who the people are. I'm impressed with how Eric voices Cassius and Cassius the Elder. They sound different in personality and voice. Totally cool.

The first chapter starts us off with a space fight in fighters, setting the feel of the book for Cassius and crew on the Melampus. We meet those under him on the ship and the relationships he has with each. We get a feel for those relationships as they characters interact as well.

All of the interact shows how the crew has fallen into a "normal" for them. Love and hate all in one place and it works together. This highlights the crew as a whole and makes the journey more fun.

Cassius has turned into a good guy. Well, he does take jobs that aren't on the up-and-up, but he tries to take care of his people and crew. That makes him a good guy, right? He'll make the deals that he wouldn't normally make to keep his crew safe, even if it could be danger for later.

I found I was surprised that we spend a good half of the book on the ship with Cassius and his crew. It didn't feel like that much of the book! There is a whole lot of crazy in their lives and how they are all tied together! There were whole twisted conspiracies, love, and realizations along with fights that happen. A whole space opera that kept me interested. Their lives are affected by what they do or don't do, creating choices that will help or hurt one or all of them and how they will protect each other. Or not as there is that option too.

Wow. There is a lot of crossing and twisting to the plans. I kept wondering which story will pan out to be the truth, and had to keep going to find out! People say one thing, have another thing in mind. Then someone else is doing something different, either for or against the plans of another. People saying one thing to get someone to react a way to get something else to happen. What's the truth? What's the true outcome desire? There could be many, depending on who you talk to. But, there is one ultimate goal by one selfish driven individual. Just sniff out what he truly wants. Wow. This is one adventure to follow closely.

It's always a pleasure to spend time with Cassius and his crew. They have great relationships that make you smile as they don't hold back when talking. It's all out in the space around them. lol. Then there's the trouble they get into. Fun action story.

Great follow up, even better than the first one!

Lucifer's Nebula follows the continuing story of Cassius Mass as he attempts to live out his life in relative obscurity aboard his essentially stolen starship, the Melampus. However, that wouldn’t have made a very good story, so instead, poor Cassius is written back into the spotlight and tossed into a web of intrigue, politics, and plots to destroy all of humanity. Want to know more? Then read it!

Lucifer's Nebula started out with (and kept) a much faster pace than Lucifer's Star. I suppose that’s the benefit of a second book, as it can skip over the majority of the world-building and character introductions. But it’s not all action -- we do get to know each one of the Melampus crew a bit better and I really felt like a lot of secondary characters from Lucifer's Star got fleshed out a bit more in Lucifer's Nebula. All in all, I really enjoyed Lucifer's Nebula more than the first book and I think it was a combination of the aforementioned pacing, character development, and the lighter tone of the second book. Lucifer's Nebula has a surprising amount of humor for a book that’s basically about fallen empires, orphaned scions, and mass genocide on a stellar scale.

Eric Burns does a great job narrating Lucifer's Nebula, I loved almost all the character voices, the performances, and how the personality of each character really comes through in the narration. My only complaint is that Burns does some voices for some of the female characters that are somewhat off-putting, but opposite gender voices tend to be a challenge for a lot of narrators, so I can’t really hold it against him. I certainly couldn’t do a better job.

Special thanks to C.T. Phipps, who provided me with this book at my request.

Star Wars for grown ups (kind of)

Lucifer's Nebula, the sequel to Lucifer's Star, carries on the story of the Author's "dark Star Wars," as it's often referred to.

Cassius, the hero, is a former evil noble turned arms dealer (you'll see). He's like a boozy, sweary Han Solo type with a jaded wit that will have you chuckling. He has a supporting cast of characters painted as stereotypes initially, but the author does a good job of breathing some life into them. The universe is interesting, with humans dominating, and (shock, horror!) constantly at war with each other. There's also an elder race that appears to be pulling the strings.

Cassius and Co, instead of pulling out the heroics, continually putting themselves in danger due to a misguided sense of right, or just being petty (Cassius trying to one-up his father). At times the set pieces can seem ridiculous, but way less so than taking out an evil Empire with four X-Wing fighters (I remember that shot from the original original). This being a parody, it's all good.

My favourite thing though, is the narrator. He carries the pace well, and you can almost hear the constant sighing as he churns out Cassius' lines. His best bit is the woman who butchers a Scottish accent in the belief that she's honouring her culture. Even when she wasn't saying something funny, I was chuckling.

Great story, not the author's finest, but definitely a fun read.

Space Opera thriller that subverts all the tropes

I read this as an ebook when it came out and reviewed it. I'll post that review below. I enjoyed the book so much that, with a credit waiting to be spent, I couldn't resist getting the audio version. The narrator does a great job of capturing the atmosphere and feel of one of my favourite books and still the best sci-fi I've read or listened to all year. Having listened to it, my views below haven't changed, they've only been confirmed.

"Sequels. That sticky second book in a series that has to carry on the story without any final resolution. You lose the thrill of meeting the main character and seeing the setting unfold. Think about any trilogy--the second book in a good one will have something incredible happen. Think of the Lord of the Rings. The battle of Helm’s Deep, Gandalf & Saruman etc. So sequels have got to go big or go home. Now, I loved Lucifer’s Star. I think it’s one of the most original space operas I’ve ever read. Check out my review before reading this one, because frankly, you’re not going to start on book 2 are you?
Anyway, this volume continues the story of our hero (/S) Cassius Mass, The Fire Count, War criminal and general bad egg. Imagine a Luftwaffe Ace from WW2 finding out that he’d been on the side of one of the most evil regimes in history and that his acts of heroism are now considered war crimes. But…. IN SPACE. I suppose it’s fair to use (or reuse) a Star Wars comparison -- Cassius is a bit like A TIE Fighter Ace after the Battle of Endor.
The best of the characters from Book 1 make a return as well, mostly, in the same form as we left them. I’ll not give you a blow by blow rundown of the motley crew but honourable mention has to go to the bioroid Isla who really develops very well for a Bioroid replica of that ice queen from a certain Disney film my daughter won’t shut up about. I wish she’d just let it go… Clarice also returns and is again an example of a multifaceted female character. I’ll leave it there because with Cassius, Isla and Clarice you’ve got a great caste already and they showcase something which sets Phipps’ and Suttkus’s writing apart. They’re each different. Clearly, we see Isla and Clarice through Cassius’s eyes (it’s 1st person POV), yet through their interaction with Cassius we get a strong feel for what’s going on inside both women. They’re very different and both are rich characters. Probably, what would be called strong female characters, but that does the writing a disservice. Here, they have more nuance than just ‘strong’; they have flaws that are believable and give them a great deal of depth. Like characters are meant to be, whatever their gender.
So on to the story itself. Fast paced, thrill ride. It’s got some brilliant set pieces, in the finest tradition of space opera but as always, it’s the personal confrontations that count the most. Here we’ve got one on par with Vader revealing he’s an absentee daddy. There’s also enough twists and turns that it kept me guessing until the end--reinforced by the death of an important character that you won’t see coming.
The worldbuilding doesn’t slacken off, but we get a longer view of galactic civilization. It’s pitched just right to add to the existing setting without overdoing it.
All in all, it’s the best book I’ve read so far this year and it’ll take a hell of a novel to beat it."

Enjoy it, I certainly did.