• TFS Ingenuity

  • The Terran Fleet Command Saga, Book 1
  • By: Tori L. Harris
  • Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
  • Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (2,758 ratings)

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TFS Ingenuity  By  cover art

TFS Ingenuity

By: Tori L. Harris
Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
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Publisher's summary

It's the year 2277. For 50 years, Earth has received mysterious data transmissions from random locations in deep space. The streams include advanced technology, allowing humans to achieve faster-than-light travel virtually overnight. As we prepare to take our first tentative steps into interstellar space, we know almost nothing about our alien benefactors, and their motivations remain unexplained.

While completing their shakedown cruise, Captain Tom Prescott and the crew of the first Terran Fleet Command starship, TFS Ingenuity, stumble into a first contact situation. They learn that Earth is not the first civilization granted access to the stars before their time - and how this Faustian gift has inevitably led to centuries of interstellar war. Humanity's existence hangs in the balance as a powerful alliance assembles a preemptive military strike, believing it to be their only option to protect themselves...from us. Prescott and his small, initially unarmed starship must serve as our only line of defense. Ingenuity is our only hope.

©2015 Tori L. Harris (P)2016 Podium Publishing

What listeners say about TFS Ingenuity

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    1,760
  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
    58
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Performance
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,621
  • 4 Stars
    636
  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
    35

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good, but Short Buildup for a Continuing Series.

I was impressed with the writing and plot of this book, but it was a little on the short side and obviously meant as the buildup for a series.

The Terran Fleet Ship Ingenuity is the first starship constructed by humanity. It was made possible, in large part, because of the technological knowledge bestowed upon earth by a mysterious alien benefactor race. Little is known about the aliens themselves, but transmissions containing advanced technology and knowledge have been received by earth governments for decades. There has been much speculation as to the motives of this race... Are they really friendly? Why would they give away such advanced knowledge? What do they expect in return?
When a squadron of ships from a different alien race enters the Sol system and is promptly destroyed by a stealth AI probe left by Earth's mysterious benefactors, the remaining survivor tells the Terran Fleet officials how earth is being maneuvered into a proxy war and that their acceptance of the technology is seen by the nearby alliance of alien races as a threat that must be stopped...
Unknown to either party, this is not Earth's first encounter with alien technology. Thanks to previous access to advanced alien tech in addition to that granted to them by the alien benefactor's AI probe, the TFS Ingenuity is only the beginning of Earth's first step onto the galactic playing field.

This was a good overall story, but unless you are planning on continuing with the series, there is little point in listening to this book. There was a lot of filler and backstory for such a short book, and it ends in what is essentially a cliffhanger.
Also, even though I liked it, I found the sudden and rapid development of technology and ships by Earth to be a bit of a reach. Why even launch the unarmed frigate Ingenuity when you have bigger and better warships only weeks from deployment?
That being said, it was still a good book and I will probably continue with what is likely to be a very enjoyable series.
Narration never interfered with the story, which is the mark of a good performance (in my opinion).
This is worth the credit or price if you are planning on continuing with the rest of the series in the future.

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30 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A perfect book for napping!

I was surprised that a very large portion of this book is dedicated to explaining what is going on in the book. In fact, it struck me a book that contains another book that describes the first book. Now, this may seem odd but, it also seems to anticipate that people will nod off to sleep when listening to the book. If they do, it is a very clever technique because it helps ensure that the listener will not have to worry about missing anything because it will all be explained again shortly.

Another feature that makes this book perfect to listen to when you may fall asleep is the plot development. It is so painfully slow throughout the series that, even if you fall asleep and miss some detail, it won’t matter because the plot never advances far enough in an hour or two to leave you behind.

Of course, there are the parts of the novels that are dedicated to describing various scenes in great detail. It is almost as if the author is describing what is happening in a movie to a blind person. This too has a soothing effect that trended to encourage me to just close my eyes and listen. What better encourages peaceful napping than that?

Then again, there are the characters. They are all unambiguous and one dimensional to the point where they are all nearly interchangeable. The good guys are all the honorable boy scout types and the baddies act within the confines of their own roles. So, when you fall asleep, it wont matter who is talking when you wake back up.

Then, there is the narration. It seemed to me that the narrator was fully aware of how tediously slow the story progresses and tried his best to compensate by reading the parts just as fast as he could to hold people’s interest in spite of the foregoing. Sadly, this really does not help people who find the need to take naps during the story. However, I was able to fix this by slowing down the playback to 90% of normal. Problem solved!

Now despite all this, I can say that I listened to the first three books in their entirety and the pause between deciding to spend a credit on more of the same was not overly long. But, perhaps I got carried away in those instances. However, before getting the last book in the series, I think it appropriate to sleep on the decision.

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Tm
  • 05-11-16

More please

No spoilers here.
The Good: This is an interesting way to look at first contact. TFS ingenuity is an action packed thrill ride. The space battles are not the sole focus of the story like many of the genre. I found the plot twist interesting and the characters fleshed out just enough. I did listen to this book straight through and enjoyed it very much. I am VERY eagerly awaiting the next installment. As always Jeffrey Kafer is an elite narrator. Well done again.
The Bad: Not much really. Just that this is a bit short of a story for my liking. There are many opportunities to expand on events in this story. I would like to have had another couple of hours of story. The cliffhanger at the end upset me as I had more lawn to mow and no sequel to listen to!
All things considered, a very good book.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Book may have been better with different narrator

I could not finish listening to this book. While the tenor of the narrator's voice is very nice, he sounds as if he is reading directly from a book. I may have found the book more interesting if the narrator's voice had bee less monotone.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Predictable with militaristic psychobabble...

Predictable story line with a broad equivalence to Star Trek in tone and character. Narration was clipped, too rapid at times and rather monotone. Doesn't inspire me to want to listen to the other books in this series.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Sci-fi space story

This a good space exploration story with a crew you can get to know and identify with. I liked how the author chooses to fully develop a background and motivation for the plot and conflicts that arise. If you are looking for constant space battles that lack reason this is not the book for you. THE NARRATION is great. the NARRATION could be improved if they could add a secondary female narrator for the female characters and perhaps if they tried to emulate the alien voices. I recommend this book both for paperback and audible.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Best sci-fi I've heard in a while. Loved it!

Really awesome tech and an incredible storyline. If only it was longer or if the second book was already out. Please throw a C-drive into the writing and get the second book into the Sol system pronto!

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

TFS Theseus

Loved the story line and the overall book. Waiting for book 2 TFS Theseus. I already have the written copy, hope the see the audible version soon.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Book!! Excellent story. WAY to short. WAIT..

What did you like best about this story?

nicely conceived plot and universe idea. Nicely done

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed this book but it is way way way too short. Particularly since there is nothing else supporting it. I recommend the author support his books with more titles before releasing a story that just cuts off...literally....mid stream. While I loved it I am very frustrated right now not knowing how long the wait will be or if I will even remember to see if new ones are out.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

EXCELLENT SCI-FI NOVEL, NO QUESTION

THERE ISN'T EVEN A SMALL NEGLIGIBLE AMOUNT OF DISAPPOINTMENT FROM MY END REGARDING "TFS INGENUITY", AKA: "TERRAN FLEET COMMAND SAGA". PLAIN & SIMPLE, THE STORY LINE IS GORGEOUS, ENTERTAINING, & BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED AND CRAFTED. SO NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS, WHERE THE HECK IS TFS #'s: 2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9???? HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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3 people found this helpful