The Lost Starship

By: Vaughn Heppner

Narrated by: David Stifel

Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

Ten thousand years ago, a single alien super-ship survived a desperate battle. The vessel's dying crew set the AI on automatic to defend the smashed rubble of their planet. Legend has it the faithful ship continues to patrol the empty battlefield, obeying its last order throughout the lonely centuries.

In the here and now, Earth needs a miracle. Out of the Beyond invade the New Men, stronger, faster and smarter than the old. Their superior warships and advanced technology destroy every fleet sent to stop them. Their spies have infiltrated the government and traitors plague Earth's military.

Captain Maddox of Star Watch Intelligence wonders if the ancient legend could be true. Would such an old starship be able to face the technology of the New Men? On the run from killers, Maddox searches for a group of talented misfits. He seeks Keith Maker, a drunken ex-strikefighter ace, Doctor Dana Rich the clone thief stuck on a prison planet and Lieutenant Valerie Noonan, the only person to have faced the New Men in battle and survived to tell about it.

Maddox has to find a place hidden in the Beyond and bring back a ship no one can enter. If he fails, the New Men will replace the old. If he succeeds, humanity might just have a fighting chance...

©2014 Vaughn Heppner (P)2014 Vaughn Heppner

great story bad performance

I really enjoyed the story; however it was very difficult to keep interested due to the poor performance of the voice actor. if you can get through the first 15 to 20 chapters the story becomes so compelling that you can forgive the poor performance.

Bond in space

Would you consider the audio edition of The Lost Starship to be better than the print version?

Did not read

What did you like best about this story?

The main character has a very bond like feel and the world building is great. The inventive tech was as good as anything Larry Niven ever wrote and the entire story formed a satisfying complete arch. However I read this is as single story and when I found out there was a sequel I was more than pleased.

What about David Stifel’s performance did you like?

Good voice acting, I really liked the various characters.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The last 3/4th's of alien wizardry are very interesting.

Any additional comments?

This book also includes a pretty great prison break.

Good book

It was a good book. I enjoyed the reading. The story flows, it is definitely written for a youth audience.

predictable

story and characters are predictable. story has too many holes, in both science and plot line.

Droll and repetitive.

Inconsistent characters and highly contrived sequences that seemed flat
Some characters were so poorly written as to be painful

interesting

good narrator interesting characters but implausible. fairy tale easy plot. even so you want to know what happens in next book.

Narrator made me want to quit about 30 times

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

Only if they were reading a print copy

Would you be willing to try another one of David Stifel’s performances?

Not if I can help it

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Possibly

Any additional comments?

The main issue was the narration. Every female character was voiced as though she was a imbecilic "Ginger" from Gilligan's Island who had just gotten gut punched.

Slow start

Starts off pretty slow. I really only got hooked in to the story and characters over halfway in. Now I have purchased the rest of the series having just finished this first book.

Great story not so great performance

Love the story read the book first then listened to audio version. The narrator had a different accent for one character almost every time that character spoke and the other characters I found either too breathy (lots of air) or very hoarse sounding. The final characters where especially breathy and a little annoying. Otherwise well worth a listen... Or a read.

A first novel?

Would you try another book from Vaughn Heppner and/or David Stifel?

Might. It has to get better than this.

What was most disappointing about Vaughn Heppner’s story?

Very amateurish writing. Wss this a college composition class assignment?

Which character – as performed by David Stifel – was your favorite?

None

Do you think The Lost Starship needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No. I think all the damage that can be done on this unoriginal premise has been done.

Any additional comments?

Not bad enough to get a refund, but close. Skip this book and move on.