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

Fun story but how about some production QC!

The story was OK but not great. A major detractor from the immersion was the awful narration.

The narrator takes some getting used to but it seems like no preproduction was done during recording. There were multiple times that the narrator used the wrong voice and would try to transition from one voice to another over the course of a sentence. I don't know what techniques are used so that a narrator knows who is speaking a certain line but this could have been done much much better.

If you can get over this it is a fun jaunt.

Great Story line lots of action

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

I consider audio books superior only because I can listen to them while on the way to work and can listen to them at work, I have moved away from printed books

What other book might you compare The Lost Starship to and why?

Some of B.V Larson's works, after a chapter your hooked the story flows, characters are believable.

Have you listened to any of David Stifel’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No but he does a good job, I was not expecting the voice of the New Man it took really by surprise.

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

Loki Prime really disgusted me. perfect prison planet

Any additional comments?

I am hoping there is a follow up book to this one, there is a lot of different outcomes left in the air, He could do a whole book on the New Men alone.

Kind of an old school story

Reminds me of Stranger in a Strange Land, Have Space Suit will travel, or John Carter of Mars Series IN THAT the main character is bigger than life, the story is very focused on him and all the other characters are just supporting members. It was an excellent story, but it was quite a different read from what I think of as more modern type novels where you are constantly in and out of different story lines and other characters become so important that a new series is spun off to follow things from their perspective. This is not a critique, rather an observation that this book reminded me of books I read long ago and that writing styles seem to have trended more toward a complex multi-story-line with less emphasis on a single character.

All of that being said, I'm getting the second book right now. It was an excellent story. If I could have done it, I would have given the story a 4.5 stars and the performance 3.5 stars. It was a decent performance, but just a bit flat in areas and some of the voices were a bit awkward.

Enjoying but stretched out

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I wish Audible would eliminate whoever constantly gives a book 1 star and never writes a review. It happens too often. Clearly this book is well worth the listen. It had all of the things SCI-FI needs to be good. Granted the prison planet part was a little long but it did weave all of the needed characters into the story

Would you be willing to try another book from Vaughn Heppner? Why or why not?

I would like to see the story continue. I liked the epilog tied up the lose ends.

What aspect of David Stifel’s performance would you have changed?

I thought it was adequate.

High action.

Loved it.
When I started I didn't Stop!
Really good. going to start the second book now.

great story. awful narrative

I enjoyed the story but grew to hate the voice of the narrator. breathy and harsh by turns. terrible

Good story, lacking narration.

There is a Scottish character that the narrator attempted to voice with an accent without success. Not sure if he's Scottish or if it's actually Bob Dylan. In terms of the story, if you're into hard science fiction, you'll be slightly disappointed at some of the concepts depicted. The story is properly entertaining. It almost has a 1950's feel to it. Definitely worth a listen if you can get past Bob Dylan narrating this book.

Decent story

Story had its moments. I liked the concept but it also lagged in key points. I did NOT like this particular voice actor for this story. Voices were very hard to believe, especially the feminine ones. Was distracting.

Great read lots of action..

Capt Maddox and his motley crew strive valiantly to give humanity an edge against the new men. Will they succeed?

Fast Paced and Fun

I love when stories drop you in the middle and explain as they go. I have an active imagination and don't need every detail explained to fill in the gaps. This book does not bore you with endless chapters of history or character backstory. The Writer does a great job balancing the bravado of the main character with his inner demons. All the Characters have depth and flesh out well over the whole of the book. Although the story line is a bit predictable (not a bad thing if done well) the writer does well to keep surprising you in the details. I was not impressed with the narrator's ability to separate characters, at times I was confused as to who's "voice" was talking. I was convinced to start this series when I saw the next books are read by Mark Boyett, who is a fantastic Narrator. In all the book was not ruined by David Stifel's portrayal, in fact if I had purchased this book and Mr. Stifel was the continuing reader I would have still continued this series.