Shaker

By: C.C. Prestel

Narrated by: Larry Oblander

This could happen to anyone. Maybe it already has.

Shaker chronicles the odyssey of Michael Taylor, an unassuming English teacher who wakes up to find himself a prisoner on a mysterious ship with more than 40 strangers. Neither he nor his companions have any recollection of how they got there. Those who survive the voyage soon learn that their lives will be forever changed. Taylor struggles to survive against lethal enemies and his own internal conflicts in a distant, hostile world that has been ravaged by decades of warfare. This story details his saga and transformation from an ordinary man into the legendary warrior known as Shaker.

©2019 Christopher C Prestel (P)2019 Christopher C Prestel

Fantastic

(Audio)
In the realm of science fiction, Shaker is something special. It's great how you can take something so simplistic as Michael, (who is a teacher), and put him in this life changing experience, which I will leave you to figure out. Also the audio was very clear and articulate, the reader accentuated the story well and did great with changing the accents and tones with each character. Great Story!

Character-driven, authentic telling from the start

From the first few sentences, I was entangled in the story of Shaker. The events and characters are presented in a succinct yet believable narrative that allows the listener's mind to fill in subtle details. This style of writing is sometimes more immersive than prose that attempts to expend extra words just to fill a page. However, in Shaker every word has meaning and the pace never slows down. Told through the experiences of Michael, we hear about his sudden alien abduction, recruitment into slavery and military service, and connections he makes while plotting his escape, not only from the camp where he's kept, but from the planet where he and countless other humans have been taken. The narrator captures the tone of retelling perfectly, with an endearing first-person authenticity. The tale was a delight from start to finish. [Disclosure: I received this title for free and listened at 1.85x]

Worn premise, tired execution.

Uninspiring example of the "abducted human press-ganged into becoming a mercenary in an alien culture" trope.

Maybe it was done on purpose, but this felt like the prison diary of some random dolt in the style of something out of the 1930s. Anything that might have had drama or high emotion was worn down to something tedious.

I described it to my wife as young adult literature for the elderly. The only surprise that this book provided was that I finished it.