Small World

The Kanti Cycle, Book 2

By: Gre7g Luterman

Narrated by: Piers Ryman

Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

“What’s wrong?” The bigger geroo asked, twisting Kanti’s helmet free. “Can’t breathe?” The commissioner accidentally let his last cleaning crew starve to death. So now, Kanti and 49 of his teammates will have to spend the rest of their lives in a one-room barracks, with only a single airlock protecting them from the planet’s poisonous atmosphere. Surrounded by towering monsters, on a world where the very air is lethal, mysterious burrowing strangers are pushing the crew into a panic. Will Kanti be able to keep them from tearing each other apart? Or are they doomed to suffer a fate similar to the commissioner’s previous cleaning crew?

©2018 Gre7g Luterman (P)2021 Gre7g Luterman

Pain, suffering, and joy go together.

Many times i’ve just stopped listening because of the anxiety this story makes me feel but I always come back for the characters i’ve grown to love. I really want to see Kanti and Tish and Suni win in this, but most especially Kanti, I mean come on, he’s literally the main character and he suffers so much but keeps going, he’s an inspiration!

I think i’ll wait a bit before the next story because I really don’t want to finish this thing i’ve put off for years.

Loved it

This second book in The Kanti series is very different from the first story, but equally entertaining and captivating. In this story we follow a group of geroo instead of just Kanti and their adventures are just as thrilling and dangerous as they adapt to their new life surroundings. I loved following how each character's development fitted with the overall story like a very important piece of the puzzle. Narrator did a great job with all the voices and telling the story, his talent made this a perfect listening experience. I voluntarily listened to a free copy of this audiobook and am giving an honest review.

Kanti's Story Takes a New Direction

Finishing the first in the series, "Skeleton Crew," I was wondering where Gre7g could take Kanti's story next. "Small World" continues the first book's twisting of fate for the titular geroo, this time with dozens of others. The cast is thrust into an alien environment where precautions must be satisfied if they are to survive. They're technological background serves as both a crutch and a burden in their new lives, with access to information and resources limited. As time carries on, we begin to see the transformation of a society. Where it may be headed is a mystery I'm anxious to explore in the third book.

Like "Skeleton Crew" and the "White Flower II" series by Rick Griffin (also part of the same continuity), Piers Ryman delivers an excellent narrative performance, giving each character their own voice. Gre7g's writing style is engaging, and the pacing adjusting as needed. Exposition is neither vague nor drawn-out; it is written to provide you with the necessary information at a given time.

My only two concerns. 1) I was hoping Sarsuk would play a bigger role, with his close proximity to the cast. However, it is a minor issue being as the story is more about the geroo and less of the krakun.

2) A couple of chapter titles near the end of the story felt more like placeholders, those being of names of certain characters. I say this being as these two characters are introduced early in the book and have significant focus on them in multiple chapters. So I was a little confused why THESE two chapters used their names. To be fair, it never deterred my interest in the story, and it feels to be less of a concern compared to the previous book.

Apart from the two minor criticisms, I enjoyed the story throughout and never once felt disinterested. Happy to five-star this and look forward to "Fair Trade." ;)

Even More Engaging than the First Book

Just as when things seem to finally go right for Kanti, this installment takes him out of his familiar world and into another where the stakes have never been higher in his life. Tied together with a solid narration, I was invested all the way through. I was actually up early the morning after finishing it, because it had me pondering what would happen in the next book.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed Skeleton Crew, and I'm definitely going to be on the ball with going through Fair Trade when the audio book comes out.

This is the middle... the middle of our story

This books works differently than the one preceding it and the one following it. It digs deeply into a new and unfamiliar situation the geroo find themselves in, and lingers there. The only goal any of them has is survival--and as such, Kanti takes a back seat for most of this story. Because it's not about him, it's about a village that starts as a collection of strangers slowly learning to live with each other.

Well... until they don't anymore.

Piers is still the best, by the way. He delivers all the voices with conviction, attitude and distinct personalities.

I think it would have flowed a bit better if it was broken into parts on top of the chapters, since they tend to flow into one another without regard for the passage of time. This story is episodic, and the primary episodes are, firstly, their departure and arrival on Krakuntec, secondly, the life of Dekka, and thirdly, Saquel building his security force. (also there's the fourth one but that's just the last two chapters and leads into book 3) But this is a minor nitpick about the structuring of the story that only occurred to me when I listened to it all the way through. Regardless of this, you NEED to read this book if you want to really grasp the depths of where this story plunges in book 3... which should be out *checks fictional watch* any day now~

planned betrayals

Listening to this made me so sad and hopeless for those sent to be the replacement cleaning crew. Can the commissioner be more heartless and evil??? I felt so desperate for this group of people and their plight. Chapter 20 really broke me and I bawled. When I thought things couldn't get worse a betrayal of such magnitude!!!!! A glimmer of hope at the very end!!! On to book 3 where I hope to find more good news!!! I voluntarily listened to a free copy of this and am giving an honest review. The narrator did a great job bringing the characters and story to life.

An interesting turn of events

This story did not do the way I thought it would. The author pivots and brings new challenges and hardships for Kanti to overcome.

I highly suggest this follow up if you have read book 1 of the Kanti Cycle.

Piers Ryman once again brings the characters to life with his performance. I am very much looking forward to anything the author writes that is narrated by Piers Ryman.

Unique, Heartfelt, Tense

This is not what I was expecting with a sequel to the first book, but that is in no way a bad thing.

Once again the idea of small unsuspecting characters being explored in a big story is present. How many books have you read about an alien cleaning crew? Was a first for me but I am glad I did.

Small world is a frontier story in a sense. The characters are taken to a strange new environment where they have to learn to survive its harsh environment all while trying to build a new society. Just like the first book you will fall in love with the characters, laugh with them, cry with them, and fear for them during the hard parts.

Once again Piers Ryman does a stellar job with the narration. He reads the characters with conviction and brings each and every one of them to life.