Spacers

De: Scott Bartlett

Narrado por: Mark Boyett

March 15th, Earth Year 2290

The day the aliens returned.

The memories are still fresh.
Of colonies burning.
Of millions dying in agony.

Fifty years later, we’ve built up our strength.
Using a wormhole, we colonized both sides of the galaxy.

It was the worst mistake we could have made.
Our enemy has returned and the wormhole has collapsed.

Commander Thatcher finds himself on the wrong side of the divide.
Separated from his pregnant wife by countless light years.

He’s just been given command of a light armored cruiser.

His first command.

If he ever wants to see his wife again, he’ll need to do the impossible.
To defeat this enemy, he will need to reinvent space warfare.

So that’s just what he’s going to do.

Spacers contains First Command through to the end of Free Space.

©2019 Scott Bartlett (P)2019 Scott Bartlett

Boring

Well, it’s boring. I waited and waited and it never happened. Ok as background noise.

after further review...slight downgrade, but ok

update: after finishing this audiobook, not merely a 2 hour-in review (see below for reference for the early 2 hour take I had), I have to sadly downgrade this to a 4 star book. here are my reasons:

1. as you'll see below, my early glowing review was mainly from 2 major reasons: super sale (paid half a credit) & solid storyline with NO SWEARING. Sadly, the swearing started shortly after my 2-3 hours in review below. granted, it wasn't "a lot"...no f bombs, but a bunch of shittake mushrooms began peppering the story ironically after i left the early review below. go figure! I like audiobooks without the swearing usually, a personal preference, so I can share the audiobooks with my kids. Sadly they will have to miss this one as such.

2. the story itself got better and also got worse. often the action was hard to follow and for epic space battles, usually it was over before realizing it was done and they achieved some great victory. it felt a bit anticlimactic often times and it didn't grip me like other space operas have. not bad, but not 5 star worthy imho.

3. I'm not as Gung ho now about going to the next installment. sure I'm interested to see what happens. but not "can't wait ecstatic" like I have been for others. I'm not even sure I will spring for another Scott Bartlett book unless I dont have anything better to spend a credit on.

final verdict overall: 4 stars.

ps. on a plus side? mark boyett did get a little better through the story...so I bump him to 4.5 stars. can't really record that on audible review scoring above, but still not at the 5 star level. so leaving it 4 stars across the board as such.

original 2 hour-in review:

well well well...another audible super sale strikes gold again! this book is currently being offered in their 2 for 1 special spring sale 2021. if you're on the edge trying to decide, this is what my review is for, for those trying to decide if this book is worth it...

verdict? if the first 2 hours are any indication then thats a resounding HECK YEAH from me. and here are my early thoughts (would have loved to have some kind of review as I was trying to decide whether to go for 2 books or 4...ended up going for 4 books for 2 credits and figured if it sucked then I would do the ol' refund option...and I think all 4 books I selected have struck gold...in addition to this book I selected wayward galaxy which is a no brainer due to RC Bray being the narrator, and instead of listening to that one first, I've saved that one for last since I'm 99.9% sure that one will be good! I also got battleborne, and RPGlit, my first one I've ever tried, and it quickly became my top 5 fav of all time audiobook, devoured that book in 2 days...so thats 2 for 2! I also got another one that is escaping my memory right now but it won some audiobook award and its a fantasy/Japanese book of some kind that I got to complete the 4 book selection along with this one, Spacers)...

1. I have been hesitant to try Scott Bartlett books bc frankly I want to be picky with my credits...I have dozens of books on my wishlist and usually wait for sales or in special cases like the expeditionary series by Craig Alanson & aforementioned rc Bray for narrator, I protect my credits and I'm stingy with them. no use in getting lots of books and never listening! but here was one such book on sale in a 2 for 1 deal and I've been intrigued to try a Scott bartlett book...so I took the plunge. and thus far? it ticks off all of the sci-fi space opera things I look for. is it the best ever? no...but its solid. and I'm only 2 hours in. that's usually how much time I give a book before giving up if it doesn't hook me. several I've gone longer and in the end it was merely mehhhh. if this book only gets better then bonus dude! if you're on the fence, I say go for it, even if you've never listened to a bartlett book before, like me...especially with the sale!

2. there is zero swearing [edit: see above...this didn't hold up for very long after I wrote this]. for some thats a negative. for many its a positive. I usually am in the camp for the latter...as such I can also let my kids listen! bonus dude again! I appreciate authors that use more descriptive words than f bombs and shittake mushrooms...so far the only swear word has been b*astard and thats really nothing. so an extra star from 4 to 5 for me...4 stars is what I would rate the book thus far simply because I'm only 2 hours in. subject to final review of course!

3. narration is pretty good. again not the best I've heard but I want to say I may have heard Mark boyett in another book (maybe a bv Larson book?) not 100%. but said book by bv Larson book did not catch my attention. I ended up returning that one after slogging thru 2 hours. either way Mark boyett thus far as been solid...not 5 star spectacular, but subject to final review later. 4 to 4.5 stars thus far. I had to increase listening speed to 1.05x as his cadence was a little slow. ive had to do that for others and is why I would dock a 0.5 star right now.

all in all this is well worth the sale price and I've already added book 2 for spacers and added a few other 3 box sets from bartlett...will await a sale or may take the plunge for a full credit since those are 3 box sets for 1 credit, when I've finished my back log of books. will give final thoughts added below once I finish this book for any other epiphanies! right now this is 2 thumbs up!

A Recognizable, yet Unique Sci-Fi Tale

Spacers has all the plot elements one would recognize from traditional sci-fi: An unbeatable space commander, an alien threat, and a young space crew with much to prove. Yet, author Scott Bartlett shows that he can take these traditional elements and take them in a direction uniquely his own. I would recommend Spacers to anyone, but especially to fans of sci-fi who are looking for something "new." This series is exciting and gripping, moving at a pace that feels natural and deliberate.

Without revealing any spoilers, I'll go into the plot a little for those readers who are still on the fence. In Spacers, planetary defense of fringe planets is contracted out to corporations, who compete against each other for government contracts. Commander Thatcher, our main character, retires from military service and joins one of these corporations, bringing with him his extensive military experience and acumen. When the wormhole connecting the fringe planets with the core planets collapses unexpectedly, Commander Thatcher finds himself in the middle of a corporation war that has broken out in response to the central government's inability to regulate the outer system following the wormhole collapse. Add to this a re-emerging alien threat and you've got yourself an epic tale.

Finally, where Bartlett really shines is in his appreciation for innovative war-fighting tactics. His characters are continually having to come up with new ways to defeat adversaries who are just as seasoned and have just as great of a desire to win. As the audiobook played, it was fun to ask myself again and again how his characters would fight what seemed like insurmountable odds. The war-fighting tactics employed by Bartlett remind me of those used in Legend of the Galactic Heroes, a space opera anime from the 1980's. The attention to war tactics in Spacers makes this series truly delightful.

Good book!

It's a good book great characters interesting enemy. The technology and combat tatics are interesting and refreshing. Scott did a great job creating a universe I want to spend more time in. Can't wait for more!

EVE Online but with aliens

I am a recovering EVE Online player and this felt very much like a story written in that universe except with aliens. A lot of fun and a good balance of action and world-building. I look forward to future books.