Steel World

Undying Mercenaries, Book 1

By: B. V. Larson

Narrated by: Mark Boyett

Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

In the 20th century Earth sent probes, transmissions, and welcoming messages to the stars. Unfortunately, someone noticed. The Galactics arrived with their battle fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined their vast Empire. Swearing allegiance to our distant alien overlords wasn't the only requirement for survival. We also had to have something of value to trade, something that neighboring planets would pay their hard-earned credits to buy. As most of the local worlds were too civilized to have a proper army, the only valuable service Earth could provide came in the form of soldiers…someone had to do their dirty work for them, their fighting and dying.

I, James McGill, was born in 2099 on the fringe of the galaxy. When Hegemony Financial denied my loan applications, I was kicked out of the university and I turned to the stars. My first campaign involved the invasion of a mineral-rich planet called Cancri-9, better known as Steel World. The attack didn't go well, and now Earth has entered a grim struggle for survival. Humanity's mercenary legions go to war in Steel World, best-selling author B. V. Larson's latest science fiction novel.

©2013 B. V. Larson (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Its like Starship Troopers but with Dinosaurs

Dino Aliens ✔
Cool guy Protagonist ✔
Cool World ✔
Likable Characters ✔
Unlikable Characters ✔
Protagonist likes looking at woman's posterior when being yelled at ✔
It güde.

Oh, hey, it's a surprisingly good military sci-fi

This turned out to be a very good military sci-fi book. I was surprised since the only other book I read by Larson was just on the edge of being unreadable. No, seriously, I went in with very low expectations of his writing skills and ended up not wanting to put the book down.

It is a fairly straight forward military sci-fi where aliens have a large presence. We follow the story only from the human side, but the alien species involved are distinct from each other and reasonably well-built. Sure, there are lizards, but as an alien species, they are just as plausible as any other alien species. The tech involved is interesting (and pretty cool) and the galactic "rules" that all the species live by are logical and consistent.

Is the main character a bit of an azz?... well, sure, but it isn't over the top and he isn't smarmy about it. There aren't any significant female characters in the book - those that are there are mainly viewed as "rewards" - but they aren't particularly objectified either, and they certainly are not bimbo sexpots (which is a nice change).

The narration is very good and there is no sex or gore and I don't actually recall any swearing. For a read-alike, you could try Marko Kloos' Frontlines series - they are quite similar in writing style and content. Oh, and Morgan's Kovacs series is kinda similar in tech-concept (but much more graphic).

BEST BOOK I'VE READ IN A LONG TIME

This was my first BV Larson book. I hope all his others are as good. The story drew me in even though i don't think i would like living in the world Larson created myself he drew some very memorable characters. Like a few good books I feel like i'm leaving a bunch of friends behind when I finally finished reading the last page and have to turn to something else. Something I haven'v felt since reading Jordan's wheel of time series. Highly recommended.

Basic military sci-fi...

Basic military sci-fi. Characters were pretty thin inside this yarn of a story. The Narrator was ok. I could take it or leave this whole thing.

Typical Larson.....Top notch military sci fi

Would you listen to Steel World again? Why?

I can't wait for the next book in the series

Who was your favorite character and why?

James McGill......of course

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

Top rate......all of his performances are top rate

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

dyno...mite

Any additional comments?

Looking forward to the next book in the series.

Didn't want it to end!

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

I kept coming across this book as I looked for new and different SF titles but I passed it over several times. Mistake. The story was fast-paced and full of action. The writing wasn't deep but if you are looking for futuristic military fiction that keeps you turning the pages...this is it. I have the 2nd book on pre-order and it will be available for purchase on 5/27/2014.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely. I only regret that I got into this series before Larson had written several stories or completed the series. Now I have to wait for each book to be released.

Fixes an itch I didn't know I had

I write this as I near the end of the fourth book. I've not been left with any disappointment for a single second so far in any of these books. While I personally prefer books that range out for more than twenty hours, I find he manages to pack in more content in his 12-13 hour range per book for this series than I've found in other books that go outward for 20-40 hours. He does this as well in a very well written way, and I personally had to pause and reflect for several minutes over just how fluid and rapidly the stories develop, a bit shocked that I had so much story presented to me in such a short time compared to other books.

He stays with one character (as far as I can tell by the end of the 4th book) and never shy's away from that, and I bless this man for that. He does not needlessly fluff his story with different perspectives conflicting with the over-all goal of the story. He provides world-building detail as needed for clarification and understanding scene-by-scene. If it is not a necessary detail that the main character needs for his story to progress, it is not given to us nor to the main character. Superfluous details and abstract stories that hold little relevant to the plot and story at had are not used at all.

The books stay fluid and flow in a very 'natural' feel. Nothing feels forced or shoved into place. There are no filler moments, and all interactions share a meaningful development for all the characters involved. I never grow bored or tired of the book for a single second and I'm so far listening to each book back-to-back at work and while trying to sleep. I stopped another book series mid-way after listening to a sample by chance and jumping into this while bored, and have been hooked since.

Finally, Mark Boyett is a wonder at narrating. He sticks to the voices for each character perfectly, and does a wonderful job of making you see the entire world through the main character's mentality and perspective. This man does his job far beyond what I've heard from many other narrators, and I intend to search out books he's narrated besides this series just because of the quality of his narrating. Man deserves an award.

Great book

As a military veteran in the tech field I loved the authenticity of this first person futuristic adventure.

Great book

Good story . Well written fun , I liked the characters and battles and I’m looking forward to the next book

Like video games read this.

I liked the world that has been built and how it has video game elements done right.