Stormblood

By: Jeremy Szal

Narrated by: Colin Mace

Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

Vakov Fukasawa used to be a Reaper: a bio-enhanced soldier fighting for the Harmony, against a brutal invading empire. He's still fighting now, on a different battlefield: taking on stormtech. To make him a perfect soldier, Harmony injected him with the DNA of an extinct alien race, altering his body chemistry and leaving him permanently addicted to adrenaline and aggression. But although they meant to create soldiers, at the same time Harmony created a new drug market that has millions hopelessly addicted to their own body chemistry.

Vakov may have walked away from Harmony, but they still know where to find him, and his former Reaper colleagues are being murdered by someone, or something - and Vakov is appalled to learn his estranged brother is involved. Suddenly it's an investigation he can't turn down...but the closer he comes to the truth, the more addicted to stormtech he becomes.

And it's possible the war isn't over, after all....

©2020 Jeremy Szal (P)2020 Orion Publishing Group

amazing sci-fi

A great I’d describe as grimdark sci-fi. Highly recommend for anyone who enjoys sci-fi or fantasy with dark adult themes

11yr old son & I loved this on a long drive

Highly highly recommend this book, terrific story, great vocal performance, memorable characters and some awesome tech!

I read/listen to a lot of military scifi, love it, sadly most of it isn’t suitable for a shared listening experience with my son - too many F-bombs and sex scenes - Jeremy Szal’s debut is perfect, a book of friendships and relationships, we can’t wait for the sequels

Great story

This was a real treat to listen to. Great plot and very engaging. Hope Jeremy keeps the winners coming.

Exciting debut

I loved this book. Fantastic narrator and an action packed space opera with awesome alien races unforgettable characters and just great storytelling. Well worth the credit to get this title

Compelling

A great Scyfy novel is the greatest escape we have in life. It's only more true with the rise of audible. First please ignore the awful review comparing this to Red Rising. They are only alike in that they are very well written. They both obviously took years to write, they are complex fully developed. In other words they are both great, but the fact that they both use the term reaper plenty is the only thing that's similar.

This narrator is remarkable. He is no Tim Gerard Reynolds knock off, he is fantastic in his own right, and he sounds completely unique. Apparently Bob thinks Red Rising has the monopoly on narrators who speak British English.

Comparing this to Red Rising may also be disrespecting this series which is off to a remarkable start. Everything after book 3 in Red Rising has been, let's just say stop after 3 and it's great, continue knowing the rest may ruin it for you.

This book has it all. I need to listen to it again as its been a while and the sequel is coming.

Stormblood is complicated, completely original, absolutely worth your credits. Stormblood stands on its own merits.

Editing, editing, editing

Did I mention, this books needs to be edited? Needs to be 3/4 length of its current length. Future where every other sentence includes the word Stormblood. I found that I really didn't give a crap whether this chemically hyped-up character lived or died. Writer has potential but surrender the super guys and give me a character I can relate to.

Great sci-fi

Thoroughly enjoyed this, still thinking about it months later. It read to me like a meditation on addiction. Violent and brutal but with a ton of heart.

A wild ride from start to finish!

This was a great read. I can’t wait to see where it goes from here!

A solid debut: military sci-fi with grit and heart

This was a fun, riotous romp through all the things I'd hope and expect to see in a good sci-fi novel: advanced weapons, alien civilizations and cultures, spaceships, future humans carving out their own dystopias. For good measure, Szal also serves you a hefty helping of military fic (complete with big guns and armored battle suits, soldiers with PTSD, and battles ranging from the claustrophobic invasion of your body caused by robotic malware to firefights on farflung planets). It's gritty, full of adrenaline, and filled with heart. The world building is tremendous and the prose is just exquisite. As if that weren't enough, you also get some great sci-fi noir rolled into the mix with Vakov acting as a sort of "mercenary P.I." who goes rogue half the time to get the answers he's searching for.

At the center of Stormblood, though, are the relationships revolving around the main character, Vakov Fukasawa. Because as much as this book is about Vakov's own PTSD and coping with the side-effects of having parasitic alien DNA bonded to his body, it's also about reconciling his relationship with a brother he abandoned, learning to open up to others and develop new relationships with people that care about him, and protecting his techie sidekick (and surrogate little brother) from Vakov's own dangerous impulses. There's a lot packed in here, so it's easy to overlook this last bit, but you'll miss that gem if you blink, because the writing is so fast and fluid that you are quickly carried along from the beginning to the end of the narrative with barely a moment to digest all the flashbacks, captures, and daring escapes.

An easy 5-stars.

Like all your fav sci-fi games rolled into one

What happens when you put Halo, Mass Effect, and the Expanse in a blender? Everything turns blue. This is kinda how Stormblood felt. Like the Master Chief from Halo wondering around a space station like the Citadel from Mass Effect, with the looming threat of the proto-molecule from Expanse. Oh, and the Master Chief has PTSD and crippling drug addiction. It's a mash up, but one that works surprisingly well.

We follow Vakov. He's a Reaper, which means he's an elite super soldier who was pumped full of a drug made of alien DNA (Stormtech). This makes him super strong, super fast, super sensed, and super addicted to adrenaline. And the biggest catch... you don't get clean... Ever.

There's a lot of mysteries in play with this one and many are revealed slowly over the course, while others are held back for later books. There's also a bunch of really cool tech on display from stealth suits, to giant mechs, to warships. At times the book delves into these with wild abandon, so for anyone who likes to read about cool tech... check this one out! Do it!

There's also a deep character drama unfurling as Vakov wars with a side of him he's been trying to deny for a long time, while also discovering some new facets to his own personality.

It's a fun, action-packed ride full epic battles, mysteries, detective work, and a lot of heart.

4 well-earned stars.

Oh, and the narrator was Colin Mace who nails the bitter soldier voice to the wall!