The Hallowed War

By: T.E. Bakutis

Narrated by: Garrett Michael Brown

Length: 14 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Drafted into a private army, he must fight monsters or be hunted as one....

A century after the Break destroyed much of the world, the wealthy island nation of Dios stands alone as a paradise for those that remain...so long as they aren’t poor and homeless.

For street orphan Grant Riven, life is a series of kicks in the face. Until exposure to a powerful mutating agent gives him super strength, passive-regeneration, and the ability to use powerful weapons.

The downside? Lots of other people have mutated as well, except they’re insane and want to eat everyone.

After he’s recruited by Cloud Nine Engineering, the most powerful corporation in Dios, Grant is labeled “Hallowed” - the fancy name for his new mutation - and drafted into a war against the Mutes, the cannibalistic mutants overrunning Dios.

The deal is simple. In exchange for risking his life to fight monsters, Cloud Nine will provide him with the cure that keeps him from becoming a monster himself.

Experience the start of a pulse-pounding military sci-fi series, set in a post-apocalyptic world, from T.E. Bakutis. It's perfect for fans of Nicholas Sansbury Smith, T.W. Piperbrook, and Bobby Adair.

©2022 Aethon Books (P)2022 Aethon Audio

"You look good for a dead man."

2322. In Dios, Grant Riven, orphaned aged ten six years ago, has grown up dependant on his own abilities to survive until recruited as an Hallowed, his physical form altered, it was believed, by panacea, giving him both super strengths and the power for bodily regeneration after injury. He was one of the lucky ones. Most of those infected mutated into monsters. The powerful Cloud Nine Engineering wanted him and others like him, to defend their world against these Mutes.

Following Grant through his training, friendships and missions, The Hallowed War is the first book in a new series filled with near non stop fight action with a touch of humour, conspiratorial twist and fair character development - enough to make Grant's progress important to the reader. It is a good start, more a four star than a five, enhanced by the excellent performance by Garrett Michael Brown, whose narration injects excitement into the text delivery as well as individually voicing each of the protagonists.

An enjoyable read for fans of military science fiction, the story complete but with the set-up for a following volume established

Good story line, but....

The story line was real neat and different, but I really hate the f word and other cussing used way too often. Also, if you don't believe in God, keep it out of your stories and stop cutting on Him.

Can't wait to read again!

The first chapter does a good job of pulling the reader in, but doesn't have a good transition into the 2nd chapter, i don't really feel it was necessary. However, once my mind finally decided events were slightly out of order, I FELL IN LOVE WITH THIS BOOK!!! I love the storytelling, I love the universe and I love the narration. I would definitely recommend this book to a sci-fi lover.

Outstanding start to the series!

Great story! Great voice actor! Awesome main and supporting characters! Can't wait for the next one in the series.

Teenage military Sci fi

It wasn't for me, to me the MC who is very young. Acts like he's 16 or 26 depending on the situation. It's hard to understand why some choices are made. I couldn't finish it. And that happens rearly.

It needed better world building.

The story started off pretty good, but it fell apart when the level of technology was expanded on. The mutes as an enemy don't make any sense as a real threat given the sheer amount of futuristic weaponry and resources the protagonists have at their disposal. At their core, the mutes are humans with augmented strength and acid spit. They can still be punctured by small arms fire and be blown up by explosives. They are melee commandants most of the time with short range acid spit, which only a few can use. The good guys have laser guns, plasma shells, armed drones, freezing rounds, exo skeleton suits, shock rounds, battle Droids,etc... Normal people should be able to take down the mutes with the help of technology alone. Which really undermines the "twist" at the end. The hollow specific weapons make no sense. Why would you ever give a person a club or spear? Also, why would you rely on the internal power of the body to fuel weapons instead of having it come from the armor? Why do you need whatever energy that resides in hollows to pull a trigger of a gun?It makes no sense. The mutes themselves are never explained, nor how does one get infected. The story implies that being near mutes is enough to get you infected. The main character went from being a normal 16 year old to jumping walls twice his size minutes after coming into contact with a mute. Yet the story doesn't treat them as contagious going forward. Despite these things being the antagonists of the story, precious little is explained nor asked to be explained by the characters. Where are they from? How many are there? How is it transmitted from person to person? How long does the process take? What are the symptoms?Did the infected people attacking us come from outside of the island or from within? If from within the how did so many people go missing without anyone noticing? All these questions and more were never answered.

The third act was a mess. Apparently, this island doesn't have any proper leadership structure. A military coop can happen with little to no consequences. The hollow don't have any real leverage because technology can make the average person just as effective as them. So, them just getting what they want without any real pushback is bad world building. Operation Ant Hill was a complete disaster at the end for no reason. The mutes are attracted to the seekers. So the only thing you had to do was put the seekers in low stakes evacuated areas and bombard the mutes as they swarm. You didn't need soliders to gather around the seekers, just the seekers themselves. Grants' idea was terrible and got so many people killed for no reason. Yet no one acknowledged how bad his plan was nor how no one in leadership thought to us the seekers as I subscribed. Also, the idea that a mute as large as a city block couldn't be targeted by drones is ridiculous. Especially drones and artillery as futuristic as portrayed in the story. The twist at the end made no sense. Hollow soldiers were already obsolete soldiers throughout the story, regardless of whether the writer acknowledged it or not. The tech and resources displayed make their presence reduant. That's even more true at the end with the anti mute gas that affects the hollow as well. So the bad guy in leadership wants to kill thousands of their own people to get a few hollows that can all be taken out by a gas that's readily available? Hollows who can be killed by a drone strike just like a normal person?Hollows who can't reproduce? There is literally no reason for them to do this. It's beyond cartoonishly evil.

The narrator needs more range. The voices used were so similar that you couldn't tell who was talking without it being pointed out. I know it's a male narrator, but that doesn't stop Peter Noble or Travis baldtree from putting in the extra effort.