The Messenger

The Messenger, Book 1

By: Terry Maggert, J. N. Chaney

Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer

Dash never asked to be a mech pilot, but fate has other plans.

On the run and out of chances, he guides his ship and crew into the heart of a relic older than the galaxy itself - and find himself on the edge of an eternal war he never knew existed.

The relic is a mech, lost to history and forgotten by all who remain. Built by an ancient race to be the ultimate weapon, the machine is capable of unspeakable destruction, and its discovery could unhinge the balance of power throughout known space.

Worse still, the A.I. inside the machine speaks of an ancient evil that will soon arrive - a race whose power far exceeds anything humanity has ever witnessed.

Only the Messenger can stand against them, the A.I. tells its new pilot. Only you can do what must be done.

©2020 J.N. Chaney (P)2020 Podium Audio

Really good

This was a fun romp. Pure escapism that feels like the old pulp scifi of the 60s mixed with the mecha anime of the 80s. I’ve never read anything quite like it.

It does take a bit before we see the mech, but once it comes into the picture, things really take off.

Great story line!

I'm ready for the next performance! Lots of suspense, with a character I can see as Harrison Ford!

I like the concept

It’s a decent book. The writing is acceptable. The story moves forward okay, but it could be a little more concise.

Pretty dang interesting sorry.

Initial gut comment: Dash is a dick.
But the other guys in the story seem to put up with that. Not a whole lot of mental side bar conversation right in the middle of a fight like in so many books. You ever notice that? Right in the middle of a fight, the protagonist flies into this king diatribe of this or that? I always wondered where that pause button was because I never, ever found it.
But I like the story. It’s kinda disappointing that the stories aren’t a little longer. 6 hours is kinda short. That’s like Akart style I think.
J. Kafer killed it as usual and the dude that complained he voices sound the same as a different book. Well. It’s a DIFFERENT BOOK. Dude narrates 500 books with 10 characters each so he should have 5,000 unique voices? Some dudes just gotta bitch about anything.

Anyway I think if you like mil Sci-Fi that you’ll enjoy this book and the one before it. My hesitation on book 3 isn’t if I will enjoy it, it’s just getting past that 6 hr thing. I’ll probably break down and buy it bc it’s going to get in my nerves not know how it all plays out.

Not Great, But Entertaining Enough As It Went On

To me, this started out as a disjointed Hans Solo remake. The story wasn't interesting enough to capture my attention until other personalities started coming in to play. I'm still really invested in the main character, Dash, but the story got better as the book went on. I will listen to the second and see if it improves.

Kafer's narration was just too overdone. He did the personalities well, but his general narration was a never-ending over-inflection of suspense. He didn't make this easier to listen to. I really wavered between three and four stars, primarily due to the narration, but gave it some grace and jumped it up.

Entertaining Story In Need of a Thesaurus

For the most part, this story is an entertaining-but-generic space opera. The first third of it reads like a Star Wars fanfiction with the main character's name changed for legal reasons. Although, now that I think of it, I'm pretty sure the Shadows of the Empire N64 game had a protagonist named "Dash".

Fortunately, the giant robot part does help to set the story apart from others of its ilk. Dash's banter with him AI companion made me chuckle several times, and the space battles feature some fun physics tricks.

The narration was very appropriate for the genre, but the writing was incredibly repetitive. One description of an alien race used the same phrase three times, and if I had a dollar for every time the word "incandescent" showed up, I'd be able to hire a better proofreader for the author.

Predictable and annoying

The story line is abysmal…. Don’t wast your time …unless of course you like pain

Decent start

Good narrator. Kafer has a solid voice in the books I've heard him.

So the plot being a fun start and cool characters with a good narrator I'm willing to try book 2 and see where it goes...

Kafer pulled this together for a GOOD listen

I liked the book, not great but a solid listen and I will listen o the others

a great book and an excellent story to listen too.

I loved this book! the reader was very pleasant to listen too. if your a fan of Sci fi fantasy and MECHA you will love this book and series.