Unbreakable

A Novel

By: W.C. Bauers

Narrated by: Andi Arndt

Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's Summary

The colonists of the planet Montana are accustomed to being ignored. Situated in the buffer zone between two rival human empires, their world is a backwater: remote, provincial, independently minded. Even as a provisional member of the Republic of Aligned Worlds, Montana merits little consideration - until it becomes the flashpoint in an impending interstellar war. When pirate raids threaten to destabilize the region, the RAW deploys its mechanized armored infantry to deal with the situation. Leading the assault is Marine Corps Lieutenant and Montanan expatriate Promise Paen of Victor Company. Years earlier, Promise was driven to join the Marines after her father was killed by such a raid. Payback is sweet, but it comes at a tremendous and devastating cost. And Promise is in no way happy to be back on her birthworld, not even when she is hailed as a hero by the planet's populace, including its colorful president. Making matters even worse: Promise is persistently haunted by the voice of her dead mother. Meanwhile, the RAW's most bitter rival, the Lusitanian Empire, has been watching events unfold in the Montana system with interest. Their forces have been awaiting the right moment to gain a beachhead in Republic territory, and with Promise's Marines decimated, they believe the time to strike is now. Unbreakable by W.C. Bauers is character driven, military science fiction at its best.

©2014 William C. Bauers (P)2014 Macmillan Audio

Not the SciFi I hoped

OK look, it was a good book, but more of a political strategy story than a SciFi futuristic battle that I hoped it would be. If you're into the political strategy behind the war, then this book is for you (at some points, it felt like the author was trying to prove his knowledge of political chess). If you're into futuristic technology and action packed battle, look elsewhere

Ours is not to reason why.

In the fine tradition of the notable heroes of fact and fiction rises the new star Lt. Promise Paen. Part Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller, Honor Harrington, Kristine Longknife and Horatio Hornblower and undoubtedly all her own.

Promise Paen has left her life and her home world behind her in a gamble to gain the expertise necessary wreak bloody vengeance. Instead she finds a home and family in her brother's and sisters in the R.A.W. Marines. No one can run forever, and Lt. Paen has just been called to duty on the one rock in all the 'verse she never wanted to see again.

A dark shadow has come calling upon her home world and Paen must wage a war both conventional and insurgent to save a world and people she never expected to again lay eyes on. She is headed home. Duty and honor will make her confront all her demons face on.

W.C. Bauers is not afraid to cut a swath of blood and bodies through his creation like he made a personal bet with George R.R. Martin over body count. Not one death is over done. Every drop of blood sweat and tears draws the story forward to the plot's climax.

Much like Slim Pickens in Doctor Strangelove I know I am in for the ride of my life, while the sultry tones of Mae West whisper in my ear “Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride”.

The Narrator, Andi Arndt does a brilliant job bringing the characters to life.

Why are you still reading this review and not listening to the book already?

Solid military SF

While this will never be a classic, it is a solid, if predictable entry into the field. After not finishing a number of well reviewed self-published novels it is a relief to finally find a book that wasn't just silly, that played fair with physics, that didn't have crazy packed asteroid fields.

The plot played fair. No miracles saving everyone when all seemed hopeless. Characters we're decently fleshed out for this type of novel.

The narrator did an excellent job. Recommended.

A fine debut for fans of MilSciFi.

Many writers try to be as good as their own favorite authors and genres, but W.C Bauers has succeeded. Fans of Weber, Ringo, Larson, Kratman and so many more will discover that a great new voice has exploded into our midst like a happiness grenade. The only criticism I will mention is that the naval scenes need more detail, but I can easily tell that the author has what it takes to do just that, and more, if he desires. Kudos to you Mr. Bauers!

Really Good Story!

This is a classic. It follows all of the classical themes of great space opera fiction. Young female sergeant in the RAW Marines is thrust into unwanted command with a small force against insuperable odds and wins. The story hits all the right buttons for me, just like Weber did with the Honor Harrington stories and Weber and Ringo did decades ago with the We Few series. Some might critique this as cliche, but I like it. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes great space opera/military sci-fi.

I hope Andi Arndt narrates the next book too!

And I hope to see Book 2 in the Audible catalog soon . It appears that Unbreakable has been around since 2015…. hopefully the next book will be recorded soon. This one hits right in my personal sweet spot. Honorable heroine, military science fiction, underdogs, adversity to success….the whole shebang!

Great sci-fi, great narrator

It’s a good mix of naval and marine story lines. The story is smooth, solid and enticing. The narrator ends up being wonderful. At first I thought she was young sounding, maybe inexperienced. Then she does a fun job at Sean Connery impersonation. The readily cool part for me was how she puts realism in the emotions. For instance, a character is running and the narrator was breathing like the running character, only lighter to not take away from the story telling. Other emotions were on display as well and it really added to the story. Read as if you were thinking how the teller was trying to tell it. Very cool.

Good Book

I like trying a writer's first work and at least as far as audible this was the first. I think it was a very good first attempt. There are plot problems like the hero getting a promotion over others that were about seven steps above what she was. You will have to ignore those and it will be enjoyable.

A slow start.

The story didn't really grab me at first but it soon caught up. And it was great from there on out. Narrator seemed to lack expression sometimes. Not that I could do any better though.

boring.

there is never a climax towards anything, never knew who the side characters were. no world building. over all an event driven bore...with a monotone narrator.