Ryk Brown

The Weak and the Innocent (The Frontiers Saga (Part 1) #14) In war who are the weak and the innocent? They are countless hapless civilians on liberated worlds caught between the Alliance and Jung as they battle for control. What right does the Alliance have to cause the death of innocents mere to protect Earth?On Earth politics rears its ugly head as an Admiral turned politician starts an Earth 1st movement. Earth ships should defend Earth and not her allies. This potentially pits a crimp show more into the plans of making a 30 light year safety zone around her. Could this Admiral who was captured during the Jung invasion of Earth be a Manchurian candidate for the Jung? we are also given insight into caste system of the Jung and how that influences it own actions. What I like about this series is that it can be read on multiple levels. At face value it's a simple space opera. Yet at the same time it looks at the political calculations behind military decisions. It forces the reader to ponder the effects of war not only on the warrior but also the civilians. The book begins to set up plot lines that may be carried over into the next series. So far this space opera has been an addicting summer read. show less

Now we're getting somewhere.

The Aurora is on the move again, jumping (literally) from system to system and battle to battle. It's still a fairly light read, with plenty of action and sci fi goodies to keep you occupied. It's actually starting to feel more like it's own flavor, rather than just cribbing hard core on Star Trek, particularly Voyager (and there's still nothing wrong with that).

One awesome thing that we finally get into a bit is just how weird it would be to be able to jump show more several light minutes away--only to see yourselves as you were those same minutes ago.

I will say that one thing that's starting to bug me is just how young and non-military they all feel--and just how little just about all of them seems to care about ship's security. I get that they're barely trained, but they almost all came from a military academy. And here they are with all sorts of locals wondering about the ship (even if a lot of good is coming of it), getting beat up left and right, and telling just about everyone they meet about their ace in the hole jump drive and home a thousand light years away. Just feels weird.

On another hand, one interesting thing we're starting to get is a hint of how religion will play into the series, with a faith built up around the legends of Earth and how they'll one day come to 'save us all'. And here's Nathan and his crew... half accidently just that. I imagine that's going to get rather complicated before it's all said and done.

Overall, far better than [b:The Rings of Haven|13516287|The Rings of Haven (The Frontiers Saga #2)|Ryk Brown|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1334469925l/13516287._SX50_.jpg|19073349]. Yet another quick read. Onward! show less

Ryk Brown is a prolific self-published author like Christopher Nuttall and Glynn Stewart, whose success depends on keeping his hungry audience well-fed.
His first novel, Aurora CV-01, is a flawed but promising military space opera built on the Horatio Hornblower template. An ensign just out of the academy must take command of an experimental starship when his captain is mortally wounded. Is he up to the task? Can he keep his damaged ship together to fight another day?
Standard stuff.
On the show more positive side, it reads well, and Jeffrey Kafer’s narration in the audiobook keeps the adrenaline flowing.
But there are flaws. Here are a few:
We have seen all these character types before. All the men are handsome and viral, and all the women are pretty and competent second-string teammates.
A thousand years and a thousand lightyears away, people still speak an easily understood dialect of English.
The nature of the plague that almost made humanity on Earth extinct is never explained.
The mechanism of the experimental interstellar jump drive at the center of the plot is never explained.
And for some reason, a starship fires torpedoes that seem identical to missiles.
Give Brown some credit. He thinks big. His Frontiers Saga currently has three 15-book units, and another 30 volumes are planned. Whatever its flaws, Aurora paved the way for a successful career. show less

N.B. I received a free copy of this audio book through the First Reads program.

N.B. I have not read or listened to the first two books in the series, thus my review may be influenced by a lack of knowledge that would come from the first two entries in the series.

I did feel that I was missing quite a bit of information from the first two in the series, but I was still able to enjoy this. I saw someone had compared the series to Star Trek Voyager, which I can understand. I don't know if I show more would have picked up any of the series if not for First Reads, let alone the audio version, but I am glad that I did.

I have now gone back and listened to the first one and didn't realize how much I was missing, but you don't need the missing information. It just adds a lot more context. I will be listening to the second one in the next few days and may update this accordingly.

This was well worth the time I spent listening. It was quite enjoyable and well-performed. My chief complaint is that it was sometimes jarring when there would be a scene change outside of chapter changes. Not being a listener of audio books, it may just be that I am not used to the transitions. In book form, I would imagine that there would be an extra bit of white space, but there wasn't an appropriate pause.

I am unsure what to mention about the plot itself without divulging spoilers, but I will say that this was enough that I want to check out the rest of the series. Worth the time!

UPDATE: Considering that I subscribed to Audible because of this book so that I could listen to the first two in the series and I'm looking forward every month to my credit to get the next, I think that that should say something. I just finished #9 and can't wait until #10 is availableI have the credit to get it. Start with the first one if you can, but the series is worth it. I'm not sure if I would try to start any later than this one or the next one in the series, though. show less