Jacob Holo

Originally billed as a new standalone novel from David Weber, The Gordian Protocol, coauthored by Jacob Holo, has since spawned four sequels. Weber knows you should never let a good universe go to waste. We begin with Benjamin Schröder, a history professor living in a timeline in which the Second World War Pacific Allies invaded Vladivostok to meet up with their German friends. His peaceful life is disrupted by apparently psychotic episodes in which he envisions other outcomes for the war. show more Then, he meets a time traveler from the far future who recruits him to help untie a knot in the timelines. Is it OK to destroy one universe to save fifteen others? It may depend on who asks or who has the time machine with the biggest guns. (It is a David Weber story, after all.) With more than a dozen timelines to play with and a bunch of high-tech weapons, is it any wonder that Weber and Holo kept the Gordian universe alive? show less

Weber and Holo serve up a virtual feast of timely conundrums, plot twists, and side relishes for the SF connoisseur!

As the opening dish to what is sure to be upcoming courses, The Gordian Protocol is replete with enough food for thought at many levels. From multiverse time travel to the ethics and morality of collecting ancient artifacts--let alone virtual existence--it is packed to bursting with non-stop physical and mental action.
I read this in nearly one reading and enjoyed every bit of show more the feast. You do need to pace the reading as the action scenes carry you along quickly, but then you have to slow down to digest the meat of this timeline twists and turns. I have noted some complaints that there are too many unneeded asides, but like condiments, they provide needed pauses and flavour to the final meal.
Reading this is a rich and satisfying read and I am hungry for more!
Well done Chef Weber and Sou Chef Holo! show less

Lots of words, theories, and a resounding battle by folks from the 3rd Millenium. And the reason for all this hoopla: to save Hitler? Some strong characters and the lively action make this almost an interesting read.

Time manipulators, a secret society based in the secret city of Chronopolis, and the Reavers (giant bugs) make this a hell of a fun ride! Nicole unexpectedly finds out that she can manipulate time while on a class trip to Russia. There she meets Daniel, a friendly guy with a sword in a trench coat who slays these gigantic bugs. And that’s just the start. I was caught up in this tale right away and the party continued the whole way through the book.

First, Nicole was an easy character to show more like. She does enter the story a bit deer in the headlights but once she accepts this is her new reality, some of her inner spark and humor start to show. I didn’t always care for her passive aggression with her sister Amy, but I did find it added to her character. They’re sisters so there’s bound to be some love and hate all mixed together. Speaking of Amy, I really liked her. She’s got some issues as well but I like that she owns them.

Then there’s Daniel. This guy had me laughing out loud. He’s got this quirky sense of humor and he can be almost innocent at times. But then he’s also a trained assassin with special gifts. So, yeah. He’s a cuddly, friendly dude who kills people for the leadership of Chronopolis. Those two polar opposites in one character made him fascinating to me.

Enter Rudigers and his cousin Melanie Krieg. They also work for Chronopolis but Ruddy has some different ideas on some things. He and Daniel have history and that gives barbs to their comments to one another. Still, they are committed to saving people and that means they are stuck working together. These 5 young adults make a great team, each one bringing their own unique powers to the story. Later in the tale, we meet Shoto, a swords-smith at Chronopolis. She has some choice words for Daniel, in Japanese. Daniel really does need to get some linguistics lessons.

I loved the bugs! Some are sentient, some aren’t. Some are hive drones, some are brain bugs. These Reavers were all scary and deadly. I especially enjoyed Nicole’s look into the bug leaders’s ideas. While I expected that this story would turn out OK, I did have these little moments where I wasn’t sure if someone would fall to the bugs. They have so many ways to kill humans!

My one little quibble was that I found it a bit unrealistic that Nicole’s parents weren’t more involved. They were quite OK with 16-year-old Nicole and her older sister gallivanting around Europe (that’s the tale they told the parents). So in moments like this, Amy and Nicole felt more like college students instead of high school students. Other than that, I really enjoyed this tale and was entertained throughout it.

I received a free copy of this book.

The Narration: Tess Irondale was great for this book. She had plenty of accents to pull off (Russian, British, German, Japanese, American) which she did incredibly well. I was impressed with the speed and accuracy she showed for the various languages. Then there were some emotions in this book and she did great with those as well. Each character was kept distinct and her male voices were believable. A great narration all told!

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Jacob Holo. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it. show less