Audio Book Review: Empire of Bones

Empire of Bones

By:  Terry Mixon

Publish Date:  January 25, 2014, Audiobook Release December 16, 2014

Format:  Audiobook - 7 hrs 24 mins
Narrated By:  Veronica Giguere

Genre:  Science Fiction

Series:  1st in Empire of Bones series

First Impression:  Sci Fi with a high fantasy feel with adventure and danger!

Synopsis:
The Terran Empire is dead. Long live the Empire!

Commander Jared Mertz, the bastard son of the Emperor, and his half-sister, Princess Kelsey, barely speak to one another. To their dismay, their father seizes an opportunity to change that and sends them on a dangerous quest to explore the fallen Empire.

Separated from home by an impassable gulf and struggling to redefine their relationship, they find themselves thrust into a vicious war. Unless they work together to stop the Empire’s deadly legacy, billions face a horrific fate.

First Sentence:
Commander Jared Mertz, captain of the Fleet destroyer Athena, looked up from his console when his tactical officer spoke.

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My Thoughts and Summary:
*This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com, at my request.

Jared is leaving for at least eighteen months to explore outer boundary space. Kelsey is drawn to the ruins and possibilities of finding the Old Terran Empire that was long ago lost. Jared is not happy when the Imperial Princess, second in line to the throne, arrives on his ship as a Diplomatic Representative for this exploration on orders from the Imperial Emperor. Also that she's his half sister who hardly knows him or speaks with him since learning he's an illegitimate child to the Emperor. Now, they are on a ship directed into the unknown. Together for at least a year.

I really enjoy Veronica and her many voices. She makes it so easy to differentiate the characters by voice and personality. She doesn't have as many accents as she's known for, but the personalities are clear. She speaks clear with a distinct feel to the words, there is no way to think they blend together when she speaks. This is one of her earlier works, it's from 2014, which shows she's always tried to differentiate different characters through tone, timber, and personality in voices.

This is the sort of science fiction I really enjoy. It has the feel of a high fantasy setting with adventure and danger, yet set in space. No magic or dwarves in that manner, but in the story telling it resembled high fantasy to me. I really enjoyed the adventure into the dark unknown of space with this crew. There are times I smiled and others I felt the worry. Their are well placed thoughts that make us worry of what could possibly come next on the road ahead of them.  Dare I say a sort of space opera in a sense with the characters?

I listened closely to catch as much as I could about the history of the Old Terran. There feels to be so much there and a troubled history with the Rebels. Nice set up and drawing us into it. I had questions and was curious to learn about Old Terran and what happened in the Empire as much as the explorers in the book, hoping to find some clue to the past.

There was mention of Flip Points in space that are used to travel between systems. At first I wasn't sure what these were or how they worked. When I really understood what they were was when we got to use one. I shouldn't have been worried in hoping I understood because Terry made it easy to understand when the time came to know. Thank you Terry.

We get the story from Jared and Kelsey's point of views. Two very different views of each other and the world, which gives us strong feelings for what is happening around them.

Jared is a great captain, in my book. He doesn't live better than his marines and he's not afraid to do the work as well. He earns respect from his crew and well deserves it. He's a genuine guy that you could like but he's stern when it comes to the way things are done on his ship. He cares about his people.

I really like Kelsey. She fits in so well with the rough and tough guys of the Marines. She's strong in her mind and intelligent. Kelsey is of the age that Jared was when he joined the Fleet, learning of his parentage. Kelsey now learns news that could shatter her and her twin brother's world. She's living with something that is very similar to what Jared had to face at the same age, bringing her to have a new view on her half brother. Kelsey also knows, somethings are best left untold, and I think all would agree with this information being one of them. But can it be kept that way? Could this jeopardize who Kelsey is and what Kelsey does?

As the story went we got to see new things and how some people have evolve with what they have. People at different levels of technology evolution. There are implants that are a curiosity, attacks from what appears to be a salvage race of people, and what of the old empire. So many different avenues that seem to cross and connect, but how? It was great how it was presented through actions and events that kept me interested, invested, and learning more and more. The empire is divided, yet there are pieces of it evolving at different rates in unknown systems.

I'm hooked! I enjoyed the adventure into the unknown. All the new we see and the battles we fight. The events our characters live through, and what they will have to live with is challenging. I WANT to continue with these characters as they learn to adjust to new tech they come across. Along with meeting all out in space, friend and foe.



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