Audio Book Review: Alone

Alone

By:  Scott Sigler

Publish Date:  March 7, 2017, Audiobook Release March 7, 2017

Format:  Audiobook - 16 hrs 41 mins
Narrated By:  AB Kovacs

Genre:  YA Fantasy, Science Fiction

Series:  3rd in The Generations Trilogy series; Book 1 ~ Alive, Book 2 ~ Alight

Impression:  Conclusion with battles of the heart, mind, and physical all on land and in space.

Synopsis:
“We thought this place was our destiny—not our doom.”

Pawns in a millennia-old struggle, the young people known only as the Birthday Children were genetically engineered to survive on the planet Omeyocan—but they were never meant to live there. They were made to be “overwritten,” their minds wiped and replaced by the consciousness of the monsters who created them.

Em changed all of that.

She unified her people and led a revolt against their creators. Em and her friends escaped an ancient ghost ship and fled to Omeyocan. They thought they would find an uninhabited paradise. Instead, they found the ruins of a massive city long since swallowed by the jungle. And they weren’t alone. The Birthday Children fought for survival against the elements, jungle wildlife, the “Grownups” who created them . . . and, as evil corrupted their numbers, even against themselves.

With these opponents finally defeated, Em and her people realized that more threats were coming, traveling from across the universe to lay claim to their planet. The Birthday Children have prepared as best they can against this alien armada. Now, as the first ships reach orbit around Omeyocan, the final battle for the planet begins.

First Sentence:
A stabbing pain jolts me awake.

Purchase At:
Amazon  /  Barnes & Nobles  /  Book Depository

Audible

My Thoughts and Summary:

*I listened to this book of my own choosing and enjoyment.

By listening to this through Scott Sigler's site, we learn that we have a new narrator and that Scott was present with the recording, which helps in getting many of the pronunciations correct. So there are names and such that were pronounced wrong by the previous narrator that this new narrator has correctly. I had enjoyed the narrator in the first two books. I would have liked to have had her back. But! I found I grew to like AB Kovacs as the story went. There was enough time between books to give me a breather for the voices to change. And, AB Kovacs felt to slip into the persona of and older, veteran Em who's lived through a lot and grown along the way.

The one great thing about listening to this audio book chapter by chapter through a podcast is that Scott starts each episode with a bit about what he's doing but also with a recap of what's happened previously, leading us in. Which is especially nice with the first chapter as it's been a while since I listened to book two.

We see how things have grown in the last year since the bloody battle between Springers and the birthday children. Some things are good, with the growth of city and crops and working together. Em and the Birthday children have started to create a society. They are living with the Springers. The kids are all growing older and slowly finding what they need to survive - food, technology, and surviving the wilderness outside the walls of the city. But there are bad things too. There's something growing in agitation between Springers and Birthday Children. There are fights and beliefs that they shouldn't live together in a city. There is a group of Springers that keeps fighting them and the Springers they get along with. There's trouble among the Birthday Children too. They are starting to become more aggressive and have terrible nightmares. There are space ships coming into space, that could very well be threats.

Nothing is easy, but Em and her people have their hands full of problems and situations as they work to make a peaceful world to live in. But, will that be on this world? Things are looking grim as the space ships near the planet they are calling home.

This has to be the longest book of the series, at least from what I'm guessing from listening. And with all we cover, it needs to be long so the series can be tied up in the end.

So many things happen in this book! Battle on land with rogue springers, battle from above with other ships coming, battle in space... The information we learn... We learn what's causing the races to come to this planet and why. We also learn about the anger issue. About "The Call" to come to this place... The new people we meet! Oh man. Scott has packed so much in this book and poor Em's emotions have to be all over the board! We get the answer to Em and Matilda fight between them. And the bigger battle to save their lives.

After we get the big climax with the Em/Matilda arc, it feels the story moves slower to get to the end, to get through the battle for their lives. But I think in part it feels I've been waiting for this since starting the first book. And, it feels as though I'm starting over again, getting to know the character all over again. In the end, it feels we get a closing for Em/Matilda.

This is the end of the trilogy. It's a long book, but takes a path not expected. What a ride here. It feels like we've lived ages with these characters with all they've lived through.



****If you found my thoughts helpful, please click Yes at Amazon. Thank you!

Audio Book Review: Alight

Alight

By:  Scott Sigler

Publish Date:  April 5, 2016, Audiobook Release April 5, 2016

Format:  Audiobook - 12 hrs 2 mins
Narrated By:  Emma Galvin

Genre:  Young Adult Fantasy/Sci Fi

Series:  2nd in The Generations Trilogy; Book 1 ~ Alive

First Impression:  New planet and so many worries for survival.

Synopsis:
Alight is the second installment in the YA sci-fi adventure trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Scott Sigler, hot on the heels of Alive.

Alight reveals to readers the further adventures of Em, Spingate, O’Malley, Bishop, and the other young heroes introduced in Alive. In Alive, Em fought to assert herself as leader and her friends tried to comprehend their own mysterious identity; now she must wrestle not with the challenge of winning power but the grave responsibility of having assumed it, and she and her friends must contend with a grim fact: the revelation of their identity is not an answer but another question—and one with terrifying implications.

First Sentence:
A stabbing pain jolts me awake.

Purchase At:
Amazon  /  Barnes & Nobles  /  Book Depository

Audible

My Thoughts and Summary:
*I listened to the free podcast of the audio book.

Em and the birthday children are now on the planet, but can they survive? The food stores are not eatable and there are others here that are a threat to them. But the children also have their own divisions starting which is fueled by the learning of the symbols and what the grown-ups had planned. The grown-ups are also a worry for the kids too.

Yes this is the audio book I listened to but it was done in sections through podcast on Scott Sigler's site. Scott is kind enough to give us a recap of what came to pass in Alive and each previous episode of where we left off. This makes it easier to remember what was happening and how I felt at those events.

Emma returns to narrate the book, which I'm glad because the personality she portrayed for Em in the first book became Em for me. In other words, I've grown attached to her for the characters. Emma does a fabulous job of voicing the personality of all the characters, Em, Bishop's strength, Aramovski's smooth jabs at Em, and so much more for those we've grown close to. I love the emotions Emma brings to Em and all the characters she voices.

The beginning of the book gives us a great rundown of all the events Em has lived through and brings the fresh rush of fear and sorrow through living through it. I really liked this beginning. It's like Em is awakening for the first time again. The kids had to get into coffins in order to land. There is a gas that subdued them for the landing process, so in a way Em is waking again. And she feels all the fear she felt the first time blended with the fears she felt and faced in Alive. This fits so well.

We dive in with a new sight and new world. What Em and the birthday children find is nothing they ever imagined! The planet they were created to live on has been explored already. And it's ready for them. Where I thought Alive was a slower start, this book is the opposite. As they find things that are useful, they find something bad about it or countering it. The kids will all have to find a way to survive. And the comment of Brewer from Alive makes sense to Em now, 'hopefully you can break the mold...'

The first awakened kids are all scared, inside and out. The things they had to do to survive scars them inside and the battles they fought make them unique from those that created them.

I really like Em and how she leads. She knows if she can't face danger, how could she expect others to. Em is a wonderful leader. She's not the smartest in all areas, but she makes the gut decisions needed to keep everyone safe and to survive. That's what it takes in a world like this. She's a natural at this. She also knows when to delegate to those that have the knowledge in different areas.

Em stands for so much more to me than a character in a story. Her whole creation shows that people can be more than others think. You can do more with your own drive and will pushing you. Em has taken her self beyond what she was originally destined to be. Em grows in mental and emotional strength through this book. She does what needs to be done, but I worry about her when it's all said and done. The aftermath is going to break her inside, but sometimes that seems to be the sacrifice that great leaders have to make.

Em has a growing relationship with O'Malley and Bishop as these kids grow and experience feelings. But then there's Aramovsky. Grrr. He is such a thorn in Em's side! But he's so well written, tip of the hat to Scott for a job well done as I really do not like him. I dread each time he opens his mouth.

This is the second book of the trilogy, you will want to read the first book first. We get some answers to things we've been curious to. Yet a whole new struggle for the birthday kids starts. My heart goes out to Em...what she learns and how she tries so hard to do for all.

This book blew me away. For me, it was beyond better than the first book. Maybe I am more aware as to what to expect from Scott's writing coming into this book... But this book has hit way beyond my expectations with twists and turns, reveals, and unexpected events. I did listen to this as a podcast and each and every episode had my full attention. The suspense has gripped my attention in this book along with the action, unknown, and all that we learn here. My heart pounded for the kids I've grown close to. I fear for death and worse, the transfer of the adults to them.

The ending leaves us with finishing the battle to survive on the planet, but there is still worries and stresses. And new threats on the horizon.



****If you found my thoughts helpful, please click Yes at Amazon. Thank you!

Audio Book Review: Alive

Alive

By:  Scott Sigler

Publish Date:  July 14, 2015

Format:  Audiobook - 9 hrs 44 mins (Podcasted by Narrator at Author's site)
Narrated By:  Emma Galvin

Genre:  YA Fantasy/Sci Fi

Series:  1st in The Generations Trilogy series

Impression:  Children waking and making their own way in a strange world.

Synopsis:
A young woman awakes trapped in an enclosed space. She has no idea who she is or how she got there. With only her instincts to guide her, she escapes her own confinement—and finds she’s not alone. She frees the others in the room and leads them into a corridor filled with the remains of a war long past. The farther these survivors travel, the worse are the horrors they confront. And as they slowly come to understand what this prison is, they realize that the worst and strangest possibilities they could have imagined don’t even come close to the truth.

First Sentence:
A stabbing pain jolts me awake.

Purchase At:
Amazon  /  Barnes & Nobles  /  Book Depository

Audible

Listen At:
Authors site (for free)


My Thoughts and Summary:
*I listened to this podcasted book for my own enjoyment.

They wake in clothes that are to small for them. They don't know their names, other than the name on their 'coffins'. They don't remember their parents or much of anything else from their past. Lost inside a building they don't know, full of death and secrets. They need to find food and water and to get out of here. What they learn far surpasses what they could have imagined and they will have to fight for their freedom.

I listened to this story in podcasted story form on the authors site. Scott shared, in episode form, the audiobook with us week by week. Emma Galvin is the voice of Em Savage. The panic in Em's voice at the beginning is vocalized wonderfully, rising and falling in volume and speed with Em's growing anxiety. There is a special voice that Emma does and she has a different sound to it, as it should. She makes different sounds to her voice for a few occasions, important pieces. Emma also has the personality of the characters as they become dominate in them through the book, growing from the time they wake unsure to the time they are who they are. I like this variation, and it fits with when we learn the truth of that voice. Well played by the narrator along with the story.

This story caught my attention for the moment it started with the coffin and how the kids are bound to it inside. The strange all around the place and holes in the kids memories. I looked forward to answers while anxious for the characters waking and breaking free. Something terrible happened here with what the characters find, yet they were lucky to be spared. But what happened?

Imagine, young children around the age of ten in a twenty year old body. Physically stronger with a child's thinking and naive views. This is trouble in the making with the hormones and easy tempers rising. They don't remember much, but believe today is their 12th birthday. Yet they are in bodies of 19-20 year old. They do have their instincts and personalities that peek through with each reaction and circumstance that they cross.

The kids express from the moment they escape their 'coffins' different beliefs in the way things should be done or handled. Yet they don't know much either. They are scared, hungry, thirsty, and lost. All they want are their parents or grown-ups to help them. But they aren't around. I feel bad for these young minds, having to go through all they are and alone to figure it out.

Em Savage. Em is our MC. She's not the strongest physically and doesn't know everything, but the way she is makes her a leader. She is determined from the moment she wakes. I do like her realizations. She knows a leader shouldn't hit people and it's okay to challenge the leader in a way that's talking. Her thinking is right.

Strange thing for me with this book. It's not high action but I'm still drawn to the story. It's about survival. These children work to survive either by finding a way out or finding what they need, food and water. Each holding a different skill set and knowledge. If I read the book, I might have been a bit bored at the beginning of the book, but then things start twisting, turning, and showing up. All the sudden there is a heavy episode, or few chapters, that hits you as you didn't expect all that. More and more mysteries to this place. I'm dying to know where they are, why, and what happened. Suspenseful in that token.

The things these youngsters go through, 'born' at age 12, ages them by years. They no longer feel as the young naive children they started as. And are seeing things in their own ways and growing to their own ways of doing things.

Such an adventure here. Now I'm curious what comes with where they are heading next in life.