Decent Modern Military Sci Fi

Aurora CV-01 is a decent modern sci fi with enough characterization and action to keep one eagerly listening. Although the main character might be a bit much of a cliché (the unique snowflake, glib male version), I still enjoyed the story.

Ethan is the son of a senator and wants as far away from his famous father as possible. He enlists in the fleet - yet despite lackluster scores, manages to be assigned to the fleet's flagship. But he must compete with a very by the book colleague who wants the top position. And a side cast of characters will also have to deal with their own challenges being raw recruits suddenly thrust into an unforgiving situation with an alien threat.

This felt very captain Kirk and the Kobayashi Maru - the man whose instincts and daring are far more important than by-the-book learning and so can compensate for any situation. Of course, this is a very male-driven book - all the women are 'hotties' and antagonize or sleep with the male characters providing titlation. It was very nun or whore - and as a female myself, it would have been nice to see the women as people and not objects to bag or be annoyed by.

In the end, I did enjoy this first book in the series and felt the Audible narrator did a decent job.

39 people found this helpful

90% SciFi, 10% Cheese

What did you love best about Aurora: CV-01?

I have read all 10 books in the series and liked them all. The first two books are a little too cutesy in places--apparently the author thinks this is adding to the book when it's actually taking away. While it's great that the main character is a "natural" rather than the book learning type, he takes a little too much continual dufus pride in this. Also, fiction seems to be littered with characters that do what needs to be done and then fret about it like a little school child. While I dig characters with emotional depth, the books occasionally go overboard.

Also there's a Messiah gimmick which is pretty cheesy at times and may scare the reader that the books are going to go "Left Behind" which they thankfully don't. If the books didn't keep me interested with battles, espionage, and intergalactic diplomacy, I might have been more annoyed. At some points the military aspects are pretty inauthentic, but at times they are very well done. All-in-all these are better than average, although not exceptional SciFi. I actually found them better than the Lost Fleet books I read because I found the main character in those to be somewhat of a caricature, but I respect those that disagree.

38 people found this helpful

I'm gettin book 2, now

Through the first two chapters, I was not sure if I was going to like this or not. Although when the young lady says to the young ensign," I think my ass looks great in this dress, what do you think?" I perked up.
I am a big fan of sarcastic humor and chapter 3 is chocked full of it. There are several more laugh out loud parts in the rest of the book and the action is non-stop once it gets started. Some are calling this Military Sci-Fi, yet the die hard fans of this genre don't seem too happy. I have tried several Military Sci-Fi and I just can't get into them. They are usually filled with long chapters on guns and ammunition etc. I liked the Lost Fleet: Dauntless, but I did not love it. This I love. If this is Military Sci-Fi, then I have found an author that can make it breath for me. I also like that most of the book takes place in space. It surprising how little Science Fiction actually takes place in space.

This did bring back thoughts of Voyager and of Captain James T. Kirk and of Spock. The Russian Engineer is also a great character (can't believe he is not a Scott.) The story is more complicated then some give it credit. How to figure out who to trust is intriguing. It is short, but I rather pay for a small amount of quality, then for a whole lot of details on how to put together a future gun.

Narrator is good and adds to the experience.

31 people found this helpful

aint no jack cambell

Would you try another book from Ryk Brown and/or Jeffrey Kafer?

Yes, I am especially disappointed in these book companies or worse authors find it necessary to split one book into two and charge you as if it were four.
Narrator is good.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Move it along a little quicker.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Decent.

Could you see Aurora: CV-01 being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

This is a decent storyline and what. However wher is the prequel beginning of the story.
What caused the world collapse, when did the plague hit. Wheren and where did theJund come from?
How did the data disks get stored and found. Any book shorter than 6 hours is a $7 book.

20 people found this helpful

A decent first book, though a bit adolesent.

What did you like best about Aurora: CV-01? What did you like least?

The general storyline is good and pretty original. I disliked the lack of reality in the space battles. (like starwars)

If you’ve listened to books by Ryk Brown before, how does this one compare?

No first time.

Which scene was your favorite?

There is a scene where the ship pops up in the middle of a battle.

Any additional comments?

The story was a good, though I think the author lacked the concept of physics. The story writes like a star wars or star trek movie. The space battles and flight are very one dimensional, and they don't take in account speed and time dialation. A ship flying at .8 the speed of light isn't going to see anyting out the viewport, or fire and track laser fire. If he would have made it a bit more realistic, like some of the better science fiction authors, it could have been exelent. I tended to roll my eyes in some of the space scenes and wish the author would have done his homework.

PS, the later stories in the series are better, though he still is way off reality when it comes to space and time.

13 people found this helpful

This series gets SO GOOD!

I initially rated this book during one of those times when there were A LOT of other great books to listen to also... So I gave it "4 Stars Across The Board" Instead of 5. Trying to be consistent, I rated the next few books as "4 Stars Across The Board" also, even though each book Mr. Brown put out got a little BETTER! By Book 5, The "5 Stars" began creeping into my ratings of his books... Since Book 9, I've been Hammering "5 Stars Across The Board"!

I just finished book FOURTEEN! I've been giving the books 5 Stars across the board for a while now, and I'm at a point where I'm looking for that SIXTH STAR to tap!!!

I FULLY expected this series to get repetitive and cliche, as in: "Any time we're in trouble, just Jump Away!" NOPE!
Yes, Ryk Brown COULD HAVE easily gone that way, but he doesn't! He uses the "Jump Drive" in ways that INFURIATE the enemy, but he RARELY uses it to let the characters escape a head-on battle, even when "The Good Guys" are facing overwhelming odds! (Of course, where would the "Action" be if he just "Hit And Ran Away" all the time?)

I felt the NEED to point out that the Narration by Jeffrey Kafer is EXCELLENT! This WAS a Narrator I had never heard before, and so I wasn't sure he would be able to keep up with the Fast Paced Action Sequences, time after time, without "Overdoing it".. I also worried that as more and more, AND MORE, Characters were introduced, He wouldn't be able to make each Character's voice "Uniquely Recognizable As THAT Character". NO MORE FEAR ON THOSE POINTS! You know who is speaking even without the obligatory "..Said Nathan.." which is included for "Printed Versions" of the books. You KNOW who is speaking! Mr. Kafer's Narration has been EXCELLENT and VERY Professional right from the start, and if anything, his narration gets BETTER with every new book also! THAT is the Subtle Mark of a true Professional.. as the material gets better, the narration gets better! He brings out THE MOST in what he has to work with, and Ryk Brown is giving him A LOT to work with! ;)

Forget "Stars".. "Star Ratings" can be a subjective opinion based largely on "our mood at the time"... Instead, let's look at it this way: "There have been 14 Books so far... At 'Member Prices', that comes to $240.70!!! Even as an Audible Platinum Member since 2005, Using 'Credits' bought in Lump Sums of '3 to 12 Credits at a time' (PLUS my Normal 'Monthly Audible Platinum Membership Fee'.. which I KEEP even though I also buy Extra Credits in Bulk Amounts.. Hey, I listen to AT LEAST 9-10 books a month, and often many more), I've STILL spent More Than $160.00 (Lets give that the respect it deserves: 'ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY BUX'!) on THIS Series alone! IT'S BEEN WORTH EVERY SINGLE PENNY!!!!!

I Work *HARD* for my Money! I have a 'PERFECT' Wife, and SEVEN 'Academically Gifted' Children that are HEAVILY involved in everything from "Color Guard" after School, to Robotics, Engineering, and Acting Clubs IN School... Several of my older Children are busy taking care of THEIR families, which include (of course) my THREE Grandchildren (Who may be HERE, OR they may be anywhere else, when the Military stations my Sons-In-Law somewhere else on the globe). *I* USUALLY work AT LEAST 12 hours a day, 7 Days a Week, often 'all over the world'! I'm Retired from the US Army, However, between Running Engineering and Consulting Businesses, and Running our Ranch, I have VERY limited TIME, and I *EARN* EVERY DIME I make the hard way! Needless to say, I don't waste ANY of my TIME or Money!

So If *YOU* believe in "Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is", I think the Numbers above speak for themselves, MUCH louder than "Stars"! And I'll HAPPILY give Ryk Brown MORE of my money, AND TIME, whenever he puts out ANOTHER Great Book!

WELL DONE Gentlemen!

10 people found this helpful

A New Spin on Star Trek Voyager

If you enjoyed Star Trek Voyager and her crew, you'll feel right at home with Aurora. After we get a short history of how humanity on Earth was set back at least 1000 years technologically due to a plague killing most of the population, we find those humans from Earth finally venturing into light speed travel. There is a known territory around the vicinity of Earth filled with humans that already possess FTL travel and belong to an aggressive empire that most fear will soon attack Earth. During Aurora's maiden voyage, there is an accident that causes them to be propelled 1000 light years from earth and become faced with an impossible journey to try and get back home. ( a la Voyager). The crew is forced to come to terms with a new galaxy, new friends and enemies, and it would seem new technology that may help Earth if they ever get back home.

Aurora is not a heavy sci-fi read and feels like watching several episodes of Star Trek at a time. I enjoyed the first book enough to buy the next four in the series to continue the fun, as each book is a bit on the shorter side and you would do well to have the next book in the series ready to go as you'll want to know where the story goes next.

Jeffrey Kafer does a great jpb narrating. After coincidentally listening to several books recently narrated by Mr. Kafer, I found myself browsing a list of his narrations on Audible and found many more sci-fi space operas that I will be picking up soon. It would appear he is a space opera fan himself and has picked many excellent series to narrate that makes our job easier when choosing our next book.

Add this one to your cart if you ready to download many more of the 15 books already available in this series.

9 people found this helpful

boring star trek

it's star trek, just less good.
its sort of like an off brand Twinkie. not a total loss but nothing to remember.

7 people found this helpful

A nice mix of existing concepts

The best way I can describe this book is as a mix of Star Trek Voyager, the Odyssey One book series, and the Star Trek Deep Space Nine episode "Valiant". It's a nice mix, and one that manages to be largely original while still feeling quite familiar to a science fiction fan.

The start was a bit slow to me, but once the story gets going, it doesn't stop for a second for the remainder of the book. I found the pace to be just the right mix of progress and detail, and in many ways this reminded me of a pilot for a TV show. That is perhaps not surprising, considering that the books are referred to as "episodes" on the website, a detail the Audible version manages to miss. The production schedule for the book is also very fast pace, with the 12th book being right around the corner now, despite the series and the author himself starting off at the end of 2011. I'm looking forward to seeing how this production schedule works for a scifi series, and it's definitely something I like seeing after being used to forgetting one book by the time the next is out.

All in all, a good start to a series that I'm looking forward to digging into further!

7 people found this helpful

Acceptable, not great

Aurora: CV-01 is an acceptable book, a science fiction beach read. The characters are shallow. The writing is mostly tell, not much show. The plot and concept are good.

Narrator Jeffrey Kafer does a passable job on this book, with the exception of his horrible Russian accent. He plows through the content like a bull dog. His narration does little to enhance the characters, but is acceptable.

If you don't listen to a lot of audiobooks, you can probably find something better. With that said, this book is fine if you have an extra credit and some extra time.

7 people found this helpful