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Barbarians at the Gates
- The Decline and Fall of the Galactic Empire, Book 1
- Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
- Series: The Decline and Fall of the Galactic Empire, Book 1
- Length: 16 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Science Fiction
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What listeners say about Barbarians at the Gates
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Trudy Owens
- 18-10-15
the best way to become king is to not want to!
This is an interesting world Nuttal has created. There are some freaky aliens mentioned but they do not really enter into the story. This is all about internal affairs, corruption at the core. And the straight firm bold ones who take it on. This may be the prequel or setup to The Empire's Corps, but maybe not, although it seems there is about 2,500 years from here to there, so it could be. But, maybe they are not related.
The first part of the story is a bit like so many others in that our young graduate is prematurely thrust into captaincy due to the death of all 19 above him. They have gone out to deal with a rebellion in the ranks. The second part of the story is about them coming back to deal with corruption at home, and the focus switches to an admiral. In summary, like this, it sounds like Campbell's Lost Fleet, but it is worked differently. It's okay. There is side-switching, treachery, surprising alliances, sudden betrayals. The morality play condemnation of current society, politics, and education is visible, but not so blatant as in Reality Check (the one Empire's Corps book to skip).
The story line is pretty good; the core of the tale is interesting. The characters are a little thin, and the point of view suddenly changes to that of other characters you've never heard of. And then they die. There is also a lot of author talk that gets dull. And Nuttal uses pithy quotes from "history books" to preface each chapter as he does in his Empire's Corps books (which are much better than this).
The narration is okay, the Scottish and Hindi accents being the best. It doesn't match up to the works of the best narrators, but it was not confusing or maddening.
This is an acceptable book, but doesn't seem as good as Nuttal's other things. Nevertheless, seeing as how there is a second installment, I am going for it.
7 people found this helpful
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- Jean
- 14-10-15
Enjoyable
This is a new series based on the same basic idea as the other series that of a collapsing Empire. In this book the Federation is collapsing and warlords are staking out their territories. Our protagonists are Admiral Marius drake and Lt. Roman Garibaldi.
The book has more naval action than most of the other series by Nuttall. I have read enough of Nuttall’s books now to be amazed at his imagination. As this is the first book in the series Nuttall is building his baseline for the series. I enjoyed the space combat and the tactical strategy of commanding a fleet.
I noted the Italian names and the title and thought Nuttall is playing with the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire. Overall I enjoyed the story. The narrator is new to me but Time Gerard Reynolds did a good job narrating the book.
11 people found this helpful
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- Sally Filler
- 03-10-15
Enjoyable storyline
Overall good story well performed. Reasonable predictions about far future although some political assumptions seem a little far fetched. I suppose the author had to develop protagonist and antagonist from somewhere, has to be the evil greedy aristocracy. I look forward to book two.
4 people found this helpful
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- Patrick Grace
- 11-07-15
Great fun!
Story was good and the listen was even better. Not the best space book ever but worth the listen.
7 people found this helpful
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- luke davison
- 14-08-15
exelent book, highly recommend it if you're a fan
exelent book, I highly recommend it if you are a fan of the honor Harrington series.
6 people found this helpful
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- Lovell
- 26-07-15
Excellent military sci fi
I will continue to listen to this author and narrator, please do not change narrators.
6 people found this helpful
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- Melanie
- 03-04-18
Hmmm. Reminds me of some previous empires
& not a little about United States politicians & corporate greed. I Really liked this space fleet SF. While not totally unique, it has lots of action, some good characters, & decent battle scenes. Grade A narration, too. Definitely going to finish the series. Nice that these are 15-16 hour audio books instead of the common 8-9 hour SF series; many of those I do not buy to finish. Review by Rick, April 2,2018.
1 person found this helpful
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- Carla M. Edwards
- 25-03-17
Overblown writing
Characters are ok and the author knows words, tech and mil stuff but the book is too pompous and overblown for me.
1 person found this helpful
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- shirley
- 04-03-17
Fell asleep every time i tried to listen to it.
The title says it all. I couldn't stay awake even after 8÷ hours of sleep. I tried THREE times. I'll try again, but not in the near future.
1 person found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 12-01-17
Military Sci Fi
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I highly recommend it if you are a fan of the honor Harrington series
What did you like best about this story?
It all was good
What about Tim Gerard Reynolds’s performance did you like?
The narrator is new to me but Time Gerard Reynolds did a good job narrating the book
Any additional comments?
I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher
1 person found this helpful