100 of years in the future, in a galaxy nearby....

Rebels vs an Empire in space. Fairly quickly I thought of Star Wars. And this book (series) may get some comparisons of that nature. It just can't be helped. But there are many many differences and once you pass the initial 'empire vs rebels' element they aren't that similar.

Within the first 20% of the book I had decided I was going to put the rest of the series into my wish list. Alas, the rest of the series is not currently available as audiobooks.

The book starts begins with a space battle, following fighter pilots fighting among the capital ships. I thought I might have something to fill the gap left by the completion of the Stackpole/Allston X-wing book series. However the book eventually moves away from the individual fighters and pilots and focuses back on the capital ships, as our hero moves from fighter pilot to bridge crew. What begins then is less "seat of your pants" dog fights and more of a chess match between two fleets of ships. I personally enjoyed the initial part more, but this is not to say the later parts with the capital ships are bad. They are certainly interesting and left me wanting more.

The narration by Tremblay is really good. Narration is simple, clear, well paced and carries the right inflection to convey what people are feeling. Characters are distinct, with a variety of voices and accents provided.

Webb and Tremblay: get onto making the rest of the series as audiobooks. i will pick them up.

7 people found this helpful

There is plenty of action to satisfy

It is about 600 years in the future and the Imperial forces are working hard to wipe out a struggling resistance. There are dozens of colonized planets tightly controlled by the iron fist of the Emperor, and the Senate, both based on the Roman Empire, complete with Roman gods and goddesses. Earth, the original planet, but also the most rebellious, continues to fight for its freedom, nearly winning a desperate battle until Imperial forces decimate Dallas, Texas with a nuclear strike. The resistance is nearly wiped out until it reforms three years later in a desperate struggle for its life.

The back-story of a futuristic Rome is interesting enough, though not explained in any depth. We know that a Roman-like empire runs the galaxy, but not how it came to be this way. One assumes this is revealed in subsequent volumes. The action revolves around a handful of undisciplined and erratic rebel fighter pilots and their crews. Fun loving, and fast living, they don’t expect to live much beyond their current battles.

The story flips back and forth to the Imperial Admiral consumed with finding and crushing the resistance once and for all. He is a brilliant sociopath who throws lives around without a thought. Though his schemes often work, they also destroy as many soldiers on his side as from the resistance. If you like evil geniuses, you’ll like this one.

There is plenty of action to satisfy any space military junky. It is fast paced and fun, moving forward briskly all of the time. There isn’t much in the way of political explanation or development, but many readers prefer it that way. The characters, though developed at great length remain two-dimensional caricatures, rather than real people. They seem disposable, with some memorable exceptions: the Italian scientist and the evil Imperial Admiral.

The story is read by Greg Tremblay. He does an excellent job and his character voices are well defined and a pleasure to listen to.

Pax Humana is a fun ride. If you enjoy the military space genre, you should not hesitate to listen to this one. While the back story of the futuristic Roman Empire is not explored in any depth, it is still interesting enough, and makes us want to hear what happens in part 2. And isn’t that the definition of a book worth listening too?

Audiobook provided for review by the narrator.

Please find this complete review and many others at audiobookreviewer dot com

[If this review helped, please press YES. Thanks!]

6 people found this helpful

Space "TV series" with excellent narration!

Any additional comments?

**** 4 space saga ****

Audio edition, narrator Greg Tremblay.
8 hours 5 minutes

Overall: 4
Performance: 5
Story: 4

Meet Jake "Shotgun" Mercer, the main character. He is a reckless fighter pilot in the Resistance movement of Earth battling the Corsican Empire which expanse over 600 planets trying to force the Pax Humana way of life on everyone.

Basically, think the Allied forced versus the German Empire in World War 2, with a sprinkling of Battlestar Galactica thrown in, if you're familiar with that.

This is a classic classic good versus evil, except in space. There's lots of action (pew-pew-pew), things going right (yay!), things going wrong (very wrong), technical talk (*scratches head*), some sexual tension (please, give me more), friendship (*fist bumps*), treachery etc etc. It's like a TV show, with good secondary characters, engaging story and great dialogue.

The character cast is pretty big, there are a lot of people here, but I didn't feel overwhelmed much thanks to Tremblay's excellent voice cast. I mean, he has a different voice and accent for each of the characters, and he effortlessly flitted between them in dialogue. I'm very impressed!

The point of view shifts between several of the characters. The story also flips back and forth between Jake and the others with the Resistance, and the captain aboard the Imperial ship giving a view of the bad bad guy, the Admiral Tra,jan who is a brilliant (and madman) tactician who wants to see the Earth Resistance crushed once and for all and no matter the cost.

The story doesn't end on a cliffhanger per se, but it is a story continuing in book 2, Chain of Destiny, so don't expect any solution in this book.

I highly enjoyed this fast pasted story, brilliantly narrated by Greg Tremblay. He made the book come alive, and I'm very sure I enjoyed the book more because of it. I have the voices of Jake and Anya, Admiral Trajan and all the others is my head now.

On to the second book, Chains of Destiny!

3 people found this helpful

Hits the Ground Running

I love military scifi and space operas both, and I felt that The Terran Gambit was an excellent mix of the genres. The story is engaging from the beginning, jumping right into the action and military conflict. The setting unfolds naturally instead of giant info dumps, but at the same time the core of the lack of back story made the overall conflict a little muddy to me.

I loved the characters and Greg Tremblay did an excellent job of giving all of them their own unique voice and wide range of accents.

I'm excited for the next book - hopefully in audiobook format!

3 people found this helpful

I am going to retun this book

Recommend you listen to the sample before purchasing... I stopped listening to the book at 5 minutes and will be returning it...

1 person found this helpful

Epic story!

Awesome story with characters that come to life. I look forward to the next episode.

1 person found this helpful

Good im gonna try the next book

The book didn't grab me right off. In fact I listen to 2 other books. It's ranks as a standby series for me. A book between others. But in going to start the second one see where it goes.

1 person found this helpful

Terran gambit

What did you love best about The Terran Gambit?

The story line was very good and enjoyed listening the audio book very much. I looking forward to reading more of this writer's work in the future, Endi has a place among the Sci-fi writing community, and will only improve with time. Very good sci-fi novel.

1 person found this helpful

The during a war.

As the Earth is being invaded by the imperial forces. The Resistance is struggling to stay one step ahead. How to win a war against an enemy that will kill all for the evil emperor. Part one of three.
Excellent voices by Greg Tremblay. Great story by Nick Webb.

Yet another series on Audible that sucks you in and NEVER provides the full series of books!

My wife and I love the series but yet again the last book ended, (was published in 2015) and the next book is not out/available on Audible! This is at least the 3rd series to do this