The Demon Awakens
(The DemonWars Saga #1)
by R.A. Salvatore (1998)

A great evil has awakened in the land of Corona, a terrible demon determined to spread death and misery. His goblin armies and fearsome giants ravage the settlements of the frontier, and in the small village of Dundallis their merciless attack leaves behind two shattered orphans: Pony and her lifelong friend, the youth Elbryan. Taken in by elves, Elbryan is raised to become a formidable ranger–a fateful role that will lead him into harrowing confrontation.

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This is the first full fiction audio-book I have heard. It is the first of seven books in the demon-wars saga purchased several years ago.

It’s full-trope fantasy: Demons, heroes, trolls & elves.

Everything expected from epic fantasy is in the story. A monk is trained, then looses his faith. A young man is trained by elves. A girl survives a massacre and grows to be a young woman.

Will there be a romance (of course). Talking animals (yep). And an epic battle between the forces of good and evil (what were you expecting ?)

The transition to audio is well done. While there is a narrator (probably reading text from the book) there is also a dozen actors reading the parts and acting out the plot where necessary. It’s also full of sound effects and music.

Worth the 26 hours of listening time.

 

Space Police: The Toaster That Time Forgot
(Space Police #3)
by David Blake (2018)Detective Inspector Capstan is asked to track down a mad and rather disgruntled scientist who’s just escaped from a maximum security prison asteroid. But when the scientist in question threatens to travel back in time to punish the person he feels responsible for having him locked up there, it’s up to Capstan and Dewbush to do whatever they can to stop him.

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I think this is the best of the series (so far). The humour is very well done, and there is a great scene in a police station I could image on a TV series. Recommended.

 

Alpha Minor
(Harriet Walsh # 2)
by Simon Haynes (2018)

The Peace Force has a new recruit, and she’s driving everyone crazy. From disobeying orders to handling unauthorized cases, nothing is off-limits. Worse, Harriet Walsh is forced to team up with the newbie, because the recruit’s shady past has just caught up with her.

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The second in the series is more action/adventure that humorous science fiction.  The protagonists are in some danger when they tangle with a family of criminals. Still, it’s a  fun story with the interactions more between the two female leads than with the robot.

 

 

Han Solo at Stars’ End
(Star Wars: The Han Solo Adventures #1)
by Brian Daley (1979)

One of the first of the Star Wars Novels

Han Solo trusts no one, and does no favors. But when the best illegal ship builder in the galaxy disappears, Han and Chewbacca agree to go after him. Their search pits them against powerful and ruthless enemies out to destroy them, and finally leads them to an airless speck of desolate asteroid—the Authority prison planet known as Stars’ End.

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There is not much to say about this. Everything is very average, the plot, characters and action. If it was any longer I would have given up.

 

The Raven (Jane Harper #2)
by Jeremy Bishop (2013)

But winning their battle against the undead Vikings was just the beginning of the war against the parasitic Draugr now that the relentless creatures have escaped their island prison…and seek to turn the earth into a planet of the living dead.

With a sturdy vessel under her feet, a do-or-die crew at her side, and weapons of mass monster-destruction in both hands, Jane takes to the hellish high seas to face down zombie whales and an armada of seafaring ghouls.

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In part two of this short series, Jane goes back to confront zombies, more zombies, whale zombies, orca zombies and (of course) human zombies. It’s a more straight forward story this time. But it’s the same objective…. destroy zombies (all of them).

Just as entertaining as the first.

The Sentinel
(Jane Harper #1)
by Jeremy Bishop (2013)In the frigid waters off the Arctic Ocean, north of Greenland, the anti-whaling ship, The Sentinel, and her crew face off against a harpoon ship in search of Humpback whales. The two ships collide and a suspicious explosion sends both ships to the bottom. The crews take refuge on an island, recently freed from a glacial ice bridge. There they find Viking artifacts, the preserved remains of an ancient structure and a stone totem warning of horrible creatures buried in the island’s caves…..

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Well, this is Jeremy Robinson writing under a pseudonym so we know what to expect. There will be monsters, thrills and spills on the cold ice. Yet another top ranked story from the master of this genre. There is little science fiction this time, it’s nature at it’s most vicious mixed with a bit of mythology, history and all the tropes of the thriller and horror genres.