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Deathstalker

Deathstalker Series, Book 1

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Deathstalker

Written by: Simon R. Green
Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
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About this listen

Owen Deathstalker, last of the infamous warrior Clan, always considered himself more of a writer than a fighter, preferring his history books to making any actual history with a sword. But books won't protect him from Her Imperial Majesty Lionstone XIV, who just outlawed and condemned Owen to death, without any explanation, reason, or warning. No wonder she's called the Iron Bitch.

Now, on the run from Imperial starcruisers, shady mercenaries, and just about everyone else in the Empire, Owen's options are limited. Though the name Deathstalker still commands respect in certain quarters, out on the Rim, Owen is lucky he can cobble together a makeshift team of castoffs, including an ex-pirate, a cyborg, and a bounty hunter. But allies won't be enough to save him.

If he's to live, Owen can either run forever...or take down the corrupt Empire. To do that, he'll need the fabled Darkvoid Device - an artifact dating back to the first Deathstalker and perhaps the only weapon powerful enough to help this ragtag rebellion win. The time has come for Owen to finally embrace his Deathstalker heritage...and all the blood and death that go along with it.

©1995 Simon R. Green (P)2017 Tantor Adventure Science Fiction Space Opera Fiction Warrior

What the critics say

"Green blends derring-do, space battles and wry banter aplenty to form an eminently satisfying space opera." ( Booklist)
All stars
Most Relevant
Truly one of the most epic story lines ever written for science fiction. Hard to put down!

Amazing journey, unparalleled! love the characters

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fun space opra with with a 70s feel. a fun romp in a univers very much like a few but with all its own charm. feels like a good book for a fantasy reader to jump into scifi with.

great classic scifi

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I think the biggest strength of this book is the world-building. It's an absolutely thrilling universe for the story to be set in. Generally, the plot is quite exciting, although at times it gets a little unwieldy with the number of characters it has. Green's prose is a pleasure to listen, especially in descriptive passages.

Occasionally it gets a bit repetitive (he has a few pet phrases whose use you can start to accurately predict after a while), and he seems to default to hyperbole in his descriptions, especially when it comes to illustrating how formidable something is. It's hard to keep track of who you'd expect to win in a fight because both sides are always talked up to the nth degree. Every now and again he also struggles to draw the line between narration and dialog, with characters embarking on extended expository monologues that sound nothing like anything one person would say to another in conversation. But those are all pretty minor and forgivable foibles. Green's created a really rich universe whose internal logic makes sense for the part. Action sequences are truly gripping and the author manages to inject genuine surprise here and there without it feeling like a Deus Ex Machina. Overall, it's difficult to tear yourself away from the story. This is now the third time I'm revisiting it.

Jackson's performance really shines. He manages to give every character a distinct feel with his various voices and affectations. My only beef with his performance has to do with his Scottish accent job, but it's a small knock on otherwise stellar narration.

Engrossing

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Simon R. Green offers a rollercoaster-ride of a Space-Opera SciFi story that's 70% (somewhat sophomoric) screenplay-quality swashbuckling action and 30% politicking/alliances/rivalries/fights among elite clans & a terrifying psychopathic power-mad Empress.
The writing is imaginative and Green's universe is populated with übercool bioorganically-enhanced supersoldiers, hive-mind warrior clones, Alien monsters, Warhammer-quality tech, psionic "ESPers", and cyberpunkish rebels questing to form a resistance and find the weapons necessary to fight the Empire.
The book is well-written & incredibly entertaining - my issues with it are more concerned with tone than content (I wish Green had taken himself more seriously). This book could have been a thought-provoking epic sci-fi tome every bit as engrossing as Frank Herbert's 'Dune' series or as gritty as anything written by Joe Abercrombie..
Instead, the author presents it as a somewhat silly fun bit of straight-up adrenaline-fuelled geek-out brain candy.

As to presentation: Tantor Audio Inc. cast this project perfectly. Reader Gildart Jackson captures the often tongue-in-cheek tone that the author intended beautifully. He occasionally sounds as though he's disinterestedly reading a text lying open on his lap.. but his performance is solidly "above-average" overall (Jackson's voice-acting in particular is outstanding).

Altogether, 'Deathstalker' is an incredibly enjoyable 9/10 star tale..
..if you can take it as offered.
Lower your expectations and enjoy - just realize that this stuff could rot your brain if you made it your regular go-to reading repertoire. I am endlessly pleased that I found the audiobook in the 'Plus' catalog - because it would easily rate a Credit - but I was disappointed enough in the delivery that I won't be continuing with the series.

[Note: Green is an uncommonly courageous writer - killing off central characters like G.R.R. Martin]

Rollicking Adventure

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