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Rumors of War
- Green Zone War, Book 1
- Narrated by: Johnathan McClain
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
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Rumors of War
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Publisher's Summary
Tom Thrush thinks basic officer training is tough - until he joins the frigate Kestrel and finds out what tough really means. The crew resents him. The first officer is actively hostile. As the ship hunts pirates in deep space, Tom struggles to fit in and wonders if things can get any worse. They can.
A devastating attack leaves the ship crippled with half the crew dead or dying. The senior officers are wiped out, leaving a terrified sublieutenant in the last place he wants to be.
In command.
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What listeners say about Rumors of War
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Stephen Baxter
- 2018-10-11
Good Story, Not Hard Science Fiction
The story is good and moves along well. The characters are well described and realistic.
However, the space combat is not realistic. Interplanetary ships take minutes to traverse several hundred kilometers. Ignores orbital mechanics. Ships only fight when within several hundred kilometers of each other. Missiles, which should be going pretty fast, are destroyed within 3 kilometers of the targets by CIWS...
The tactics are not as bad, but are not great. SPOILER, The captain leaves an intact enemy light cruiser in stable orbit around a habitable planet behind enemy lines. I would think in real war they would have destroyed this ship to keep the enemy from repairing it and sending it back into combat...
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- So About That
- 2023-09-09
Slow. Mostly boring. Why. Why. Why
I struggled to find this worth my time when the world has so many other options for entertainment. I started to wonder if I have just diverged from "modern" sci-fi because I keep seeing all these stellar reviews for works that are tedious trash. But then I find a good one and conclude, no. It's not me.
It's them. Please quit encouraging these low quality books. If you have nothing bad to say, say nothing at all! It's not as bad as some others, but it's certainly not good. sigh.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Caleb
- 2021-11-29
My compliments to the Narrator
I'm several books into the series now. I'm enjoying the story line and the characters. The Narrator I consider to be one of the better ones that I've listened to. There is the odd person who would be a more engaging narrator. But Johnathan McClain strickes a nice balance of providing emphasis in speech, and diversity with the characters without being distracting. All too often Narrators become distracting by trying to add variety to characters, especially of the opposite gender. (women all sound high pitched and meek or whiney, or men are all deep voiced and gruff)
Johnathan doesn't fall into that trap. It's easy to tell characters apart by how they speak with appropriate changes and emphasis for the characters situation. Without the distraction of being reminded that one person is performing the voices of a hundred. I've been able to focus more on the storey through listening to this.
I'm also local to the area where the training base is from. I appreciate the references to small Alberta towns
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Kelvin Fong
- 2021-10-29
Good
It’s a good story. Slow at certain points but the development of the main character is pretty good. I wish the narrator can do more than American English, English and Scottish.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- AGreviewer
- 2018-11-29
Meh
The voice actor constantly puts emphasis on the wrong syllable. It is very distractinseparateg from the story. Also he changes accent midsentence with the different characters. The story is OK, but it doesn’t really make a lot of sense at times. Why is there a thin spine separating two halves of a warship? Why does the ship have actual windows? And the main character is annoying. I’ll probably finish the series because I have spare audible credits but meh.
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14 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Shawn
- 2018-10-04
It’s good a good set up book.
This story is good not a masterpiece but the pacing is good and the characters are likable. If you want something that will keep you captivated from beginning to end this is probably not it. But it’s a good set up for what could be a great series. The first 3/4th of the book is character development. But it was done well and the banter mixed with the internal thoughts made the story good.
I think there is potential for a good series here, I will buy the next one.
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Darth4Less
- 2018-11-27
okay
it was okay and I would have probably picked up the second one if it weren't for the narration. one of the worst I've ever heard. I couldn't hear some lines because of the narrator's propensity to whisper. irritating beyond measure.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Dennis
- 2019-02-08
Not my favorite...
In my opinion, this book started slow and had rare moments of action. I was also put off with the lead character's painful development.
I am debating on whether or not to get the next book. Maybe the author will hit his stride!
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Shanon
- 2021-04-10
Meh...not good, not bad, could be so much better
At least the narrator is pretty good. This author is a moron. It is despicable that he the type that believes the government has the right to come into your home whenever they want for any reason they want so long as they claim it is for your protection! That is socialist beliefs at its heart. It is illegal in most countries and violates your born rights to live how you choose, even if that lifestyle is hazardous to your health! He also thinks might makes right, the ends justify the means. This book pure garbage at best and socialist propaganda at worst.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Sailfish
- 2019-09-14
Mostly backstory but very realistic
One of the more enjoyable part of this novel is the care that was taken in making the whole military indoctrination and training parts, from boot camp, to AIT, to noob half lieutenant (aka butter bar lieutenant) lack of command responsibilities, &c. The MC is also a realistic representation of a young man, forced into command of a frigate space craft on entry into war, who is overwhelmed with fear, uncertainty and doubt and the trials that end up making him a credible commander.
Also, another item I found interesting was the description of warp speed (aka slip space, slipstream space, &c.) Most SciFi explain it in terms of some, almost magical, spaceship device. Here, it was explained as entering into 7th dimensional space being the means in which they are capable to traverse the galaxy at superluminal speed. As one can imagine a wormhole allowing one to travel vast distances by traveling through folded 3D space, being able to do so via 7D space makes sense (in a nonsensical way, of course).
Jake Elwood is a good writer and Johnathan McClain makes even the tedious parts of training very listenable.
I have high hopes for Book 2.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- David Hannan
- 2018-11-14
It's a Good story, but...
The concept of the story is good and for the most part it's entertaining, but a little bit too much drama queen dialog for my liking.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Truth Matters
- 2021-04-26
Plenty of Action
SHORT VERSION: Enjoyed this quite a bit. Young man forced into Navy service, boot camp, offcer training, bad 1st assignment as a Jr. Lieutenant, pirates, war begins, 1/2 the crew dies leaving him in charge & onward into his galaxy spanning adventures in Command, rife with problems. action & spaceship battles.
Standard format you say? Yes, BUT something about how this author does it makes it interesting, filled with action, struggles & hardships to overcome or at least live through.
This isn't a happy, glib, swashbuckling adventure (which I also like & usually prefer), but a serious story with compelling characters & plenty of emotion along with the action. Narration is fantastic.
LONGER VERSION:
While it follows a traditional scifi military space opera outline, there's something about the way this author moves the story along that is compelling & had me wanting to know what was going to happen next & rooting for the characters.
I also like that while different parts of the military - officers, non coms, swabbies, marines, engineers, etc. do fit expected potrayals, they aren't done as caricatures, but treated with the respect that they deserve, recognizing the value the different components have towards making the whole function.
The side characters have personalities fleshed out better than their assignations - wise older officer, tough marine, deckhand with a chip on his shoulder, etc. They aren't as one dimensional as many.
I got roped in & while knowing the general format, the details of how the story gets there are exciting & caught my interest. Mr. Elwood's story telling had me able to picture the scenes, sometimes even feel like I was there, standing on the bridge, seeing the action firsthand.
I had a hard time 'putting the book down,' being bummed when I'd finished getting dinner ready because I had to turn the recording off to serve & eat, when all I wanted to do at that moment was to stay on the ship (i.e. keep listening)!
I could probably pick out all the flaws or unbelievable things that would never happen in real life. (Kind of hard to argue though when space travel of this nature & colonization aren't realistic either!) But those things didn't bother me as much.
Maybe it's me feeling extra sensitive that's got me caught up in the emotions of the story & if I were in a better place I'd be much more critical, it's hard to say. Usually a story like this would leave me more depressed, perhaps even putting it down. For some reason, as serious as this book is, I still want to read more.
I can't tell you how realistically imagined the battle scenes are, but I did get swept away in the action, tensing up, agitated, not knowing how it was going to play out. It definitely wasn't glibly done & won.
I also like the MC because he isn't the perfect 'pulls a rabbit out of his hat' & wins the day kind of guy. Nothing comes easy. He's got real demons he's got to fight within himself & has to really struggle to overcome his own inner turmoils (including about his own heritage & culture) & the many & sometimes overwhelming obstacles he's forced to confront.
He isn't black & white in his thinking & understands different perspectives even if he doesn't agree with them. He seems to be a real reluctant hero.
SUMMARY:
Well done space warfare/military (Naval), galaxy spanning sci fi action/ transformation of a boy into a man finding out he's capable of much more than he could even imagine, filled with action, spaceship battles, angst, drama all done in a serious, mostly realistic way with characters that are human.
I thought it was well done & will be starting the next in this series shortly. if it continues as it's begun, this could be a great series.
The Narrator was superb too. She did male & female voices well, made it easy to follow who was speaking & gave much weight & life to the characters, infusing them with appropriate personalities matching with the author's intent, IMO.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Anthony Royal
- 2020-04-16
promising concept
I struggled through this. firstly the main character ter is... not endearing or likable and not understandable. His reactions are extreme cold (dont care) or extreme hot (murder them all). Their is no supporting characters and dont get me started on how the supposed space faring "military" which has supposedly lasted hundreds of years in space is apparently totally incompetent at being a military and at being in space.
Then the sciencey bullshit that's thrown out with the very long and odd attempt to romanticize that bs ( I'm talking about the 7th dimension travel with "spirits") at the same time made me want to fast forward. nothing made me excited to continue the story at all.
That brings me to *Spoilers* ( although not that much ). A ship has nuke detonated "near" it not a direct hit and it kills everyone on the ship. this again buys up against the supposedly being space faring for hundreds of years. You are in space surrounded by radiation... constantly. But hey power loss from EMP (which also makes me wonder how weapons development hasnt advanced at all except lasers) and a nuke that takes out an entire ship... that is also not obliterated by enemy afterward because hey might as well let an enemy crew die slowly with potential to send a message. oh wait communications also apparently has made absolutely no advancements either... the future the author paints is not very imaginative... or fun. sigh I'm sad that this makes me not want to go on with these series.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- coop
- 2018-12-22
fun books
kind of like wagon train the old western show where they never get anywhere ..but enjoying it all the same on third book now...
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1 person found this helpful