Windshadow
need more dried frog pills
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- Oct 25, 2015
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What Audiobooks have you listened to, where the editors at audible have assigned the perfect reader.
I do hope for continuing additions to this thread so we can highlight these performances.
I will start this off with my entry:
The book itself is the author's first and is in my estimation a 4-star effort many readers will mark it down for its lack of violence and gore but that is the positive narrative choice for me. It does have some of the flaws of a first novel but good professional editing does ease them quite a bit.
The inspired choice of Tanya Eby by the editors at audible (and which the author told me he had no part in) fits so well with the protagonist you almost feel as if Tanya had some input to the actual text. but the author says not, the editors at audible had input and minor changes before Ms. Eby was assigned to the project.
www.audible.com
Publisher's Summary
Starship engineer Anailu Xindar dreamed of owning her own ship, but she didn't find the courage to actually go for it until she was forced out of her safe, comfortable job. She goes shopping for a cheap, practical freighter, but she ends up buying a rare, beautiful, but crippled luxury ship. Getting it into space will take more than her technical skills. She'll have to go way outside her comfort zone to brave the dangers of safaris, formal dinners, a rude professor, and, worst of all, a fashion designer. She may even have to make some friends...and enemies.
The Sculpted Ship is set on the outskirts of an interstellar empire where FTL travel is commonplace but intelligent robots are rare and expensive. Though the Iris Empire has stood for 1,000 years, a talented individual can find plenty of opportunities. But the nobility of this empire guards its privileges jealously.
©2017 Kevin M. O'Brien (P)2017 Tantor
My review of the audible version was:
One of the best Science Fiction Novels by a new first-time author, that I have enjoyed in years. This Is a tough one to review as the reading by Tanya Eby adds so much to this essentially gentle adventure story that I decided to wait a year and read the normal kindle version to be sure the book could stand on its own two feet without the redoubtable Ms. Eby Interpreting it with her superb talents. It Can. The ship itself earned its place as the title character for me, but I am an engineer so that might color that opinion. The Protagonist is inherently likable which is a major plus in a story like this with its refreshing lack of death and violence. That is a courageous decision for a first-time author in a series starting novel, and the author should be applauded for it. If you are looking for a truly refreshing Science fiction listen this should be right at the top of your next listen pile.
A review or the ebook version said:
I thoroughly enjoyed The Sculpted Ship. When I read the sample chapter prior to purchasing this book, I had the impression that The Sculpted Ship would be heavy on character development with a light plot, similar to books like Nathan Lowell's Solar Clipper series. And for the first half of the book, that's largely what it was. I not trying to imply that the pacing was slow for the first half of the book (it grabbed my attention in the first paragraph and kept it for the entire book), just that the plot was driven by the protagonist's development into a ship's captain. This changes in the second half of the book into something very different and introduces plot conflicts that have me excited to read any future books written by the author.
The book begins with a very shy ship's engineer, Anailu Xindar, leaving her previous job and starting on her dream of captaining a ship of her own. Although she starts out with a simple, practical plan, she takes a risk on purchasing a derelict ship of the same model that had inspired her to go into space in the first place. However, there are some very unusual secrets about this ship, and about Anailu herself that come to light as the story progresses. I will say nothing further to avoid spoiling the story for any other readers.
On the technical side, I found the editing of the writing to be first-rate. The story flowed well, even when moving the focus away from character development. Anailu was a very likable character and shows real growth as she deals with the many challenges of her unique ship, and the author has left me very excited for any follow-on books.
I highly recommend this book to fans of science fiction/space opera of all ages.
I do hope for continuing additions to this thread so we can highlight these performances.
I will start this off with my entry:
The book itself is the author's first and is in my estimation a 4-star effort many readers will mark it down for its lack of violence and gore but that is the positive narrative choice for me. It does have some of the flaws of a first novel but good professional editing does ease them quite a bit.
The inspired choice of Tanya Eby by the editors at audible (and which the author told me he had no part in) fits so well with the protagonist you almost feel as if Tanya had some input to the actual text. but the author says not, the editors at audible had input and minor changes before Ms. Eby was assigned to the project.
The Sculpted Ship
Check out this great listen on Audible.com. Starship engineer Anailu Xindar dreamed of owning her own ship, but she didn't find the courage to actually go for it until she was forced out of her safe, comfortable job. She goes shopping for a cheap, practical freighter, but she ends up buying a...
www.audible.com
- The Sculpted Ship
- Silver Queen Series, Book 1
- By: K. M. O'Brien
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby
Publisher's Summary
Starship engineer Anailu Xindar dreamed of owning her own ship, but she didn't find the courage to actually go for it until she was forced out of her safe, comfortable job. She goes shopping for a cheap, practical freighter, but she ends up buying a rare, beautiful, but crippled luxury ship. Getting it into space will take more than her technical skills. She'll have to go way outside her comfort zone to brave the dangers of safaris, formal dinners, a rude professor, and, worst of all, a fashion designer. She may even have to make some friends...and enemies.
The Sculpted Ship is set on the outskirts of an interstellar empire where FTL travel is commonplace but intelligent robots are rare and expensive. Though the Iris Empire has stood for 1,000 years, a talented individual can find plenty of opportunities. But the nobility of this empire guards its privileges jealously.
©2017 Kevin M. O'Brien (P)2017 Tantor
My review of the audible version was:
One of the best Science Fiction Novels by a new first-time author, that I have enjoyed in years. This Is a tough one to review as the reading by Tanya Eby adds so much to this essentially gentle adventure story that I decided to wait a year and read the normal kindle version to be sure the book could stand on its own two feet without the redoubtable Ms. Eby Interpreting it with her superb talents. It Can. The ship itself earned its place as the title character for me, but I am an engineer so that might color that opinion. The Protagonist is inherently likable which is a major plus in a story like this with its refreshing lack of death and violence. That is a courageous decision for a first-time author in a series starting novel, and the author should be applauded for it. If you are looking for a truly refreshing Science fiction listen this should be right at the top of your next listen pile.
A review or the ebook version said:
I thoroughly enjoyed The Sculpted Ship. When I read the sample chapter prior to purchasing this book, I had the impression that The Sculpted Ship would be heavy on character development with a light plot, similar to books like Nathan Lowell's Solar Clipper series. And for the first half of the book, that's largely what it was. I not trying to imply that the pacing was slow for the first half of the book (it grabbed my attention in the first paragraph and kept it for the entire book), just that the plot was driven by the protagonist's development into a ship's captain. This changes in the second half of the book into something very different and introduces plot conflicts that have me excited to read any future books written by the author.
The book begins with a very shy ship's engineer, Anailu Xindar, leaving her previous job and starting on her dream of captaining a ship of her own. Although she starts out with a simple, practical plan, she takes a risk on purchasing a derelict ship of the same model that had inspired her to go into space in the first place. However, there are some very unusual secrets about this ship, and about Anailu herself that come to light as the story progresses. I will say nothing further to avoid spoiling the story for any other readers.
On the technical side, I found the editing of the writing to be first-rate. The story flowed well, even when moving the focus away from character development. Anailu was a very likable character and shows real growth as she deals with the many challenges of her unique ship, and the author has left me very excited for any follow-on books.
I highly recommend this book to fans of science fiction/space opera of all ages.
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