In past posts I have mentioned: my husband getting Audible and listening to books and he and I discussing the books we were listening to.
Well, I wanted to post about the books we have been listening too. First we listened to a series of “Renegade” books by J.N. Chaney. Six books about a Renegade named Jace Hughes. He takes “almost any job that comes his way, no matter the situation. But that all changes when he meets a nun looking for safe passage out of the system.” It is a six book series (so far) about their adventures. It is very good made all the better by Luke Daniels performance.
Sad to be done – for now, J.S. Morin promises
Then we moved onto a Galaxy Outlaws which is part of the Black Ocean series. I can’t tell how many books are in it. It is on Audible as an 8 part download with 138 chapters. The collection is touted as being all 16 missions with 6 stowaways. Stowaways are little breakaway stories. It totals over 80 hours. It is a very fun series of books. The characters are just like all your favorite characters – meaning you love them and you don’t. You love them, but they might do stupid and/or frustrating things . . . depends on what type of shows you usually watch and books you read. These guys are a ragtag group of characters.
After the Galaxy Outlaw series there are two more, Astral Prime, which is four “missions” that total over eight hours. It doesn’t have the same characters in it as the Galaxy Outlaws series, but it is a somewhat related story in that you hear of some of the characters from Black Ocean. After Astral Prime there is another series called Mercy for Hire it has at least two of the original characters from Galaxy Outlaws, although both not my favorites.
It is always really hard to “let go” of characters that authors have created that you really love and enjoy. I just want J.S. Morin to keep writing about the Galaxy Outlaws. The “captain” of the Mobius and his ragtag crew. There are “cat” and “dog” people and other great races. And this set of books has yet another great narrator in Mikael Naramore. He does a great job bringing each one to life.
At the time I initially wrote this (5.27.19) I was in the middle of Astral Prime. I have since finished Astral Prime and Mercy for Hire. I loved the entire Black Ocean series. J.S. Morin really makes some lovable characters. Even though I am not a fan of the main character in Mercy for Hire Mr. Morin added a new character that I love so much I can’t even tell you – not without spoilers. You will have to read/hear for yourself.
I love that Mikael Naramore has read all of the books so far. As I said, he is great.
Both the Renegade series and the Black Ocean series are somewhat along the lines of Firefly. In fact that is what J.S. Morin was trying to do. He was trying to meet the desire of those who loved Firefly but give us something different – in space. What he managed to do was leave us just like Joss did — wanting more. But with my post on Facebook showing all the books finished he commented that there are more to come. More Astral Prime and more Mercy for Hire. That is exciting. I am counting on that meaning more of my favorite characters.
I know there are thousands of books to listen to on Audible and millions of books available to read, with so many it is sometimes hard to pick one. So, if you are a fan of fun, quirky science-fiction then download or pick up a copy of either of these series and you will not be disappointed. I say grab both.
If you are not a fan of science-fiction AT ALL, but want to try a new genre I say go for the Black Ocean Series. There are times while listening that you will forget it is science fiction it is very down-to-earth and the you will love the characters. “Two thumbs skyward, Buddy!”
What types of books do you like to read? Do you like to listen to books?
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