A Fun Space Opera

Willem, a SADE (self-aware digital entity), identified Celus-5 as a possible candidate for a new colony. Haraken sent off an explorer ship called The Sojourn. Aboard the ship is Teague Racine. Teague is the son of Alex and Renee Racine. Alex is the former president of Haraken. Teague’s girlfriend, Ginny, is also aboard the ship. They discover the planet has two alien species as well as the remains of a Nua’ll ship. They are trying to discover what has happened to the Swei Swee who were aboard the Nua’ll ship.

The book is well written. The story is a bit different from the prior books. The Haraken are advancing and are now sending out explorer ships. Alex is no longer the key character. Jucha has introduced a number of new characters. The ending is most interesting and sets up the future of the series. The story still manages to keep my attention.

The book is about thirteen and a half hours. Grover Gardner does an excellent job narrating the book. Gardner is an actor, voice-over artist and has narrated audiobooks since 1981. Gardner has won twenty Earphone Award, and the Audie Award. In 1999 Audiofile named him the Best Voice of the Century. He has won multiple Golden Voice Awards and in 2005 won the Audiobook Narrator of the Year Award from Audible.

3 people found this helpful

Not the Best

The Silver Ships series is one of my current favorites and while this book rates better than Espero (my least favorite), it's not up to participate with the rest of the series. It's worth the credit but it's the first time I feel like the author just set me up with a......to be continued....story. I feel like I got stuck with a cliffhanger and now I have to wait for the continuation. BUMMER!

3 people found this helpful

What comes around ?

After 8 absolutely great books in this series we are finally getting a peak or a clue to the way everything connects. What started this excellent story is coming back to end it. How I have no idea which is the best part in this whole series and the credits for that belong only to the great author S. H. Jucha who got one hell of an imagination and knows how to put it into writing for us all. Fully recommended !!!

1 person found this helpful

Just when he thought he was out...

Celus-5 is the 8th installment of S H Jucha's Silver Ships series. With life on Haraken relatively uneventful, Alex is living the semi-retired life while Haraken has progressed to exploring their neighborhood. All seems pretty banal, except for some of the SADEs who didn't really know what to expect and are becoming restless. An explorer vessel, with Alex's son part of the crew finds an inhabitable world with grounded traveler vessels. During their investigation they are taken prisoner by a new alien race. At the same time, their Swei Swee crew member escape into the ocean to discover long lost brethren. The Harakens respond to the SOS and Alex comes as well as an "alien" adviser with dozens of SADEs offering assistance. In the end, the planet and its inhabitants provides some tantalizing clues to the Nu'all and book 9 looks to be "have spaceship will travel" time.

The sci-fi elements are in line with earlier offerings with some minor evolutionary improvements. There's an interesting new humanoid alien race with a mysterious past that will likely be further developed. For this story, they represent devolution as their species possesses insufficient numbers to support what must have been older, but more advanced technology. The Swei Swee counterparts also display some noticeable differences. Diplomatic skills are on full and the SADEs have really stepped up; the depth of the Alex / Julian friendship is touching and enlightening with regards to subtle aspects of the artificial entities.

The narration is once again first rate with a solid mix of voices and great pacing for pleasurable storytelling. Basically, Silver Ships has evolved to a "star trek" format where the bulk of the crew with be SADEs with a very satisfied Alex in command.

1 person found this helpful

keep on.

Keep on writing and will keep on buying! Love your work and I really want to find out where the story goes

1 person found this helpful

Narrator interferes with enjoyment of the book...

Narrator interfered with my enjoyment of the book. Shane. I wish Audible made it easier to search by narrator name.

Great continuation

It seems like the series is pivoting to silver ships 2.0 and setting up listeners for a new grander adventure. Celus-5 is full of new characters and species that brings a renewed life to the story. There is also the expansion of SADE interactions bringing them more to the forefront of the adventure.

Very Enjoyable ! I highly recommend the series!!!

I'm very much enjoying the Silver Ships series. You've created a very rich environment and various peoples and aliens. I've listened to the books and am just finishing the Celus-5 book. The series is giving as much pleasure as the EE Smith Skylark series that I hung onto for 30+ years. I've really enjoyed the quality: no profanity, hints of romance and sensuality without getting into details and excitement without a lot of violence. The focus on relationships, problem solving and peace making across races is really excellent.

It's getting repetitive

The overall storyline is rascine to the rescue. in repetitive fashion. i might listen to one more, to check for improvement or change if none are detected i'll stop before i get to bored.

Great as always

Great as always. I always look forward to the next silver ships novel. Great depth and character development.