Chuckle-worthy Military SF

To say that this book didn't get go where I was expecting at all would be an understatement. Okay, that's not exactly true. As far as space-faring mercenary stories go, this one did follow the basic formula. However, based on the synopsis, I expected a more serious tone than what the story actually gave me. This was largely a humorous story that brimmed with action and a little intrigue. Joe was a funny, endearing character, and it was an excellent decision to tell this story from his POV as it makes it very easy to connect with Joe. Narrating Joe's story is Andrew B. Wehrlen, and he was a great choice for this book. He does an admirable job of capturing the humor of the story and Joe's personality. He managed to find distinctive voices for most of the characters, and I thought he did a fair job on the female voices which can be a little hit or miss with me where male narrators are concerned.

The supporting cast of characters aren't as fleshed out as Joe aside from maybe Joe's partner who is described as a mix between an armored beetle and a Great Dane and tends to spout random facts. Regardless, Bible introduces us to many new races in this story, and while we learn a little about some of their physical characteristics, we don't learn much about them beyond that. Given that this book is supposed to be a fast-paced military merc story, I don't think these characters suffer from not being explored as the action is the driving force behind this book, and it doesn't fail to entertain.

There are a few portions of the story that left me a little foggy. One very big instance is when a story that is being told to Joe, but readers are never actually told the story. It's skimmed over, and all I know is that it involves a questionable death. Beyond that, there's no revelation or consideration for the reader even though it leaves Joe speechless. Then, there's the ending. I have mixed feelings about it. It sort of dived over into the science-fantasy genre for a bit there, which I love, but I don't know if that was exactly the best ending for a book of this nature. It felt too whimsical, a little too overpowered for this, even with the considerations made for the story.

I enjoy military science fiction, but I don't get to read it as much as I'd like. This definitely appealed to that part of me that enjoys stories in this setting. This sets up an interesting universe for a series (I'm assuming this will be a series), but works well as standalone book. Now, if you excuse me, there is some Mass Effect calling my name after reading this. Time to go save a galaxy!

6 people found this helpful

love the universe

Really enjoy the universe Jake Bible has created here, first book I read was Roark in this setting and had high hopes for this one.

I think the characters are even more memorable on this book, however the story is an 8 millions gods damned fauxing mess.

Book starts out strong then quickly loses all sense of cohesion, plot development, character motivation and quite frankly is fairly straight up nonsensical.

still I like the setting, characters and performance enough to give it 3 stars I hope Jake works a bit more on the outline next time.

1 person found this helpful

Very promising premise

I remember one of the first podcasts I listened to in the mid-2000s was a very interesting take on zombies called DEAD MECH by Jake Bible. It was interesting and unique enough that 10 yrs later I still recognized the author’s name and when I was offered the opportunity to listen to the audiobook of Salvage Merc One by Jake Bible, I jumped at the chance.

This is a true sci-fi novel with a startlingly large and varied amount of alien species. While it doesn’t get bogged down in useless details of individual species, I wasn’t able to get enough details to build a mental image of them, either. Since the aliens interacted seamlessly with the protagonist (a human), I was mostly forced to visualize them as humanoids (although they weren’t). It was written sort of in the way one might expect if we (the Human Race) ever managed to actually get rid of all prejudices and differences weren’t actually noticed (now THAT’s sci-fi!). The lack of details might be an issue for some for a proper “movie of the mind” experience, though.

The novel grabs you from the beginning and moves at a brisk pace, maybe a little too brisk for me. There were parts I would have liked a little more exploration on, such as the training received upon recruitment or some of the individual missions. Personally, I think the novel could/should have been about 2 hrs longer; no real modifications to the plot, just more fleshed out. Having said that, I enjoyed the audiobook and finished it in a day. It was witty and interesting.

The audio performance was very good. The narrator, Andrew Wehrlen, demonstrated an admirable range of voices for the various aliens and characters and was consistent with their use. The audio production was professional and had no noticeable problems.

Bottom Line: The interesting scenario we are introduced to with Salvage Merc One deserves exploration. The witty dialogue and varied alien species make for an interesting science fiction novel.

I received a free copy of this audiobook in return for an honest and unbiased review.

1 person found this helpful

Took awhile to find its footing

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Maybe

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Seemed like the narrator was rushing. It took a little bit to get used to his style.

Any additional comments?

I'm glad I stuck with the book. It took several starts/stops of listening to the book but the book/narrator found their groove and I ended up enjoying experience. I received this audiobook for free through Audiobook Blast for my unbiased review.

1 person found this helpful

Witty Sci-Fi

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed this book and found myself grinning at the quirky humor.The author wittilly tells the story of Joe in the first person perspective.Andrew B. Wehrlen was excellent at narrating the audiobook and giving life to each character.It felt as if I was sitting there with them,experiencing the story as it happened.I liked that the author kept creatively revealing more plot twists and kept me guessing till the end.I received an audiobook from the author in exchange for an honest review.

1 person found this helpful

Loved it ❤️

After reading Z-Burbia, some of the subsequent books were just meh for me but I'm glad I kept on the author binge. This book had heart and humor and a little romance thrown in. Sad there's only one more book in this series.

What the faux!

This series reminds me so much of Roak: The Galactic Bounty Hunter. Of course, the locale, the era, and the narrator are the same, so that helps. These two guys must be related; Roak the bounty hunter and Joe Laribeau the salvage merc. Joe Laribeau, former Galactic Fleet Marine who now sports a pair of speedy artificial legs after losing his real ones in battle. Now recruited as salvage merc #184 by the Salvage Merc Corp. Little does Joe realize that he’s about to embark on a world-changing destiny. A destiny he knew nothing of but one that knew him. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Enjoyable book

I'mreally glad I got this book. the storyline was interesting and it had a good mix of humor and action. The narration was very good as well.

reminds me of zburbia

the leading character is a lot like Jase from the Zburbia book. I can see a few other characters from his previous works. its good mindless entertainment

Terribly boring.

I normally love space marine books and have read a ton of them. That said, I really don't understand all the positive reviews because I found this book to be extremely BORING. It seems to just jump all over the place making it hard to remember who is who and who was doing what. There isn't a main character that I can tell. I only listened u to section 11 before it just stopped playing for me. I'm not interested in continuing. Just going to return.