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The Caledonian Gambit

A Novel

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The Caledonian Gambit

By: Dan Moren
Narrated by: Rob Grgach
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Summary

The galaxy is mired in a cold war between two superpowers, the Illyrican Empire and the Commonwealth. Thrust between this struggle are Simon Kovalic, the Commonwealth's preeminent spy, and Kyle Rankin, a lowly soldier happily scrubbing toilets on Sabaea, a remote and isolated planet. However, nothing is as it seems.

Kyle Rankin is a lie. His real name is Eli Brody, and he fled his home world of Caledonia years ago. Simon Kovalic knows Caledonia is a lit fuse hurtling towards detonation. The past Brody so desperately tried to abandon can grant him access to people and places that are off limits even to a professional spy like Kovalic. Kovalic needs Eli Brody to come home and face his past. With Brody suddenly cast in a play he never auditioned for, he and Kovalic will quickly realize it's everything they don't know that will tip the scales of galactic peace. Sounds like a desperate plan, sure, but what gambit isn't?

The Caledonian Gambit is a throwback to the classic sci-fi adventures of spies and off-world politics, but filled to the brim with modern sensibilities.

©2017 Dan Moren (P)2017 Tantor Adventure Fantasy Fiction First Contact Military Science Fiction Suspense Thriller & Suspense Espionage
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Critic reviews

"The action scenes, both on the ground and in space, show a focus on thoughtful planning and careful pacing. The characterization delves just enough into emotionality to give the characters realism without moving the focus away from fights, intrigue, and spycraft." ( Publishers Weekly)
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For me slow start, got better and better. Ended up listening last few hours in a day.

Enjoyed to end

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The story was fine, but not exceptional. The narration was odd - what the hell kind of accent were the Caledonian's supposed to have?

It was fine

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I tried to enjoy this, but couldn't get past the terrible Scottish(?) accent the narrator put on. Scottish place names, an ancient title for the country and... Irish accents.

Ireland =/= Scotland

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Some pronunciation way off . This detracts from the text . Still with a read

Dictionary

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It is only with the arrival of the second book in this series, the Bayern Agenda, read by a different and better narrator, that I returned to this first book, having been driven away by the narration. I’m sorry but it isn’t well read. Weird and inconsistent accents, rather dull; even the name of the planet is pronounced inconsistently. Hopefully the audiobook will be reissued at some future date with a different narrator.

So, that’s got the bad stuff out of the way. This is a good old style space adventure. Opening with a scene of almost Star Wars proportions but leading to sleuthing and espionage. There is a good dollop of humour, maybe a little too much, some of it falls a little flat. But there is emotion too; family reunion and heartache.

It’s a pity about the current narration but perseverance will be rewarded.

Enjoyable Space Adventure

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