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The Daedalus Incident

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About this listen

Mars is supposed to be dead. Bizarre quakes are rumbling over the long-dormant tectonic plates of the planet, disrupting its trillion-dollar mining operations and driving scientists past the edges of theory and reason. However, when rocks shake off their ancient dust and begin to roll seemingly of their own volition carving canals as they converge to form a towering structure amid the ruddy terrain, Lt. Jain and her JSC team realize that their routine geological survey of a Martian cave system is anything but. The only clues they have stem from the emissions of a mysterious blue radiation, and a 300-year-old journal that is writing itself.

Lt. Thomas Weatherby of His Majesty’s Royal Navy is an honest 18th-century man of modest beginnings, doing his part for King and Country aboard the HMS Daedalus, a frigate sailing the high seas between continents and the immense Void between the Known Worlds. With the aid of his fierce captain, a drug-addled alchemist, and a servant girl with a remarkable past, Weatherby must track a great and powerful mystic, who has embarked upon a sinister quest to upset the balance of the planets the consequences of which may reach far beyond the Solar System, threatening the very fabric of space itself.

©2013 Michael J. Martinez (P)2013 Audible, Inc.
Action & Adventure Adventure Fantasy Fiction Historical Science Fiction Space Exploration Space Opera Time Travel Solar System Interstellar Mars Royal Navy

Editor reviews

An interstellar swashbuckling fantasy adventure, The Daedalus Incident captures two very different frontiers: a cave system on Mars undergoing geological exploration, and the open ocean of the 18th century. With the discoveries of two intrepid explorers, Lt. Jain (voiced by Kristin Kalbli) and Lt. Thomas Weatherby (voiced by Bernard Clark), and the incredible overlap between their worlds, this mind-bending genre mashup truly takes off. Energetic performances from Kalbli and Clark make this already engrossing adventure a must-listen for fans of fantasy and historical adventure alike.

All stars
Most relevant
This review really relates to all 3 volumes of this series.
A wonderful mash-up of lots of sci-fi and fantasy tropes, fleshed out with the occasional appearance from real-life historical characters. Initially a bit confusing but after a while one can just relax and wallow in the pure fun of the story. Very well-written, the author easily masters juggling several story-lines at once. As I'm British I'm particularly pleased that life on board a circa 1800 Navy battleship is so well evoked and there's plenty of hard sci-fi mixed up too.
Fabulous performances from both readers, Kristin in particular manages a really good cut-glass British accent, somewhat reminiscent of Downton Abbey's Lady Mary.
Top class entertainment!

Hornblower/Alien Steam-Punk Adventures!

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I was sceptical about this story at first. I struggled a bit with the blending of alchemy and harder sci-fi. But came to really like the characters and enjoy the plot. The performance is also *mostly* good. My criticism as a Brit and Francophile is of the accents, which are... horrendous! They really jarred me out of the story in places. Why does a character, announced as having a thick Liverpudlian accent in the text, instead have a thick Scottish brogue? Why does a Navy pilot from Birmingham sound like the Queen? And why do the French characters sound like something from a Monty Python sketch? Surely it makes sense to have British actors voice a story with primarily British heroes, rather than Americans who sound like they learned English accents by watching Downton Abbey?

Great story, only disrupted by the accents

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Good mix of sci fi and fantasy. A sort of space age clock work alchemy meets space colony sci fi. Engaging story, good developed characters. Would recommend.

Excellent

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Nice juxtaposition between 18c alchemy and 22c science. Narration is annoying, not very good at English accents eg Cag - Lee - oh - stroh and meen for mien. Number of others too

Entertaining romp

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I quite enjoyed listening to this. I thought it was a unique story and I enjoyed the switching narratives and they way they came together in the end. I thought the characterisation could have had some more depth and some of the dialogue and storylines were predictable. On the whole though I enjoyed listening to it and it was narrated well.

Quite enjoyable

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