Listen free for 30 days
-
The Lost Starship
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Series: The Lost Starship, Book 1
- Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Fantasy
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £22.89
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Lost Command
- Lost Starship Series, Volume 2
- By: Vaughn Heppner
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 15 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Starship Victory, a faithful alien spacecraft guarding its shattered system for 10,000 years, agreed to come to Earth. Now Captain Maddox and his crew have a new assignment. They must find Professor Ludendorff before the New Men do. The New Men need Ludendorff's help so they can capture the alien starship. Maddox needs the neglected superweapons repaired so he can rescue a Star Watch fleet trapped deep in enemy territory.
-
-
Riveting
- By Poppey on 15-02-16
-
Star Raider
- By: Vaughn Heppner
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The hive-like soldiers of Social Unity invade Tanner's world. After a bitter fight, a handful of freedom fighters make it off-world to continue the resistance from space. One by one, Social Unity eliminates the freedom fighters until only Tanner and his ship are left. Then, they trap him on a luxury space station. From prison, Tanner makes a deal with a mysterious Earthman, Lord Acton. The Earthman is vague about a stealth mission on the galactic rim, but Tanner is desperate.
-
Columbus Day
- Expeditionary Force, Book 1
- By: Craig Alanson
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We were fighting on the wrong side of a war we couldn't win. And that was the good news. The Ruhar hit us on Columbus Day. There we were, innocently drifting along the cosmos on our little blue marble, like the native Americans in 1492. Over the horizon come ships of a technologically advanced, aggressive culture, and BAM! There go the good old days, when humans only got killed by each other. So, Columbus Day. It fits. When the morning sky twinkled again, this time with Kristang starships jumping in to hammer the Ruhar, we thought we were saved.
-
-
Hampsters, Beer Cans & Cheese Burgers
- By S. Morris on 05-03-17
-
Legacy
- Stellar Heritage, Book 1
- By: Bob Mauldin
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 19 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Simon and Katherine Hawke stumble upon an alien shuttle that has landed on earth, it’ll not only change the course of their lives, but of the entire world. Taking the shuttle into orbit, they discover a much larger ship left adrift with no one on board. Commandeering it, they confirm that we’re not alone in the universe and must prepare the human race for what is about to come. Recruiting from all over the world, they begin to expand their fleet and build a federation to give humans a foothold in the galaxy.
-
-
It's not working for me
- By Alexander Jibb on 29-10-20
-
Steel World
- Undying Mercenaries, Book 1
- By: B. V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the twentieth century Earth sent probes, transmissions and welcoming messages to the stars. Unfortunately, someone noticed. The Galactics arrived with their battle fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined their vast Empire. Swearing allegiance to our distant alien overlords wasn't the only requirement for survival. We also had to have something of value to trade, something that neighboring planets would pay their hard-earned credits to buy.
-
-
Should I start this series
- By luke on 10-06-15
-
Assault Troopers
- Extinction Wars, Book 1
- By: Vaughn Heppner
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Earth died when aliens rained thermonuclear warheads on her cities and sprayed the surface with a bio-terminator. A deadly poison drifted to every corner of the planet, threatening the last survivors with annihilation. For a soldier like Creed, there is only one way to keep breathing untainted air. He must bury his hatred of the extraterrestrials and join the Jelk Corporation as an assault trooper, leaving the planet for outer space. In return for his and other people's services, the corporation will house the last humans for as long as the assault troopers keep winning.
-
-
interesting sy fy premise
- By Stu on 17-02-18
-
The Lost Command
- Lost Starship Series, Volume 2
- By: Vaughn Heppner
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 15 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Starship Victory, a faithful alien spacecraft guarding its shattered system for 10,000 years, agreed to come to Earth. Now Captain Maddox and his crew have a new assignment. They must find Professor Ludendorff before the New Men do. The New Men need Ludendorff's help so they can capture the alien starship. Maddox needs the neglected superweapons repaired so he can rescue a Star Watch fleet trapped deep in enemy territory.
-
-
Riveting
- By Poppey on 15-02-16
-
Star Raider
- By: Vaughn Heppner
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The hive-like soldiers of Social Unity invade Tanner's world. After a bitter fight, a handful of freedom fighters make it off-world to continue the resistance from space. One by one, Social Unity eliminates the freedom fighters until only Tanner and his ship are left. Then, they trap him on a luxury space station. From prison, Tanner makes a deal with a mysterious Earthman, Lord Acton. The Earthman is vague about a stealth mission on the galactic rim, but Tanner is desperate.
-
Columbus Day
- Expeditionary Force, Book 1
- By: Craig Alanson
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We were fighting on the wrong side of a war we couldn't win. And that was the good news. The Ruhar hit us on Columbus Day. There we were, innocently drifting along the cosmos on our little blue marble, like the native Americans in 1492. Over the horizon come ships of a technologically advanced, aggressive culture, and BAM! There go the good old days, when humans only got killed by each other. So, Columbus Day. It fits. When the morning sky twinkled again, this time with Kristang starships jumping in to hammer the Ruhar, we thought we were saved.
-
-
Hampsters, Beer Cans & Cheese Burgers
- By S. Morris on 05-03-17
-
Legacy
- Stellar Heritage, Book 1
- By: Bob Mauldin
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 19 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Simon and Katherine Hawke stumble upon an alien shuttle that has landed on earth, it’ll not only change the course of their lives, but of the entire world. Taking the shuttle into orbit, they discover a much larger ship left adrift with no one on board. Commandeering it, they confirm that we’re not alone in the universe and must prepare the human race for what is about to come. Recruiting from all over the world, they begin to expand their fleet and build a federation to give humans a foothold in the galaxy.
-
-
It's not working for me
- By Alexander Jibb on 29-10-20
-
Steel World
- Undying Mercenaries, Book 1
- By: B. V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the twentieth century Earth sent probes, transmissions and welcoming messages to the stars. Unfortunately, someone noticed. The Galactics arrived with their battle fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined their vast Empire. Swearing allegiance to our distant alien overlords wasn't the only requirement for survival. We also had to have something of value to trade, something that neighboring planets would pay their hard-earned credits to buy.
-
-
Should I start this series
- By luke on 10-06-15
-
Assault Troopers
- Extinction Wars, Book 1
- By: Vaughn Heppner
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Earth died when aliens rained thermonuclear warheads on her cities and sprayed the surface with a bio-terminator. A deadly poison drifted to every corner of the planet, threatening the last survivors with annihilation. For a soldier like Creed, there is only one way to keep breathing untainted air. He must bury his hatred of the extraterrestrials and join the Jelk Corporation as an assault trooper, leaving the planet for outer space. In return for his and other people's services, the corporation will house the last humans for as long as the assault troopers keep winning.
-
-
interesting sy fy premise
- By Stu on 17-02-18
-
Stars End: The Complete Series Box Set
- M.R. Forbes Box Sets
- By: M. R. Forbes
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
- Length: 26 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One man's epic story of loyalty, perseverance, and hope in a galaxy at war. Now in a single volume. Alliance Navy Commander Grayson Stone is patrolling a nearby space station when a mysterious starship appears. It emerges from a storm of fire, its shields impenetrable, its weapons overwhelming, attacking without provocation and annihilating everything in its path.
-
-
Great once you get into it
- By adognamedbob on 18-04-22
-
A.I. Destroyer
- The A.I. Series, Book 1
- By: Vaughn Heppner
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It came from deep space. It sent the signal. Now our computers are killing us, helping the enemy drive us into extinction. But some of us refuse to die. We fight back. We learn. Jon Hawkins revives from cryogenic sleep in a drifting SLN battleship. The crew is dead and the main computer has been destroyed. Jon is a soldier, the start of the resistance, the one man with the will to beat the alien death machines that have terminated 1000 races. This is our hour as we face the ultimate evil, the galactic destroyer of life.
-
-
Not the most original but worth a listen
- By Jeremy Dalton on 05-09-17
-
Exiled Fleet
- Publisher's Pack (Books 1-2)
- By: Richard Fox
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Book 1: Albion Lost: For centuries, the Daegon waited. They plotted. And now they are ready to strike. The core worlds of settled space enjoy a tenuous peace, unaware and ill prepared for the threat building beyond the furthest reaches of humanity. The star kingdom of Albion stands as a shining light of justice and mercy in a harsh galaxy, and they will be the first to suffer the Daegon's fury. Book 2: The Long March: Commodore Thomas Gage and his fleet, safeguarding the last of the Albion Royal Family, are on the run.
-
-
Unfocused and lacking depth
- By 5fer on 24-09-21
-
Alien Honor
- A Fenris Novel, Book 1
- By: Vaughn Heppner
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
AD 2457. The longest space voyage in history has begun: 230 light years from a ravaged Earth to the pristine star system of New Eden - a beacon of hope following the Doom Star days. Aboard the ship are human colonizers, the Space Navy, fierce “Monitors” once bred to fight Cyborgs, and four “Specials” - humans with psionic abilities, capable of ripping holes in space to jump vast distances.
-
-
Very good set of books
- By Scottishgirl on 07-09-15
-
Backyard Starship
- Backyard Starship, Book 1
- By: J.N. Chaney, Terry Maggert
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Van Tudor returns to his childhood home, he inherits more than the family farm. His grandfather used to tell him fantastic stories of spacemen and monsters, princesses and galactic knights. Little did Van realize, the old man's tales were more than fiction; they were real. Hidden beneath the old barn, Van’s legacy is waiting: a starship, not of this world. With his combat AI, an android bird named Perry, Van takes his first steps into the wider galaxy. He soon finds that space is far busier and more dangerous than he could have ever conceived.
-
-
listen to it it's good
- By Anonymous User on 04-06-22
-
Battleground
- Unification War Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Joshua Dalzelle
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After two brutal, bloody struggles for their very existence against implacable alien foes, humanity is victorious, but not at peace. As distrust and accusations consume the political discourse between the two major factions, the Eastern Star Alliance military has already begun executing small raiding missions into United Terran Federation space. The Federation fleet, still reeling from the last war, is in no shape to try and protect its own borders.
-
-
fantastic listen
- By Harri on 17-10-21
-
The Empire's Corps
- By: Christopher G. Nuttall
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
- Length: 15 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Galactic Empire is dying and chaos and anarchy are breaking out everywhere. After a disastrous mission against terrorists on Earth itself, Captain Edward Stalker of the Terran Marine Corps makes the mistake of speaking truth to power, telling one of the most powerful men in the Empire a few home truths. As a result, Captain Stalker and his men are unceremoniously exiled to Avalon, a world right on the Rim of the Empire. It should have been an easy posting...
-
-
Predictable but still enjoyable book. Well read.
- By Gary Sereno on 28-05-15
-
Shattered Galaxy
- The Complete After the Galaxy Series Box Set
- By: Scott Bartlett
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 27 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Raised fatherless in a galactic Brinktown, Joe Pikeman only ever wanted to escape. The Galactic Guard offered that escape, with the promise of regular meals to boot. Now Joe is a full Guardsman, with his own ship and a snide partner bot who hates humans almost as much as he hates other bots. To the pirates he hunts, Joe is known as the Butcher. His bloody reputation has landed him in the center of a sweeping conspiracy that threatens to stamp out the galaxy’s last surviving human settlements.
-
-
Mark Boyet's delivery of scify audiobooks is top
- By Amazon Customer on 13-12-20
-
Omega Rising
- By: Joshua Dalzelle
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jason Burke was a man hiding from himself in a small cabin high in the American Rocky Mountains when his simple, quiet life was shattered one night by what he first assumed was an aviation mishap. But when he investigates the crash, what he finds will yank him out of his self-imposed exile and thrust him into a world he could have never imagined.
-
-
Well worth a read, really enjoyed for 2nd time
- By Voyager on 08-06-16
-
Forerunner
- AI Fleet, Book 1
- By: Isaac Hooke
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jain was the lieutenant commander of an elite SEAL team. He was accustomed to order and discipline, which he used to give the men under his command that particular brand of killer instinct his unit was known for.But one day that semi-comfortable, ordered life ended when he opened his eyes to find his body replaced by a starship. His mind had become its AI core. He is somewhere in deep space. Most of his systems are badly damaged. He has no memory of how he got here, or what his mission is. Evidence points to an attack by an unknown entity.
-
-
It's ok
- By chris on 24-11-20
-
Star Runner
- By: B. V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two centuries after humanity colonized the stars, new dangers emerge. The peaceful inhabitants of the Conclave are threatened by expanding alien powers. Invaders threaten the star cluster, attacking our fringe settlements. Captain Bill Gorman has mysteriously disappeared. His clone, set aside for a dark day like this, awakens and begins to put together the pieces. What’s gone wrong out on the frontier? Why are our colonies being attacked by aliens while the Conclave worlds dream of better days? And what happened to the original Captain Gorman?
-
-
Total let down. (spoiler free)
- By eric on 22-07-20
-
Rebel Fleet
- By: B. V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They hunt us. They bomb our worlds for target practice. A star cluster in the constellation of Orion rotates once every thousand years. Those who rule there have an ancient tradition: When each cycle ends, they train their fleets by spilling the blood of lesser beings. The enemy fleets are coming again. In response, the Rebel Worlds gather their starships to face the terrifying threat, and this time humanity is asked to stand with them.
-
-
Just good spoiler free review
- By England fan 1 on 24-12-16
Summary
Ten thousand years ago, a single alien super-ship survived a desperate battle. The vessel's dying crew set the AI on automatic to defend the smashed rubble of their planet. Legend has it the faithful ship continues to patrol the empty battlefield, obeying its last order throughout the lonely centuries.
In the here and now, Earth needs a miracle. Out of the Beyond invade the New Men, stronger, faster and smarter than the old. Their superior warships and advanced technology destroy every fleet sent to stop them. Their spies have infiltrated the government and traitors plague Earth's military.
Captain Maddox of Star Watch Intelligence wonders if the ancient legend could be true. Would such an old starship be able to face the technology of the New Men? On the run from killers, Maddox searches for a group of talented misfits. He seeks Keith Maker, a drunken ex-strikefighter ace, Doctor Dana Rich the clone thief stuck on a prison planet and Lieutenant Valerie Noonan, the only person to have faced the New Men in battle and survived to tell about it.
Maddox has to find a place hidden in the Beyond and bring back a ship no one can enter. If he fails, the New Men will replace the old. If he succeeds, humanity might just have a fighting chance...
More from the same
What listeners say about The Lost Starship
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Stephen
- 07-03-15
nice story shame about the narrater
The story was fine, an old fashioned action movie with all the usual aspects you would expect. The narration however was at times truly appalling, especially the attempt at a Scottish accent. The character variously sounded Russian, Indian, Scouse, Brummie, Irish and a whole variety of others but never ever a Glaswegian. It was embarrassing and truly cringe worthy.
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tombo
- 30-06-16
No science in the fiction
Got about half way through this book before calling it quits
Weak story but could have got through it if the performance was better. This guy can't do a Scottish accent its cringeworthy like dick van dyke in Mary poppins
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Robert Wheatley
- 08-02-15
Annoyingly dull
First off, it's a really basic, linear story where not much happens. It's also very repetitive.
At one point, I logged back into to Audible to see when the book was written. I figured that perhaps it was in the 50s due to the lack of technical imagination. Turns out that it wasn't written in the 50s, and it just was a lack of imagination.
The most annoying thing is the "Batman '60s TV series" dialog that's rife throughout the story. Remember the endings to the old TV series where there'd be a barrage of questions? "Will, blar blar do whatever? Can so-and-so do x? Will batman make it out alive?" That kind of nonsense. Well, there's a lot of that in it, which gets very irritating, very quickly.
Finally, although the narrator did a reasonable job, one of the principle characters is Scottish, and his attempt at a Scottish accent is a joke. Either they should have found someone who could at least approximate a Scottish accent or the producer should have said don't both.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Paul Woodroffe
- 29-07-16
Decent Story, Hilarious Narration
Would you listen to The Lost Starship again? Why?
I'm not sure if I'd listen to it again; but I did enjoy it. It has an interesting story, if a little obvious.
What didn’t you like about David Stifel’s performance?
Oh my God, the sole reason for my review.
This guy has clearly never been to Scotland; heard a Scottish accent or perhaps even knows where it is.
He is hilarious. The first 20 minutes of hearing his 'Scottish' accent has me roaring with laughter. It is truly bizarre..... I cannot believe that at some point someone didn't say to the guy - "hey, did you know that you really can't do Scottish?!"
Truly shocking. It's hilarious but it does grow weary.
Any additional comments?
I know they never will.... but it'd be a far better book if they redid the narration.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dee Gee
- 24-02-16
Well, luv, it wasnae for me
OK, so I’ve got to address the elephant in the room. If you’ve read almost any of the other reviews you’ll have heard mention of The Accent. One of the characters is allegedly Scottish, although the way that the narrator tackles the accent you could actually believe he’s from anywhere in the world. Or perhaps everywhere all at once. It doesn’t just vary from sentence to sentence. I swear in one sentence he managed to hit four different accents. And it only had three words. Sorry, but it really is that poor. It’s positively distracting whenever that character is around, which unfortunately is for most of the book.
For those of a certain age who can remember this far back (or those who like classic movies) it’s essentially The Dirty Dozen in space. Well, maybe on a budget since it’s more like The Dirty Quintet, but that didn’t have the same ring to it. Essentially humanity has once again got itself in to trouble and is about to be wiped out (that’s about the 14th time this year already. Perhaps I should stop reading so much sci fi). New, stronger versions of humanity called the New Men are invading. We have a slightly weaker version of them in Captain Maddox (if the New Men are version 2, he's version 1 service pack 1) who must round up a group of belligerent people who really don’t want to be together and try to save the day by finding ancient technology. All whilst trying to figure out what accent the “Scottish” guy has slipped into now. Talk about a challenge.
I really wanted to like this book. In particular, the concept of an ancient ship left with only an AI to run it felt like it had great potential, but in practice that whole piece was just a massively missed opportunity. Even the New Men, though physically strong, were emotionally weak and ultimately served as little more than throw jibes at the protagonists.
So, it’s not a terrible book, but there’s nothing all that novel about it. The pacing is also somewhat patchy. There are big action pieces that are actually quite entertaining, but then the action slows to a crawl for too long and very little happens. There isn’t really enough mystery to hold your attention for long listening sessions, and the characters are all somewhat bland and interchangeable with obvious flaws that they have to overcome.
And oh my, that accent...
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- JohnMape
- 10-07-16
Truly awful
This audiobook is the worst I have purchased, plot is thin for sci fi space opera, narration poor with the infamous Glaswegian accent.
Seems like it must be a spoof.
Failure on behalf of audible editorial team how on earth did it get in the catalogue?
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Akshay Davis
- 10-08-16
worst book in a long time
The narrator is extremely painful to listen to. His attempt at a Scottish accent was atrocious. Beyond that the story is very weak and not worth the suffering.
Save your credit!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 11-02-15
A disappointing tale
If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?
Someone with too much time on their hands. Perhaps someone in prison who deserves punishment.
What was most disappointing about Vaughn Heppner’s story?
The start, the premise, the middle and the end. The bits in between were disappointing as well.
How could the performance have been better?
There is nothing more painful than hearing an American actor fail badly at attempting a Glaswegian accent. It varied between South African, Australian and German.
It didn't help that the narrator had the tone and delivery of an accountant presenting a financial report.
What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
Denial - surely this book can't be that bad despite the opening chapter
Bargaining - if I keep reading it will get better.
Anger - why did I pay for this book??
Depression - listening now out of sheer apathy and misery
Acceptance - the book is finally over and was disappointing. But now I know to avoid future works by this author.
Any additional comments?
This will be 13 hours of your life you won't get back. Unless you're in prison.
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Martin McDevitt
- 26-03-15
Disappointing
Avoid if you are from the UK. The Scottish accent is awful.
The story itself is mediocre, potential is there.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- catherine Tulley
- 29-04-21
Accent performance
OMG possibly the worst Scottish accent attempt I've ever heard, utterly off putting. story plot ok however
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Garth
- 29-11-15
Bad narration & amateur writing ruin a good story
Would you try another book from Vaughn Heppner and/or David Stifel?
No, the writing is amateur. They redundantly use the same phrases redundantly (see what I did there) thought the book. And honestly, the characters are like something out of a Sarurday cartoon rather than a real person with depth. The deepest character (the doctor) is pretty one dimensional, and I almost vomitted when when she "took the oath"...
What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)
It was just a teaser for the next book. And the very last part was quite literally the icing on the cheeseball cartoon writing cake
What didn’t you like about David Stifel’s performance?
Every female sounded like some kind of smoky bar pick up line. Seriously - "Capitan, the battle cruiser is almost in firing range" shouldn't sound like she's trying to seduce someone.And the guys, other than the line dude with an accent sounded like something from G.I. Joe - all rough and gruff... Except they're all the same action figure.
What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
Meh-ness
Any additional comments?
The story, at its core wasn't bad. Sadly the science was no where to be found this science fiction, it was more "science magic". Disconnects like jump lag shutting down all systems, well except for the shields of course - and mostly because about halfway through the book we realized we needed those shields right after jump to get past another zainy obstical... Anyway.
34 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- P. Smith
- 09-04-18
It was the Narrator
This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?
The book's story was decent, but had many flaws. The narration made it seem far worse than it was. I'm not sure I could recommend it to anyone.
If you’ve listened to books by Vaughn Heppner before, how does this one compare?
This was my first Vaughn Heppner book. It came very close to being my last.
Would you be willing to try another one of David Stifel’s performances?
Not really. It was bad. He made the characters seem brain dead. At first I thought it was the writing, but then I heard an excerpt from book #2 book of the series and I realized it was the narrator that was dragging the material down. Way down.
What character would you cut from The Lost Starship?
Meta. She was superfluous, and the the Captain's attachment to her led to some of the worst writing in the whole book. Once again, a lot of this was probably the narrator, but she seemed like a barely tamed ape rather than the tough, but beautiful crush the writer seemed to be going for.
Any additional comments?
You know how in the old Batman, everything was a "bat" this or that? Like a baterang, batmobile, batlight, batwrench, etc?. Everything in this was "space". Every time I heard "space" attached to something, it made me think I was listening to 50s scifi, but without all the old time charm and clever examination of science.
I could go on and on, but the best way to put it is pick the most mediocre episode of your favorite scifi TV show and swap all the actors out with the bad actors who miserably failed their auditions for that show.
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Uncle Olaf
- 23-03-16
I'm spoiled. Even imaginary universes have physical laws.
First: Too much explanation. The author telegraphed his main character's angst over his origins in chapter 1. Nothing left for him to do for the next hours, except action. Like the space battles, 2D.
Second: You can't change the laws of physics. You can create new laws, worm holes, FTL drives, whatever, but if you're communicating by radio, you're limited to light speed. If you're sitting 3 light years away from a planetary system, your sensor data is 3 YEARS OLD. Telling us that you see no sign of the enemy from that distance is bogus.
Third: The author wasted a perfectly good character, the alien AI. Granted, he'll probably be back in the sequel.
I won't.
35 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Michael
- 29-06-18
great story bad performance
I really enjoyed the story; however it was very difficult to keep interested due to the poor performance of the voice actor. if you can get through the first 15 to 20 chapters the story becomes so compelling that you can forgive the poor performance.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Michael
- 25-01-16
Disappointing
What would have made The Lost Starship better?
The story bogs down badly. It would have profited from better direction and better continuity.
What was most disappointing about Vaughn Heppner’s story?
The story started out in one direction but broke down into angst and internal dialogues combined with an insane AI.
Would you be willing to try another one of David Stifel’s performances?
Probably not.
Any additional comments?
Just weak. I wish I'd listened to it while I could still return it.
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Striker
- 01-12-14
A Good Concept and Decent (But Not Great) Story
Let me say first that I disagree with the one-star ratings. Although this story wasn't amazing, I was still entertained and thought that it deserved the three stars I gave it.
I loved the overall concept of the story, I just didn't care for a lot of the "filler" leading up to the actual "lost starship" and thought that a few of the characters were a little unrealistic.
The summary given by audible is pretty good. The story focuses around a gifted intelligence officer who is given the mission of finding a potential new weapon to save the human race from a new and powerful enemy. The "new men" have recently attacked several planets and every ship and task force sent against them has been completely destroyed with no losses on the side of the enemy.
The main character must rely on the notes of a missing professor and the cooperation of his assistant to find an ancient, but powerful, alien starship in a system long ago destroyed by war. With the new men having infiltrated seemingly every branch of the government and military, the enemy is on their tale the entire book, and sometimes even a step ahead of them.
Much of the story that I didn't quite care for consisted of the main character having to rescue the missing professor's assistant from a supposedly escape-proof prison planet. Later, I found this character to be completely unrealistic and annoying as she takes every opportunity to sabotage the mission for seemingly no real reason...
The main character also believes that he may actually be a new man-human hybrid, explaining his considerable physical and mental abilities (abilities that seem to closely match those of the new men). This plays into the story quite a bit as well.
As I said, I did still enjoy this book and will purchase the next in the series if it is ever released on audible. It is worth the credit and the listen.
75 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Shane Garrison
- 15-06-18
The narrator is terrible!
The main character is a total and complete asshole who would, in reality, never be allowed to be in command of anything. The author should have done at least a little bit of research on space, space travel, space communication and basically everything else in this book. The narrator completely ruined the listening experience.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jim "The Impatient"
- 01-02-17
THE NEW MEN
SOUNDING CONFIDENT ABOUT A THING DOESN'T MAKE IT TRUE
I don't want to sound like a copy cat of The southern STRIKER man on meds, but I too thought this good, but not great. It was 70% entertaining. The filler in the middle was boring.
I MUST SAY DOCTOR, YOUR AWFUL HARD TO LIKE
While I did not like the doctor on the prison planet they rescued. I did like the adventure on the prison planet.
THE WAITING IS GETTING TO HIM, JUST LIKE THE REST OF US.
This is a long set up for the gathering of a crew and the finding an ancient derelict from an unknown super race, in order to beat THE NEW MEN, who are far superior to us and who feel we are like ants. Heppner writes in a old time serious manner, so don't expect any laughs. His writing reminds me a little of pulp science fiction.
The narrator was a little slow and I put him on 1.25 for the last three hours.
55 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Sygma06
- 10-12-14
Fun story but how about some production QC!
The story was OK but not great. A major detractor from the immersion was the awful narration.
The narrator takes some getting used to but it seems like no preproduction was done during recording. There were multiple times that the narrator used the wrong voice and would try to transition from one voice to another over the course of a sentence. I don't know what techniques are used so that a narrator knows who is speaking a certain line but this could have been done much much better.
If you can get over this it is a fun jaunt.
26 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- sci-fi nerd
- 18-03-16
Old school-style scifi with dreary narration
I'd love to say great things about this book, but all I can come up with is "meh". The simplistic, straight-line, single character focused writing is reminiscent of classic 50's-60's scifi, which was fine for Heinlein half a decade ago, but this is supposed to be a contemporary book. Heppner seemed to borrow too much from older scifi, and at times this novel reads more like Star Trek fan fiction than an original piece. While there's nothing wrong with fanfic, I was expecting something a little more unique in theme and modern in complexity.
As for the narrator, who was at best dull and at worst awkward, I am very happy to see that the next books in the series use a different one. The breathy voice he used for the female characters was laughable. The odd pronunciations (e.g.,"rum" for "room") and sometimes outright mispronunciations were distracting. The supposedly "Scottish" accent sounded more like a cartoon character than a serious one. There were also times when it was clear the narrator forgot who he was speaking for, and used the wrong voice or changed it midway through. All in all, it didn't work.
18 people found this helpful