The story arc remains engaging in book 2.

I wrote in my review of Ark Royal that I found the overall story to be a bit dry and the characters to be stereotypical.. Not much changes with book 2 except that the characters do get fleshed out a bit more. However, it is the overall story arc that carries the day with this series and that continued to fuel my desire to keep listening.

Theodore Smith is promoted to Admiral and must lead a fleet of human ships, led by Ark Royal, back out to confront the Aliens. Humanity has progressed their technology somewhat but Ark Royal still remains the only ship in the fleet able to stand up to the enemy plasma weapons. Their mission is high risk as Earth will be left without Ark Royal's protection so a lot is at stake.

I found this book to be a bit more enjoyable than book one with one new key character added - a star fighter pilot with a secret. This helped a bit with the level of character presence but it was the overall war with the aliens that held my interest throughout. For my money you can just skip the forbidden shipboard romances and launch fighters! This one is worth picking up if you enjoyed book one and again I would peg it at 3.5 stars.

Ralph Lister was solid again as narrator.

6 people found this helpful

captured

I got book one for $4.95 on special, then used a credit for book 2, now I'm hooked. it's interesting that unlike most sci-fi novels, there was no immediate and miraculous way that the aliens were able too speak our language, just another wrinkle in a war that seems from the human to have no reason for starting. I'm looking forward till book 3.

3 people found this helpful

A bit odd...

From what I expected this book was strange. The author has a strange obsession with the female anatomy and sex in general. Not like there is anything wrong with it, but when it's used it seems out of place and random. Also details about ships, places etc are constantly repeated as if the author was trying to just fill space.

2 people found this helpful

Almost excellent

Needs just a little more effort on the physics to be a great not just very good yarn. Some sting similarities to "The Lost Fleet" series. But worth a listen.

2 people found this helpful

Commendable sequel with an evolving story arc

The Nelson Touch is a great sequel that builds on the above average introductory story of the Ark Royal series. Basically Nuttall has created a future universe with faster than light travel, while preserving the current geopolitical structures during an era of expansion akin to 18th and 19th century colonialism. In the opening salvo, mankind encounters an alien race seemingly bent on human annihilation. An old, mothballed British "carrier" is the only spaceship that can put up a fight and takes the lead with a crew of rejects in defending humanity.

In this installment, humanity goes on the offensive and takes the fight to the aliens with several surprising developments. Details about the aliens are slowly revealed. There is the addition of a "mystery" crew member this time out and Nuttall does a great job of alternating big picture developments with a host of personal revelations with the major characters, including career advancements. Nutall also displays an excellent sense of portraying the fog of war throughout. Finally, the author sets up the 3rd installment with Earth hanging in the balance and a potential diplomatic solution. Sci-fi elements are limited largely to alien biology.

The narration is excellent with a great range of voices, tone, and mood.

6 people found this helpful

Good Second Installment

A decent follow on to a pretty gripping story. I generally haven't enjoyed British Sci-Fi but this one is good. Narration is first rate although it took a bit of getting used to. By the end of the first book though you'll not even notice. I do think the stuffy British Officer attitude is a little overdone. Commands and much dialog are barked instead of spoken and it's almost a caricature of a British Officer. But it's not a deal killer. I liked the Prince Henry angle. Perhaps more should be played up as Henry the Warrior King since he has become a genuine war hero.

Waiting for the next book and that's the problem with Mr. Nuttall. He has two excellent series going at the same time. This one and the Empires Corps. While the print version of the next in this series (The Trafalgar Gambit: Ark Royal, Book 3) is out the Audio version is not scheduled until October. The next in the Empire's Corps series is not scheduled until November. I go through these things like once a week and am left holding my breath for the next installment.

When you're done with this check out the Empire's Corps. You'll like that one too.

6 people found this helpful

Good characters, too much battle details

What did you love best about The Nelson Touch?

How do you deal with an alien race that makes war on you but won't talk to you? Looking for motivation and trying to figure out what they'll do next is really difficult in that situation. How do they think? What do they want? Could we ever find peace with them? The aliens are smart enough to learn from their experiences with humans, but refuse to communicate in any way other than battle.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The fleet Admiral is a flawed man, a recovering alcoholic thrust into the public eye and given greater power and responsibility than he had ever dreamed of. I prefer characters with depth and contradictions who are basically good people.

Which scene was your favorite?

I have no favorite scene, but several that I didn't like. The characters and basic story line interested me enough to buy this book after reading the first. What I had forgotten is that this author goes into deep detail with each battle. Long, long detail about tactics and other minutia that I am not interested in. Many people do like that in a story, I don't. I'm more interested in the characters and the plot line. I enjoy Larry Niven's books, including ones written with Jerry Pournell. I find the ones written by JP alone to be too battle heavy for my taste. That's how this book was to me (and the first one too, but I had forgotten about that when I bought this book).

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No

Any additional comments?

The narration is excellent and allowed me to continue slogging through the parts I found so very tedious.

1 person found this helpful

Well executed military sci-fi

What more could you want? Can't wait to start the next book in the series. Five more words needed to finish.

1 person found this helpful

Great for naval history buffs who like sci-go

As a fan of the Aubrey-Maturin books AND sci-fi, this was a pleasant mix. The narrator was good, but could have varied the voices a little more. It was enough to tell who was speaking, but it was more like being read to by a parent as opposed to a professional narrator.

1 person found this helpful

Engaging storyline.

I like the way it was written and narrated. I've enjoyed this and the first book in the series so far.

1 person found this helpful