The Oncoming Storm cover art

The Oncoming Storm

Angel in the Whirlwind, Book 1

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About this listen

In the year 2420, war looms between the galaxy's two most powerful empires: the tyrannical Theocracy and the protectionist Commonwealth. Caught in the middle sits the occupied outpost system Cadiz, where young officer and aristocrat Katherine "Kat" Falcone finds herself prematurely promoted at the behest of her powerful father. Against her own wishes, Kat is sent to command the Commonwealth navy's newest warship, Lightning.

Determined to prove she has value beyond her family name, Kat struggles to earn her crew's respect and find her footing as the youngest captain in naval history. She soon discovers the situation on Cadiz is even worse than anyone in power anticipated. War isn't just a possibility - it is imminent. Yet the admiral in position to bolster defenses refuses to prepare for a fight. Can Kat find a way to investigate the enemy, alert the Commonwealth, and whip an entire fleet into fighting shape before the Theocracy's war machine destroys everything she holds dear?

©2015 Christopher G. Nuttall. (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Adventure Military Science Fiction Space Opera Fiction War
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While it does read a bit like 'Harrington Light', and there are a number of clear similarities,it stand up very well to comparison with Nuttall's other series,

Sadly, what lets it down, is the narration. Lauren Ezzo isn't a bad narrator, just totally wrong for this book. Her voice is far too light to cope with all the male voices (they range from growly to squeaky) and the delivery is very wooden. I can see that she is supposed to represent a very young woman, but she needs much more gravitas, not to mention an ability to convey different emotions. Someone such as Elizabeth Flett or Allyson Johnson, both of whom have narrated space opera very successfully, would have made a much better choice of narrator.
I am looking forward to book 2, but I hope for better narration.

Good start to the series

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This is a kind of amalgamation of Star Trek: Deep Space 9 and put current affairs world situation. It makes for a low key, interesting read. Not over the top or too political and equally not too battle technical. I was hesitant about reading it to begin with, I’m venturing into it because it's within my Kindle Unlimited subscription. But now that I've completed it, I’m intrigued to see how the story develops.

As I say, it's all very low key. No detailed character background, no real knowledge of the religious struggle or the political structure, so it may not appeal to many, but for me, it was a non taxing, light read.

A good sci fi novel

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I enjoyed this book but the frequent character switching made it hard for me to really get behind a character. I was never nervous, as in the dangerous situations didn't feel dangerous. they just resolved themselves fairly quickly and moved on.

enjoyed it but didn't feel any jeopardy

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The comparison to "On Basilisk Station" is unavoidable but that's not a bad thing. The premise of expansionist star nation, an inexperienced first time star captain with a XO who has been passed over for promotion, is a good one. With this starting block the author crafts his own solid story, even poking fun at the similarities between Kat and Honor. The depth of world building isn't on the level of Weber but who's is?(and at times who wants to) Nuttell has made a fun enjoyable world and clearly made the effort to having a interesting main character and not have her as overly perfect as Harrington can come across as. Overall It's not at the level of "Basilisk Station" but it's a good attempt well worth a read/listen.

A strong beginning

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good story and I will be listening to more in this series but this was let down by a weak vocal performance which at times reminded me more of listening to an erotic novel than a sci-fi novel. it is a shame that for a novel with such an interesting female lead character they could not have found a more capable female narrator.

good story, shame about the narrator.

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