Audio: The Queen’s Gambit by Jessie Mihalik @Jessiemihalik #RachelDulude @TantorAudio #LoveAudiobooks #JIAM

Posted June 15, 2019 by Anne - Books of My Heart in Book Review, JIAM / 8 Comments

Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.


Audio: The Queen’s Gambit by Jessie Mihalik @Jessiemihalik #RachelDulude @TantorAudio #LoveAudiobooks #JIAMThe Queen's Gambit by Jessie Mihalik
Narrator: Rachel Dulude
Series: Rogue Queen #1
Published by Tantor Audio on May 31, 2019
Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera
Length: 4 hours, 14 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
AmazonAudibleLibro.fm
one-flame
One StarOne StarOne StarOne Star

When the Quint Confederacy and the Kos Empire went to war—again—young Queen Samara wisely kept her Rogue Coalition out of the conflict. But staying neutral in a galactic war doesn’t pay the bills, not when both sides refuse to trade with neutral sectors.

With her people on the brink of starvation, Samara hatches a daring plan to snatch the kidnapped Kos Emperor from the Quint mercenaries holding him. The Kos Empire will pay a fortune for their emperor’s return, enough to feed the Coalition’s citizens while they wait for the return to a begrudging peace.

But when her plan goes sideways, Samara finds herself evading Quint mercenaries with the very man she intends to capture. And the more time she spends with Valentin Kos, the more she realizes that he’s not the coldly indifferent villain she imagined. Torn between duty and desire, Samara must decide if saving her people is worth giving up the one thing she’s always wanted.

I really loved Mihalik’s Polaris Rising so I had no hesitation in requesting The Queen’s Gambit.  It is shorter but has the same feel I enjoyed in Polaris Rising.  The action is set in space and on planets involved in various disputes.  This novella was an online free serial on the author’s site.

Samara leads a planet which tries to stay neutral when a war breaks out between two larger powers.  Without trade, the people are starving so she comes up with a plan to make some money to feed her people.  The thrilling action and fights which follow are the kind of thing I live to read.  She is smart and plans her strategies well. Samara is also not afraid to risk herself for others.

She slowly builds a friendship with Emporer Valentin Kos. It remains to be seen if it will be more.  I can’t wait for more. I’ll be reading and hopefully listening.    The next part of the Rogue Queen series, The Queen’s Advantage looks like it will be published in one work in July.  I hope it will be available in audio as well.

Narration:

This narrator is new to me and I enjoyed her performance very much.  Her voices for all the characters, male or female felt right.  There were slight differences for each of the characters so I could tell who was speaking but there were mostly 2 characters doing most of the speaking. I listened to this one comfortably at 1.5x speed.

Listen to a clip:  HERE

About Jessie Mihalik

Jessie Mihalik has a degree in Computer Science and a love of all things geeky. A software engineer by trade, Jessie now writes full time from her home in Texas. When she’s not writing, she can be found playing co-op video games with her husband, trying out new board games, or reading books pulled from her overflowing bookshelves.

Rating Breakdown
Plot
One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarHalf a Star
Writing
One StarOne StarOne StarOne Star
Characters
One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarHalf a Star
Narration (Audio)
One StarOne StarOne StarOne Star
Overall: One StarOne StarOne StarOne Star
Anne - Books of My Heart
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

  • 2019 Audiobooks
  • 2019 Releases
  • COYER Hunt

Posted June 15, 2019 by Anne - Books of My Heart in Book Review, JIAM / 8 Comments


8 responses to “Audio: The Queen’s Gambit by Jessie Mihalik

  1. Neat that the author did the in between story serial, but I love that she’s doing a release of the full story (I don’t have enough patience for serials). This is a series that I will definitely be getting to.

    Sophia Rose recently posted: Blog All About It June 2019
    • This is similar to what Ilona Andrews does with her Innkeeper series. It is serial on the blog. When one “book” is complete, it is edited and published. I wasn’t able to do serial for the first couple but then I got it together and read every time it was released.

  2. Melanie

    I almost grabbed this one. I really enjoy Rachel Dulude. I listened to hear read one of Katie Ruggle’s series. I’ve also heard so many great things about Polaris Rising (which I already have on my TBR list). I eventually decided against only because I need to get through some of my existing list. Glad you enjoyed it.

    Melanie @ Hot Listens & Books of My Heart