Narrator: Kim Mai Guest, Johnathan McClain, Donnabella Mortel, Lincoln Hoppe, Steve West, Erin Spencer
Series: Aurora Cycle #2
Published by Listening Library on May 5, 2020
Genres: Science Fiction Fantasy, Young Adult
Length: 15 hours, 16 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
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Our heroes are back⌠kind of. From the bestselling co-authors of the Illuminae Files comes the second book in the epic series about a squad of misfits, losers, and discipline cases who just might be the galaxyâs best hope for survival.
First, the bad news: an ancient evilâyou know, your standard consume-all-life-in-the-galaxy dealâis about to be unleashed. The good news? Squad 312 is standing by to save the day. Theyâve just got to take care of a few small distractions first.
Like the clan of gremps whoâd like to rearrange their favorite faces.
And the cadre of illegit GIA agents with creepy flowers where their eyes used to be, whoâll stop at nothing to get their hands on Auri.
Then thereâs Kalâs long-lost sister, whoâs not exactly happy to see her baby brother, and has a Syldrathi army at her back. With half the known galaxy on their tails, Squad 312 has never felt so wanted.
When they learn the Hadfield has been found, itâs time to come out of hiding. Two centuries ago, the colony ship vanished, leaving Auri as its sole survivor. Now, its black box might be what saves them. But time is short, and if Auri canât learn to master her powers as a Trigger, the squad and all their admirers are going to be deader than the Great Ultrasaur of Abraaxis IV.
Shocking revelations, bank heists, mysterious gifts, inappropriately tight bodysuits, and an epic firefight will determine the fate of the Aurora Legionâs most unforgettable heroesâand maybe the rest of the galaxy as well.
Let me just start by saying Jay Kristoff and Amie KaufmanâŚyou dirty bastards! How could you end the story right there??? How??? It is so cliffy, it is like ending on that time when Jean Luc Picard became borg or the viewers saw Buffy the Vampire slayers tombstone or like 8 different times on LOST. AHHHH!!! I will now wait, oh so not patiently, for the next book.
Moving on.
Aurora Rising was one of my favorite books of 2019 and I called it a bit of a mash up between Firefly, Star Trek and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. There is a great cast of misfits thrown together by circumstance or design, the jury is still out on that one, set to face the largest threat to the galaxy all on their own. Aurora Burning, the second book in The Aurora Cycle picks up just days after all the event in Aurora Rising when our multiple PoV cast is trying desperately to…
- Escape the Raâhaam, then destroy them
- Figure out how Auroraâs power works and find âThe Weapon of Mass Destructionâ
- Find a way off the waystation they ended up on
- Not have a family reunion with Kalâs crazy blood thirsty sister. She isnât Joffrey cray cray, but close.
- Go on a quest to find a bra that doesnât feel like a prison.
Well all of those are really important except for #5 I guess, although mankind could really get on that one too sometime just to help out.
Aurora Burning has a fantastic cast and while all of them are great I do have some favorites. In Magellanâs words O captain my captain Tyler Jones HAS BLUE EYES, BLOND SHAGGY HAIR, AND DIMPLES THAT CAN EXPLODE OVARIES AT THIRTY METERS and my other favorite page/ear candy is Kal (narrated by the yummy Steve West), KAL IS AN EXCELLENT BROODER. HONESTLY, HE COULD BROOD AT A PROFESSIONAL LEVEL. HE HAS DREAMY VIOLET EYES, OLIVE SKIN, AND LONG SILVER HAIR. DONâT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON HIS CHEEKBONES.
But donât think for a second it is all about the boys, because it is not. Scarlet is Tylerâs twin sister who has never met a relationship she couldnât break in seven weeks and definitely knows how to turn on the flirty charm. Zila, is a genius and pretty funny once she starts to warm up to you. She is also not into tall girls, just in case you were wondering. Add to that Finian who is just as much fun as the other and needs to be in a mechanical suit at all times and Aurora, the girl with all the special gifts and no idea how to use them and you have a lot of cool characters to love and work with.
This book was jam packed with action, adventure, running, a dragon and space fights. There wasnât a lot of down time except for one sorta long part where Aurora explores what she is and how to get a hold of it. There is also a little time for love in that section. Robin needs her little time for lovinâ in her books most of the time. So, what Iâm saying is something for almost everyone. Also, there is a little mystery happening that hasnât quite been answered yet, but I bet it is going to blow my mind when it plays out completely.
The one big downer for me was the cliff hanger since now I have to wait a year to see what happened and Iâm a little sad at my 312 team for how they treated a certain member when the big reveal came out. But had to happen so bygones.
If you want an exciting fast paced space drama this might be exactly what you are looking for. I love the dialogue in the book it has some of the best banter out there.
âSaedii sits there in the aftermath of my confession. I expect her to laugh. To call me a liar and a lunatic, to react the way any normal person might when you tell them that an ancient plant-being that lost a war against a race of ancient psychics is set to wake up after a million-year dirt-nap and nom down on the entire galaxy.â
âPoor baby,” she coos. “Madam Badass really did a number on the boys, huh?”
“I mean, I can always adopt,” he whimpers.â
Narration:
Each PoV has its own narrator so there are 6 plus the voice of Magellan (computer Siri of the future). Steve West is one of my favorite narrators ever and does the very broody Kal so fantastically. All the narrators seem perfect for their chapters and made the book so much fun with a lot of fantastic dialogue and inner commentary going on. I listened at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip:
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- Robin Audio20
fabulous review. i think i would really enjoy this one too….except for the cliffy đ
I had a lot of fun with this book and the cliffy, well I’ll make it. Sometimes they are fun in a slow torture kind of way.
Glad to see your high rating, Robin. I’m hoping to listen to this soon since things left off at a pretty exciting place in the first book.
It totally did. I hope you get to it soon, I had a great time with the team.
Never heard of the book or the author before but not going to lie, that book cover caught my attention and now I’m hooked. I recognized the art style immediately; it’s the artists from SJM’s books, right?
Oof, I’m really excited now hahaha. Great review!
I don’t know a ton about cover artists but they might be the same. I like the covers for both series and also see some similarities.