Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Starship Bandits by Jonathan Yanez, Ross Buzzell Narrator: Phil Thron
Series: Starship Bandits #1
Published by Tantor Audio on December 24, 2024
Genres: Science Fiction Fantasy
Length: 9 hours, 25 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm
In the near future space debris around Earth has made it impossible to traverse our solar system. Or it would be, if not for prisoners sentenced to clearing that debris known as Orbital Garbage Removal Experts, or O.G.R.E. for short.
Former linguistics professor Dax has made it a habit of working aboard The Junkyard with a small crew, the conspiracy theorist, tech-savvy hacker Mark and the once decorated military hero turned war criminal, Kane.
One day a job goes badly when the "debris" turns out to be an alien ship with a deceased crew and an auto-pilot warp drive. The alien craft jumps with The Junkyard attached only to crash land on a desolate, alien world. A world home to insects the size of cars called Underbeasts and the native alien orc-like Dal'no who have been thrown back to the Iron Age.
Join Dax, Mark and Kane as they strike bargains with the formerly technologically advanced species, unravel the beginnings of a human written language and find out they aren’t the first humans to visit the strange planet.
A space garbage ship crew of criminal misfits accidentally salvages an alien ship that takes them back to a homeworld and an adventure worthy of their favorite sci-fi movie heroes. Jonathan Yanez and Ross Buzzell were new to me authors, but one look at the blurb and their book and I signed on for a good-time alien space adventure and I got it in spades.
Starship Bandits is a love affair with alien, sci-fi and action series with its own original three-anti-hero cast who accidentally find themselves in a big alien action adventure that they gleefully embrace.
Dax, Mark, and Kane are condemned prisoners, but in this near future enlightened age, the prison system has come up with a way to help the earth and give prisoners a different way to die. A condemned prisoner can choose to sit in a death row solitary confinement cell and wait out their days staring at a wall or be trapped on a rickety ship orbiting earth collecting up all the space garbage that clutters earth’s orbit. With the poor equipment and uncaring overseer, death by faulty equipment is high.
Dax is a middle-aged former professor with a brilliant mind, Kane is an old former Marine, and Mark is a teenage computer hacker. It’s understood that what got them sentenced was not to be discussed, but Mark being young and full of hubris doesn’t care if they know he’s a conspiracy theorist eco-terrorist who planned to send all the nukes to the moon because, pfft, everyone knows there isn’t really colony of people there. He refuses to listen when Dax and Kane, who happens to be from the Moon, insist there is.
During their latest garbage retrieval, Dax is the one out in his suit latching onto a huge bit of debris when he realizes that he’s got a derelict alien vessel on his hands. All three of them explore and young, impetuous Mark can’t resist poking buttons.
And, that’s how they end up on an alien desert world peopled by an orc-looking race who are barely fending off a ravaging insectoid species. Can the three misfits from earth help the orcs save their world? Stay tuned…
Starship Bandits has that light, swashbuckling style I enjoy in space opera. Jax is the narrator of the story and he was engaging from the start. He’s got little to lose and the prison system boss has no idea that he lost what he cared about already. Only Kane, wise to the ways of fighting and death recognizes Jax is no one to be messed with. Kane’s gruff and his life was all military all the time until one incident ended his career and landed him with the others. Mark was a typical older teen who knows all, is actually quite skilled at technology and keeps their old ship together and their lives, though he irritates the heck out of both older men while he’s doing it.
Slowly, these three misfits start to gel as a team and more especially once they are on the alien world where they encounter the Dal’no, who once had a vibrant world and advanced tech which somehow got wiped out and took them back to pre-spaceflight and tech society. They are fighting off the Underbeasts, ferocious insectoids. Dax and the others agree to help in exchange for help getting their ship repaired. The Dal’no have met humans before, but still have their own distinct culture.
It took awhile to get going, but the latter half is pretty exciting stuff and I enjoyed the camaraderie growing as the situation grew more dire. It’s not an intricate plot and doesn’t try to be more than it is- a light alien planet adventure. Starship Bandits finished this adventure, but left room for further adventures with The Junkyard and it’s crew. I am whole-heartedly on board for the rest of the series and recommend to light Space Opera fans.
Narration:
Narrator Phil Thron was new to me, but his voice and narration style made it easy for me to slip into the story. With three separate main guy characters, he gave them distinct personality which gave further depth to the story. He caught the tone and pacing throughout and I really hope he is the one to further narrate the series.
Listen to a clip: HERE
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing.Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators.Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance.Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
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I love a good space opera! Adding this to my wishlist.
This sounds really good! I’ll look up the audio!
I really like the sound of this one!
Oh, this sounds really good. It’s been a while since I’ve read a space opera and now I miss it. *adds to list*