Hey all, I’m back with another Sci-Fi series from the good people at Audible. It’s Ark Royal, Book 01 of the Ark Royal series, by Christopher G. Nuttall!
Plot Synopsis: Seventy years ago, the interstellar supercarrier Ark Royal was the pride of the Royal Navy. But now, her weapons are outdated and her solid-state armor nothing more than a burden on her colossal hull. She floats in permanent orbit near Earth, a dumping ground for the officers and crew the Royal Navy wishes to keep out of the public eye. But when a deadly alien threat appears, the modern starships built by humanity are no match for the powerful alien weapons.
Ark Royal and her mismatched crew must go on the offensive, buying time with their lives And yet, with a drunkard for a Captain, an over-ambitious first officer and a crew composed of reservists and the dregs of the service, do they have even the faintest hope of surviving and returning to an Earth which may no longer be there?…
Plot: The plot is okay, but not at all original. There are things from other series that have been around for years. Redemption for a failure of a crew? Check. Unknown Alien threat suddenly attacking humanity? Check. I could go on and on, but really this isn’t even close to reaching the foothills of what I consider to be the mountainous pinnacle of writing I’ve come to expect from authors like Brandon Sanderson. That isn’t to say this is a terrible series, there are much worse series out there that make Ark Royal look like a masterpiece.
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Characters: Ted our reluctant and drunkard captain is our main character, and while the rest of the cast is equally as dysfunctional at the start you do grow to like them over the course of the book. However, it’s still not a very original cast of characters, especially with some very blatant references to people from our own time.
Voicework: The voicework is okay, but could have been better. Maybe it was a combination of the actual book and the narrator’s voice, but it just clashed for me. I really can’t describe my feelings much better than that. It just wasn’t as engaging as other books like The Lost Fleet series or The Demon Accords have been for me.
Overall: A good, if somewhat stereotypical Sci-Fi military adventure.
For those who like: Sci-Fi, Military, Drama, Action.
Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.