The Queen's Road

By: R. S. Belcher

Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith

Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Ramon “Ray” Cosa’s life is not what he expected it to be. Living in a small Texas town ravaged by Hurricane Harvey, Ray has suffered many losses in his young life, and he has little hope left that anything will ever change or get better.

That is, until the vintage Ford Galaxie and its strange, dying owner enters Ray’s life. Given a jeweled ring he cannot remove and a desperate mission, Ray is plunged into a universe of secrets, wonders, and terrors he never dreamed exists.

Now, he travels the Queen's Road - a hyper-space highway that connects all the planets and galaxies in creation - in search of one man, one of the Queen of the Universe's Rangers. That journey will put Ray on the front lines of an eons-old cosmic war between the primal forces of order and chaos.

And probably make him late for his next shift at the Chug-n-Lug.

©2019 R. S. Belcher (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC.

Belcher does it again!

What an unexpected surprise! I had put this in my wishlist because of course I was in the middle of something else. Right from the beginning, the story had me hooked. The characters are well-rounded, the story fully actualized and the plot is very clever. I found I wanted to know more about most of characters. Now don't get me wrong, this is not a criticism rather this is a compliment. As I listened to the story I repeatedly thought that I would listen to an entire book about the particular character I was wondering about. I literally could not stop listening. I'm really hoping there will be a second book because I want to know what else happens on the Queens Road.

A hidden gem!

I really enjoyed this book. I was quickly enthralled in the story. The narration was so good, which brought the story to life.

The Queen's Road

Very good book to read again and again like it very much should be made in to a movie

outstanding

another amazing work from the best author in the business, read every book, several times

Awesome

Really enjoyed the galactic journey. Great characters and left open for a sequel. Can’t wait

Best. Book. Ever.

Loved listening to this, both for the story and the narrator. Hoping for more soon.

Great story that goes by fast

This was a great story to listen to! The narrator did an awesome job. The story moves fast too, never a slow dull moment and r really hard to put down. I would highly recommend this!!

Fun Scifi story

The narrator did a great job with the various voices. The story was fun to listen to.

AWSOME BOOK!

AWSOME BOOK!, TAKES A MODERN DAY TWIST ON CLASSIC STYLE SIC FI......unlikely underdog hero, teams up with 500 year old hero for a ride of his life. MUSSCLE CARS, SPACE ALIANS, DRUG GANGS, WAR VETS,... END OF WORLD.
- NOPE! END OF THE UNI,UNIVERSE. ...

The Fifth Element meets Blues Brothers

This was not at all what I expected from the author of Nightwise and Brotherhood of the Wheel, two deep, dark, visceral urban fantasy books. This book surfed a psychedelic space wave, leaving brilliant bursts of aliens, worlds, and characters as I dipped my toes in. I’m a bit befuddled by the rainbow skittles this story left in my mind, but overall, I think I enjoyed the trip.

The first half of this book is very MIB, Space Ghost, and The Fifth Element as unaware Ramone “Ray” Cosa stumbles upon a dying space ranger driving a Ford Galaxy cruiser. Belcher’s touch was more familiar here as he fleshes out Ray’s sad life and some colorful characters in Ray’s small, down and out, Texas town. I liked the development of Vietnamese best friend Lou, pawn shop owner and military vet Keem (Hakeem), and gang leader / drug dealer Mateo. As his world goes from surreal to downright absurd, it’s sink or swim, and it turns out Ray is a great swimmer. Even though he doesn’t quite have a lot of choices, he accepts the insanity and teams up with Chain, an aptly named Ranger, as old universe-threatening enemies rise once again.

The second half went full Blues Brothers, as Chain and Ray embark on the Queen’s (space) Road to get the band of Rangers back together, collecting a who’s who of famous, or rather infamous, Rangers from strange worlds and even stranger back stories. Mythical, hooved serial killer Adjeet. Revival grifter and actual healer Rudian. Lex Luthor level master criminal Lara. Rockstar Sky Salvo. Yep, there’s even a musical performance that ends in a showdown... just not with Chicago PD. Much like the Blues Brothers, each run-in with a bandmate brings new locales, characters, and backstories that zip by too fast to really get invested. There are a lot of fantastical images thrown at us. The “main” aliens are unique, as are the dozens of side-character and incidental aliens that pop up like strobe lights.

In the final hour, the book takes on an anime, superhero vibe, with beings shooting plasma bursts from their bare hands, a handful of Rangers taking on a horde outnumbering them 500 to 1, and of course, an evil villain who talks too long, allowing our Rangers to capitalize on his stupidity. By the end, so many worlds, aliens, and characters had been thrown at me, I was desensitized and didn’t feel any true sense of danger.

The narrator was new to me, but I was impressed by his accents and the variety of his male voices. His female voices were at times hard to differentiate and I think he could work on putting more energy and dynamics into narrating the action sequences. First books in a series are always challenging because of the need to devote time to world building... and here it was like Belcher felt the need to describe Valerian and all 1,000 planets. I liked it enough to consider listening to a sequel... although I hope the next one U turns a bit and takes the Queens Road down a slightly more serious side. The Wheel Turns, brother, and so should this series.