Five by Five

By: Kevin J. Anderson, Aaron Allston, Michael A. Stackpole, B. V. Larson, Loren L. Coleman

Narrated by: Phil Gigante

Five short novels by five masters of military science fiction.

It’s a war out there. In these pulse-pounding tales, the best (or worst) soldiers in the galaxy are pitted against powerful aliens on distant battlefields. Never-before-published stories about monsters, deadly combat tech, treachery, and honor:

"Big Plush" by Aaron Allston (a novella from the Action Figures series) - The Dollgangers, artificial people made in mankind's image, take up arms in a desperate bid to win their freedom.

"Comrades in Arms" by Kevin J. Anderson - A damaged cyborg soldier and an enemy alien fighter turn their backs on the war and try to escape. But the human and alien governments can't tolerate the two deserters working together, so they join forces to hunt them down.

"Shores of the Infinite" by Loren L. Coleman (a novella from the ICAS File series) - Separated from command & control, Combat Assault Suit troopers force a beachhead to liberate a new planet from the cyborg threat.

"The Black Ship" by B.V. Larson (a mech novella from the Imperium Series) - A human settlement on the deadliest planet ever colonized clings to life...but today new invaders are coming down from the stars.

"Out There" by Michael A. Stackpole - The Qian have discovered humanity and welcomed them into their star-spanning empire. The benefits they offer humanity are many, and they don't want much in return: just the best human pilots available to take apart a most diabolical enemy.

©2012 Aaron Allston; WordFire, Inc.; Loren L. Coleman; B. V. Larson; and Michael A. Stackpole (P)2013 Brilliance Audio

Cyborg and sci-fi military combination

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, This is the best compilation of cyborg and military sci-fi I have yet listened to. I love both and this book puts them together in five exciting yet unique stories.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Five by Five?

I think the most memorable moment was in the first book where the protagonist is about to be crushed by a giant. When I was listening I thought I had bought the wrong book. Based on the first few lines, I thought the books would turn out to be fantasy which I dislike. However, there was a pause when the reader said let me explain how we got to this situation. From then on, the book was complete "on the edge of your seat" excitement.

What about Phil Gigante’s performance did you like?

The narrator was perfect for this series of stories. He has the exact pitch and tenor to make the stories interesting and easy to listen to.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Cyborgs in the 23rd century

Any additional comments?

I usually don't like compilations but you would miss a great book if you passed this one by.

Perfectly Readable and Very Good.

The term "Five by Five" comes from radio communications, where two scales of 1 to 5 are used for Readability and signal Strength. a '5x5' is perfectly readable with a very good signal strength. It's basically become another way of saying "loud and clear" or "affirmative", and linked to military actions. Thus it's a great name for a collection of five short space military stories.

All the stories are somewhat "space marine" type stories - a mix of futuristic soldiers fighting wars. while being generally of the same genre all the stories are distinct from each other, and they generally have something fresh to add to the genre.

While all good, not all the stories are great. It is the first two "Big Plush" and "Comrades in Arms" that I enjoyed the most. They are all certainly "Perfectly Readable", even if they are not all perfect.

Phil Gigante narrated all five stories, and did well. He carries the action clearly as well as making the characters distinct. He is clear and easy to follow. I would have preferred a little more differentiation between the different stories (maybe have two narrators alternating), but barring that this was good work.

Good shorts - make you want to get the main books

I was looking to spend a credit - and get the most bang for it.

This collection was a good one all around; and I will have checkout a few of these universes.

Lock & Load!

This was a pleasant surprise. Five unrelated sci-fi combat novellas which I could intersperse between other books. I enjoyed all five stories, although some much more than others. I found the stories toward the end of the collection to be the strongest, which I always appreciate.

I enjoyed the different styles and the authors' respective takes on the genre. These are good fun, not too heavy, but by no means fluff.

The narration is great.

Not bad, Enjoyed a few of the stories.

A good selection of stories by great authors.
I've listened to a few of these authors before and they continually hit the mark. Would have been great if Jack Campbell (John G Hemry) could have had a story in here also.
The best book had to be "Comrades in Arms". Was a great story that i would have liked to read the full book.

All in all not a bad buy for the cost.

weak

Found the reader monotonous. Ruined the stories for me. The reading made everything seem boring and the characters bored. However I only made it through the first 2 so perhaps the others are better.