Koban, Volume 1

By: Stephen W. Bennett

Narrated by: Patrick Freeman

All new narration adds sound effects and eliminates issues noted in reviews. To obtain new version, remove old one from device, download new copy at no charge.

We colonized seven hundred planets. Humankind enjoyed the benefits of expansion and the end of wars. We disbanded our military.

Then the Krall found us.

The Krall have used thousands of years of combat to select the genes of the strongest and fastest warriors. They are a species determined to dominate the galaxy, through annihilation or enslavement of every opponent.

Koban is an uninhabited high gravity planet with impossibly fast savage animals, which employ organic superconducting nerves. This deadly world is where the Krall are testing humans for fighting capability. We are useful only if we can fight well. If not, they will destroy us swiftly, as they have other species. They have slaves, and we’re poor tasting meat animals, so we fight or die. The Krall will use us, if worthy, seeking physical perfection through attrition of war, one planet at a time.

Growing weary of our failures in testing, the ruthless Krall are on the verge of a decision to eliminate our species. A ship carrying bio-scientists is captured for combat testing. The choice for Captain Mirikami and the scientists is simple: Prove we can produce better, smarter fighters quickly, or humanity is doomed to rapid extermination.

But the Krall are only half the problem. We must survive Koban's gravity and superfast animals. The tiger-like rippers with skin contact telepathy are predators too fast and powerful for the Krall to face. Our solution is genetic: If you can't beat them as you are, become human rippers.

The Krall will learn another species can bypass natural selection.

©2012 Stephen W Bennett (P)2013 Stephen W Bennett

Worst Narrator Ever

Any additional comments?

I read the reviews of this book before buying it. Although it seemed as if everyone acknowledged the poor quality of the narrator, I figured i could struggle through and appreciate the story. After listening to two hours of this book, I find myself unable to due to the overwhelming annoyance with the narration. The narrator seems to choose a word out of every sentence at random to emphasize in his incredibly nasal voice. I would recommend reading a hard copy of this book for the story, then move on to the vastly superior narrators of the rest of the series.

Good story - not so good narration

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

The narrator constantly put emphasis on words that changed the meaning of the story and it just sounds wrong... It's like the reader tries to emphasize something in every sentence and that's just not how people talk... Annoying to me.

Struggling to finish

Any additional comments?

The narrator is just killing me. I'm 5 hours in and it is a struggle to continue. I have decided to suck it up because I really want to like this series and believe that book two's new narrator will save it for me. Fingers crossed.

Fascinating Story and Interesting Premise

The publisher's summary generally describes the thrust of the story. The Krall have a spiritual mission to dominate the galaxy through competitive, brutal breeding. Only their very best warriors are allowed to survive and breed in a complex social hierarchy. How do they become the best? By finding other species and battling them. Through battle test, the Krall hope for physical and spiritual perfection. And so, they discover humans. Humans are weak, pathetic prey. The story goes into great detail in many scenes, giving us a rich experience on a hostile, alien planet. The ingenuity, intelligence, leadership, and luck it takes the captured humans to survive is remarkable and realistic. The back story is just as interesting as the main plot. The morality of human gene modification is a central dilemma cast in the history of a devastating clone war in the human past. That war wiped out 98% of all human males, which led to some interesting changes in male-female relationships.

The downside of this interesting story is the narrator. He has what sounds like a slight Candadian accent. His inflections, pauses, and emphases are all wrong. You just have to get used to it and get past it. Despite that, I had a hard time putting this one down. It pretty much consumed my New Year's holiday. Sounds like there will be a sequel, and I will snap it up if it arrives.

one word. novice...

the pronouncing of the one word strikes me like a hammer after the fifty time.. I an nearly every English speaking person I know of pronounces "novice" as per the dictionary as / nävəs / not as the Nov in Nova or November. It's like a ice pick in the eye by the end of the book.
Off the narration the book is very fun and entertaining.