Starship Blackbeard

By: Michael Wallace

Narrated by: Steve Barnes

In the aftermath of an interstellar war with an alien race, Captain James Drake is unjustly court martialed and sentenced to hard labor. Now Drake is on the run from Lord Admiral Malthorne, while another pursuer, Drake's old friend, believes the accusations are true, and promises to bring him to justice.

But Drake won't go down without a fight. Rather than surrender, he'll lead his loyal crew into the lawless frontier worlds, infested with pirates and smugglers, to repair and rearm his ship. Then he'll return to attack Malthorne's estates and seize the evidence he needs to clear his name.

But more than just Malthorne's estate is at stake. If Drake is captured, he and his crew are doomed - and the kingdom will be plunged into another war.

Book one of the Starship Blackbeard series, by Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-selling author Michael Wallace.

©2014 Michael Wallace (P)2015 Michael Wallace

Starship Blackbeard

I love the way he developed his characters and the problems they had. It really seemed as if the author has a military background. the way that this story was presented made it really really entertaining. I love the voices and the accents.

Gripping

This is a new author for me and a different type (sort of) sci-fi thriller, than my usual fare of sci-fi literature. Apparently this is the first book of a series and the book is short only 6.3 hours long.

Our hero is Captain James Drake. He commanded the HMS Ajax during the war against the Hroom. Captain Drake was court marshaled and found guilty of shooting down an innocent merchant ship. His first mate and crew believe he is being framed and rescue him and steal the Ajax.

Drake and crew seek help and safety within a plants cluster of pirates and smugglers. Drake and crew set out to find the evidence to prove him not guilty. Drake renames the Ajax to Starship Blackbeard. The crew of the Blackbeard set out to find out why the Lord Admiral Malthorne framed Drake. Drake learns that the Admiral who owns vast sugar plantation is inciting War with the Hroom Empire and attempts to keep the Hroom addicted to granulated sugar to keep them working as slaves.

The book is well written, lots of fast paced action, with space battles and chases. The crew is bold, brave and daring with lots of interesting characters. The book is highly entertaining and is easy to read. Steve Barnes narrated the book.

Space Opera

Entertaining space opera worth the 3 for 2 deal and easy enough for a background listen.

Great Story, New Scifi Twists, Keep It Coming!

I wasn't too sure about this one after reading the description, and wasn't sold in the beginning of the story, but by the end... I wanted more!

The story starts out with a former captain's crew rescuing him from a brutal prison sentence at a mining camp. When his former ship turns out to be the one transporting him, a group of loyal former crew stage a mutiny to free him and some of the other prisoners. Although the captain is initially against being rescued, sure that he would have been vindicated of the crimes he was accused of in short order, his crew convince him of a deeper conspiracy within the navy to frame him, cover up evidence, and silence any witnesses. He then leads his under-crewed ship into pirate and enemy controlled space to find answers to why he and others are being silenced.

This book was slightly shorter than most similar Sci-fi novels, and I definitely did want more by the end. I really hope we see the next part of this story from the author and audible...

One of the things I liked about the story were its differences from other similar stories. The take on future technology and space warfare was different (if a little simpler) then others.
The book also brought up a great moral quandary that I'm looking forward to the author and characters exploring in the next book...

I usually like to get something a little longer for my credits, but this was good enough that it was worth it...

Be Prepared to Buy Book 2

This book is a fun sci-fi with an old naval flair, but the book ended at what should have been the climax of the story. So, unless you're prepared to buy the second book as well, I'd look elsewhere for your fix of military sci-fi. There are plenty of similar series and most manage to fit a story arch into a single book.