Small World

The Kanti Cycle, Book 2

By: Gre7g Luterman

Narrated by: Piers Ryman

“What’s wrong?” The bigger geroo asked, twisting Kanti’s helmet free. “Can’t breathe?” The commissioner accidentally let his last cleaning crew starve to death. So now, Kanti and 49 of his teammates will have to spend the rest of their lives in a one-room barracks, with only a single airlock protecting them from the planet’s poisonous atmosphere. Surrounded by towering monsters, on a world where the very air is lethal, mysterious burrowing strangers are pushing the crew into a panic. Will Kanti be able to keep them from tearing each other apart? Or are they doomed to suffer a fate similar to the commissioner’s previous cleaning crew?

©2018 Gre7g Luterman (P)2021 Gre7g Luterman

Pain, suffering, and joy go together.

Many times i’ve just stopped listening because of the anxiety this story makes me feel but I always come back for the characters i’ve grown to love. I really want to see Kanti and Tish and Suni win in this, but most especially Kanti, I mean come on, he’s literally the main character and he suffers so much but keeps going, he’s an inspiration!

I think i’ll wait a bit before the next story because I really don’t want to finish this thing i’ve put off for years.

Prelude to Fair Trade

Honestly this feels like more of a set up to its sequal, Fair Trade as it mostly built up the scene that will be paramount for what is to come.

But there is still enough to read and enjoy. It is a good survival story how 50 people are wrongfully punished for a character whose only crime was just being born. The stress of these geroo slavery under the Krakun is present now on how "dehumanizing" their slave masters can be. From deadly punishment to forced starvation. These people live like rat bound to clean the apartment for an uncaring lizard.

If that wasn't enough, this is a good story on how societies can fall apart as soon as the "noble and kind leader" gets killed and a tyrant takes is place and the one person who sees the warning signs is slowly placing a target on himself.

Loved it

This second book in The Kanti series is very different from the first story, but equally entertaining and captivating. In this story we follow a group of geroo instead of just Kanti and their adventures are just as thrilling and dangerous as they adapt to their new life surroundings. I loved following how each character's development fitted with the overall story like a very important piece of the puzzle. Narrator did a great job with all the voices and telling the story, his talent made this a perfect listening experience. I voluntarily listened to a free copy of this audiobook and am giving an honest review.

Kanti's Story Takes a New Direction

Finishing the first in the series, "Skeleton Crew," I was wondering where Gre7g could take Kanti's story next. "Small World" continues the first book's twisting of fate for the titular geroo, this time with dozens of others. The cast is thrust into an alien environment where precautions must be satisfied if they are to survive. They're technological background serves as both a crutch and a burden in their new lives, with access to information and resources limited. As time carries on, we begin to see the transformation of a society. Where it may be headed is a mystery I'm anxious to explore in the third book.

Like "Skeleton Crew" and the "White Flower II" series by Rick Griffin (also part of the same continuity), Piers Ryman delivers an excellent narrative performance, giving each character their own voice. Gre7g's writing style is engaging, and the pacing adjusting as needed. Exposition is neither vague nor drawn-out; it is written to provide you with the necessary information at a given time.

My only two concerns. 1) I was hoping Sarsuk would play a bigger role, with his close proximity to the cast. However, it is a minor issue being as the story is more about the geroo and less of the krakun.

2) A couple of chapter titles near the end of the story felt more like placeholders, those being of names of certain characters. I say this being as these two characters are introduced early in the book and have significant focus on them in multiple chapters. So I was a little confused why THESE two chapters used their names. To be fair, it never deterred my interest in the story, and it feels to be less of a concern compared to the previous book.

Apart from the two minor criticisms, I enjoyed the story throughout and never once felt disinterested. Happy to five-star this and look forward to "Fair Trade." ;)

Even More Engaging than the First Book

Just as when things seem to finally go right for Kanti, this installment takes him out of his familiar world and into another where the stakes have never been higher in his life. Tied together with a solid narration, I was invested all the way through. I was actually up early the morning after finishing it, because it had me pondering what would happen in the next book.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed Skeleton Crew, and I'm definitely going to be on the ball with going through Fair Trade when the audio book comes out.