Night Train to Rigel

Quadrail, Book 1

By: Timothy Zahn

Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins

A secret agent aboard a galactic railroad must derail a sinister conspiracy in this "rip-roaring" thriller by the author of Star Wars: Thrawn (Publishers Weekly).

The universe is a dangerous place, a fact violently brought home to Frank Compton for perhaps the thousandth time when a stranger delivering a message dies right in front of him. An operative for Western Alliance Intelligence until his whistle-blowing activities got him fired, Compton is now being sought out by the Spiders, the robotic alien beings responsible for the upkeep and operation of the Quadrail transportation system, which connects the galaxy's twelve inhabited empires. The discovery of a sinister plot to use the Quadrail for ill has brought the Spiders to Compton—for only someone possessing the former agent's unique skills can stop the scheme for good.

But when Compton leaves Earth behind—joining forces with Bayta, the Spiders' beautiful, half-human representative aboard the Quadrail—the terrifying scope of a vast, galaxy-wide conspiracy begins to reveal itself. Targeted on all sides by alien assassins of every shape and species, Compton and his enigmatic new partner are suddenly in a race against a clock ticking down to an irreversible doomsday, one in which the galactic night train will derail, carrying all members of humanity screaming to their deaths.

©2005 Timothy Zahn (P)2025 Tantor Media

Nighi Train Review

Like: Zahn’s noir style is great.
Dislike:The reader is too formal. A story like this needs a more casual style.

Well-told sci-fi mystery

An intriguing tale about about a loner hired by a mysterious alien race, which controls the primary transportation network in the galaxy, to uncover what they suspect are efforts to start an armed conflict that would target their species.

Sci-Fi meets Agatha Christie

The synopsis of the book posted on Audible seemed a little cheesy. I might have passed it by if it hadn't been that this author is one of my favorites. As it happened, I was glad I'd taken the chance. The story was better than expected, although the reader is kind of annoying, almost robotic in his tone and cadence.

Great book, wooden narration.

I first read these books years ago. They are the kind of book that I love to recommend to friends, but that’s hard to do because the genre is hard to nail down. Sci-fi, obviously, but also a little of Fleming’s James Bond and Christie’s Poirot (or maybe Tommy and Tuppence(?)). Regardless, all 5 books are great fun, and each one has stuck in my memory the way some more revered sci-fi hasn’t. (For sheer memorableness these books rank up there with Starship Troopers and The Forever War.)

Unfortunately, I found the narrator very wooden, laughably so, at times. He pronounces Bayta’s name the way I imagine Billy Bob Thorton’s Slingblade would (“Baaay-tuuh”), and it really took me out of the story every time.

Regardless, the books are great and the audiobooks are still very much worthwhile. I’m pleased Audible released the rest of the series, as well. (Now, Audible, finish releasing the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron books!)

Great series

I have loved this series for a long time. I was thrilled to see the audio books. I found reader is fine as long as I sped up the reading. I personally preferred it at about 1.1. He is a bit slow in the narration and speeding it up helped a great deal.