Battle on the Marathon

By: John Thornton

Narrated by: Chuck DiMaria

The Colony ship Marathon left a dying Earth on a generation's long voyage to another planet. Inside its giant biomes were people who would spend their entire lives during that flight. They knew that their descendants would be the people who would arrive at the destination world.

Life in those biomes was as close to life on Earth as possible, including ecologies, plants, animals, and families. In its own way, those biomes were idyllic. Additionally, tens of thousands of people would make the journey in suspended animation to be awakened on the destination planet.

During the long journey, something went wrong. Something else was on the Marathon. This adventure chronicles the life of one habitat dweller named Kalju, as he becomes aware of his role in what is taking place.

How will the battle on the Marathon end?

This is one audiobook in the John Thornton's Colony Ship Universe series.

©2017 John Thornton (P)2017 Automacube Enterprises

"Die, gas breathers!"

This first person narrative is in the form of a journalistic letter to the hero's younger brother Ryan, and traces Kalju's "coming of age" from career testing at age 13 through training and out into the "real" world of a multi-compartmented/habitated colony spaceship. And it is massive! (Both book and spaceship.) Rather than stringing the subject matter into a series of novellas, we are treated to an entire saga which is enhanced by Chuck DiMaria's expert narration, bringing Kalju from boy to man as he learns his past and his world and how to cope with injustice, incompetence and aliens. On the positive side there is learning and trust and camaraderie and hope for the future. And aliens. Very scary aliens. ("Die, gas breathers!")

Although the narrative stands completely on its own it is actually part of a larger series of stories dealing with post-apocalyptic human existence, the Colony Ship universe.

A journey, a struggle, and the right to colonize.

Would you consider the audio edition of Battle on the Marathon to be better than the print version?

I did not read a print version, but I find a good story teller always adds to the tale. Chuck DiMaria is a good reader who helped the story.

What did you like best about this story?

John Thornton has given us a work of almost non-stop action. He drove the story forward with conflict and struggle against each other and alien invaders. I enjoyed the concept of aliens impeding human efforts to colonize other worlds and having to battle to retain control of their ship to complete their journey.

Which scene was your favorite?

The struggle to seize and control the alien technology was exciting and stays in my memory.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I really did have trouble stopping long enough to get through my other life routines. Listening on my phone was a new a pleasurable experience also.

Any additional comments?

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Review

Here's how I rate

On narrator
5= good read speed, good pronunciation, appealing voice/voices.
4= an issue with one of the above
3= many issues
1-2 I couldn't finish because of his voice

I didn't care much for the narrator contacted author let him know my issues. Very nice guy.

Story
5= good plot, keeps my attention, it doesn't ramble along, good character development
The rest follows a similar to narrator

I liked the over all story and the author was a nice guy.






"This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review."

Battle on the Marathon

Any additional comments?

This book kept me in attention throughout the entire audiobook. A good narrator added to the enjoyment of this audiobook.
I receive a free copy compliment of AudioBookBoom

Hero's journey

This is the epic story of a life lived bravely, a true heros tale! It begins with a young man living a quiet life in a biome named Kansas and tells the tale of a battle for the survival of a colony ship and all it's inhabitants. This story made me laugh out loud and cry along with our hero.

18 hours of non stop adventure !

I really liked this book and Chuck DiMaria's Narration. The world that John Thornton summoned up left my imagination on overdrive for days after this book was done. The malevolence of the books antagonist collectively made me so mad. That is what a good audio book is supposed to do. Move you and make you think on many levels. Battle on the Marathon did just that and I for one am anxious for the sequel. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

👍🏻

Non stop sci-fi action, what's not to love. I enjoyed the characters and the well told story. Very enjoyable.

The narrator wasn't my favorite. I definitely would have enjoyed the book more with a different narrator.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

good, immersive story of war with aliens

Any additional comments?

This audiobook clocks in at roughly 18 hours but the time goes by quickly. It's the story of a young man whose colony spaceship has come under attack by aliens. I liked that the author started the tale early, when a teenaged boy was placed in militia training to fight an undisclosed enemy. When we're introduced to the enemy aliens, the ongoing battle to save the colony ship begins.

This was an enjoyable story. It could have been shorter, but the ongoing engagements underline the magnitude of the fight and the experience of the hero. I was a bit more ambivalent about the ending of the story; I liked the idea of the epilogue, but was confused about people and places mentioned. It seems that the author might be setting us up for a sequel to the story that would fit between this main story and the setting of the epilogue. Also, I always seem to get distracted when an author doesn't use contractions in narratives; it seems very formal and stilted. It's a minor point, but it was a bit jarring since this story is a diary account.

3.75* for narration - The narrator certainly was enthusiastic, perhaps a little too emotive for my preference. Lots of pause breaks in the middle of sentences for effect, which seemed exaggerated to me since these pauses became quite frequent as the story progressed.

In terms of tone/volume, given the context of the story I can understand times when the hero would be hysterical as events in his life start to get crazy and post-traumatic stress sets in. It seemed that there was a lot of yelling and vocalized emotion as the story progressed, which would be appropriate if the story was taking place in real-time. However, the narrative was an after-the-fact accounting of events while the hero was having some downtime - a more reflective tone with spots of emotion would have been more powerful for me. So I'd give the narrator a 5 star rating for the first few chapters of the book (because the narration was absolutely excellent for the first part of the book), but I reduced the rating gradually as the chapters progressed and the hero started to sound more and more unhinged. He seemed to do a lot of screaming at people, that's all, which prompted me to increase the playback speed towards the end of the story.

These were the reasons why I didn't give this audiobook a full 5-star rating, but I don't want it to seem like I didn't enjoy the story. If John Thornton wrote a sequel and Chuck DiMaria narrates, I'd definitely read/listen to it. Also, I'd certainly recommend it to fans of this genre who are interested in following the events and perspectives of a soldier whose leaders are sometimes less than exemplary and whose comrades are cogs in a war machine.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Compelling Story of A Young Man’s Attempt to Save His Family and Biome

The progression of this story unfolds gradually but relentlessly, as an existential threat to the biome and colony ship emerges and overtakes everything. Told in the first person by an impressionable young man placed into a defensive militia, he grows and develops against incredible odds. I was fascinated by this fantastic world on a colony ship which could easily be our future. The narrator’s voice was expressive and apt for the protagonist. By the end of the story, this guy felt like my best friend.

Loved it!

I really liked it.
I was a little worried because of other reviews but I found the narrator really fit the MC character. He had a casual way of reading that suited the story.
It had lots of action and heart.
When it started I was also worried that it would be like Harry Potter in space, But it quickly turned a corner and surprised me. I won't give away anything here.
The story felt epic as it spanned many "worlds" -"Biomes" and as it followed the life of a soldier from boyhood to battle-hardened. It was a true space opera and I could not put it down.
Well Done!!!!!