Cassandra's Challenge

The Imperial Series, Book 1

By: M.K. Eidem

Narrated by: Ian Gordon, Jennifer Gill, Jess Friedman, Gary Gordon

Length: 22 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Cassandra Chamberlain has always stood out. It's hard not to at 6'1" and 165 pounds, with jet black hair and sapphire blue eyes. And if that isn't enough, she is also brilliant, graduating from Harvard at 15, teaching at MIT at 19, and up for the prestigious Magellan Award at 25. She's never really fit in. Not with her peers, not with her contemporaries, only with her family.

But everything changes when the Earth is attacked, and Cassandra and her niece, Victoria, are the only survivors. Suddenly the smartest woman on the planet has to relearn everything. Everything she's believed to be true is challenged, and she has to learn to survive, not only for herself but for Victoria, because someone wants them dead.

Admiral William Zafar is the youngest Admiral ever in the Coalition fleet, the hero of the Battle of Fayal. At 7'1", he's 325 pounds of Carinian male in his prime who is feared and respected throughout the fleet. He is a royal from the House of Protection, carrying its birthmark, and considers its king one of his oldest friends.

But when the Regulians destroy a previously unknown planet, leaving only two survivors, he finds he's willing to risk it all to protect the woman he loves from the Regulians and the Carinian traitor that wants her dead.

©2013 M.K. Eidem (P)2016 M.K. Eidem

great story with sounds effects

this is the first book that I've listened to by this author I'm already buying the second book love the sound effects feels like you're listening to a movie it was a standalone book you could stop here no cliffhangers just a good book.

Fabulous book!

This is a very good book and the second one is just as good, can't wait for the second one to be narrated. It was also a great narration, loved the sound effects and music.

Great Book, Poor Production

Too much dead space at beginning of each chapter. Narration excellent. A very good read.

Interesting Production With good Plot Development

Almost like a good radio production with excellent narration. Some sound effects a bit hokey.

awesome story

I love the way they had different people talk for different characters and the different noises was awesome. Really enjoyed the book. M.K. Eidem is a great writer

Good Listen (not Great)

Struggled with the very unnecessary F word sprinkled liberally throughout the book. Sound effects were silly and distracting (retching, snapping neck, squeaking doors in a palace). The 10+ seconds of silence after chapters are announced are annoying. Is it a ploy to make the play time longer? What modern pregnant woman drinks alcohol? And it's hard to buy that after 2500 years, our languages, cultures and foods would be so, so similar. Then add in the excessive sexual activity. The basic story is good, and I enjoyed the characters enough to consider buying the sequels.

Cassandra’s Challenge

Twenty two hours spent listening to this awesome story instead of worrying about the state of the world during what is called the beginning stages of the contagious deadly Coronavirus is just what the doctor ordered. I do recommend this this listen because it is a production with sound effects, strong clear voices and totally captivating from start to finish. Twenty two hours of pure entertainment. I loved it.

Loved it!!!

Loved this book!! Especially loved the voice of the Admiral. Great job by the actors!!

World building good, strong smart female character finds off world life mate

Super intelligent Cassandra and her younger sister are scooped up off of Earth by offworlder admiral William on his battleship space cruiser. He immediately senses that Cassandra is special-his life mate. As their relationship develops, they are embroiled in attacks on the ship, assassination attempts and intrigue. I love that Cassandra takes the lead in the problem solving as she is super brainy. The world building is good. What is not so good, is the love scenes which are repetitive, short, and unimaginative. The story is saved by Cassandra surviving and fighting and problem solving until the end, along with her dedication to Admiral William. The female and voice actors are good during the story, but I groaned every time the female screamed "William!" In the same monotonous way every love scene. I know she had the material to read, but different inflections or something is needed. And William, from the house of protection, also needs to change his inflection "I need to protect you" as it is also a repetitive line. I might read a sequel if the story continues. As this was a 22 hour book it was worth a credit. But any sequel would do so much better trimming the love scenes down make them more detailed, and longer. Give the voices something to say during these interludes. I want to know more about Queen Cassandra and High Admiral William. And especially when princess victoria grows up and chooses her life mate.

A must listen

A lovely fantastic fantasy story the cast did justice to the story,with a little imagination this story will make smile and cry. I enjoyed it.