Skeleton Crew

The Kanti Cycle, Book 1

By: Gre7g Luterman

Narrated by: Piers Ryman

Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

A well-placed kick into Kanti’s stomach dropped him back to the deck, grasping his gut and gasping for breath.

“If you ever utter the phrase ‘skeleton crew’ again, I promise that I will find out,” Captain Ateri said calmly.

“And when I do, I will rip chunks of you out with my bare paws...and toss them into the recycler one by one...until all that remains of you...is your blood in my fur...and your screams in my ears.”

But the captain is the least of Kanti’s concerns. A huge monster named Commissioner Sarsuk thinks the crew of the White Flower II is out of control, and that executing Kanti publicly - a slow, messy execution - is the perfect recipe for getting the ship back under his clawed thumb. Now Kanti is living in terror - a slave raised believing himself free, a criminal even before his birth. Everyone thinks he’s someone he isn’t: a playboy reduced to working at the dump, a spiteful son trying to make amends, and perhaps even an excuse to recycle every last officer, crewman, and cub on board. The next few days are going to take this unlikely hero and the rest of the crew on a wild ride to the brink of mutiny, isolated deep in space, some 1500 light years from home.

©2014 Gre7g Luterman (P)2021 Gre7g Luterman

Loved it!

If you like deep worldbuilding, suspense, character development, and fluffy critters, Skeleton Crew will not disappoint you! I really enjoyed the Kanti Cycle trilogy, and Piers Ryman does a wonderful job of narrating this first installment in the series. I can tell great care was taken in portraying emotions in characters' voices, and the overall tone of each scene. The pacing is also just right, and over all the production just seemed genuine in its expression of the original work, which in my experience can be a bit hard to find sometimes. I can think of maybe one or two lines in the whole book that fell flat - it makes for a very engaging listen!

Enjoyed It a Lot

I enjoy sci-fi stories, but this was a very new for me concept and I wasn't sure how I would like it. The story took me few chapters to get into, once I did I wasn't able to put it down. I liked the world author created and Kanti was such a great character, he survived and made the best of things thinking on his feet in the most challenging situations. Narrator did a great job with all the voices and telling this entertaining story. This is new to me author and I am looking forward to other adventures in the Kanti Cycle series.

Could not stop listening!!

I found myself listening to this all the way through in nearly one sitting! the performance is fantastic and the story sucks you in making you eager for more!!

A great universe

I love this universe and when I found out there was more stories in it after reading Rick Griffin's first two novels I eagerly dived into this story and I was not disappointed.

Piers Ryman once again has a commanding performance bringing all the characters to life. often when I read stories myself I will mix characters up but the audiobook really makes it easy and that is in no small part due to Mr. Ryman.

I will be picking up the next book soon!

This is super good guys

I may be a bit biased but I like listening to Ryman's performance bring the story to life. Kanti is a very down-to-earth protagonist; he's not stupid, but he is caught in the middle of a lie he can't simply resolve by confessing to the right person. Already this makes it leagues better than stories where you're constantly yelling at the character "just tell the truth already!" You know why he can't. That's very critical to building sympathy.

This book was originally a standalone title but then Gre7g did the foolish thing of making not just one but many more sequels, meaning there is just SO MUCH geroo to invest your time in.

Hard Sci-fi Lovers Rejoice

Luterman has written a book nothing short of a masterpiece! This has been some of the best science fiction I've ever read (and I did read the book after listening to the audio book). Compared to other works of fiction by Goliath authors like Asimov, Card, and Herbert this book is a stone in Luterman's sling.

The plot is coherent, the writing will edited, and the characters unique. But what really makes this book shine is the balance between the societal and the scientific. The reader follows a well paced tour through life aboard a generation ship with all the harsh rules of life in space. The technologies demonstrated are described well enough to be understood without such thorough descriptions as to be easily dismissed as mere fiction.

Top it all off with an excellent narrator and what you get is a brilliant performance that sparks the imagination and sends you rushing for the next book in the cycle.

Do You Like Space Operas With Furries?

If so, then look no further. I was invested with Kanti almost from the start, and I was worried about what would happen to him as the events began to unfold.

As for the narrator; while I'm not confident in my own judgement on the performance of other people, I will say that all the character's voices were easy to distinguish from one other. I particularly like the voices that the narrator did for Captain Ateri and Commissioner Sarsuk.

I would indeed recommend this for anyone who enjoy the science fiction genre.

Kanti get better than this

This is the first of Gre7g Luterman's books that I've listened to, but before I picked it up I attended a panel where he advocated for aspiring writers to hurt their protagonists. And boy, does he take his own advice!

Kanti seems to spend the entire book digging his own grave, making decisions that the reader can clearly see well lead to trouble later. And yet, in the same circumstances, I don't see what I would have done different.

The story is engaging, the characters are endearing, and the story is, all in all, a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to the next one!

Wonderful world-building and excellent performance

For a long time I had an hour's commute to work, so I've been through a lot of audiobooks. This one came recommended to me by a friend, though non-human sci-fi is not something I've otherwise listened to a lot of. I'm certainly glad I took the time for it, though.
Mr. Luterman has done a real nice job of building this world, and the "humanity" of his non-human characters is remarkable. The characters are well developed, and the pieces all fit together well.
Mr. Ryman's reading of the book is also top-notch. Characters are well-discerned by voice, with the right amount of emotion put into every bit of dialog. The pacing is right, and the diction is perfect (though a bit more British than I'm accustomed to).
I strongly recommend this, as well as the two in the Kanti cycle that follow it.

Small charters, big story

After finishing the first two books in the Heavenly Celestra series I was hungry for more. I wasn't sure what to expect with this book since it is a side series written by a different author, but I can confidently say it up there with the quality of writing and storytelling of Traitors, Thieves and Liars, and The Captain's Oath. Luterman is able to weave together an exciting story with heartfelt characters you will be rooting for.

With this book, we get to see what is it like to be a geroo on the White Flower II. Even though Kanti might not be a high-ranking officer, it doesn't mean the adventures and predicaments he gets himself into are any less interesting. It's nice to have stories about the "smaller" characters in these big worlds but still have them be just as entertaining, heartfelt, and impactful.

I am really impressed with the narrator's performance. Piers Ryman is insanely good for this series. I have listened to probably 100-150 audiobooks, and a good narrator is so important. Ryman does a stellar job with the Hayven Celestia.