Station Company Core: Monster Hunter—Interns

Station Company Core: Detain and Extract, Book 1

By: Stephen Landry, Jeffrey "Falcon" Logue

Narrated by: Jessica Threet

Length: 14 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Everyone has their secrets.

Light years from home, an off-the-books corporate mission beyond the boundary goes horribly wrong, and the crew’s starship crashes onto an alien world that shouldn’t exist. To make matters worse, they trigger an ominous light that appears in the sky, and provoke the native wildlife. Though saved from disaster, the survivors learn they’ve moved out of the frying pan and into the fire.

"Safe and secure," the stranded crew find themselves the newest shareholders aboard an old space station controlled by an intelligence keen on reviving a long derelict company. As a team, they’re forced to accept their new identities as the only intern workers aboard the station and take on its numerous quests while searching for a way home—or risk defaulting on their newly acquired debt and becoming fabricator food or indentured servants. But first, they need to get the station working again.

Among the crew is Sky: a young woman who has been chasing a mystery surrounding her sister her whole life and thinks this off-the-books mission is the lead she’s been looking for. Sky’s investigation heats up, revealing a situation worse than she ever could have imagined.

To protect themselves and uncover the mysteries of the station, everyone must give 110%. There is no better time than now, no better place to be, and no home like your home away from home. Giving up is not an option. Without resources, not only will the survivors perish, but the future of humanity could be at risk. After all, here on the Goldenrod Space Station, everyone is family, and family sticks together until the very end.

Station Protocols regarding A-)!^&~(-\*:

1. Bag and Tag.

2. Never in the head.

3. Any unnecessary damage will be subtracted from pay.

4. When overwhelmed, remember to equip your (not company-provided) shield, available for;&&;)> at any kiosk.

5. Beware of teeth.

6. Have all insurance policies in order—remember, space is expensive!

STATION IS NOT LIABLE FOR ANY INJURIES RELATED TO –)@!^&~(- ENCOUNTERS — THIS INCLUDES BITES, SCRATCHES, TORN LIMBS, IMPREGNATION, CROSS-HYBRIDIZATION, RADIATION, POISON, LOSS OF EYESIGHT, SUFFOCATION, STERILIZATION, AND/OR HAIR LOSS.

And remember, we’re all family.

©2022 Stephen Landry and Jeffrey "Falcon" Logue (P)2023 Podium Audio

MONSTERS IN SPACE!!!!

A crew of misfits going on an adventure when everything goes terribly wrong.

what's worse than working for one corporation... working for two!

Jessica knocks the performance out of the park!

The world they crash landed on is interesting and full of mysteries.

Great atmosphere/characters/narration

Solid sci-fi action-adventure with excellent atmosphere and team dynamics. Not to completely retread the blurb, but when a sanitized corporate town/environment is faced with a disaster it was never designed for, it's human ingenuity and spirit that has to step up and stand in the gap.

There is plenty of action, drama, terror, problem-solving, and heart. I find plenty of elements akin to BioShock, The Abyss, Frederick Pohl, and many other fine monster-hunting sources of entertainment.

If you've read Landry and Logue, you'll recognize a lot of themes and elements: yes, human ingenuity and spirit overcoming a complex interplay of opposing will and unfeeling systems; characters who overcome past trauma by reforging themselves in the present; commitment to teamwork and collective ingenuity raising the whole above individual capabilities; implications of a well-worn and far-reaching universe of which we are individually only a small but crucial part; ultimate meaning found in one's character and the the value we create in the bonds between each other. Many others: it's all there.

Finally, for audio listeners (my experience was half Kindle, half audio, with Kindle/Audible seamlessly switching back and forth depending on whether I was driving or out to dinner), Jessica Threet has a really smooth, consistent delivery. You can just sit back and let the story come to life. She was an outstanding choice.

All Over the Place, in a Good and Bad Way.

A space crew working for a corporate company crash lands on a hidden planet. They embark on a grand expedition, discovering lost research facilities and spacestations in order to unlock mysteries and answers, alike.

This series has a lot of potential. The setting is good, the characters are well written, some of them with quirks that were no short of awesome (favorite character was a cynical scientist that wields a gravity sword like a madman). The story is also a kind of sci-fi litrpg. The team can gain and purchase abilities, items, and weapons. Still, with all the good points, the negative aspects could not be ignored.

First and Foremost (this is only regarding audible listeners). This was not made with audiobook in mind, or at least considered strongly enough. Vocalizing sound effects is very cringe, even when utilizing one of the best narrators in the business. That was difficult to endure. Other than that, the voice acting was great. In terms of the story, the biggest issue was the pacing. The story would go from high tension, thrilling excitement to a snails pace of info dumping and character dialogue that was as interesting as it was long-winded, more often than it felt it should have. Also, the author may have done too good a job at emphasizing the dire situation the team was in (and seems to continue to be in the near future). There was only one scenario throughout the whole book where there was no logical reason that they SHOULDN'T have died. With the team being led around the nose by an A.I. with a personality that would make a corporate @sshat blush, going through one seemingly hopeless mission after another... a mounting frustration was starting to develop that couldn't be properly described in words.

Yet, despite those glaring negatives. I STILL really want to read book 2 (emphasizing reading, cause I don't believe I have the mental fortitude to listen to any more *bzzt* *beep* and discombobulated sounds of a dysfunctional A.I.). There are a lot of intriguing mysteries to be explored and the characters were more than interesting enough to see how they develop. Hopefully, the series finds better footing.

Like having dementia at times

The book randomly changes information characters know after they explained it themselves for the plot to being 100% clueless, conversations repeat with different tones right after one another, they loose all personal data only to then be listening to a audiobook from their list for a unsubtle plug, ect. It's a mess, regardless of the plots quality the writing is just a mess.

The narrator is seemingly fighting a losing battle with a new jersey accent the whole time, with such terms as yam-der-re and vale-ger-rant, I'm gonna lose it if I hear a Oragami like from Heavy Rain.

Positive Heading

A unique twist on litrpg. Love the Fallout feel. Looking forward to continuing this series.