Outpost Audiobook By W. Michael Gear cover art

Outpost

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Outpost

By: W. Michael Gear
Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan
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The first book in a thrilling new sci-fi action adventure, set on Donovan, a treacherous alien planet where corporate threats and dangerous creatures imperil the lives of the planet's inhabitants.

Donovan is a world of remarkable wealth that comes at a high price. When Supervisor Kalico Aguila's ship arrives, she discovers a failing colony, its government overthrown, the few remaining colonists gone wild. Donovan could make her career - or kill her.

Planetside, Talina Perez is one of three rulers of the Port Authority colony - the only law in the one remaining town. With the Corporate ship demanding answers about the things she's done, Perez could lose everything, including her life.

For Dan Wirth, Donovan is a last chance. A psychopath with a death sentence looming over his head, he will make a desperate play for power. No matter who he has to corrupt, murder, or destroy. Captain Max Taggart is the Corporation's enforcer. But is it too late to seize control of Donovan?

Then a ghost ship, the Freelander, appears in orbit. Missing for two years, she arrives with a crew dead of old age and reeks of a bizarre death-cult ritual that deters any ship from attempting a return journey. But maybe it's worth the risk, for a brutal killer is stalking all of them as Donovan plays its own complex and deadly game.

©2018 W. Michael Gear (P)2018 Recorded Books
Adventure Fiction Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Space Opera Crime Murder Money
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Intriguing World-building • Complex Characters • Unique Alien Elements • Engaging Adventure • Satisfying Trilogy

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Such incredible world building. You will be transported there and live in that well-defined world with these incredibly well-described characters!

simply amazing!

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This book is a love poem to libertarianism. The poem is like the ideology itself in that it cherry picks certain aspects of the human condition, using them to emphasize its freedom thesis. The nanny state is bad, but what is the wall around Port Authority but a nanny seeking to protect Donovanians from harm. Tomato tomato. The recurrence throughout the series is sickening.

But the alien world the author has created is very interesting. It’s a risky place full of opportunity for anyone willing to look risk in the eye and not blink. The wantum mechanics is fun and even terrifying at times. The rule of cool is strong in this series. Mr Gear must be psychopath himself to let the Dan Worth character slide easily from his mind to the page.

Don’t give up on the series. Ignore the love poem to libertarianism and just let Donovan and its denizens carry you away.

Outpost

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The Narrator did an outstanding job. I hope she reads the next books as well.

I had gotten lazy in my old age. I’d rather the instant gratification of video games and tv shows. This book had me thoroughly captivated in a way I thought no longer possible.

I’m hooked once again and look forward to the other 2 books (and many others)

Superb intro to Audible

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Love all these books. Just wish some of the older series would be made into audio books!! How about the spider trilogy and the forbidden borders!!

Need more of the older works brought to audio

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Outpost is basically an American frontier tale set on an alien planet and it plays out more or less as you'd expect based on that premise. Remove the alien trappings and replace them with the flora and fauna of the American west and the story wouldn't change much at all...

...except for a few plot elements that are intriguing but insufficiently explored in the first volume of this planned trilogy. The hero, Talina Perez, is a beautiful, resourceful, respected law enforcement in the only town on the wealthy planet Donovan and she develops a rather odd connection with one of the most prominent species native to the world: quetzals. It's an aspect of the book that I wish had been explored further. Perhaps it will be developed in the next two volumes.

Another intriguing but underdeveloped plot point involves a corporation ship called the Freelander, one of several ships that has been dispensed to Donovan but never showed up. When it does finally show up, it's a ghost ship.

I was hoping for much more on these two aspects of the story but the novel focuses more on adventure and politics. There's some truly awkward writing when the book tries to get sexy or romantic and overall, I can't say I found this a satisfying listen. I enjoyed it but it feels incomplete. It's clearly meant to set-up the rest of the trilogy and too many key plot points are left unresolved for it to feel like a satisfying novel on it's own. Unfortunately, I'm on the fence about listening further.

The Extraterrestrial Frontier

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