THE DRAGON MAGE Boxset1 (Books 1 to 3)

The Dragon Mage (Books 1 to 3) by Scott Baron
Books 1 to 3 in the Dragon Mage series
Narrated by Gary Bennett
Genre: science fiction fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About The Dragon Mage (Books 1 to 3):

Charlie had all the luck. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the good kind.

Sucked through a wormhole, Charlie's spaceship crash landed on a distant world, yet somehow he survived. But survival was about to get a lot harder as he found himself not just stranded on a new planet, but in another galaxy entirely. One ruled not by the laws of technology, but by magic. A realm of space pirates, deadly assassins, alien gladiators, and even dragons. For the spaceman from Earth, it was enough to make his head spin.

And that was only the beginning.

Welcome to the Charlieverse.

Contains Books 1-3 of the 12 book Dragon Mage series:
1. Bad Luck Charlie
2. Space Pirate Charlie
3. Dragon King Charlie

Source: Info in the "About The Dragon Mage (Books 1 to 3)" was taken from amazon on 26/06/2024.

Buy Link(s):

 

Zomoki

Hunze

My Thoughts:

This is my first Scott Baron read and I'm glad that I stumbled upon this author! He is a keeper!

The other thing that I think makes this book wonderful is the fact that Scott Baron used current science to base his science fiction on. Kinda like what Gene Roddenberry did which is one of the many factors that made Star Trek such a successful TV series! And yes, I am a trekkie girl.

Charlie, for all his likely high IQ, can be such a dimwit sometimes. So everybody around him calls "it" magic and call certain things "spells", which to him is energy source and possibly a software, still can't get it through his thick skull that, that is the way people in his current world perceives things and he cannot teach these people who lived with magic and spells their whole lives, science and the principle of conservation of energy...

So, we have a protagonist who is brilliant and stupid at the same time...

I know somebody like that...

I like the Rapunzel retelling. A new twist to an old tale.

The first two books were good, as in, the "stupid" element was not glaringly big and obvious. The third book however... Charlie and Bawb must not finish off Malalia while she was down. Oh, no! That would detract the drama of the big battle with lots of lives lost and the magic show down. Because Charlie and Bawb had to face Malalia when she is at full strenght! Of course they do. **face palm**

And how do you send your men away when there is still a battle supposedly raging around you?... If you withdraw your men from the battlefield in the middle of an engagement, that means you lost the battle... Then wouldn't it follow that you would be taken as prisoner?

I do not like it when the plot does not make sense.

Ara

At 1,163 pages long, this is not a short read!

This book makes references to old movies like "Man Friday" which I had to look up to understand what it was referring to. This made the going a little slower, on top of it not being a short read, indeed!

This is my first Gary Bennett audiobook and I would listen to him again.

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4.5
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 4
World building = 5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (30 hrs and 17 mins listening time)
Plot = 4
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Dragon Mage Series:

 

Meet The Author

About Scott Baron:

A native Californian, Scott Baron was born in Hollywood, which he claims may be the reason for his off-kilter sense of humor. Before taking up residence in Venice Beach, he spent a few years studying abroad before settling into the film and television industry, where he has worked off and on for some time. Scott not only writes, but is also involved in indie film and theater both in the U.S. and abroad.

website | facebook | linkedin | amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Gary Bennett:

Gary Bennett is an award-winning SAG-AFTRA audiobook narrator with a passion for truly giving the listener a front-row seat to the story. He’s narrated over 180 audiobooks (so far!) for publishers including Blackstone, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Harper Audio, Hachette Audio, Tantor, Dreamscape, Podium Audio, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and others.

Gary has trained with top coaches for narration and accents and dialects, records in his professional home studio, and he loves performing multiple accents (British, Scottish, Italian and Eastern European are his favorites) as well as multiple and complex characters (spies, wizards, trolls, ogres, vampires, and conflicted heroes & villains are always fun).

He's a huge fan of thrillers and urban fantasy, and also loves recording science-fiction, mysteries, romance, and non-fiction. (He's also a proponent of the Oxford Comma!)

MY BACKGROUND:
Born and raised in California and then in Bozeman, Montana, Gary now calls the greater Seattle area his home, and he's a huge fan of the Seattle Seahawks!

www.garybennettreads.com | twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | tiktok | youtube | linkedin | soundcloud | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

RANDOM IN DEATH

Random In Death by JD Robb
Book 58 in the In Death series
Narrated by Susan Ericksen
Genre: sci-fi crime fiction
Format: ebook & audiobook

About Random In Death:

In the new crime thriller from #1 New York Times-bestselling J.D. Robb, a small and easily concealed weapon wreaks havoc, and the killer is just a face in the crowd.

Jenna’s parents had finally given in, and there she was, at a New York club with her best friends, watching the legendary band Avenue A, carrying her demo in hopes of slipping it to the guitarist, Jake Kincade. Then, from the stage, Jake catches her eye, and smiles. It’s the best night of her life. It’s the last night of her life.

Minutes later, Jake’s in the alley getting some fresh air, and the girl from the dance floor comes stumbling out, sick and confused and deathly pale. He tries to help, but it’s no use. He doesn’t know that someone in the crowd has jabbed her with a needle — and when his girlfriend Nadine arrives, she knows the only thing left to do for the girl is call her friend, Lieutenant Eve Dallas.

After everyone on the scene is interviewed, lab results show a toxic mix of substances in the victim’s body — and for an extra touch of viciousness, the needle was teeming with infectious agents. Dallas searches for a pattern: Had any boys been harassing Jenna? Was she engaging in risky behavior or caught up in something shady? But there are no obvious clues why this levelheaded sixteen-year-old, passionate about her music, would be targeted.

And that worries Dallas. Because if Jenna wasn’t targeted, if she was just the random, unlucky victim of a madman consumed by hatred, there are likely more deaths to come.

Source: Info in the "About Random In Death" was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/127305845-random-in-death on 07/02/2024.

Buy Link(s):

 

My Thoughts:

Wonderful to see Bella again!

I like the way this investigation came together. Bits and pieces of clues from different threads of the investigation came together to provide information to the investigating team that enabled Lt Dallas and her team get the bad guys. Although it is still Lt Eve Dallas who cracked the case. This time around at least the information gathering was a team effort. I like that better than it is just Dallas and Dallas alone who got the killer. Kudos to this book!

As usual Susan Ericksen did a wonderful job of narrating this book!

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 4
Story itself = 4.5
Writing Style = 5
Ending = 5
World building = 5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (13 hrs and 6 mins listening time)
Plot = 4.5
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries

 

Books In The In Death Series:

 

Meet The Author

About JD Robb:

J.D. Robb is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling In Death series and the pseudonym for #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts. The futuristic suspense series stars Eve Dallas, a New York City police lieutenant with a dark past. Initially conceived as a trilogy, readers clamored for more of Eve and the mysterious Roarke. Forgotten in Death (St. Martin's Press, September 2021) is the 53rd entry in the series.

jdrobb.com | facebook | instagram | amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Susan Ericksen:

Susan Ericksen is a Renaissance woman. In addition to being an Earphones-winning audiobook narrator and director — she's a writer, an amateur linguist, an actress, a mother, and a wife. In the 1980s she joined former classmate David Colacci in western Michigan, where he was artistic director for the Hope Summer Repertory Theater. Twenty miles away, a fledgling audiobook publisher called Brilliance was looking for narrators.

Susan has recorded around two hundred audiobooks for Brilliance, BBC Audiobooks, Tantor, and Hachette. "It was a natural step. As repertory theater actors, the whole point is to be able to do Shakespeare one night, a musical the next night, and Noel Coward the next. So you have multiple personalities and multiple character voices and physicalities. These are such valuable skills for doing audiobooks."

facebook | instagram | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook were bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.