Renegade Star by J.N. ChaneyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Great Sci-fi Reminiscent of Firefly
Renegade Star's description says that it's for fans of Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, or Leviathan Wakes -- and though I'm not sure about the last two, this book is basically is Firefly. Jace Hughes is a dead ringer for Malcolm Reynolds, so much so that Luke Daniels even created a voice for Jace in a voice that sounds very much like Nathan Fillion that captures the inflection and tone of Serenity's captain. Now don' think it's an exact replication -- the setting and world are unique enough, the plot is different, and there's an entirely different set of supporting cast of characters, though some still fill the same crew or story niches.
Being Firefly-esk alone wouldn't make this a great book, but it's well written with a great mix of drama, sci-fi, and comedy. After listening to this publisher pack which contains the first two books, I'm eager to both find out what will happen to the captain and crew of the Renegade Star, but also read more on into the origin stories of the various crew members (which I've discovered have been written out in a series of prequel novels or novellas). I find the characters likable and multidimensional, the plot is interesting, and the world-building is excellent (I imagine it gets even better since there are apparently at least 20+ books set in the universe.
Luke Daniels does an excellent job narrating and though I've listened to quite a few series he's done, it feels and sounds like a different person is narrating each time. He not only can capture the essence of a character but manages to match the narration to the unique tone of a book or series of a book to create a totally unique performance. As a side note, I'll also mention that no only does Luke Daniel's narrate the rest of this series, but other of JN Chaney's books are narrated by awesome people like R.C. Bray, Ray Porter, and Jeffrey Kafer -- so they are bound to be pretty awesome as well.
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