93 hrs of space wizards, megaladogs, and mafia-pirate turf wars? Heck ya! This collection features the exploits of Esper (or as I like to think of her: Wizard Barbie) and Kubu the sentient megaladog told through 16.5 missions (think of them like TV episodes). The first 3/4 of the book features stand alone missions as Esper collects an assorted Scooby gang of misfits including Tiffany the Teenage Wizard and Wesley Wesley the Maybe Secrent Agent. From Mission 12, there’s a multi-mission story arc that pulls in characters from the Galaxy Outlaw omnibus (also a 16.5 Mission collection). There are occasional F 💣, not at all graphic (comic level) violence, teenage level innuendo, and fade to black FF and MF couplings. These aren’t as campy as Space Team or as shiny as Firefly, but for popcorn fluff like you’re binging on episodes like Stargate or Star Trek, this gives great bang for your buck.
Tips for those new to the Oceans Black universe:
The books are sold in mission 4-packs and then the four mission 4-packs are gathered into 16 mission omnibus collections. Why buy four “books” when you can get all 16 missions in one book?
1. Start with the 85hrs of Galaxy Outlaws and its 16.5 missions with the Mobius crew. There’s a better of assortment of characters and you’ll get introduced to Esper and Kubu, the MCs of this omnibus. There’s also less F 💣, teenage drama, or romance focus, leaving the space opera on center stage.
2. From there, you can pick from three collections set before/after Galaxy Outlaws
a. This omnibus containing another 16.5 missions (or the four “Mercy” mission packs)
b. Astral Prime omnibus, set about the same time as this Mercy omnibus, but focusing
on wizard Cedric the Brown
c. Mirth and Mayhem omnibus, set before all of these collections
and following the younger years of Wizard Mordecai the Brown.