I recently discovered Nathan Lowell’s series of overlapping space opera (his own designation) books after reading and loving The Wizard’s Butler, a completely different series but the book that introduced me to this brilliant author. Double Share is the 4th book in the saga that follows Ishmael Wong into the “deep dark” of space after the death of his mother at age 18.. In this book, Ishmael has finished at the Academy, ranking number 34 at a rigorous four year college preparing graduates for officer status on space vessels. Ishmael takes a post with a small (relative to the commercial shippers) shipping company and is posted to a freighter, The Tinker. Let’s just say Ishmael’s experience on this ship is unlike anything he’s been on before. Nathan Lowell sets the reader on a ship with no escape except the airlock, unless it’s docked, to experience the myriad of human behavior in the throes of abuse of power, terrifying neglect of ship safety, and physical intimidation and punishment. That’s just the human aspect. I am a lover of science fiction, having grown up on Star Trek in the 60’s. Nathan Lowell’s dialogue, ship and tech descriptions are fantastic, perfect, and in my case absorbing to the max.

For audio listeners, Jeffrey Kafer is a terrific voice actor and perfect for this series; great resonance, and decent voice differentiation. It was never difficult to figure out who was talking. Kafer’s performance was awesome!