…then didn’t bother to rewind and hear it.
Feels like a teenager, or an unimaginative merchant marine, wrote this. There isn’t a plot really to speak of and I am not exaggerating when I say there is no conflict. There isn’t even a character that doesn’t get along with the main character. I say “main character” because protagonist implies someone you root for or has an nemesis or antagonist or any kind of challenge against them. The main character Ishmael has none of these. The author is almost undoubtedly a white american male because even though Ishmael works for what he has, he uses an unacknowledged privilege of everyone helping him for no discernable reason and the world never actively or even passively tries to keep him from his goals.
All the characters are very flat and one dimensional, or in Ishmael’s case non-dimensional(seriously, you could replace his character with an empty pillow case and no one would notice). The few female characters have no depth beyond their physical characteristics that the author seems to think are extremely important to prattle on about. Oh my! One of the engie girls dresses goth/punk?? ThAt’S cRaZy!! Tell me more about how she has piercings!
I like how this is like a memoir of a trade-ship crew through a small lens of scifi, but I don’t like how such an interesting concept is made incredibly boring. Literally nothing happens. There are no stakes, there is nothing at risk. At no point was I the least bit worried about or interested in Ishmael’s well being. Ishmael coasts through life without anything to challenge his progress or low stakes desires. Even the world it takes place in is drab and grey and makes me nostalgic for dish water. This book needs some serious punch-ups or editing or ghost writers, because as it stands I can’t see it appealing to anyone.
Narrator Jeff Kafer feels amateurish as a voice actor, all his voices sound the same. And slow down, Tex! It’s not a race. You can speak at the speed people regularly speak to have a conversation, rather than trying to rush through it like you have a bus to catch after the recording session.
I had high hopes for this series but I would NOT recommend it.