I really liked this series.
The first book is a survivor’s story, in the vein of Robinson Caruso, with Roland Barkus believing he is the only survivor when his space ship, the Ventura, is blown out of the sky after entering orbit around an unknown planet. The world he finds himself in is an odd mix of old technology and medieval society and he soon finds himself the savior and protector of this world’s innocents.
The second book reveals that Barkus was not the only survivor and we get to meet other survivors and learn stories, from Jimbo and his team that are stuck on the moon to Rand who, like Barkus, survived crashing to the surface. And the political intrigue jumps up a notch as we start to realize that something sinister is going on with the powers that be.
The third book brings everything to a climax on Earth on the night of the Winter Solstice when something terrible happens.
Throw into the mix an ancient race of immortal beings that are terraforming planets and rogue Artificial Intelligences, and you have the making of a long, complicated story.
This is the second story I’ve listened to by Martin Wilsey and I like his knack for creating interesting characters and then throwing them to the wolves. There are plenty of reprehensible characters who do reprehensible things such as murder, rape and torture, but I never felt like it was over the top or that we were meant to condone it. Certainly, the main characters do not and Barkus himself is such a kind soul that it angers him just to see people being mistreated.
Give it a listen but be aware that the story changes gears across the three books.