First Command - Scott Bartlett

Published in an omnibus audiobook edition 'First Command Box Set: Spacers, Books 1-6' by Audible, 03-08-2022. Contains: 'First Command'; 'Free Space'; 'Wartorn Cluster'; 'Empire Space'; 'The Fall'; 'Thatcher's Gambit'. Narrated by Mark Boyett.
First published 2019.

I had an Audible credit sitting there and had no idea what to get. In the end, I decided to go for quantity, purchasing this 'box set' of six audiobooks for the price of one. I had fairly low expectations for the series, and as long as you do that I can tell you that this first book at least meets those expectations.

Our protagonist, Tad Thatcher, has just been given command of his first spaceship, the New Jersey, and is sent to the far side of the galaxy through a wormhole to fight pirates for a private security firm. After some time there, the wormhole collapses, and now Thatcher is stranded far from home and his pregnant wife.

Thatcher is the sort of protagonist without any flaws. He is American and proudly so, enforces strict discipline for his crew in an American-military style, and races into battles, no matter the odds, confident that he will win the day every time. And he is right. Villains are cartoonish, heroes are gung-ho and patriotic for American values and democracy, and battles are sure to work out in favour of our heroes. The narration by Mark Boyett serves of writing as well. He too comes across as patriotically American - or at least has a voice that works well for this pseudo-American-Empirical-style work.

Overall, the book is nothing flash, but it serves its purpose: a good background book to listen to while doing something else. It's also inoffensive enough that I'm willing to give the second one a go as well.

Update: I gave up on the second. More of the same, but felt it was time to stop.

Completed 1 October 2022.

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