The start was ok, even innovative but as I kept reading it became worse and worse. Among the last 50 or so books I read, this is really the worst. ( )

I only made it about 15% into the book before giving up. It wasn't poorly written but the setting is just so boring. No imagination in it at all. A couple of breathy uses of new terms (bitcoins!) and tech but no real thought put into the implications or social effects of it. The constant referring of the protagonist as a white guy is grating. In a military tech laden scifi book statements like the main character didn't feel any gees even at top speed is not a good sign that any of the tech will make sense.

I think I'll re-read Terms of Enlistment instead. ( )

3.5/5 rating

This was a good book, very easy to read and I liked the characters. The reason I chose to rate a three instead of four is because I've seen this kind of story before. About halfway through the book, it kind of felt similar to Starship Troopers in some parts.

It was an enjoyable read and the author built solid characters, the kind you can root for. It had some great action scenes starting in the middle of the book and lasting til the end. Some of the action scenes made me paused and wonder if they were far stretched just so the "hero" could save the day. The ending made it seem like a sequel is a possibility but I'll probably move onto other books on my list instead of continuing on. I might continue on if I had nothing else to read. I feel like I read similar plots before and nothing really new stuck out to me.

I got this book for free on a giveaway for an honest review.

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Title: ATLAS Series: Atlas Author: Isaac Hooke Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars Genre: SFF Pages: 391 Synopsis: The United States Military is now made up of emigrants. We follow a main character who was planning on being caught as he applies for the hardest, most hardcore of the branches. The first 2/3 of the book is about his training. The last 1/3 is about a mission to a new galaxy to a planet that has gone silent, completely silent. The threat they find could be the last thing Humanity ever deals with. My Thoughts: Pretty good book for an indie that goes on for 200 pages about boot camp, even if it is a kick ass boot camp. I enjoyed reading about the breaking down and building back up of the men. The SFF adventure side of things was pretty cool too. Creatures that can just take out whole armored platoons and ghost'y things that can possess machinery? It was fun! It should have been shortened though, simply to show that Hooke could tell this story as a master instead of just a competent. The ATLAS that gives this book and series its name is a mech and sadly, barely gets much face time at all. Maybe in the next book? As for that, while Hooke is now on my radar, I won't be rushing out and buying ATLAS 2 [or ATLAS 3. Sorry, but some originality for titles would have been appreciated]. " ( )

ABR's full Atlas audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

If you like military novels set in the future, you will likely be drawn to Atlas. More than half of the book is spent showing the intense military training of the main character, first through basic, then Special Forces. Along the way he stays with his friends and a girlfriend he met in basic training. The world is set 2500 years in the future, with the earth divided into two halves, one side rich and lazy and the other poor and violent. Most of the military is conscripted from illegal immigrants breaking into the rich size. Wars are not fought on earth, but in proxy wars in space between those with epicanthic folds and those without (Asians vs. Westerners).

There is nothing very new about the idea of this book and story line is pretty basic and predicable. Much of the grueling military training is entertaining, but the listener wonders why they do so much cold water training if they are fighting in space. The writer also seems to lack imagination with regard to the weapons of the future, basic 20th Century machine guns and rocket launchers. When the main character gets in trouble during a battle, he takes morphine for the pain, making him drowsy enough to fall asleep, but later gets most of his intestines replaced by a 3-D printer. These odd lapses will be frustrating for hard Sci-Fi fans.

Rhett Price narrates the story with his deep rumbling baritone. His voice is interesting and appealing, but his delivery leaves a lot to be desired. Price often reads dialogue very slowly making the characters sound stupid and his accents are awful; the friend from Mexico sounds like he’s a Spanish speaking Nigerian. Much of this might be forgiven or overlooked, but the constant fumbling and mispronunciation of common words is cringe worthy.

Atlas has potential for its action and space military theme but trips over itself from a limited imagination of the future and flat characters. If this is your favorite Sci-Fi genre, give a try, going in with an open mind. Hard Sci-Fi fans should probably look elsewhere.

Audiobook provided for review by the author. ( )