Empire of Bones

Book 1 of The Empire of Bones Saga

By: Terry Mixon

Narrated by: Veronica Giguere

Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Five hundred years ago, a terrible war almost extinguished humanity. Now the Terran Empire rises from its own ashes.

Tasked to lead an exploratory mission, Commander Jared Mertz and his crew set off into the unknown.

Only the Old Empire isn’t quite dead after all. With everything he holds dear at stake, Jared must fight like never before. Victory means life. Defeat means death or worse.

If you love military science fiction and grand adventure on a galaxy-spanning scale, grab Empire of Bones and the rest of The Empire of Bones Saga today!

©2014 Terry Mixon (P)2014 Terry Mixon

Great Military/Space Sci-Fi

I thought this was a very good example of superior science fiction writing. The universe created by the author was interesting, well explained, and not too complex. The characters all seemed very real and the storyline and general concept were all great.

The story takes place hundreds of years after the fall of the Terran Empire to the rebel forces. Using kinetic strike and EMP weapons, the rebels destroyed nearly every planet in the empire, knocking them back centuries technologically. The son of the then emperor escaped to a distant resort planet called Avalon. It was here that the large population and now emperor rebuilt their civilization and began to expand once again.
The new Terran Empire now inhabits dozens of systems, having absorbed the populations of other planets, some of whom had regressed all the way back to hunter/gatherer societies. Finally ready to explore far beyond their borders, the Emperor orders a long-range reconnaissance mission into the old empire. Leading the mission is his half-son as captain of the lead ship, and his daughter (second in line to the throne) as a diplomatic representative should they encounter other spacefaring civilizations.
The reconnaissance mission uses a newly discovered "flip point" to travel to a far away system, but soon discovers that their path home is unusable. When they discover a long-adrift old empire warship, they are confused by some of the things they find. After making contact with another post-empire civilization trapped in their own system, the New Terran Empire encounters what could be a dangerous new (or old) foe, one that the New Terran Empire is unprepared for.

The narration was overall very good. Great pace, tone, voices, etc.

I was very happy with this book. I thought it was a great example of space/military science fiction. I would definitely recommend for fans of the genre.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the author, publisher, or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review. I was NOT required to write a positive review and this reflects my honest opinion of the work.

Simplistic, but fun ride

the voice actor does have a lot of variation for her depository of voices. as such, the characters don't really have a lot of feeling in their voices. they have the same impression calm or in Tue middle of battle.

on top of that, everyone seems too trusting. its like they've never been back stabbed, or double crossed, in their life.

still, its an enjoyable read. just don't expect it to be very complicated.

Fun, kinetic sci-fi

Would you listen to Empire of Bones again? Why?

It's fun the first time through, but I'm not sure I'd give it a second listen. But I don't tend to repeat books.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The captain. He just felt like a decently, and decent, fleshed out character.

What does Veronica Giguere bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Giguere's reading of the book was phenomenal. She has a real talent for evoking multiple characters believably.

Great start for a series!

Enjoyed the book, looking forward to the next one!


This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom dot com.

A good book, however not very deep

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would recommend this book to a friend if they didnt want anything too deep, I found the story to be way too shallow, more like watching an episode of Star Trek than what I have become accustomed to with Novels

Would you be willing to try another book from Terry Mixon? Why or why not?

I would if it was free, but otherwise more than likely no. I understand many people will like this sort of fiction but its not for me

What three words best describe Veronica Giguere’s voice?

Clear, Formal, Lacking in variety. I think Veronica is probably more suited to Non-fiction.

Was Empire of Bones worth the listening time?

If you like a fun romp in a alternate reality to get away from the hum drum of real life, its great. If you want something that is deeper and more thought provoking then keep away from this title

awesome

I found Terry Mixon through his work on the dead robots society, and got curious about his work.
it was a trap.
now I'm sucked into this story and the only way out is to read the rest. I cant wait to listen to the next book!

A light space opera that scratches the Sci-Fi itch

Let me start by saying this book is more in a category of a light space opera, however this should not frighten you away if you like more heavy Sci-Fi books. Just be aware this one has all the goodness of a solid science fiction story without going overboard on the technical details. If you are someone that only enjoys deep and heavy space books, this one may not be for you. If you, like me, enjoy a good science fiction story that has technology, unique ships, and some strange alien races; I think you would enjoy it.

The book is well paced and the author often threw in action or drama at the right times. It did not seem forced and the characters, while somewhat flatter than I desire, were likeable. The author wove in some political struggles along with some family intrigue and surprises along the way. There are aspects of mystery and thriller all wrapped up in an exciting space story. If you are a Star Trek movie fan, the opening chapter will remind you of a specific movie scene. Not that the author copied it, but it will bring it to mind if you are knowledgeable of the movies.

The author did a good job of building up the various worlds, political systems, races, and characters while also describing well the technology and difficulty of space travel. A new and exciting worm hole like object called “flip points” helps the crew to travel vast parts of the universe; like warp drive. I also want to give the author credit for their ability to pace the story’s plot and throw in various “I never saw that coming” moments that kept me listening.

I also want to say thank you to the author for not having to add unnecessary vulgar language or adult material. Even the parts that were romantic were light and not overly descriptive, etc.

With all the above said, I do have a few negative things I would like to include in this review. Again, these are more subjective, but I know I would like to know them when I read other’s reviews or when I think about making a book purchase. At times I found the use of some words to be something I would not think a race of this intelligence would use. A term like “wicked” (not used often) pulled me out of the story briefly. Also the use of normal measurements like the metric system were used to describe an object instead of some other word like ‘clicks’, etc. The author also includes in a few places the use of alcoholic beverages (beer and hard liquor), but these are not heavily focused upon.

I would say that the story is safe for most teens as long as the above is not an issue for them. The story itself and the narration can be enjoyed by both young and old alike.

Veronica Giguere did a good job of narrating this book. She currently (at the time of this review) has over thirty other titles narrated on Audible across a number of different genres. So it is no surprise it was well presented. She was able to voice the many different characters making it easy for me to stay engaged and know who was speaking. I will say the princess’s voice by the end of the book sounded more like a little girl to me, but this is more a subjective comment.

I did want to note a number of audio artifacts in the recording that by the end of the book appeared to be more frequent than at the start. Items such as background noise, swallows, and others which were often heard during times of longer pauses. Not something that would keep me from listening to the book again, but not as crisp and clean as other books I have listened too.

I would like to thank the author and narrator for all the hard work that goes into producing a book that I can enjoy. I know it is not an easy task and it often takes months or years of their life to get to the point of publishing it. Well done.

Disclaimer: This book was provided to the reviewer free of charge in exchange for posting a non-bias review.

Empire Of Bones

What made the experience of listening to Empire of Bones the most enjoyable?

A fast paced romp across the stars from Terry Mixon,. It is to Mr Mixon's credit that I enjoyed the book as thoroughly as I did, as yes, while I'm a big ol' sci-fi geek, I'm less John Ringo, more Douglas Adams. I'm wildly ambivalent when it comes to military fiction as well, but these hang ups disappeared the deeper I dug into Empire of Bones. Interesting story

Love this series

I’ve read this book several times and it keeps getting better. Every time a new book comes out I start from the beginning to re-capture the epic ride that is The Empire of Bones series!! Listen to this novel, or read it, but either way dive in!

Sci Fi w/high fantasy feel with adventure & danger

What made the experience of listening to Empire of Bones the most enjoyable?

I listened closely to catch as much as I could about the history of the Old Terran. There feels to be so much there and a troubled history with the Rebels. Nice set up and drawing us into it. I had questions and was curious to learn about Old Terran and what happened in the Empire as much as the explorers in the book, hoping to find some clue to the past.

There was mention of Flip Points in space that are used to travel between systems. At first I wasn't sure what these were or how they worked. When I really understood what they were was when we got to use one. I shouldn't have been worried in hoping I understood because Terry made it easy to understand when the time came to know. Thank you Terry.

This is the sort of science fiction I really enjoy. It has the feel of a high fantasy setting with adventure and danger, yet set in space. No magic or dwarves in that manner, but in the story telling it resembled high fantasy to me. I really enjoyed the adventure into the dark unknown of space with this crew. There are times I smiled and others I felt the worry. Their are well placed thoughts that make us worry of what could possibly come next on the road ahead of them. Dare I say a sort of space opera in a sense with the characters?

Have you listened to any of Veronica Giguere’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I really enjoy Veronica and her many voices. She makes it so easy to differentiate the characters by voice and personality. She doesn't have as many accents as she's known for, but the personalities are clear. She speaks clear with a distinct feel to the words, there is no way to think they blend together when she speaks. This is one of her earlier works, it's from 2014, which shows she's always tried to differentiate different characters through tone, timber, and personality in voices.

Any additional comments?

*This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com, at my request.

We get the story from Jared and Kelsey's point of views. Two very different views of each other and the world, which gives us strong feelings for what is happening around them.

Jared is a great captain, in my book. He doesn't live better than his marines and he's not afraid to do the work as well. He earns respect from his crew and well deserves it. He's a genuine guy that you could like but he's stern when it comes to the way things are done on his ship. He cares about his people.

I really like Kelsey. She fits in so well with the rough and tough guys of the Marines. She's strong in her mind and intelligent. Kelsey is of the age that Jared was when he joined the Fleet, learning of his parentage. Kelsey now learns news that could shatter her and her twin brother's world. She's living with something that is very similar to what Jared had to face at the same age, bringing her to have a new view on her half brother. Kelsey also knows, somethings are best left untold, and I think all would agree with this information being one of them. But can it be kept that way? Could this jeopardize who Kelsey is and what Kelsey does?

As the story went we got to see new things and how some people have evolve with what they have. People at different levels of technology evolution. There are implants that are a curiosity, attacks from what appears to be a salvage race of people, and what of the old empire. So many different avenues that seem to cross and connect, but how? It was great how it was presented through actions and events that kept me interested, invested, and learning more and more. The empire is divided, yet there are pieces of it evolving at different rates in unknown systems.

I'm hooked! I enjoyed the adventure into the unknown. All the new we see and the battles we fight. The events our characters live through, and what they will have to live with is challenging. I WANT to continue with these characters as they learn to adjust to new tech they come across. Along with meeting all out in space, friend and foe.