Birthright

By: Rick Partlow

Narrated by: Evan Harris

Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Caleb Mitchell is a human weapon, engineered into a biologically-enhanced killing machine in the war with the alien Tahni.

The war is long over and now he just wants to live a normal life as a constable on his homeworld of Canaan...but his life is torn apart when a Corporate Council mineral scout comes to him with a tale of discovering incredibly advanced alien technology from the fabled race known only as the Predecessors.

Someone in the monolithic, power-hungry Corporate Council doesn't want that story to get out...and they'll kill anyone to stop it, including Caleb and his family.

©2011 Richard A Partlow Jr (P)2017 Richard A Partlow Jr

Rick Partlow puts it all in the story!

Continuing where Glory Boy left, after some years the clash between the affiliated worlds and the Corporation Council comes to a head. Part spy story, part mil sci-fi, part allegory, Rick Partlow puts the whole story down for our enjoyment. Five stars for content and story, the four stars would be for the monotone parts of the narration. Still very enjoyable.

Great story, poor narration and sound quality

Poor narration and sound quality compared to the previous books in the series. I still enjoyed the story...

another great book

Excellent follow up to Glory Boy.
Really looking forward to the rest of the books in this series.

Great story worst choice for performance

The story and writing by Rick Partlow are amazing. Whoever read the prequel was amazing! Whoever read this just sounds like reading no acting at all and he reads it WAY to fast I literally had to run it slower to make work right!

Good story

It took me a little bit to get used to the narrator, but a few chapters in and it was ok.

The story is great, and I'm going to try to work my way through the rest of the related books.

easy listen

This book was easy to listen to and easy to follow. The reader was easy to understand and follow with varying character voices. I really liked Rick's story... very descriptive, believable and consistent; a great example of space marine scifi. I can't wait to read the next book in the trilogy.

Fast paced sci-fi space opera

This is a fast paced book where the main character (Caleb) finds himself in the middle of a conflict that he has no choice but to see it through to the end. I like how Caleb doesn't take shit from anyone, and can back it up with his jacked-up bioengineered body. The story has lots of action and a great cast of characters. Just to note, at first I wasn't too keen on the narration, but it quickly grew on me. I liked this book well enough that I purchased books 2 & 3. I'm looking forward to seeing how the story continues for Caleb.

Just like old times

Buried deep within this book is a rattling good story but it's hard to find beneath the almost universal barrage of non stop extreme action. Cal Mitchell was a survivor from the War, one of only a small handful of young people modified to become fearsome killer assassins. After it was over, he was awarded the role of Constable for life over the mostly agricultural Caanan, the home to which he returned and settled with his family. A favour is called in and, once again, Cal finds himself fighting for his life, a beautiful feisty woman, and his fami!y, against, it seems, the entire solar population. Politics, intrigue, betrayal, religion, ancient artefacts, explosions, new weapons, cybourgs, aliens, crime lords, corruption, conspiracy, assassins, full on battles, family and Federal Government, it's all here, and more.
Told largely in the first person by Cal himself, there are inserts covering other key members of the protagonists as well as flashbacks from Cal's life to assist in character development. And the world building is mostly good, creating a visual, if depressing, backdrop for all that is ha happening. Narration by Evan Harris fits well with this reader's mental picture of Cal: the pace is fast, no pausing for breath, well intoned and with good voicing of the other characters. But with an almost machine like quality which this reader found hard to listen to after a few minutes - a constant barrage of words and action which created a minor mind block.

My thanks to the rights holder of Birthright, who, at my request, generously and freely gifted me a complimentary copy. This is a book that I hope to return to at a later date. There was a lot packed into it and my mental drift kept me jerking back, realizing that I had missed part of the story and having to rewind: so not, for me, a comfortable read this time around, hence the middling star rating.
However, I would certainly recommend it to anyone who enjoys imaginative non stop S.F.battling action.

Another well told story

I like the universe and the different story lines. Drop Trooper and this work well.

good story

very good story. Rick Partlow is a very good writer, however the narrator is terrible. the narrator's monotone drawl left me wishing for a swift ending on more than one occasion. if this story were read by someone else, it would be a HIT!