Alien Worlds

Colonial Scouts, Book 1

By: Roxanne Smolen

Narrated by: Jennifer Fournier

Length: 6 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Trapped in a wormhole!

The Colonial Scouts are an elite group of explorers who seek out habitable planets for the Colonial Expansion Board. They travel through space via programmable wormholes.

Impani, a brilliant girl with a dark past, dreams of escaping the streets by becoming a Scout. Because she is homeless, she feels she must study twice as hard to get into the program. The day before her final exam, however, a transporter malfunction sends her jumping uncontrollably from planet to planet. Although the error could be corrected from inside the wormhole, the Board decides she is too young to understand that level of tech.

Will she prove them wrong? Or will she die on an alien world?

©2016 Roxanne Smolen (P)2016 Roxanne Smolen

Interesting technology

I am the mother of two young adult women. As such, I am clearly not the intended audience for this story. I agree with a couple of the other reviewers that this book read on the quite young end of the YA category.

The impelic ring technology was original. The failure of that technology on Impani's and Trace's final scout mission and its repair was the most interesting part of the story in my opinion. I found the characters rather flat. There was the "orphan girl who needs to learn to trust in her own abilities," the "seeming bad boy who has a heart of gold," a bully, and a true friend. Character development was primarily exhibited in the two main characters learning to trust one another and so share more of their own personal histories.

The narration was capable. Fournier certainly read the story with enough interest to keep up with the fast-paced story line and to hold my interest. There were a few sections of dialogue in which it was hard to determine which character was speaking.

I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Quantum Leap meets Disney Animation

Would you try another book from Roxanne Smolen and/or Jennifer Fournier?

Let me start off saying this book is more geared toward beginning young adult (YA) readers, however some older reader may enjoy the journey the story takes you on. I enjoy science fiction very much and read to quite a few book in the genre, but this book seemed geared towards a younger group than I enjoy. I was happy to have a more modern science fiction book that that did not contain any vulgar language or even crude jokes. This is another reason I would feel comfortable recommending it to younger teen readers.

Would I recommend this book to others? It depends. I left wanting more, but for a younger reader who wants an exciting journey with action and warp jumps to new worlds, get this book. If you are looking for a deep science fiction story with deep character and storyline, you may not like this book.

The story’s concept and ideas was quite refreshing along with being presented well. The author did a good job of the initial story setup and quickly grabbed my attention and sucked me in at the start; good job. The book for me was more like watching a modern cartoon where there is always action and no real periods where the characters’ pause to reflect or have much internal dialogue. Because I listened to this in one sitting (during a long drive), I felt that in the beginning the action-based events seemed to come too frequently. Monster, jump, monster, jump, etc. Reader of the story will understand what I’m saying here. I would have also liked to have had some more suspenseful moments throughout the story. Often it was something like a character turns a corner and comes head-to-head with a new creature to face. I would have like to have seen a creature stalk the characters more, seen their fear levels rise, etc. The book often went from 5mph to 60mph in a second. Some of this may have been because the author geared the material at younger audiences and they want this constant action; I’m not sure.

I will say that I liked the author’s uniquely constructed worlds, environments and creatures. However, I would have like to have had a much deeper description of most of them. The author would often describe just enough to move to the next part of the story, so at times these items all seemed a bit flat for me. The characters were also somewhat flat. The author does give us a glimpse into the lives of the main characters throughout the storyline, but again I wanted more. I wanted to feel for them as they took this great journey. The romance, yes there is some of what I would call puppy love, also seemed very forced and in some ways unnatural. It reminded me more of those experiencing their first kiss, but these characters are nearly 20 years old. Some of the terms and sayings also seemed either cliché or would not be sayings I would believe to come from this society.

I would have like to have had more information and detail on the technology used and how this was created, tested, evaluated, etc. Maybe these items are coming in future books in the series or even a prequel. We are dropped into this story with a fantastic technology that is never really explained; apart from what it can do. I wanted to know who or how they discovered it, and more. The book provides very little here and again often just enough to carry the story forward or answer a question or resolve an issue in the book. For me, I was looking for more science fiction with my travels and would have enjoyed it more if there was. Tell me how the guns work, what they look like, do they require batteries or ammo?

Did Jennifer Fournier do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

I was a bit concerned with how the narration of the story would be for this book based on the narrator’s previous books listed on Audible. Overall she did a decent job with the book, but for me there were a few inflection and character distinction problems. At times it seemed the narrator was speaking as if the scene was action-filled, yet it contained no action. Sometimes it was difficult to know if these were a problem with the story or the narrator’s interpretation of the material. As of this review, this narrator has mainly performed short children’s books and this may have had some influence on her reading of this book. Often she did a good job of expressing a character’s emotion or emotional state.

There were a few narration issues that would take me out of the story, but they were few and far between. In a few places there were long pauses, swallows, audio interference, or other non-story related event that was on the recording which would pull me out of the story and it would take some time to get back into it.

Any additional comments?

This book was provided to the reviewer by the author, narrator, or publisher in exchange for a my posting a non-bias review.

could be quite compelling for young teenagers

Impani escaped from the streets by being self-taught in order to form part of the called colonial scouts. They are children used to explore habitable planets. In one of these explorations, the ring used for transportation gets corrupted and Impani and her partner get stranded on an unknown planet.

I first thought this was intended for young adults, but I think it would work better with young teenagers, since the average age of the characters is sixteen, and most of the time they are more immersed in the drama of younger ages than with the perils at hand.

I found the first half of the story a bit repetitive but with no evolution. The kids were traveling without control from one planet to the next quite fast. There is nothing of importance happening here apart from some interactions of the two main characters.

The second half is much more entertaining though since the story starts moving forward, and the interactions among characters are more developed. There is also the resolution to a more important mystery.

If it were not for the first part I would have given four stars to the book. I understand that this book may not be attractive when read by an adult, but I think it could be quite compelling for young teenagers.

Jennifer Fournier's narration was okay. Her diction was clear and she transmitted the characters emotions, but there were a couple of issues. Her voice range is quite limited, and in many occasions it was difficult to discern who was talking, and I even got confused between narration and dialog. There were also audible breath intakes which distracted me from the story and noticeable audio edits.

I think this audiobook could work well among young teenagers, but in my personal opinion, it would benefit from being edited.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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Slow start, but imaginative worlds

I received this audiobook for free in exchange for my honest review of it. Overall, I enjoyed this book. It started slow, with very little character development. The storyline seemed mediocre at best, but as I listened, the two main characters came into clearer focus as backstory was disclosed. The author uses vivid detail in describing the worlds. Each world the team bounced to was unique. The ant world was the best developed. I would have liked to hear better description of the purple natives. I found it to be rather vague. There is also mention of other scouts ending up on the final world, and their belts being kept. Why did they keep the belts? Where are those scouts? Are they all dead? If so, how? I questioned the admittance of the main girl into the scout program, as she is very reckless throuout. I would have thought she would have been kicked out early, even though her ideas are good. There seems little explanation of this. Overall, it turned into an enjoyable listen, although the audio faded out some in places, which I found odd. I will give the next book in the series a chance to see if my questions are answered. I love YA books and would recommend this one.

Great Series

Beautifully narrated these storys are sure to keep your attention with all the excitement and action.
l am very happy to have found this series.
suitable for YA and all ages.
Recommended.

Fast-paced sci-fi

Smolen's story is rapid fire and her characters are believable and sympathetic. The descriptions are detailed enough so the listener can truly see them, but still give the imagination room to grow. Impani and Trace are teenagers who are intelligent and resourceful, but still are vulnerable in an appealing way. The concept of the impellic rings is fascinating, and the author gives enough of a grounding in science to make it believable. It is sci-fi at its best, and listening to it gives it an immediacy that I liked. I also like that I can take the book with me in the car or walking.

Very Interesting Concept

I thought this was a decent story with an interesting concept. I did find the technology to be a bit confusing, and the characters could have been a little more realistic, but this was an overall good story with some VERY creative and unique writing. The overall creative thought of the author is excellent, but I hope for a few improvements in the next book of the series (which I will very likely buy).

The story centers around two cadet colonial scouts. This program sends two individuals to another world via a wormhole technology (that I didn't completely understand). The two scouts then survey the area for resources, threats, and notable plant and animal life, then return to deliver their findings. On a training mission, two cadets get stuck in a constantly jumping wormhole that sends them to planets in rapid succession. Facing constantly different environments and threats, the two cadets must work together to figure out what is going on and how to survive.

Narrator did a good job in this book. It's always good when the narrator can switch between male and female voices effectively.

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.

Fast paced, not bad

The story moved at a fast pace (maybe too fast) and was interesting enough. It ended rather abruptly but it's part of a series so that wasn't completely unexpected. The characters seem much younger than the 16 and 17 year olds they are supposed to be, despite the fact that they are being sent to strange planets as scouts. Most of that was due to the way the narrator read I think. The narrator sounded like she was reading to very small children most of the time, over emphasizing everything. I usually enjoy YA and honestly this is not bad but I won't be getting the next in the series. Preteen girls would be a good audience for this, I think, but not older than that.
This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom dot com.

Interesting Concept

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

As I listen to books while doing other things, yes, it was time well-spent. Quick listen.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Predictable

Would you listen to another book narrated by Jennifer Fournier?

Possibly. As this is the first book I've listened to narrated by her, I think her style of narrating would be better suited to another genre.

Any additional comments?

I received this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. As an adult, I do enjoy some YA novels, but I felt it was geared to a younger group than YA, or at least the younger age range of YA. Interesting concept with the uncontrolled jumping from one planet to the next, and the inhabitants that they encounter on the different planets is unique. The narration was fine, other than her style did not seem suited for this genre and there were a few times where I had trouble distinguishing between speakers.

An Interesting Sci-Fi Story

Would you consider the audio edition of Alien Worlds to be better than the print version?

Did not read the printed version

Who was your favorite character and why?

Both Impani and Trace

Which character – as performed by Jennifer Fournier – was your favorite?

Impani, Jennifer Fournier did a good job

Any additional comments?

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review