Libre
A Silver Ships Novel
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Libre
Narrated by:
Grover Gardner
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Narrated by:
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Grover Gardner
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By:
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S. H. Jucha
About this listen
The saga of the Rêveur continues in this second novel in the Silver Ships series.
The surviving Méridiens have returned to Confederation space, aided by their recently discovered cousins, the New Terrans. They expect a celebration after their 71-year absence. Instead, they're shocked to find the silver ships have destroyed half the Confederation.
The Méridiens are fleeing in advance of the horde of alien ships. But Alex Racine and his crew didn't come this far to run away from humanity's enemy. They intend to hunt the silver ships. But, to succeed, they need help. Renée de Guirnon, the leader of the Rêveur's Méridiens, reveals a sordid secret of Méridien society: Citizens who defy their House, for any reason, are stripped of their rights, declared "Independents", and imprisoned on the planet Libre. But the Independents aren't everyone's pariahs, especially if you're Alex Racine and you're looking for allies against the silver ships. An entire colony of independent, free-thinking radicals offers just the sort of people Alex wants on his side, so an alliance is struck. Soon the enemy ships will swarm off the planet Bellamonde, and the race begins for Alex and the Librans. The planet must be evacuated and the military force readied before the silver ships attack. Alex knows a battle is coming, but will they have enough time to prepare?
©2016 S. H. Jucha (P)2016 Blackstone AudioListeners also enjoyed...
Mustn't grumble
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So much potential in this book and the author does nothing with all the cool stuff. An entire planet full of interesting people, cool tech, space battles with aliens and a desperate struggle for survival. Instead the author focuses on the main character God uhm I mean Alex.
In the first book he was a big man due to a higher gravity, big for a human but not giant. I pictured him as a body builder about the size of a large basketball player, definitely huge, but still basically human. In this book he is portrayed as a literal giant, somehow the tonnage of food he consumes is mentioned a lot, he shakes the ship as he pounds the deck in a run, is somehow still fast and nimble etc. At one point he shakes the hand of a teenager using his thumb and finger, has the author ever seen a teenager? They do not have baby hands and why would Alex have huge hands anyways?
The reason for him being large was explained due to his people living on a planet with higher gravity. This would make sense, as this would lead to increased bone mass and muscles. But this would also make them less tall, not taller than the regular humans. Think more of dwarves, not giants.
Not only is Alex somehow the biggest man whom ever lived, he is also the smartest man ever, has basically no flaws and went from loner tug owner to leader of hundreds of thousands of people over the course of months. Of course he is also the admiral, leader of the military, lead strategist, a space engineer, friend to all, philosophist, house founder and leader etc. The man does it all. The rules don't apply to them and he has a magic way with man and machine alike. And throughout all this he can do no wrong, his only vice is caring too much.
Then there is the women in the book, oof, I wonder if the author has ever met a woman in person. The author goes out of his way to make all traditional male roles female, but then also makes them basically giggling teenage girls, who can do little but swoon over men and especially Alex. The characters are flat beyond belief and some of the lines made me cringe.
Renee, a proud independent woman, who has had her whole life turned upside down and was looking forward to making her own decisions at the end of the last book, is a shadow of that interesting character in this book. She's become nothing but a token wife, a moral support and does things like clean Alex, dress Alex, feed Alex etc. She went from being a leader to "Let's make babies"
The introduction of a strong German theme is fine, if it actually served a purpose or at least is explained in any way. It's not and it serves no purpose, it's even somewhat forgotten at some points and is just distracting at best.
It really sucks, because this book has so much going for it, but the execution is terrible. I'm going to give the next book a chance, but if the main character doesn't improve I will abandon the series.
Lots of interesting ideas but devolves into drab
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Enjoyable
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The lionisation of our 'admiral' mirrors problems the second dune had, we'd manifested the powers to defeat our enemy and elevated the prime character above the surrounding characters. The messiah complex is plain despite his obvious charms and influence. The final sequence gives me hope for book 3, and while i recognise the german references are jarring I am sure there will be an explanation about this later in the way the colonies were formed. The kindness and humour are a tonic given the volume of very ugly stories available at present. I also felt this episode was patchy and struggled a quarter of the way through, i feel more sophisticated exposition of libre and the independent culture would have been worthwhile to gain better traction at that time.
Edit 12.05.23
I have listened far beyond and even purchased the audible volume for book 7 and am glad I took the further journey.
Having fully understood the less positive reviews I know the future direction and the seeds are here, there is explanation of how the German aspect which absolutely does jar the listening experience of this book and the cast certainly expands beyond Alex and his friend Julian. The heart and interactions develop to such poetic heights that without spoilers brought me to tears, particularly at Allora which despite the size is already my favourite... I am looking forward to revisting this book with my future knowledge of outcomes as this universe expands. The grounding around Alex and Julian is key to the flourishes that begin here.
Definitely a valuable step and worth the friction if any is found.
Above mid
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Any additional comments?
I loved this book as much as the first. Having just finished book 2 (and now purchased book 3) it is clear to me that this is not so much a book series as an adventure SERIAL. Each book is one complete episode of an extended story.This episode carries us to the next staging post for the Meridien survivors as they try to survive the invasion of the silver ships and our hero, Alex Racine, leads them with skill, judgement, commitment and, of course, good luck in the nick of time!I found the Meridien's salute to the fallen quite moving and my eyes misted over - soft, old fool that I am.There is more exploration of the developing relationship between the two species of humans and the added flavour of additional SADE's (Self Aware Digital Entities) as they collect more ships.A neat surprise at the end of episode 2 sets us up for episode 3 .... Holy space opera, Batman .... I am loving it !!!!Ripping Yarns in space (part deux)
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A continuation
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2nd.book, lots of hero worship, repetition, young adult type. just found it felt very padded. I see there are a lot, I've seen 19 in this series so best bail now as I think it's not for me....
lost interest
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a good step
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Great book 👍
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If you want drama, challenge, cliffhangers, main characters in mortal danger, and heart-wrenching disaster to be gripped by, then this is not the book you are looking for.
In this book, nothing actually goers wrong, without the captain having already thought of the answer beforehand. I believe this is called "Plot armor", where nobody can actually die, because they are necessary for the plot.
The focus is not about the aliens, but instead, the focus is between all characters being treated well, and equally - Okay, this is indeed different from most other cookie cutter Sci-fi stories... and maybe I am just so used to disaster in sci fi stories, that I already expect it? Well, who knows! I might be in the wrong. In the end, this book isn't gripping enough for me to keep listening until the end.
A lack of drama (same as first book).
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