The synopsis had me at 'sarcastic AI starship.' Scion of Conquered Earth by @TheDScribbler #bookreview #scifi #spaceopera

Cover links to Amazon.com

Scion of

Conquered Earth

A Science Fiction Space Opera Adventure

Written by Michael J. Allen

Genre(s): Sci-fi, Space Opera

Alien fighters bombard Earth’s ruins. Cannibalistic aerobics instructors hunt the wastes. The last free survivors struggle against starvation and enslavement. It’s become a world where friendship costs too dearly and heroics verge on suicide. 

One young man can’t resist either until a fed-up AI steals him off the planet. Alone with only a sarcastic, broken-down starship, he braves a whole new verse full of strange new enemies and tech he barely understands. 

Help and harm beset him from identical faces, forcing Earth’s last free scion to decide who he is, what he holds dear and just how far he’ll go to protect both...

Mark's Review

I was gifted the audiobook. My review contains my own thoughts, and I'm not getting paid to say anything nice.

Another reviewer couldn't make it passed the beginning, which admittedly is a little different. It's both comical as well as disturbing. What attracted me to the story is why I kept listening. That and I was the one to request to listen to this book, so I was obliged to give it a chance. And I'm really glad I did.

The synopsis had me at 'sarcastic AI starship.' That's what I was waiting for. And boy did the AI deliver! The conversations between the ship and the main character were the best bits of the story.

Another of my favorite bits was when the ship was trying to analyse the MC's actions and emotions. Shoot, humans can't understand each other. Imagine an artificial intelligence giving it a go. Yeah, the book is worth it on those merits alone.

And speaking of analysing the main character, the disturbing beginning puts later events into the proper perspective. Another reviewer mentioned that the main character whined too much. While I can see why that bothered them, the MC's internal monologues were understandable in my opinion. Without them I might have questioned his sanity just as the ship did... On more than one occasion.

Small word of warming about the ending: major cliffhanger. If you can stomach a somewhat rough beginning, the rest of the story is gold, and the cliffhanger is perfectly placed to launch you out of your chair as you demand more, while you curse the author for an ending you should have seen coming.