Space Station Zion

“There’s a lot of things they didn’t tell me when I signed on with this outfit.”

That’s what Sam Washington discovered after getting hired as Spaceport Director on Space Station Zion. Everyone hated his predecessor — a retired Navy cook who shut down the station drives, started an illegal space patrol, and let her relatives bleed the budget dry — so now everyone hates Sam. Still, since he took the job, Sam considers it his duty to get the place back in shape.

But angry admirals want to kick civilians off the station. A profit-crazed board member is trying to crack open a moon and mine it for ice. The station’s stabilization drives haven’t worked in six years. And his new board chairwoman would rather fire him than let him fix anything.

Then the moon-mining scheme goes catastrophically wrong, sending a debris field hurtling toward Zion, and Sam discovers a secret that could change everything. If he can survive the politics, the lawsuits, and one very inconvenient non-disclosure agreement, he might just save a hundred thousand lives.

Too bad no one’s making it easy.

Can Sam fix this mess, or is it time to update his resume — again?

Very worthwhile story good character development & believable technical detail

This audiobook was a pleasant surprise, considering the limited reviews and the use of Audible’s mostly wooden virtual voice. This voice seems incapable of conveying emphasis and inflection based on the context of the text. However, if I can enjoy a book narrated by a virtual voice, it indicates that the author has done an exceptional job with the story and character development. The narrative and excellent writing kept me engaged despite the lackluster virtual voice narration. Human narrators shouldn’t be intimidated by this technology, which appears to be unable to replicate the emotional depth that human narrators can convey. While it may improve in the future, it’s not there yet.

On the other hand, it’s worth acknowledging that the book wouldn’t have been available for listening if the virtual voice hadn’t existed. In any case, this audiobook is definitely worth listening to.