Starship Superior

By: J.N. Chaney, M.F. Lerma

Narrated by: Shamaan Casey

Owen Lake never had any interest in space.

After watching his astronaut mother die, he preferred the simple life of a boat captain on Lake Superior. But the simple life was never meant to last.

His charter business is failing, but an opportunity pops up in the form of Dr. Mariana Keller, who's interested in what lies beneath the waves: a mysterious, unnatural blue glow emanating from the depths.

Owen agrees to take her on a clandestine dive to an ancient shipwreck site. With his trusty canine companion Jack by his side, he sets out with Keller, but a simple dive turns into a fight for their lives when a beam pins Mari beneath the wreckage.

As Owen struggles to free her, he is ripped into an underwater hole and finds himself aboard a highly advanced, unmanned spacecraft.

The ship's powerful Artificial Intelligence, which Owen names Jefferson, asks Owen to become a temporary crew member in exchange for the rescue of Mari and Jack. He immediately agrees without a second thought.

After rescuing them, the AI places them in stasis and initiates a launch. With the ship jettisoning Owen, Mari, and Jack toward deep space and a cosmic conflict far beyond Earth's solar system, it's clear there's a lot more to becoming a crew member than Owen could have imagined.

Eleven months later, Owen awakens to discover that he's undergone involuntary biological enhancements that allow him to survive deep space. The enhancements grant him abilities far beyond human limits. But Jefferson's bargain remains absolute: Owen must cooperate and prove his worth on a millennia-old quest for revenge against the enemy Federation... or Mari and Jack will remain frozen forever.

Forced to lead, Captain Owen Lake must now fight a war that began 100,000 years before he was ever born.

©2025 Variant Publications (P)2025 Variant Publications

Could be better

Good first start. Sorta sounds like a teenager wrote it though.

Maybe a different narrator would help. Don't know if I'll listen to another, if there are any.

Skip unless it's free and you are really hard up for a different story.

fab story

Great story! Enjoyed every second. Can't wait for the next story. When will we see it? I want Jake for.my dog.

Interesting story

I don't care for the narrator's style - exaggerated qualities - others may . Narrator does have a good sounding voice (timber and tone).

Not for me — plot is to contrived for my taste

The story starts well with interesting characters and nice main plot hook. But overall the story becomes hard to swallow. The premise loses its appeal and it feels like an adolescent adventure story toward the end. The ending feels abrupt and unbelievable. I was hoping for better science and less common plot elements. The narration is good overall but he couldn’t overcome the material in my opinion.