Off Midway Station

Guardians of the Dark, Book 1

De: Marc Alan Edelheit

Narrado por: Jonathan Davis

Humanity is on the brink of annihilation. Only one man can turn the tide.

For centuries, we explored the stars and settled new worlds. But a mysterious alien threat emerged, launching devastating attacks and seizing entire star systems. Every fifty years they come, silent and relentless, before disappearing again into the dark. And as they close in on humanity’s home worlds, one more defeat could mean total extinction.

Captain Jim Garrett joined the navy to fight back. But when a delicate mission ends in madness and mutiny, Garrett takes the blame and his career is left in ruins.

Now, the only thing he commands is a construction site. The CNS Surprise is an experimental warship, half built in the dockyards of Midway Station. Garrett knows the ship inside out, but the navy brass would never let him take the helm, let alone lead her in battle.

But when the aliens strike early, with unexpected ferocity, it’s clear that every ship in the fleet will be needed. And the Surprise could be the only hope of slowing the enemy onslaught.

Garrett is thrust into command for the first time, launching straight into combat. He must unite a maverick crew and master new technologies, as he leads a desperate counterstrike that will decide mankind’s future.

Off Midway Station is a military SF adventure of high-stakes space warfare, nail-biting action, and characters you would gladly follow into battle. A monumental journey of courage, innovation, and the relentless pursuit of survival, it’s perfect for fans of Jack Campbell, David Weber, and Marko Kloos.

©2024 Marc Edelheit (P)2024 Audible, Inc.

Blah blah blah

The other reviews are correct. 50 words are used when 10 would suffice. This entire book would be 5 chapters of a really good story. There is a good story in here somewhere, but it’s buried deep in a bunch of blah blah blah. I can’t recommend this one.

Marc Edelheit can write!

I’m a fan of Marc Edelheit I originally found him by accident as I love Roman Empire nonfiction and historical fiction. I think the first book I read was Lost Legion IX which brought me into this fantasy genre. I’m old and bedridden and I listen and read most of my day. I have read or listened to everything Marc has published. The only Sifi I have are 3 by this author. I enjoyed this book great characters and an engaging story. I look forward to the next book in this series.

3 Times The Words Needed

The base story is compelling. The base characters are well constructed. Enough so I am making it through the story be only listening to the first, middle, and end 1 minute blurbs. It is all that is needed. The author uses way too many words to depict every minute mental, physical, and environmental aspect leaving nothing to the imagination. It is great the author has this level of detail in their mind. This leaves nothing for the reader. No imagination needed. This making the story slow and un-interesting. Which is too bad, it has the ability to be a great work. As it is currently mediocre.

I love this author's stories.

I was a reader of WW2 fiction in my teens, and I feel that Edelheit's stories capture some of that memory. Douglas Reeman's naval stories of a character taking over command had this dynamic, and Off Midway Station took me back to the intensity of all the details that must be attended to in the thick of battle. The lives of the characters are not just a cardboard cut out, but delved into to give background to their actions. You never know what he's going to throw at you as a plot twist next. Sometimes it gets too wordy, and some phrases are repetitious, but the story starts with a bang, backs down, and then slowly builds in intensity to where the climax leaves you wanting the next book NOW. Edelheit is good at that, Just check out the Stiger's Tiger's series.

Worth It

I had heard that the author really draws out the scenes and dialogue and at first I had the same thought but finishing the book I disagree. The immersion you get from really listening to the characters think through problems in real time leaves an imprint that has you going through the scenes again even after you stop listening. Awesome sci fi and military aspects as well, cant wait for the next one

Amazing story

I have listened to this book 4 times now. It gets better every time. I’m a huge fan of this author. He dose an amazing job with all of his work. This book stands out though and I can’t wait for the next book. I recommend this author and all of his work.

Overly verbose.

This story can feel very amateurish at times, the writing so overly verbose that I felt my eyes glazing over on many occasions.

I remember one of the most egregious examples being when, during a meeting between captains towards the beginning of the story, the author, in *painstaking* detail decided to describe the interior of a bar I just knew we wouldn't be visiting again. Honestly, the description had to have lasted a good five minutes while listening at 1.5x speed.

Less is more. An editor should have made the author trim thirty percent of the book down, and that's being conservative.

This isn't a personal preference issue, it genuinely messes with the flow and pacing of the story. Especially in tense moments, were timing is of the issue, having the perspective character in question endlessly self monologuing just ruins the vibe the author would have been otherwise going for.

If I were being unkind, it oftentimes felt like the author might be padding out the length of his book...

Not sure I'll follow up with this.

A great audio adaptation of this tale

This audio performance was quite well done. Jonathan Davis did a nice job of making the various POVs distinct with unique voices and pacing. I already love Jonathan Davis for his work on Rosone’s "Rise of the Republic" series and so I found myself comparing Midway with those a lot.

Good , but sometimes long winded

I enjoyed the start of what I hope will be a series. Good story line , but I feel that sometimes we spend too much time in the main character’s head . It is , however, a good read with a lot of possibilities story line wise ! I’m ready for the next book !!

Good start to a new series

I generally like Marc's writing so I never really hesitate to get one of his books. This one does start of a bit slow and builds allot if back story in the beginning all the way up to the last third of the book - maaaaaaybe a tad too long for my taste hence the 4 stars. But I expect that will get allot of character development and backstory out of the way for the next few books so I am quite looking forward to reading them.
The narrator was new to me, I enjoyed his reading style, I think it fits well to the rype of story the series appears to build up to.