Barbary Station

By: R. E. Stearns

Narrated by: Mia Barron

Two engineers hijack a spaceship to join some space pirates - only to discover the pirates are hiding from a malevolent AI. Now they have to outwit the AI if they want to join the pirate crew - and survive long enough to enjoy it.

Adda and Iridian are newly minted engineers, but aren't able to find any work in a solar system ruined by economic collapse after an interplanetary war. Desperate for employment, they hijack a colony ship and plan to join a famed pirate crew living in luxury at Barbary Station, an abandoned shipbreaking station in deep space.

But when they arrive there, nothing is as expected. The pirates aren't living in luxury - they're hiding in a makeshift base welded onto the station's exterior hull. The artificial intelligence controlling the station's security system has gone mad, trying to kill all station residents and shooting down any ship that attempts to leave - so there's no way out.

Adda and Iridian have one chance to earn a place on the pirate crew: destroy the artificial intelligence. The last engineer who went up against the AI met an untimely end, and the pirates are taking bets on how the newcomers will die. But Adda and Iridian plan to beat the odds. There's a glorious future in piracy...if only they can survive long enough.

©2017 R. E. Stearns (P)2017 Recorded Books

I loved every second!

I binged the whole novel. The narrator is great! There was just enough character development for this story and wanting more in the next. I didn’t know so many people could be in trouble for so long. I can’t wait to read the next one.

Top Tier Through and Through

This book was absolutely outstanding and so much more than I could have ever hoped for. It had me hooked from stat to finish and I love Iri and Ada so much now.

Easily the best sci-fi story I’ve ever read

Love story or sci fi story?

The author from the first page makes it clear the main characters are a lesbian couple. And never stops. I don't care how, who or what you like your sex. This constant emphasis on the relationship is overblown in the book. Who comes out of cryo admiring sexy asses? All the constant references to the love story are unnecessary for the scifi story and ruined the book for me. I would feel this way even if it was a straight couple.

Very Choppy, Hard to Enjoy

Both the narrative and the narrator made this a disappointing listen.

The writing kept jumping POV mid scene, broke action to give explanation, and seemed generally unfocused. The reader also had confusing mid sentence pauses and randomly emphasized filler words, something like a William Shatner / Christopher Walken hybrid, without the charm. There were many, "by the way, here's some context" moments, some of which felt very repetitive and got in the way of connecting with the characters or conflict.