Cobra Alliance

Cobra War, Book 1

By: Timothy Zahn

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

When the colony worlds Adirondack and Silvern fell to the Troft forces almost without a struggle. Outnumbered and on the defensive, Earth made a desperate decision. It would attack the aliens not from space, but on the ground with forces the Trofts did not even suspect. Thus were created the Cobras, a guerilla force whose weapons were surgically implanted, invisible to the unsuspecting eye, yet undeniably deadly. And the Moreau family were the most famous of the Cobra warriors.

Long after victory over the Troft was achieved, the Cobras made common cause against their former adversaries against a new enemy. Their reward was three planets that would be a home for the Cobras, whose deadly powers made them too dangerous to feel at home on Earth. Now, years had passed and not everyone on the Cobra worlds thought that the Cobras were worth the high cost of providing their training and maintaining their existing built-in weaponry, let alone supporting research to improve the Cobra weapons, and possibly even put an end to the negative effects of that built-in weaponry, which caused Cobras to die much too young. Many who had never known interplanetary war were convinced that the Cobras were not needed at all. That was a grave miscalculation, because a new menace was approaching, one that even the formidable Cobra warriors might not be able to defeat.

©2009 Timothy Zahn (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Zahn emphasizes the stern values of duty, honor, planetary group, and suggests that peace comes only through oft-displayed strength. The rough-and-tumble combat crackles like fingertip laser implants...." ( Publishers Weekly)

I love this whole series.

I am so enjoying the story, I just can't stop listening. Timothy Zahn keeps the story so interesting, that you can hardly wait for the next book. I find that Stefan Rudnicki voice to be one of the best I have ever listened to, that I just look for books that he has narrated and I know that is will be a awesome book. You can't miss with these two gentlemen.

Military sci-fi with realistic characterization

This book was over before I realized it! Not very often that I get so caught up in a story that I don't realize it's about to end until it does, or that I don't get distracted and put it aside for a couple days while I read something else.

It is a military science fiction book - but not so military-based that you're getting descriptions of bullet types and thickness of armor, and not so science fiction-y that people can walk through walls or be beamed to outer space on command. Some of the aliens are human (and some of the humans are alien) and all of the social issues are ones you'll recognize. And the solutions to the problems in the story require that people overcome their biases and work together - so it's not really that "far-out-there".

I like how the characters are so smoothly written that they feel like real people, with real issues, and real lives. And the aliens and alien (to us) technology is added in as if it is a perfectly normal progression of where we are today... without a lot of lecturing or boring techy-jargon. The author doesn't attempt to explain how certain technological advances were developed, just asserted that they exist, and went with it. And, while there is some social justice/equality message in here, it is not preachy at all.

I don't have the next book in the series, but plan to get it now - this one ended without a complete resolution and I want to find out how the Cobras overcome their enemy.

The narration is excellent and the story is non-gory, with no swearing and no sex.

Zahn writes a good audiobook.

Some fiction books work really well as audiobooks. This series by Timothy Zahn is very good as an audiobook for several reasons. First, the plot is engaging without being overly complicated. That means you don't get lost in dozens of characters or multiple intertwining subplots. I do like that kind of book when I'm reading -- I read in a quiet room with few distractions. But I tend to listen to audiobooks when I'm also doing other things, like driving or jogging, so I want it to be exciting, unpredictable, and fun, with a few characters I get to know very, very well. This series fits that bill just fine.

The performance was good, too. I found the multiple accents to be a bit distracting, but they seem to fit the story. And he does a good job of making the action scenes excting.

Best one yet!

Very intriguing plot line. Looking forward to the next in series! I can see the growth in Zahn, as a writer, between the gap years of the first three and this book! Still... the back story of the first trilogy really brought depth to this book.

At Last Some Action!

The first Cobra trilogy was OK but realy didn't have much action. It was good to listen to but lacked real action. This trilogy has a very easy to listen to format with action and drama. Very Good It keeps your attention for hours.

Fast excellent read

Timothy Zahn didn't explore any new real territory in this novel about an aging "space marine" (basically) and her son answering a summons to a potentially (probably) hostile planet.

As always, a good amount of action and enough drama to move the storyline ahead.

Plenty of unanswered questions to make you want to read the next book in the series.

GREAT SECOND PART OF THE STORY

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

ONCE AGAIN ZAHN DID A GREAT JOB OF TELLING A STORY THAT IS A GREAT SPACE OPERA THIS IS A NEW STORY BUT TAKES UP WHERE THE FRIST ONE LEFT OFF.

Any additional comments?

I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT YOU READ THE FRIST SERIES BEFORE THIS ONE.

Why is this called Book One?

Not a bad book but I was wondering why I felt like I was missing all the background. If not for the other reviews I wouldn't know that this is not really book one of the series. Confusing.

Another fantastic cobra story

The Cobra series is fast becoming one of my favorite sci-fi stories. Timothy Zahn once again knocks it out of the park. Highly recommend.