Culmination

Baldwin’s Legacy, Book 3

By: Nathan Hystad

Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin

Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

A new Concord leader. A return to the War. A new legacy.

Captain Thomas Baldwin and the crew of Constantine have saved the Concord from the Assembly, and are tasked with bringing them to prison.

With a stop at Earon, the human home planet, everyone gets a few days of well needed rest.

When communication comes that the wormhole generator is ready, Constantine must return to the Statu system with a new fleet, alongside a brand-new flagship with a familiar AI.

Constantine Baldwin was rumored to have ended the War 50 years ago, but its up to Thomas Baldwin to really finish the job.

Join the ensemble crew of the Concord's leading cruise ship as they encounter danger after danger, in hopes for a peaceful ending.

©2020 Nathan Hystad (P)2020 Tantor

Exceptional continuation to this Series!!

Culmination is the 3rd in the Baldwin Legacy Series, and by now, we have grown very comfortable with the main crew of this series, led by the charismatic Thomas ‘Tom’ Baldwin, who started out trying to live up to the legacy of his Grandfather Constantine Baldwin, but in a very short time, has managed to carve out his own legacy, stopping an enemy long thought dead, ousting an alien from their new Prime, bringing down a terrorist organisation, and getting the mysterious Ugna to not only come out of hiding a bit, but actually join the Concord as a full fledged member and with a formidable fleet of ships as well, and that is not all. Baldwin and his crew, originally put together as nothing more than a bit of a show-pony crew, have proven themselves to be one of the crews of Legends.
At the start of this book, the crew of the Constantine are still coming to terms with the events of Unification, the loss of so many lives, how some crew that they thought were close ended up being traitors, and they now are faced with taking those traitors to a prison planet, to make sure that the rest of the Assembly cannot get at them.
As well as this, Ven, and his friends, are still coming to terms with how he managed to basically survive ‘death’, and is back with them, after believing for several days that they had lost their friend. Ven himself is also coming to terms with the changes this has had to his “Ugna” abilities.
However, the events of Unification have left questions, how did this happen? How was the assembly able to get their hands on the ships they did, and do what they did?
In Culmination, the Crew of Constantine go looking for answers as well.
Whilst looking into this, news comes through that the wormhole generator has been completed, with the ore from Greblok, allowing for them to generate their own wormhole to the Statu system, after Baldwin collapsed the other wormhole there in book 1.
No one knows what they are going to meet on the other side, as it has been sometime, and the Statu can be dangerous enemies.
This is a really thrilling book, and I don’t want to give anything away, as there is just so much that happens.
Treena Starling has a new body again in this book, making her more mobile again, but it is fascinating how she is a lot more cautious in this book with her new body, whilst she realises that she is still in a robot body, and therefore can’t die as such, she has a new lease on life, and does not want to be trapped in her broken shell, especially for months on end, waiting for a replacement, and she is terrified that one day they might say no, and not give her one. (Although you get the impression Reeve would just make her one then!)
All of the crew are a little more cautious in this book. Brax, having been so badly injured in Unification is a bit more wary of things in this book, but as always, is ready to leap into things – however, it is Reeve who is telling him to be more careful as she is worried about him.
And it is not just the physical aspects either, but the psychological aspect of things as well. The command crew are all hit hard by the betrayal of Zare, feeling an array of emotional responses to her deceptions, and that none of them saw it coming, especially Brax.
It is this incredible Character work, with such in-depth, intelligent, powerful and gritty portrayal of his characters, that makes Hystad’s writing just so good. Hystad is easily one of the best character driven story tellers on the Sci-Fi circuit today, continuously producing these brilliant, high quality stories with exceptional characters.
On top of that, the world building (or Galaxy Building), is just phenomenal, with these outstanding descriptions of different aliens, planets and ships. Each of them is described with such meticulous detail, providing you with this wonderful image for you to picture as you read, portrayed with so much detail, that you really feel like you are sitting on the bridge of the Constantine, or in the Jungles of the Ugna homeworld, the hot gritty desert of the Statu homeworld, or even the desolate camps they kept the prisoners in, making you really despise them.
This is a wonderful story, full of mystery, political intrigue, dangerous enemies, different twists and turns, fascinating technology, and amazing starships, with exceptional Characters, some that are new, some Legends, that have been captured as A.I.’s to allow for access to their strategy and tactics (and maybe more!),
This is a book that is full of extraordinary places and people, and one that you will just not be able to put down once you start reading (in fact, once you start reading the series you won’t be able to put it down!!)
If you love a good Mil Sci-FI, or Space Opera, then this is an absolute MUST READ – as it is one of the best out there, don’t miss it!!
James Patrick Cronin is a wonderful Narrator, just an absolute pleasure to listen to. He has a wonderful voice that is clear and concise, and is one you can listen to for hours on end without getting tired of his voice. He does a great job of creating each of the main characters, both male and female voices, so that you can easily distinguish them. Each character gets their own voice so that you can clearly distinguish them. Cronin does a wonderful job of really bringing the characters to life, providing them with emotions so that you know how they are feeling, not just reading the story. He really makes you feel each of the characters, so that you can understand their stories, and it makes the Narration just so much better. Cronin is masterful at Narrating, and makes this just so good to listen to, this is an experience, not just an audiobook, and it is so much better than just reading the book!!

A little like Star Trek…great entertainment

The story grabs a bit from most sci-full tv programs but provides good entertainment v worth the listen!