Orbits

The Ables, Book 4

By: Jeremy Scott

Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer

In this epic conclusion to The Ables series, old and new generations of Ables must overcome their personal challenges and work together to stop a sinister plot to destroy all of the world's custodian heroes.

For many years, Phillip Sallinger was one of the greatest custodians on Earth, using his superpowers to save countless lives. But after a personal tragedy, Phillip has spent the last decade living off the grid with his two children, Winnie and Henry. Phillip tries to ignore his powers and the increasing destabilization of the country, stubbornly believing he can shelter his family from harm simply by staying out of the public eye. But when Phillip is visited by a rush of familiar faces, they reveal the undeniable devastation of the looming crisis. The country's leader, calling himself the Superintendent, has hatched a diabolical plan to rid the world of custodian heroes once and for all.

Finally convinced of the unprecedented threat to humanity, Phillip can no longer pretend that his family is safe. Actively hunted by evil government forces and dealing with a host of new and complicated relationship dynamics, Phillip must cut through the noise of his own self-doubt and join the fight to save the world one more time.

©2022 Jeremy Scott (P)2022 Tantor

Great Finally

Just loved it! thank you for writing this one Jeremey. I was not disappointed.

Amazing- I need more!!!

It was a great story. I could not pause it.
I wish we could get more of the years in between.

Fun Book - More Details Needed

Fun read! Wish it has gone at a slower pace and more details though!

pretty fun conclusion to the ables

this book concludes the ables in a satisfying way. We pick up later in Philip's life, dealing with a few key choices made since the last book and the consequences of it. then some good ol' sci-fi elements come join the party.

the author still focuses a lot on mental health in the story and highlights many of the communication tools one would learn through therapy.

my only gripe is selfish: I wanted more.

Satisfying conclusion

I love this series and I love that Jeremy got to write it through to completion. I'm a bit sad that it's over, but only because I'll miss these characters and following the stories of their lives.

They jumped the *redacted*

Loved the book but something about that ending was a little off to me. Can’t go into details without spoiling but it’s still a recommend for me

Evil villain wants to... *ding*

The amount of times I could have CinemaSin *ding*ed while listening to this made it more enjoyable to me. The story is outlandish but still grounded and I loved getting to know adult Phillip as he navigated parenting and life after the Superintendent's rule.

a horrible end to a great series

This book was the worst of the series and basically ruined it. Beyond the kids having not grown up and still acting like kids despite being adults, the tone of the book towards disability takes a bad turn. This book takes disability as a negative and basically writes it out of the plot, except to point out how great life is with bionic eyes, legs, etc.

Rushed and nonsensical (Spoilers)

The performer did a good job with the material, but the story was a mess. As far as minor criticisms go, I hoped for more continuity between the first book and subsequent books (e.g., Finch returning, or at least his organization; the details of Donny's fate), but the biggest failing for this book was its story; I was constantly getting Dr. Evil vibes from The Superintendent. He wants to blow up the moon, because he claims that's from where Custodians get their powers? Really? Is he suicidal? Is he insane? Otherwise, he cannot be so stupid as to think that he could rule a world with no living humans in it, which is what would actually happen if there were no moon. Insane villains are so boring and cliche; there is no weight to their actions, and insanity can justify any plot contrivance/convenience/contradiction. I kept expecting some kind of 4D twist, where The Superintendent was revealed to not be a complete bellend, and actually have a plan that makes some sense, even for a megalomaniac (I actually thought he might secretly be a Custodian with a heretofore unknown or rare power).

Plot contrivances abound in this book; I don't remember amplifiers or finders being mentioned in any of the previous books, and it feels cheap (someone please correct me, if I'm wrong,); this would be like, if the characters in a story need a device that can create unicorns, and they happen to find a person who built such a device, at the exact moment where, if they found it any later, it would be too late.

The retcon that NPZ's don't work underwater is beyond the pale.

Why doesn't The Superintendent kill Philip, the finder, and Bentley's son with bullets? Why does he concoct an elaborate (and prone to failure) plan to slowly drown them? Three bullets would ensure a much more economic and final guarantee that his plan would succeed.

Oh, and Philip can move the moon? The moon! Really! They mind as well should have relied on him to keep the solar system in motion after the moon was blown up, for how little attention Jeremy pays to power-scaling. They can also just pluck Pluto from its place to replace the moon? There is no build up to how overpowered the characters are (e.g., Can Emmaline move the solar system itself? What is the barrier between a planet/planetoid and its surrounding moons, debris, etc that stops her powers from transporting them?); each character's powers work exactly as the story requires. Logic? What's that? Can I smoke it?

I really liked the first book; it was unique, and it seemed as if Jeremy was taking pains to think through the logical implications of each person's powers, and how they could be combined with others' powers to allow for an effective team strategy, as well as conflict. But now, Philip might as well be a god, as well as Emmaline, and The Superintendent mind as well have a huge mustache that he's constantly twirling.