Stand Alone

Wolfhounds, Book 1

By: John Van Stry

Narrated by: Kyf Brewer

Chase had it all planned out.

Do a little time in one of the emperor's jails, say a four-year stretch, for getting rid of some trash that no one would miss, and when he got out, the path to leadership would be wide open. It wasn't enough to be one of the gang's rising stars, or better lieutenants. He needed jail time, serious jail time—not that juvie crap or just going to county, to garner the respect he needed and deserved.

Unfortunately, his bastard of a father, the same one who left his mother to die in poverty and him to run wild on the streets, took an interest. Seeing him sitting on the bench when his case went to court was a shock. But not as big a shock as being sentenced to ten years in the Imperial Navy.

That's just the first of Chase's nasty surprises as he finds himself among the Emperor's Own—The Wolfhounds. How and why his bastard father sent him there is a secret that only the base AI knows the answer to. When that same AI decides to use Chase to fulfill its own orders, Chase soon finds himself in a situation where if he doesn't die honorably in combat due to the enemy, his own side will arrange those circumstances for him.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, Chase is proving to be just as tough of a bastard as the man who sent him there.

©2023 John Van Stry (P)2024 Podium Audio

Good story, crap voice acting

VA sounds exactly the same for every character. It made it really hard to differentiate between characters. The story on the other hand was good, kind of dry at points but overall very entertaining.

outstanding book.

It flows well with the story getting more compelling as it progresses it ends with a promise of more of the same for book two.

An Old School Space Opera

I have a soft spot for space opera, and I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Well-drawn characters, a strong backstory for the MC, a believable supporting cast, and a rocking space battle. There are a few weak spots, such as using genetics to create the implants where nanites might have served better, and the mechs in the story more closely resemble anime Gundams than classic war machines. Still, it's a well-crafted story, and I'll be following it in the future.

Great book

This book was great I enjoyed every minute of it. I just hope the second book comes out soon that book will be a instant buy for when I see it.

Incredible book!

Awesome first book in a new series by John Van Stry, Great story, cool characters, well written. I can't wait for the next one!

It’s a bit different but good

It’s a bit different than the Author usual novel series but it was quite good. I look forward to the next novel series.

Fun ride solid story

I listen to a lot of Mil-Sci-Fi and this is one I will tell my friends to get as well. Not much action but it's setting up a story that is fighting a war of vegence for some and a war of survival for others. I look forward to the next one.

Only thing that I would say is a draw back is the lack of differences between character voices. Narrator is good but he doesn't change his voice much or the inflections of attitudes. Still I look forward to him reading the others as well.

Well, this is a great start!

Well, I already knew that John was a good writer and this story he just proved that true again. The lost prince of the empire is not a new trope, but John does a very good job with it. I've enjoyed this first volume, and as soon as I'm done writing this, I'll be diving right into the second volume.

good book. good performance

I really like this book and look forward to the next. I own it in paperback and now audio.

sometimes a hoodrat is more than he appears. after a couple. it appears that he may become a emperor

Cliche medieval plot but in a Sci-fi setting

The story sound familiar in most knights and castle stories. Empire is overtaken by a greedy advisor to the king. A lost prince is found or needed to rally the people to retake the kingdom and doing for truth, justice and freedom etc... Normally thats done to death but putting the setting in a futuristic timeline and the fact that there are plenty of side stories you can insert from the main one is probably what will keep it interesting enoughto see where this will go.

The narrator is ok, strong voice and delivery, he even sounds like Zachary Quinto (of star trek movies and heroes series) The only issue is that he only has a few voice variety. I can only differenciate maybe 3 voices for all the characters in the story. Wont know who unless their name is mentioned.

Im a fan of john van stry as well as his other pen name (john stryvant) which is main reason that I downloaded this audiobook. I enjoy his style of storytelling.