Stars Beyond

Stars Uncharted, Book 2

By: S. K. Dunstall

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

The crew of Another Road are back, closer than ever to the biggest score in the galaxy...if they can stay a step ahead of the Justice Department agents and Company men tracking them.

An engineer with a fondness for weapons. A captain with no memory. An obsessive genemodder who loves to tinker. Meet the crew of Another Road.

Josune, Roystan, and Nika have escaped the company thugs trying to kill them. They've gotten a new spaceship to replace The Road (after it was blown up underneath them). And their new ship is armed to the teeth with dangerous weapons, courtesy of Josune. All that's left to do before they head out to find the legendary lode of transurides is to restore Roystan's memory. To do that, they need to collect the genemod machine Nika has ordered.

But first, they have to shake off the Justice Department agent and the Companies tracking them.

It should be easy. They've done it before. What could possibly go wrong?

©2020 S. K. Dunstall (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"A vigorous sequel exploring the depths of space and human deceit...the vivid action and lovable characters keep the pages turning." (Publishers Weekly)

Great story! wish there was another.

Great story! wish there was another. The narration was good except for the fact that she always whispers the non-dalene so you have to turn it way up and then when people speak it's really loud

A too quick wrap up

The second book in what probably should have been a trilogy. They seemed to be in a hurry to wrap up the big threads from the first book. The universe definitely felt big enough for a third book!

Another slow begining but amazing ending

First mention has to be the narrator. I didn't have an issue with lower tones before but this time around she was almost inaudible. she was so quiet! It almost ruined the story for me. When she was speaking dialogue it was fine, but every other time i was straining my ears to hear.

And not to continue bashing the story, because I really did like it, but most of the story around Alistar seemed so unnecessary and boring in the beginning. I skipped a fair amount of his chapters.

There are also too many times in the story that seemed just too convenient for the bad guys. Every time the crew had a problem there were 9 other things that they had to do to solve the problem and it just seemed highly unlikely and irritating. For example (no spoilers) "oh a locked door, oh no there's a bomb too, oh look someone is also chasing us with a gun, and oxygen is about to run out!" This is not in the story and a bit of an exaggeration but that's how the story feels at times and it makes no sense how they escaped.

Now for the good stuff... Once you get past their ridiculous escapes the story is amazing. We get to learn more about some of the crew and new characters. Relations grow closer and we get to travel with the crew to new lands and makes amazing discoveries. This would be a great adventure to continue with the crew without being chased all the time. I hope the author considers that. Although I did like the first book better, this one still adds great depth to the story, their world, and the characters. I hope Another Roads story continues!

Great 2nd book. Ready for 3rd!!

Mrs Woo Zeller did a fantastic job reading this great 2nd book. This book opened the universe quite substantially, so there is room for many more books!!

Another great story

No spoilers, I enjoyed Dunstall’s storytelling and Zeller did an excellent job on the narration.

Fantastic Fun Action Packed Series

Great series with really interesting unusual characters, lots of bad guys chasing good guys on the run, hunt for a long lost explorer & his once in a lifetime rare metals find, a quirky loveable crew, plenty of corporate intrigue & consummate greed, a newly discovered alien species, a plague, a stranded settlement, piratical Mercenaries & cattle ships (i.e. human cargo) & all sorts of action.

I found this 2 book series to be fascinating, fast paced & loaded with space & ground side action. The 1st book, which I'd picked up in a 2 for 1 sale, got off to a slow start, but improved along the way & had really picked before the end. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to read the 2nd, not sure if it would continue in the vein of the start or the ending of the 1st. Fortunately I took a chance & found 2 picked up where 1 left off & only got better. By the end of 2 there was no question in my mind that I had made the right decision to shell out a credit to get it. (& I don't do that easily, I'm very miserly with my credits & hoard them like a Dragon does this Treasure, saving them for what I feel will be a quality read.)

This series just keeps getting better, each book drawing you in more & more than the last. I definitely hope there's more to come. Book 2's finish, which ended in a satisfying way (not on a cliff hanger, thank you very much!), definitely left room for continuation or a new series to start. I'll be picking up that next or new series if or when it's available. The 1st thing I'll be doing when I finish this review is go back & see what else is available by this author.

The narrator was fine. At 1st I found it odd that it was a female, but throughout the entire series, it's mostly about 2 female characters. That the book isn't told through the eyes of one character is different from most. It's told from the point of view of a number of people mostly 2 women & 3 men to the best of my recollection. By the end if the 1st book I was used to this narrator & she did a fine job with all the voices. There was no confusion as to who was who & no voices that were intrusive or annoying.

I probably didn't need to write this review because if you've gotten to the end of 1, you already know you want to read 2, but I think it's important to at least let the author know you enjoyed their work. This series, despite a slow start, I found to be much better than the average SciFi fare in it's category & I haven't run into that in awhile.

So, thank you S K Dunstall! (& please keep writing. And thank you for not splitting your 12 hr books into 2 to get more money like most. It's so refreshing to be able to get a book that feels like a real book & not just a formulaic factory. I can't wait to find out what happens next with the crew of the "Another Road."

Good book, still wish the narrator wouldn’t whisper

Having listened to the first book in the series, I knew what to expect with the narrator. I still wish she’d speak louder and not in such a whisper. It makes me afraid to listen to other things shes narrated. Aside from the whisper tones, I think she’s a fair narrator. A few times it was hard to differentiate between who was speaking. But overall, I didn’t mind listening to her and enjoyed the book. If volume isn’t an issue, I would listen to her other works. I enjoyed the characters and the writing. I would listen to a continuation of this storyline.

SO GOOD!!!!

Emily Woo Zeller was amazing as always! But the story….. loved it! Two strong heroines lead this story and I was truly impressed with the storyline. I can not wait for the next book in the series! ….🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼please say there is a book 3 that will be released soon🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼….

***WHY ARE WE WHISPERING?!?***

Is the story a secret? Is the narrator reading the book in a library? I can't wait to hear the audiobook, but I need to seal myself in a sensory deprivation chamber.