Strange Company

Strange Company, Book 1

By: Nick Cole

Narrated by: Christopher Ryan Grant

Stack bodies, get paid, get to the ship.

“If you can survive Reaper Platoon in the Strange, then Ghost or Dog Platoons will get you for their own. Best to steer clear of the freaks in Voodoo, kid.”

Surrounded and outgunned, a group of private military contractors known as “Strange Company” find themselves on a remote planet at the edge of known space, and on the losing end of a bad contract. Orbital D-beam strikes, dropships bristling with auto-guns, missiles, and troops - even Monarch space marines in state-of-the-art advanced battle rattle - will try to prevent the company from reaching the exfil LZ and getting off-world.

For Strange, that means it’s time to hang tough and get it on with as much hyper-kinetic violence as they can muster to get clear of the whole mess. And what the Strange can’t get done by violent assault and crazy firefights, they’ll get done by the freaks of Voodoo Platoon - operators who have been changed by the Dark Labs into powerful and unnervingly unnatural asymmetrical weapons.

This is the Strange Company. Because in the Strange, it’s always really Strange. Join them - and get ready for full auto combat at the furthest limits of human exploration.

©2021 Nick Cole (P)2021 Podium Audio

exceptional!very emotionally engaging.

this is the fordt timr ive ever felt the need or want to leave a reveiw. pretty sure this is early galaxies edge universe. this is my first Nick Cole solo project and i can see morr clearly (i think) his contributions in galaxies edge series. Truly engaging. From the beginning i was fully absorbed into the story. Excitrd to go through all of his other works.

Military Sci Fi at it's finest.

narrator is great. voice matches a young disgruntled nco trying to make it through. Nick Cole is a very talented author.

tsb1897

I love the Galaxy’s Edge world, and most of what I have read from Nick Cole. I thought I’d like this one. But when I started it I did not like the narrator. Subjective I know and I cannot put my finger on why.

But, by Chapter 2-3 I thought he was perfect for the voice of Orion, or however Nick spelled it in the dead tree version. I was sucked in, when it got to the references to the Black Company and some other sci-fi/fantasy greats I was completely sold. This may be my favorite book by Nick Cole.

If you like hard Mil/sf and enjoyed The Black Company, oh brother are you in store for a fun ride.

The Tao of Lead.

"What we discover when a bullet finds and explorers a body, devastating ideas and preconceptions in the cold moments of it's sudden intersection with all your plans. That's the way I measure the universe and test what's real. The Tao of Lead. This is how I measure twice and cut once."

Apocalypse Now, Starship Trooper and Full Metal Jacket rolled into one. Wait, better than that!

With Strange Company Mr Cole has taken his craft to the level-after-next, bringing an even grittier realism to future infantry combat. As always, his amazing use of subtle details simply adds that many more layers to the story until you can smell the cordite. And the bodies. The story's amazing jargon and slang; morphed over aeons from some forgotten time - fabled Earth. Cutting edge and snarky yet still recognizable to those of us stuck in the past.

The author has long honed his craft with his military experience and real-world research, bringing gritty detail to the tapestries he verbally weaves. In Strange Company Mr Cole once again brings the nuanced insanity of combat known only to combat vets who've been there, done them. Seen the Grim Reaper Astronaut...

BUT WAIT! THE PERFORMANCE BY MR GRANT IS POSSIBLY EVEN MORE INCREDIBLE! Truly masterful, and at times I would swear multiple narrators were involved. To be absolutely clear, the writing is amazing all by itself. But the performance by CRG breathes such life into the story that you rarely experience in today's narrated fiction.

I don't think any other performer could have done justice to the use of hallucinogenic gas as a combat multiplier. Some things you have to be honest about.

interesting plot with good narration

The plot is good and a very interesting premise. perhaps a bit heavier on the action narrative than on plot progression in places - though that is just my personal preferences showing through. I enjoyed the narrator - he did a great job with the characters. I will definitively continue the series!

R.E.M. reference

pretty sure he made a reference to REMs Its the end of the world. that should say enough great book great author. and the voice of the book does an excellent job

More Please!!

This is one of the best books I’ve listened to recently. I’m a longtime fan of the Galaxy’s Edge books but I think this may even top those. I enjoyed it so much that I immediately listened a second time after finishing it. Definitely worth the credit and really hope there is more to come.

an awesome tale....has me wanting more

an excellent story with well crafted characters and an awesome story line. love the bats!

That was amazing!

I wasn't sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn't that! This book is an awesome sci-fi that kept me going once it had me. I even considered skipping work at one point to listen to it. Everyone needs to gove strange company a listen!

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