The Expert System's Champion

Expert System’s Brother Series, Book 2

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky

Narrated by: Shaun Grindell

In Adrian Tchaikovsky's The Expert System's Champion, sometimes the ones you hate are the only ones who can save you.

It's been 10 years since Handry was wrenched away from his family and friends, forced to wander a world he no longer understood. But with the help of the Ancients, he has cobbled together a life, of sorts, for himself and his fellow outcasts.

Wandering from village to village, welcoming the folk that the townships abandon, fighting the monsters the villagers cannot - or dare not - his ever-growing band of misfits has become the stuff of legend, a story told by parents to keep unruly children in line.

But there is something new and dangerous in the world, and the beasts of the land are acting against their nature, destroying the towns they once left in peace.

And for the first time in memory, the Ancients have no wisdom to offer....

©2020 Adrian Tchaikovsky (P)2021 Tantor

fresh and amazing ideas, in a expertly delivered package

I liked The Expert System's Brother, and was braced for the curse of sequels, but was pleasantly surprised by how Tchaikovsky managed to expand on the world building and character development, all while introducing new and novel ideas and situations. In hindsight, this book is structured as the monomith, but the familiar structure does not detract from the originality of the plot and world!

well done, but too odd for me

strange thing for me to say, I can't really think of another sci-fi series that left me with the same disconcerting feeling. normally that thrills me, this series, it's characters, setting, etc was just not as palatable somehow.

Captivating - Refreshingly Different

I purchased the first novella on a lark, liking the author. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed with a new approach to my favourite genre that caught my expectations off guard. I sincerely hope that A. T. continues with a few more novella’s or perhaps a novel of “The Expert Systems” exploration of this strange new world.

A very thoughtful & satisfying conclusion

Adrian Tchaikovsky has done it again. What a master of sci fi world building. No clichès or 2 dimensional characters here, just a fantastic and unpredictable conclusion to the intriguing mystery built up in the first book. I most definitely will be listening to these books again.

Thoughtful and Thrilling

I am never disappointed by the expanse of his imagination or the quality of his writing. This one nearly did in my nerves, but I survived!

great twist!

Another absolute banger by my boy Adrian! Love his stuff. The guy reading has sort of a weird way that he ends sentences. used to it though.

Worst case space colonization

Fascinating reading about this rather unpleasant world and how the humans find a way to survive. Hope there are more of these books to come.

The narrator ruined one of my favorite books

I read these books years ago and loved them then, so when I came upon the audio version I was eager to listen. Unfortunately, the narrator’s delivery was disappointing. He holds out the words in a stop/start kind of way reminiscent of Captain Kirk. The lilt was so distracting that I lost track of the storyline and had to back track every few minutes. What’s interesting is that his voice sounded normal when reading dialog. I wish he had spoken like that throughout.

A truly Alien land

I hate space opera , where its humans fighting humans... This is humans being the invading, colonizing , terraforming alien, that has to adapt to a harsh foreign environment... cool beans

Better than the first book

A lot more interesting, and better written than the first book in the series.
The narration is also a bit better, though it's still by the same guy, and still sounds like every word is an exclamation immediately followed by a period... a bit disjoined to my ears.., and somewhat hard to get past, initially.
But, if you liked the first book and didn't mind its narrator, then you'll very likely like this one better.