The Fourth Consort

A Novel

De: Edward Ashton

Narrado por: Barrie Kreinik

A new standalone sci-fi novel from Edward Ashton, author of Mickey7 (the inspiration for the major motion picture Mickey 17).

“Barrie Kreinik, one of the best narrators around, succeeds in making distinct characters not just of Dalton and Neera, Breaker and some of the aliens, but even of the AI translator that’s embedded in Dalton’s neck.”—The Valley Breeze

Dalton Greaves is a hero. He’s one of humankind’s first representatives to Unity, a pan-species confederation working to bring all sentient life into a single benevolent brotherhood.

That’s what they told him, anyway. The only actual members of Unity that he’s ever met are Boreau, a giant snail who seems more interested in plunder than spreading love and harmony, and Boreau’s human sidekick, Neera, who Dalton strongly suspects roped him into this gig so that she wouldn’t become the next one of Boreau’s crew to get eaten by locals while prospecting.

Funny thing, though—turns out there actually is a benevolent confederation out there, working for the good of all life. They call themselves the Assembly, and they really don’t like Unity. More to the point, they really, really don’t like Unity’s new human minions.

When an encounter between Boreau’s scout ship and an Assembly cruiser over a newly discovered world ends badly for both parties, Dalton finds himself marooned, caught between a stickman, one of the Assembly’s nightmarish shock troops, the planet’s natives, who aren’t winning any congeniality prizes themselves, and Neera, who might actually be the most dangerous of the three. To survive, he’ll need to navigate palace intrigue, alien morality, and a proposal that he literally cannot refuse, all while making sure Neera doesn’t come to the conclusion that he’s worth more to her dead than alive.

Part first contact story, part dark comedy, and part bizarre love triangle, The Fourth Consort asks an important question: how far would you go to survive? And more importantly, how many drinks would you need to go there?

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

©2025 Edward Ashton (P)2025 Macmillan Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Humor, interspecies diplomacy, and unexpected alliances enliven this zippy sci-fi romp... Ashton strikes an impressive balance of humor, action, and thought-provoking sci-fi concepts."—Publishers Weekly

"This is a deep surprise of a story as it contemplates the perils and pitfalls of communication and the difficulty of reaching anything like understanding with a species with which one shares few if any frames of reference. Readers who found the struggle to communicate in Ray Nayler’s The Mountain in the Sea will enjoy... [and] fans of the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Darmok” will find this to be a familiar and similarly complex and heartbreaking tale."—Library Journal (starred)

Excellent

I’ve been listening to so much crap scifi that it is refreshing to remember that some artists remain and continue to hone the craft. Will definitely listen to more from this author.

Beginnings of an intriguing story but falls short

I wanted to like this based on the interesting concept of similar but competing galactic organizations, and even the plot twist of the "evil" stickmen aliens not being so evil, but had a few things that just took me out of it a little. First was the narration just lacked the gravitas or the tongue in cheek humor - whatever the author was getting at with occasional one liners. The only character that sounded right to me was Neera(sp) and I wasn't sure if she was just a "I was just following orders" type mercenary or what, given the abbreviated ending of the novel. Making one organization subtly the bad guys just disconnected and it was hard to see if Unity was like this all around or just the specific representatives characterized in the story. The concept of honor is meant to be a keystone but its elements are never clearly defined, are fluid, and often appear markedly different between races and even individuals - maybe that was the point? But one is left somewhat confused at the end - which is again abrupt. The intended homoeroticism alien bugs and alien to alien relationships makes little sense in an insectoid civilization and between stickman and human as well, but there needed to be some motivation for the conflicts and eventual outcomes it seems. After the hot mess of the Mickey movie adaptation which apparently had my algorithm recommend this book to me, I think I'll sit out future material from this author.

Fantastic book with beautiful narration.

Great character development and world creation with a plot twist that I didn’t see coming. Really enjoyed this book.

The anthro lesson

Great story. There is an anthropology lesson in it which was totally new to me. Thank you. Loved Mickey7, and loved this too (they are not related stories)

Story had potential but struggled to finish.

Breaker character had great potential but acted just like only another anxious human (except one very exciting instance). Nera played almost no part except in one isolated instance (she was a bore).

Great story

I really liked this- original story and likable characters. Really well performed. Word word word

fun, lightweight stuff

Not everything needs to be complicated. This is a fun, straightforward read/listen. I'm hoping for a sequel!

This book’s a dud

Just a very mediocre and simplistic story, I regret having wasted a credit on it

Interesting & Amusing, Mostly Political Sci Fi

I got it because I enjoyed Mickey 17 movie. Story had sci-fi, but was almost entirely about one only somewhat intelligent man navigating political infighting in a bumbling way.

Plot hinges a lot on him totally trusting his only somewhat reliable AI translator and asking zero questions about obviously super important issues that are vaguely explained.

Maybe sequel with him galavanting around the galaxy instead of stuck in a giant ant farm will be more interesting.

Another quality Work of Fiction

Enjoyed this straightforward story involving scary aliens. Appreciated the underlying themes and morality. Like the type of hero Ashton crafts. I also recommend both of the Mickey 7 books (Book 1 and Antimatter Blues). Narration excellent.