Their Solitary Way

By: JN Chaney

Narrated by: Steve Barnes

Adam Kadman is the captain of a seed ship known as the Eden. Carrying 10,000 cryogenically frozen colonists, he and his crew must seek out new worlds for potential habitation. With the help of Lilith, a shipboard cyber brain, Adam and his team will stop at nothing to secure humanity's future.

But time is running out. The Eden is breaking down, and accidents are beginning to occur at an alarming rate. At first Adam believes these to be mere coincidences, but when a massive explosion kills several dozen people, he puts Seth, the lead security officer and Adam's own son, in charge of an investigation to uncover the truth, but with so little evidence to go on, how can they hope to succeed? The clock is ticking....

©2016 Jeffrey Chaney (P)2016 Jeffrey Chaney

I will now read anything from J.N. Chaney

The last survivors of humanity travel aboard the Eden looking for a new world where they can settle and thrive. They have been traveling for some years, discarding worlds that were not good enough for various reasons, but they are approaching another planet,and this seems to be the one. A series of incidents on the ship make the crew think that somebody is trying to sabotage the trip, but why? Based on the biblical story of Adam and Cain with a sci-fi twist, this story is greatly enjoyable.

If you are not into biblical stuff (I am not), do not let the names of the characters make you avoid this book. The only drawback is that you will know how some of the characters will end up, but the story is beautifully written, and the characters, as usually with Chaney, are solidly built. There are quite some characters in the story, but they are alive and their dialogs feel natural and fluid, so we get them to know them all well and recognize their different voices. I couldn't help but feel sorry for Cain, and I found Abel extremely annoying, one of those people who need to complain and argue without listening to the other's reasons. Chaney is especially good at picturing characters and he went beyond the biblical characters here to create a totally believable story.

Steve Barnes did a wonderful job here. I have already had the pleasure of listening to him in Transient Echoes, but I think he even did better with Their Solitary Way. The narration was very good and the voices were varied.

I have made a promise to myself, and that is that I will read anything that I can grab from J.N. Chaney. I would recommend any of his books to anyone who would enjoy science-fiction with solid characters and an interesting and well told story.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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awesome sci-fi

The seed ship Eden is on a voyage to find and inhabit a new planet, but time is running out, the ship is starting to have mechanical problems. But Captain Adam Kadman, his sons, and Lilith (the ships AI cyber-brain) hopefully can see that the ship makes it through with its cargo of cryogenically frozen people on board.

This is a really neat and interesting take on the Geniuses story, not exact, but close enough. I was lucky enough to have the audible version as narrator Steve Barnes was absolutely wonderful portraying all the different voices of the characters and the way he brought the book alive made you feel like you were on the Eden with everyone going through everything with them.

This was a great book filled with action and suspense not to mention the age old sibling rivalry. It is just a downright really good sci-fi book.

A unique sci-if take on an old story

A fast paced, interesting sci-fi twist on The Old Testament stories in Genesis. Like a fractured fairy tale, the author has kept the basis of the stories true to form but retold them in an inventive and unique way. His use of the original biblical names gives you some foreshadowing of what's to come but how he brings it about and develops it is exciting and fresh. His characters are well developed and easily draw you in. You feel sympathy for Adam, wanting to show his sons he loves them all but unsure how to do so. He is so taxed with humanities survival and the demands of leadership that he has forgotten how to be just a Dad. Your heart also breaks for Cain. His lack of self esteem, nativity and longing for love leads him on a disastrous road and causes him to fall prey to Lilith's manipulation. I think the character I liked best was Seth. His gentleness, strength and loyalty makes him very likeable and you can not help but root for his survival and reconnection with his love. The narrator of the audiobook fit the characters well and did a great job of both male and female voices. This story has action, excitement, some great twists and a unique take on an old tale. I received the audiobook from the Author in exchange for my honest opinion.

Creative sci-fi telling of a classic story

The narrator does a good job and does the voices well.
This story is a creative sci-fi retelling of Cain and Abel. Well written and interesting.

Retelling the Cain and Able story

First I personally dislike music and "voices" in audible performances to me the best narrators read the story and draw me into it, this I never left behind the feeling I was being read to.

The story was a sci fi take on the Adam/Eve Cain/Able story interesting version. The thinking ship based on a human that was damaged beyond becoming the core of the ship has been done well in the past and like most this ship slowly loses her mind from the solitary existence.

I felt rushed and could have seen the story fleshed out more, we all know the basic story line I wish the author had gone deeper. I received this audible version in exchange for an honest review.

incredibly thought-provoking re-telling

Any additional comments?

I had a bit of a difficult time getting into the story in the beginning. A lot of characters were introduced quite early on -- and although I recognized their names (which made it easier), I found myself mixing the brothers up early on.

However, after I had all the characters straight, it was quite an enjoyable listen. The characters were flawed, but likable. The descriptions, including some advanced technologies, set the scene clearly. And, although the overarching plot itself was nothing new (people on a spaceship searching for new planet to inhabit), the parallels drawn to the biblical stories were done in quite an impressive way.

I started out with a "meh" reaction, but then I ended my listen inspired.

I received this audio book free from the author for honest review.

More please

This was a superb novel with some really engaging narrative. Steve Barnes does a great job!

Great Novella!

If you could sum up Their Solitary Way in three words, what would they be?

Clear your schedule, because you have no idea what you're getting into with this novella. Yes, as a novella, it is short. Won't take you more than a day to breeze through this book. And what a great way to spend a day. Seriously, you'll be glad you cleared your schedule. I was. And now I'm exhausted and enthralled and a bunch of other emotions that shouldn't exist at once in my being. That is the magic that is J.N. Chaney. He's a genius at storytelling. In this installment, I was again reminded that he doesn't just tell a story, but puts you, the reader, into it.

A Seedling Story

Although, it was touted as a new take on the story of Adam & Eve, as a Christian it just didn't connect, other than their names. Implying that there is a take on the Biblical story made me feel a bit let down. Without the expectation as making that connection, the book is a nice little Sci-Fi story. The characters were weak in comparison to Chaney's Amber Project series, which were well developed & robust. The story line was okay & I continued to the end waiting for a twist or big 'gotcha' moment. I didn't hate the Narrator this time, he just doesn't have the intonation & what I would call an "oomph" factor. His reading style borders on monotone.

So, all in all, the book was just okay. Perhaps, a sequel would bring more to the story & allow for more character development. I know from his other books that Chaney is a great writer! Maybe that is why I didn't really get the same 'bang for your buck' feeling here. 


My star ratings include these 5 elements:

1~great story line
2~engaging characters
3~use of word building
4~narrator
5~the ending