This book is obviously written by a reader of science-fiction and fantasy who understands world-building. The characterizations are sketches at first, allowing readers to fill some blanks, but the dialogue and story reveal who the people truly are. Fight scenes are realistic as far as I can tell (not an expert), but the space travel is not hard science; it's fantasy--which works out just fine for its purpose. I was given a free copy of The Interstellar Slayer: Space Assassins 1 by Scott Baron and Book Sirens in exchange for an honest review. First of all, thank you BookSirens and Scott Baron for the opportunity to read and review this work!!

Like previous stories, we get time to travel to new places with different people. You really get a sense that this universe created by Baron is vast and dangerous. In one of the scenes, we see the level some will go to in an attempt to prevent others from being rejoined. A poison which can kill is added to a sweet that once tased cannot be refused and is often shared with many others. It reminded me of the Next Generation Star Trek episode where glasses were used to deliver pure pleasure and later it was found to be a tool used to incapacitate the crew and take over the ship. This sweet was much like that and the Council is the only one that controls the cure. This requires the team to divert from its original plans in the hope of saving one or more members of the crew. We are even given a view into a most unexpected character, and we are unsure if they are here to help or hinder the team.Same was true with the world building. As I mentioned before, I found it to be really good, but at the same it was written in an info-dump-y way and there was quite a lot of it. Despite this, I have to say, coming as a surprise to me, it was very easy get through them. The first book in the new series, and the one we will be reviewing here, is “The Interstellar Slayer” which is more of a novelette introducing the series along with all new characters. This audiobook is about three and a half hours long, but it is a good primer to the new series. The first book in the series is designed to whet your appetite for what is to come in future audiobooks. I would highly recommend you listen to the “Dragon Mage” series prior to this one. Yet, it is good to know that this is a standalone series and because of this, it is not a requirement to know any of the previous series. I do like that having the extra knowledge from the other series helped me to jump right in and feel comfortable with the story. I do not recall the length of time between this series and “The Dragon Mage” series but I think of it as a prequel similar to the Star Wars series. The focus of this series is on the well respected and rightfully feared space assassins group called the Wampa Ghalian. These assassins are the best of the best, but powerful magic and hidden agendas will impact this mysterious assassin group and potentially change the future of these highly trained killers. I found it interesting to know this group is monetary focused, but they also have a moral code that supersedes any amount of financial offering. With the earlier mission directive nearing completion, the current group will have to learn to get along with another newly added crew member. What makes their job even more difficult is that this new member does not understand the sacrifices made to bring him onboard and makes the other’s jobs much more difficult. It is nice to see some of the interaction and training the others take in befriending this member along with the investment of time and materials. Because of this, things begin to once again function like a precision time piece and the team is off to close things up. The Wampeh Ghalian do not take sides in confrontation or war, although several times it is referenced that due to the Councils overwhelming corruption, the Ghalian’s have been known to act against the Council, work for less etc, to disrupt Council plans, as they see the Council as a corrupt entity that should not exist.

This book kind of follows under it. There is this balance, we have the start where stuff doesn’t go as planned and there are some chapters of Hozark when he was young and just started training, which I did like to read about. He sure is an interesting character, does what he needs to do, ha some inner conflicts, and an angsty past which is always a plus for me. And on the topic of sciencey words, I like that this mixes magic and science and that even then we aren't clogged up and made to feel like we know nothing. Scott Baron doesn't lose us with big words and long-winded explanations about the science and magic of it all, instead he keeps it simple and therefore let's me care enough to try and understand the magic system and science of it all. I like that, like that in a book that could've gone all the way with the fake science, it decided to keep it simple and understandable. I would have preferred if I were able to see more of the world building. Mr. Baron describes several planets and their life forms and plant life, but I could not get a sense or picture of any of these planets, life forms, or plant life. The main character travels in a spaceship from planet to planet, but I was not clear on how the spaceship operated or what it looked like. If you enjoy coup d'é·tat stories and power struggles and sword and sorcery action in a slightly space-y setting, this book definitely is for you. The Interstellar Slayer introduces us to a world where the science in science fiction is more or less replaced with magic! The universe has magic and projects magic all around!! Characters themselves have little to no magic, having to resource to devices that'll give them the powers!!The bullet then continued onwards, striking the explosives and detonating the walker in a catastrophic chain reaction that killed hundreds of surrounding Orks.

However, for a fantasy novel with so much world-building, there was A LOT of telling and not showing. It was very interesting to find out about the world this way, but I wish we could have learned this information through the protagonist’s actions throughout the novel instead of just being told all of this. The setting in which this story takes place is space but the spaceships are powered by magic and the people with the most magic to power ships are used as slaves for that purpose. The only creatures that don't need spaceships are some kind of space dragon but unfortunately we don't encounter one in this book. The setting is complex, involving many races. The plot is fast and action filled. There are some twists and turns in the plot, all well handled. This book will be included in my biweekly reading wrap up on my YouTube channel that will be published on March 19th.

3. The Assassination of Urgak ‘the Unstoppable’

Ozark, and his rather odd combination of party members, are off on a rescue mission to save a young boy who is a vital piece of the Council of Twenty’s plan for world dominance. If you are asking yourself, what could go wrong? Well, let me say plenty and much of it even a professional assassin could not have expected. I’m taking about the fourth book in the “Space Assassins” series call “Death from the Shadows”. This audiobook along with the series consist of a blending of both fantasy and science fiction. It is the work of Scott Baron and the audiobook edition is very well narrated by Eric Bryan Moore. The story follows a trained assassin who is ultimately on a mission of revenge which is forced to pivot to a mission of redemption rather than of death. It is a standalone series covering early details from the Dragon Mage series, by the same author. If you enjoy action, adventure, and excitement, I recommend you give this series a try. I feel that this could be a five star book if it was better edited. There is too much repetition which becomes boring but it’s saving grace is the excellent world building and the good character depth. I certainly felt empathy for many of the characters such as Happizano Jinnik and Denni. Speaking of protagonists, I did not feel like some parts of the story were being told through the perspective of any particular character. Eric Bryan Moore did a wonderful job with the narration. His voice was smooth and was able to navigate well through the different characters adding depth in how he voiced them.