Space Assassins 1 & 2: A Space Assassin Bundle

Product Information

There was far more at play than was apparent on the surface and Hozark would require all of his wits and skill to get to the bottom of it. And he most surely intended to do just that, no matter how high the body count. He just hoped to do so before more of his kin fell victim to the nefarious plot. If you love a good story, doesn’t matter the genre, you will like this – and seriously –‘MAGICAL VAMPIRE ASSASSINS!!!’, do I have to say anything else?? 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.

During this mission, we met Bud, his pilot, his co-pilot Laskar, and Demelza, another Wampeh Ghalian that becomes tied to Hozark’s mission.

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 author took time to explain what a Ghalian assassin was and described their training program as the entire book revolves around these assassins. A Wampeh Ghalian has one different attribute which is also explained. There was far more at play than was apparent on the surface, and Hozark would require all of his wits and skill to get to the bottom of it. And he most surely intended to do just that, no matter how high the body count. He just hoped to do so before more of his kin fell victim to the nefarious plot. 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. Space Assassin is a science-fiction scenario in which the player is an assassin who must fight his way through the mutant cyborgs on the orbiting spaceship of a mad scientist planning to mutating all life on the planet below. [1]

Lately I am really in the mood for a good SciFi story. Coming from reading a lot of Fantasy I was able to find quiet a few fun Space Operas, but nothing that really screamed Science Fiction Fantasy that I loved. 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. As I said previously, the world building is just incredibly in-depth, but rather than being overwhelming, or losing you (as it can do in some books where there is just too much information), in this case, you find you get totally absorbed in it, and just want more. It is utterly fascinating, this world of assassins, and with each new revelation, several more doors open into this wonderous world. First of all, thank you BookSirens and Scott Baron for the opportunity to read and review this work!! For parents and younger listeners, this audiobook contains a fair amount of vulgar language and some mature subject matter. There are also a few scenes that may be considered to be violent or graphic in nature. The author has never stated that he has intended this series for younger listeners, yet I think many could enjoy it. I would only recommend this series to more mature listeners because of this.Or so he thought until someone quite unexpected reared their head. An appearance that gave him pause. Someone he had thought long dead. His former lover. A revelation like that could throw even a master assassin for a loop. That she too was an assassin only complicated things more. The second book takes on a slightly different nature to the first book, in that Hozark is not just tied to the single mission as he was in the first book, and in this book, there is a lot more intrigue. In book 1 Hozark had to complete a mission, and for that, he required a legendary Vespus Blade, and that was basically the plot of book 1, him hunting down and getting the blade and completing his mission.

The instructions you are given in (363) will get you killed if you follow them during the floor tile puzzle at (332). Space Assassins is set in a magical universe. This team of assassins accept a contract and set off on a magical adventure full of twists and turns. They are skilled in magic and armed with the most powerful blade of all. The magic system appeared but did not have a significant impact on the story. When a character cast a spell, I was told about the effects of the spell and the character casting the spell was successful in casting it. The magic did not have a sense of wonder or mystery. I would suggest that if the magic elements were taken out of the story, the story would not change in any significant way.

Publication Order of Space Assassins Books

I don’t want to go into huge detail and give away too many spoilers, but let’s just say it makes them even more lethal. There is so much mystery, intrigue, captivating story lines as pieces on the board are moved around in this incredibly complex game on both sides. We see this all from Hozark’s point of view, as he looks on at what is occurring between not only the Wampeh Ghalian’s, but all the other different people in the Sector, and the Council of Twenty, and all of their interests. So, if you are still reading this lengthy critique (sorry!) I do think it was a good series for the world building and story, and the characters (many of whom were really likable). But you have to accept the flaws as mentioned above and kind of roll over them to enjoy it.