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    Planetside
    Planetside
    Planetside
    Audiobook8 hours

    Planetside

    Written by Michael Mammay

    Narrated by R.C. Bray

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    A seasoned military officer uncovers a deadly conspiracy on a distant, war-torn planet…

    War heroes aren't usually called out of semi-retirement and sent to the far reaches of the galaxy for a routine investigation. So when Colonel Carl Butler answers the call from an old and powerful friend, he knows it's something big—and he's not being told the whole story. A high councilor's son has gone MIA out of Cappa Base, the space station orbiting a battle-ravaged planet. The young lieutenant had been wounded and evacuated—but there's no record of him having ever arrived at hospital command.

    The colonel quickly finds Cappa Base to be a labyrinth of dead ends and sabotage: the hospital commander stonewalls him, the Special Ops leader won't come off the planet, witnesses go missing, radar data disappears, and that’s before he encounters the alien enemy. Butler has no choice but to drop down onto a hostile planet—because someone is using the war zone as a cover. The answers are there—Butler just has to make it back alive…

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJul 31, 2018
    ISBN9780062882158
    Author

    Michael Mammay

    Michael Mammay is a retired army officer and a graduate of the United States Military Academy. He has a master’s degree in military history and is a veteran of more wars than he cares to remember. He lives with his wife in Georgia. He is the author of the Planetside series, The Misfit Soldier, The Weight of Command, and Generation Ship.

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    Reviews for Planetside

    4/5

    206 ratings18 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Excellent book. Intelligent lead with a realistic cast. No crazy techno babble.
    • 5/5
      Whoa what an ending!!! Cliff hangar. Original fun little military scifi that fans of the lost fleet and even old mans war will love
    • 3/5
      Great narration from RC Bray and a fairly good space PI story.
    • 5/5
      If your looking for a great book, you just found one.
      Story flowed with ease and kept you in its grip!
      The narrator was the best I’ve heard, and only added more depth to an already great story.
      Can’t wait for the next book!
    • 5/5
      Planetside had a great story and equally good narrator.

      The story started a bit slow but it was interesting with plenty of great characters.
    • 5/5
      Great read from start the finish. On to the next
    • 5/5
      Planetsideby Michael MammayR.C. Bray (Narrator)This is going in my favorite folder! This has everything a good sci-fi needs! A mystery or two, a space adventure, lots of weapons, aged military personnel having to do what no one else will, aliens, a good conspiracy, death threats, and lots of action! This book has that and more! Super exciting, never boring, lots of twists and turns, and a surprise ending! Narration was perfect because it had RC Bray! One of my favorites! ICan't wait for the next book!Borrowed this from the library!
    • 3/5
      Entertaining, competently written Military fiction.

      Fun to listen to, nothing deep to overburden the the reader’s thinking processor or challenge his imagination.

      Calling it science fiction is a bit of a push, the genre was probably splashed on as a sort of an afterthought. The category could just as well been thriller or whodunnit.

      I listened to it as an audiobook and the narrator, R. C. Bray was spot on for this type of book, a perfect match. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had spent some time in the military himself as he has the nuances of military interactions down pat.

      The above quick summary of the my thoughts about the book and the 3* rating should not put you off. If you like military themed writing then you’ll certainly enjoy this potboiler.

      I would definitely read another of this author’s books, in fact, will probably do that right now.
    • 5/5
      The next Sherlock mystery this is not. However, for what it is-a scifi detective mystery story with a cranky protagonist and aliens, it's top notch. It's well-paced, decently written, and builds the suspense perfectly for "Man, I need to read just one more chapter" but not so strongly that you cant get some sleep after putting it down for the night. Read the book. Better yet, listen to the audiobook so the amazing RC Bray can do all the work for you.
    • 4/5
      A very well written book.

      you shall be invested into this book
    • 5/5
      Wow, breathtaking! Space Opera meets detective, with elements of Sam Vimes, Ender Wiggin and Jack Reacher in there for good measure! If you like military stories and Space Opera, you'll love this!
    • 2/5
      More than once I’ve mentioned how Military SF can be problematic for me, since the focus on battles, strategy and technology in many novels tends to go the the detriment of characterization and story: this was not the case with Planetside, although after a promising start this book turned out to be a different kind of letdown.Colonel Carl Butler, once a well-known war hero, is living in semi-retirement filling a teaching position, when his old friend General Serata calls him to investigate an issue which might have huge political repercussions: the son of a High Councilor, wounded in battle on a disputed planet, has disappeared after being evacuated on the medical ship, and Butler is dispatched to learn what happened. Cappa is a planet where spacefaring humans found a local intelligent population: needing to mine the planet’s resources, humans have built a sort of uneasy truce with the Cappans, but there are insurrectionary fringes that still fight the occupying forces. On his arrival at the space station orbiting Cappa, Butler finds himself mired in a web of conflicting information, blind alleys and red herrings, and the first inklings of a deeper trouble that might compromise the mining operations and the Earthers’ occupying force, so that his efforts at finding the truth - not to mention the whereabouts of the lost Lieutenant Mallot - are constantly met with lack of cooperation and a few attempts on his life.The start of the novel is an intriguing one because it looks more like a mystery than a SF-Mil story and Butler’s voice is quite captivating: he comes across as brazen and uncaring of the toes he steps on in the course of his investigation - as a matter of fact he seems to enjoy ruffling everyone’s feathers, aware as he is that in his position he has nothing to lose. Moreover, he’s a heavy drinker, and that brings him closer to the typical figure of the investigator in noir detective stories, which confers an appealing, old-fashioned patina to the otherwise futuristic narrative. I liked how Butler’s personality comes to the fore through dialogues and his interactions with other characters, and his dry, not always appreciated, brand of humor tempers the military bearing turning him into a quite intriguing figure. The investigation itself is fascinating because we see Butler and his team-mates gathering different kinds of information, which allows the reader to get a clear picture of the background in which the story is set, without needing to fall into the trap of long, boring infodumps.The first alarming cracks in the story appear with the description of humans’ cavalier attitude when landing on a new world: we learn that they take steps to “preserve” autochthonous species by relocating them, but that the needs of humans are always the deciding factor - which to me has quite an ominous sound. Worse still, Butler conveys the information that “If a planet unsuitable for humans had indigenous life that affected mining, we could simply destroy it from space with XB25s. Planet busters. As long as it didn’t hurt the commercial value, nobody cared.”Apart from the narrative foreshadowing that this sentence implies, what truly shocked me here is the nonchalant acceptance of what amounts to genocide, not to mention the destruction of an existing ecosystem, that is carried out with such careless ease. Maybe I have watched too much Star Trek and become used to its utopian mindset, but there must be an intermediate way between the opposing philosophies of the Prime Directive on one side and the “humans first” attitude of this future vision. Which leads me to the big issue that brought down my rating for this book: at some point Butler is made aware of the possibility that the Cappans might have come into possession of higher technology that could help them in fighting the humans’ occupation - which, let me add, would have been their right - and that the planet’s dwellers have been used in genetic experiments of hybridization, a circumstance that would certainly not help in mutual understanding. So, to avoid further trouble, the colonel resorts to a devastating solution that will remove the “Cappan menace” while maintaining the humans’ ability to exploit the planet’s resources. And he does so with what looks like such untroubled determination, such a blatant absence of moral quandaries, that any sympathy I might have harbored for his character at the beginning vanished immediately. Butler’s actions are not so dissimilar from other, real-life choices of actual military commanders in the recent past, granted, but what I find deeply disturbing is the matter-of-factness of the decision, and the total absence of inner turmoil that such a path should have engendered. Not to mention the fact that he’s able to board a ship headed for home without anyone batting so much as an eyelash.The abrupt ending of the book did not help me in metabolizing my feelings of horror and anger, and while I’m aware that there are two more books in this series and that the next one might portray Butler facing judgement for his actions or seeing the repercussions for such wanton destruction, I am so appalled right now that I can’t contemplate moving forward with the story.
    • 3/5
      It’s billed as a fast-paced read and lives up to that. I liked that the military culture felt real, as you’d expect from the author’s background, but found the world-building inconsistent (technology development seemed to have run at different speeds) and especially wanted more development of the Cappan culture - which would have made the ending stronger, too.
    • 5/5
      I so wished that there was a way to give a book an extra half star because this one warrants that extra half star for total of 4.5. The plot was so good, a cross between mystery and action with a space opera feel. It was inventive, paced correctly and had enough surprises to keep me enthralled. The plot alone is 5 stars. I liked the main character of Colonel Butler, his personality fit the role he played is the story nicely. The only thing I was not crazy about was the ending. It felt a little rushed and not enough closure to suit my tastes. I have already purchased book 2 because I feel there is so much more to Butler's story. So I guess that is why the ending is the way it is, so the reader will want to read the next book.
    • 5/5
      Planetsideby Michael MammayR.C. Bray (Narrator)This is going in my favorite folder! This has everything a good sci-fi needs! A mystery or two, a space adventure, lots of weapons, aged military personnel having to do what no one else will, aliens, a good conspiracy, death threats, and lots of action! This book has that and more! Super exciting, never boring, lots of twists and turns, and a surprise ending! Narration was perfect because it had RC Bray! One of my favorites! ICan't wait for the next book!Borrowed this from the library!
    • 2/5
      The initial sample of Planetside on my Kindle was intriguing enough to get me to commit to the whole book. An aging military man finishing out his career in a quiet post before retiring. He's called back to the front lines by his friend and superior who needs him to investigate the disappearance of a politician's kid in the middle of a war with an alien species.The problem is that after that interesting hook everything turned very very flat and predictable. The soldier disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Nobody will talk. Evidence is destroyed. Some of the local aliens object to being colonized, but really the humans are there to make things better while strip-mining the planet. Everything was very predictable and while the writing was fine, it wasn't enough to support a kludged together plot all on its on. I won't give away the ending, but I will suggest you go read The Island of Doctor Moreau and Heart of Darkness instead.
    • 5/5
      There is nothing better than the unexpected discovery when reading or listening to a book. When I saw a post from R. C. Bray talking about how much he enjoyed narrating Planetside by Michael Mammay, I managed to get my hands on a copy of the audiobook. What a treat! I’m a big fan of military sci-fi as well as a fan of mysteries. Put them together and you’ve really got me hooked!Colonel Carl Butler is in the middle of his last, quiet assignment before retirement when his old friend, General Serata calls him in for a favor. Butler is to investigate the disappearance of the son of a High Councilor. Lieutenant Mallot has disappeared in the middle of a war zone on the planet Cappa where human mining operations have upset some of the native Cappans. Butler realizes that this is the type of assignment that no one with any hope of further career advancement would want to touch. When Butler gets to Cappa, he finds the situation even thornier than he expected. The base commander may have his own agenda, the hospital administrator is openly hostile, and the enigmatic special forces commander is planetside and not very accommodating. The military being like any other bureaucracy, none of the various commanders are very good at cooperating with one another. Butler cannot be initially assured of the loyalties of those assigned to assist him in his investigation, further complicating his efforts.Butler uncovers suspicious actions and a possible conspiracy. The attempts made on his life confirm the seriousness of the situation, but Butler is operating far from home and without much of a safety net. It is up to him to figure out and remedy the situation, and to take the fall if he gets it wrong.Mammay tells an outstanding story. His own military background shines through in the authentic depiction of military life, even if it is set in space. Planetside is as much a mystery, almost noir, as it is a science fiction story. Mammay is particularly skilled at blending the two elements. This is not a mystery with a scifi setting tacked on, nor is it scifi with a mystery added as filler. The science fiction elements are integral to the complicated and compelling mystery. The Special Forces commander and the planetside elements of the story have an Apocalypse Now feel to them. (My point of reference as I haven’t read Heart of Darkness.) The action is first-rate and has an up-close and authentic feel to it. The mystery is layered with each discovery by Butler leading to another clue until he arrives at its heart. The revelations feel earned. Butler is an engaging character written with great wit and a generous amount of humor. Mammay skillfully surrounds him with strong supporting characters who must earn the readers’ trust just as they must earn Butler’s. R.C. Bray does an impeccable job as narrator of the audio version. No stranger to science fiction, Bray captures the gruff Colonel’s intelligence and humor. Butler’s wariness, humor, anger and resignation are all displayed vocally as well as by the context of the story. The combination of Mammay’s writing and Bray’s narration are captivating from beginning to end. The story is good enough on its own, but I recommend listening to the audiobook if you can simply because Bray’s narration adds so much to the experience.This is an impressive bit of storytelling that should appeal to both science fiction and mystery fans. If Mammay is this good in his debut, you can count me in for whatever he writes next. Highly recommended.I was provided a copy of this audiobook by the publisher.
    • 3/5
      Once upon a long ago writers who wanted to try something different would put books out under an alternate name to distinguish them: Fred Bloggs, writer of sundry detective novels, would flirt with being Annette Wilkins, purveyor of steamy romances. Trouble was that if Ms. Wilkins didn't sell as well as Mr. Bloggs, some bright spark in marketing would then decide that the books should be republished with the moniker "Fred Bloggs, writing as Annette Wilkins", which made the whole point rather moot. Most authors thus gave up on the split-personality literature and chose to put everything out under the same name, sometimes disappointing those who didn't expect their detectives to start bedding nubile females whilst the crimes were left unsolved. I can understand the feeling of disappointment with a writer when a new book by a new writer arrives, and you dive eagerly in, only to find not much. But abandoning that author altogether? If bad novels happen to good authors, isn't that simply a cue to stop reading that particular novel? As a prolific reader, I have often come across that very issue. What usually happens is I finish the book, spend a few minutes (hours, weeks) pondering the unfortunate flaws in the book, before wandering off to read something else. However, on those occasions when I simply cannot continue, I don't. I agree that reading should be a pleasurable experience, and that just because something is a "meaningful" book, or because you feel you ought to read it, that you should force yourself to continue after all hope has been lost of it ever capturing your interest in any way. I don't think that people should only read what is light and easy; stretching ones reading scope is important, and sometimes that means pushing through a sticky patch. However, in these cases, usually the writing is of a quality that gives you reason to believe that the author can write themselves out of whatever trouble they've gotten themselves into. But to get back to the original point, which is about abandoning an author who writes a novel you didn't like. Let me ask this: should people who hated "Planetside" still try to read Mammay in the future? Well, that depends. Did you find the writing style engaging despite all of its flaws? Did the tone interest you? The period? The military stuff? The character’s style? Then absolutely. If you thought it was a great story but was totally bogged down by the writing, then perhaps Military SF and Mammay in particular isn't your cup of tea. Before you leave an author altogether, consider why you're leaving. Despite all this, it’s still better than “Theft of Swords” and “Redshirts”... “Planetside” at least is an honest book if I can call it that.