Hell Divers

I’ve listened to this book twice and it was great both times through. The first go drew me in with this airship and the hell divers and the destroyed land beneath them. The second pass let me appreciate the characters more. Xavier (X to most) and his sorta adopted kid Tin are both great characters. Both have a lot on their shoulders and both save their little society in their own ways. The setting really captured my imagination. Yes, this is post-apocalyptic fiction, but in this world, the apocalypse came a bit further along the human timeline. Even the remnants of the technology that was once available is just beyond what we have now. The Hell Divers jump to gather much needed supplies for their airship, keeping it in the air, away from the worst of the radiation for generations now. But stuff is breaking down, supplies are limited, and the situation becomes more and more desperate. I did get a little chuckle over Hades being what once was Chicago. All those deadly lightning storms! And the monsters dubbed the Sirens! I’m a huge Dresden Files fan and I can just see Harry Dresden rolling over in his grave that Chicago has fallen to lightning and monsters! Even with everything being in a desperate state, politics still plays a role in the management of the ship. So true. I can see why the rebels demand more meds and more food but their efforts end in a body count and could have easily ended them all! The captain was put in a very tough situation. She couldn’t let this minor rebellion grow but any body count earns her a bit more hatred from part of the population. Captain Ash earned my respect with her actions during this crisis. I loved that the ladies were part of every aspect of this story. They were in the military management of the airship. They were Hell Divers. They were teachers, cooks, kids, drug addicted desperate people, etc. For a military post-apocalyptic scifi, this was a very important aspect for me and Smith met the challenge! Yay! It’s only practical to have women be on an equal footing at the end of the world. The action never stops with this book. There were so many moments where I thought for sure this character or that was toast! I was on the edge of my seat the first time I read it. On the second pass, you could still catch me nibbling my fingernails as I relived this scene or that. This was a very enjoyable book! 5/5 stars. The Narration: R. C. Bray is a delight to listen to. His deep voice for X is perfect. His female voices sounded feminine and his little kid voices were realistic. He makes a great Tin as well as a great Captain Ash. The pacing is perfect and he performs those emotional scenes perfectly. 5/5 stars

Great book. A spin on the apocalypse . If your sick of reading about viruses and EMP's this is the book for you. Narration is also well done.

An amazing story!!

Incredible narration! The book was pretty predictable, and reminded me of Fallout (of which I've played hundreds of hours through 3, New Vegas, and 4.) 200 years since the bombs dropped, wasteland crawling with irradiated beasts, almost like the Brotherhood Of Steel searching for pre-war tech to fuel their air ships. However, I'm a sucker for that kind of story line, and I'm all in. Waiting for my next credit so I can get to book #2.One thing.. The author didn't forget that certain food items would have been frozen solid on the ground, but what about the ammunition and weapons they're picking up? How are the magazine not blocks of ice? Fine, I can deal with the loopholes. Enjoy the story, and forget about it!

Something very different. Really good sci-fi.kept me interested.

Great action and story.

Slow to start but wow what a story

Excellent book I loved it - Highly recommend it!

This book takes a little getting used to however the ride is a great. This story jumps between four people mainly, wever, the resistance, X and the captain. Sometimes it gets confusing but it's worth it, I cannot put this down and ima definitely buy the next one

Interesting, I liked it.

I have taken a break from dystopia novels after my teenage years, and this was a good return. The story and way of life are well fleshed out, and I love the description of the sirens. I love how creepy they are, and there are moments of fear and sadness that really kept me interested throughout!

Engaging listen. Will definatelly get into the series

Will definitely be listening to the rest of the series

Seriously what kind of idiot are you to post major spoilers in the reviews? Look out for Rick W he's an inconsiderate moron.

I am writing this review so you stop reading reviews. Rick W is an idiot and posted a spoiler review that will ruin the book for you if you haven’t read it. Luckily I’ve already read it twice and loved it. It’s a great narrator and the book starts off with a bang and keeps a good pace. Stop reading reviews or Rick W the a***** who posted a huge spoiler will ruin it for you. You’ve been warned.

I'm just some guy, no where near well read enough to be a book critic and this review is just my opinion. I can't recommend this. It has a skeleton of a story but is nowhere near well fleshed enough to pull me in beyond what is essentially a pulp-novella, good for one listen while you wait at an airport and then to forget forever. The world/universe is superficial at best and feels like Fallout fanfiction, somehow an ecosystem on the surface (at least where the characters land) consists of nothing but an extremely complex apex predator that multiples and grows solely on radioactivity... don't think about it any more than that. The author obviously didn't. All of the characters are pretty one dimensional and fit a strict archetypal check list that reminds me of my first Dungeons and Dragons party. The gnarled, self destructive veteran with a heart of gold. The pure, naive child who reminds everyone there is hope. The selfless pragmatic captain who never admits defeat. The ex-con who redeems herself with her mad-sneaking skills. The love interest that ... does nothing. Well she talks to another character about their romantic past, once. No character really surprises the reader and no one is nuanced. The overall tone is so nihilistic that I stopped caring by the end. The author has written everyone to either be alone because all their friends and family are dead... or they are all sick with cancer or malnutrition. I was less depressed reading The Road. The ending comes out of nowhere. It manifests so rapidly that I nearly got whiplash and smacks of a story that was obviously running out of steam. Or helium. Or radioactive magic batteries or whatever fancy or sundry the Helldivers need to look for. Don't waste your time.

awesome series

One of the best post apocalyptic books /great narration

Exellent, this needs to be a movie! The setting is unique and the characters are excellent. Can't wait for more!

Seriously, you just had to kill off X . Oh well. Great story ,keep it up.

Edge of your seat hole way though!

one of the best post apocalypse series of there. NSS is the master at Monster making, he can scare the hell out of a full grown man, lol. epic series, epic characters that I really cared about, and the dark theme is realistic. this series should be made into a tv series. RC Bray is top shelf. buy this book, start this series!!