The Genesis fleet is a great listen on Audible for anyone with the Audible credits to spend/spare. I added it on a whim because I had a surplus to use and saw it was an Audible exclusive. It’s written by Jack Campbell and narrated by Christian Rummel. The series has a very grounded in reality feel to it. Narrating the kind of sci-fi physics one might expect from Leviathan/ The Expanse.

Lots of calculated maneuvering and then waiting on those maneuvers to finish/execute due to space and relativity. It gives the combat a methodical pace. Where I myself tend to write things as though they happen in real-time, this story makes great use of the laws of physics and the limitations of technology. There isn’t a whole lot that’s very far fetched except maybe for the FTL mechanic?

The story does a great job of keeping itself tidy, but my only nitpick would be that it seems like it just kind of cuts itself short at the end of the third book with a skip ahead to the far future. It also felt like it left a loose hanging thread regarding the FTL mechanic. It kind of touched on it a little bit, but not really in a manner that felt very personally satisfying.

All in all, I loved the series. I liked the characters, and they all felt relatable and believable. The stories were easy to follow and nicely packed. Definitely recommend if you’re in the market for an exploration type of sci-fi story that does a good job of blending colonial-style conflicts and politics, along with asking questions like “Who can you really trust?” and “What kinds of gestures to establish trust should one make?” And most important of all “Who makes the first move in good faith?”

Go get it and give it a listen. Definitely good times.