Let’s Visit Aus-trah-lia
5 out of 5 stars
Easily my favorite series, maybe of all-time. The Hell Divers series always leaves me with this insane feeling of “Woah, what was that” in the best possible way. Hell Divers 9 takes us to what’s already the most dangerous place in the world, Australia. I never thought about how crazy Australia would be until I read How Green This Land, How Blue This Sea by Mira Grant. Then I thought “how come there aren’t more Post-Apocalyptic books that take place there?
One of my favorite parts of the audiobooks for this series is Bray’s randomness to the words. The people in these stories have been flying for so long that places that we call would change into a more phonetic way of speaking. In the older books places like Florida (we say “floor-duh” and Bray pronounced it Floor-e-dah”) but in this one, since they’re visiting Australia – he said “Aus-trah-lia” instead of “Aus-trail-ya”). It’s a small thing but genuinely makes these audiobooks so much more enjoyable.
Now that I’ve gone on for longer than most reviews already are. Good god was Radioactive great. I hate feeling like these books just keep getting better and better but Smith’s writing just absolutely shines in a book like this. Every piece of it was perfect or darn near perfect. The characters, the emotions, the settings, the battles. Are of them are just *chef’s kiss* perfect. Smith is able to write these sprawling books that take place literally all over the world over nine books and each one of them leans perfectly on the books that came before but also forges their own ways.
I was thinking, and I probably mentioned it before, but Miles really grounds X as a character. He might be a bit too… lots of things if Miles wasn’t there and numerous times throughout Radioactive I was reminded of that. I won’t go into why but a few times I shed a tear worrying, with X, about what was going on.
Overall, Radioactive was excellent. I cannot think of anything I would change. Just know that in this one because it’s Australia, Smith turns it up to 11. Everything was already out to kill them but in Australia – it was even worse. I particularly liked the vine-centric storyline that kept coming up and weaving its way through (much like the vines). I can’t say any more for fear of spoiling but it really added a bit of “I never thought of that” to a series that keeps surprising me.
See my review of the rest of the series here.
Hell Divers
Hell Divers II: Ghosts
Hell Divers III: Deliverance
Hell Divers IV: Wolves
Hell Divers V: Captives
Hell Divers VI: Allegiance
Hell Divers VII: Warriors
Hell Divers VIII: King of the Wastes
Book Description:
The New York Times and USA Today bestselling series
New monsters. New terrain. New threats. Welcome to Australia.
The battle for Panama is over, and King Xavier Rodriguez secretly deploys the airship Vanguard to Queensland. The hunt for the Coral Castle is on. The rest of the fleet returns to the Vanguard Islands with new ships and supplies, but tensions rise with rumors of a hidden food cache.
When two sky people are murdered, Chief Michael Everhart knows the stage is set for mutiny. And with King Xavier off in search of the Coral Castle, he feels the target on his back. At Panama, a new leader emerges as an ancient evil threatens Outpost Gateway. The only hope of defeating it is a youth who has learned to survive in the deadly ruins.
On Australia’s Sunshine Coast, King Xavier leads the search for the Coral Castle while Captain Rolo deploys the Hell Divers to hunt for a new source of seeds. As losses from both missions mount, the king wonders if finding this place is worth the cost. But turning back to the Vanguard Islands without a new food source could doom all humanity to starvation. Or to all-out war.
Hell Divers IX: Radioactive by Nicholas Sansbury SmithNarrator: R.C. Bray
Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins
Series: Hell Divers #9
Published by Blackstone Audio on June 21st 2022
Genres: Post-Apocalyptic
Format: Audiobook
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Buy from Audible
Also by this author: Extinction Horizon, Extinction Edge, The Extinction Cycle, Extinction Age
Also in this series: Hell Divers, Hell Divers II: Ghosts, Hell Divers III: Deliverance, Hell Divers IV: Wolves
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