Even Better Than Book One

5 out of 5 stars

I stated that the first book in The Dragon Mage series was “unlike anything I’ve read before“ and I meant that. The story was new and interesting to me.  Baron brought me a book that started off as a science fiction and almost a “Land of the Lost” feel to it and spun it into a fascinating and interesting science fiction and fantasy mash up. (You can check out my full review here if you’d like). The issues that I mentioned in my first review seem to have vanished in book two.  Baron tells an interesting and well thought out story without doubling down on some of the phrases like he did in book one.

Space Pirate Charlie starts off with a really nice recap of what happened in book one.  Don’t think that it’ll give you enough detail to fully grasp and understand everything that happened – but since it’s been 6 months since I read Bad Luck Charlie I was thankful for it.

Picking up right where the first book left off – Space Pirate Charlie doesn’t shy away from action, but definitely gives you a nice slow burn to start.  We are learning about the goings on of Charlie’s newest surroundings.  He’s getting to know the other slaves that are working the land with him and he starts to notice things that others aren’t seeing.

The overall premise of this one was great – seeing Charlie make both new friends and new enemies.  He’s the same guy as in book one but has learned a little more and isn’t as much the lost puppy as before. His adventure really starts in the final part of the book (the first half setting up where he works now, who he works for, and some of what that family is hoping to accomplish). The second half is almost non-stop action with a little bit of reprieve thrown in so that reader can catch their breath.

I thought that Space Pirate Charlie was the best book in the series so far and I cannot wait to see what happens in the third book. As before, the narration by Gary Bennett really shines in this book.  He’s able to give each character not only a voice but also a feeling.  When Charlie is talking to different people – the way that they reply (not just their words) are important and he not only gets that but is able to portray that through his voice acting.

Book Description:

Charlie was living the life of luxury as an alien wizard’s gladiator slave. It was not ideal.

He had survived a spaceship crash, alien slave traders, space pirates, and fierce gladiatorial combat. Hell, he’d even faced an actual fire-breathing dragon and lived, but now, he was presented with an even greater challenge. Domestic living, captive on a strange world.

Charlie almost had to laugh at his changing circumstances, having seen it all since a wormhole spat him out in a distant galaxy. He learned to fight, he learned to use magic, he even learned to kill – to survive at all costs. And that hard work had somehow landed him a cushy life on a powerful wizard’s estate. But all was not what it seemed.

Something was wrong, and he still wasn’t a free man. Captivity, even in a gilded cage such as this, was abhorrent to the spaceman from Earth. And while the new existence he had fallen into seemed one of luxury, he couldn’t help but wonder when it would all go to hell.

He should have known, with his luck, the answer was soon.

Space Pirate Charlie by Scott Baron
Narrator: Gary Bennett
Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
Series: The Dragon Mage #2
Published by Self Published Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction
Format: Audiobook
Also by this author: Bad Luck Charlie, Dragon King Charlie, Magic Man Charlie, Daisy's Run
Also in this series: Bad Luck Charlie, Dragon King Charlie, Magic Man Charlie,
Brian
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