Asher's Fall: A Military Sci-Fi Adventure

by Justin S. Leslie

A company of Space Rangers finds itself on the precipice of intergalactic war in a military SF novel perfect for fans of Starship Troopers and the Lost Fleet series.

Ben Dailey’s Viper Company has one Play hard and fight even harder. The crew is comprised of some of the most elite fighters in the Fleet, though occasionally overconfident and, some might say, obnoxious. So when Dailey is handed down a mysterious, high-security mission that’s ostensibly a search-and-rescue for his once-upon-a-time academy rival turned brother in arms, he’s convinced there’s more to the job than meets the eye.

Soon, the USF Murphy is on its way to the edge of the Void—a mostly unexplored section of space on the outer reaches of the galaxy—to track down what happened to Capt. Rick Bearing and the Asher-5. But as Dailey and his crew discover more and more about the ruined ship they’ve been sent to investigate, they begin to realize there’s something bad happening in the dark reaches of the system. Something alien. Something with potentially catastrophic implications for not just them but all of humanity . . .

Filled with heart-pounding battles, fast-paced wit, and unforgettable characters, and penned by an ex–armed forces leader, Asher’s Fall is the explosive launch of a one-of-a-kind, high-octane military science-fiction series.

Genres: Science Fiction, Military Science Fiction

309 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 13, 2023

Reviews

[Madison Warner Fairbanks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Asher’s Fall by Justin S Leslie
The Descending Worlds Book #1. A Military Science fiction adventure.
Captain Ben Daily and his crew of Viper Company are sent on a secret mission to track down and find out what happened to Captain Rick Bearing and his crew and ship, the Asher-5. Ben’s crew are some of the most elite fighters in the Fleet. Soon the USF Murphy is on its way to the edge of the Void on the outer reaches of the galaxy. They are able to find the crippled and dead ship but soon realize there is something more there. Something dark and alien. Something with potentially catastrophic implications for all of humanity.

Heart-pounding battles with some sad, inevitable casualties and confirmation that spies or traitors have sold out our world.
It’s not all doom and gloom. There is quite a bit of slapstick humor including Sparky who looks most like a dog, but is an Alurian Battle Hound that can disappear and “shock” the aliens and mostly just cares about getting more ham to eat. There is also a sarcastic AI unit that goes by Alfred, has a British accent and likes television dramas.
It’s not the end of the adventure and that’s made clear. Fortunately the next two books in the series are already available.

🎧 I alternated between a paperback and an audiobook. The narration is performed by Luke Daniels who has done hundreds of similar books and is phenomenal at voices, emotional expressions and compelling the listener to pay attention. His catalog includes many NYT bestselling authors such as George R Martin, Kevin Hearne, Lisa Gardner, Harlan Coben, and Nora Roberts. Listening to this book, with Alfred and Sparky and all the various crew made me really appreciate how much acting and work must be involved in narrating a story. And bonus outtakes are included at the end!
I did move the speed to 1.5 for a closer match to my reading speed and conversational ear.

[Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoy audiobooks narrated by Luke Daniels, but this one didn't do it for me and that was partly because of comparisons to far superior works like from Marko Kloos or the notably similar to this book, Renegade and the rest of that series.

A particular bugbear for me in this one is the overuse of 1980s and 1990s pop-culture tropes. I would guess that the majority of people under 30 right now wouldn't get "Number five is alive!" as a pop-culture reference, let alone in a couple of centuries, and this book is full of that sort of thing.

[Ashley Yungbluth · Rating 5 out of 5]

All I can say is Wow!!! Asher's Fall by Justin S. Leslie was absolutely amazing. This is the first book by this author that I have read, and I loved it. I can't wait to read more in this series when they come out and can't wait to start other books by Justin S. Leslie. Asher's Fall has a lot of action going on that keeps you sucked into the book and wanting to keep reading. I usually pick one character in a book that I absolutely love, but with this book, it was hard to pick just one. They each have something about them that makes you fall in love with them. There is Ben Dailey, who is captain of the Murphy, and has a lot of hard decisions he has to make. Then there is Sparky, which is an "Alurian War Hound" that just shows up and absolutely loves ham. Albert, the AI they get along the way, and he adds a lot to this book. Then you have Becket, Jen, Pearl and so on. If you want an action-packed, humor filled book, then Asher's Fall is the book for you.

[Julie Pederick · Rating 5 out of 5]

☆ ASHER'S FALL ☆ The Descending Worlds Series Book #1 ☆ JUSTIN S. LESLIE ☆ Narrator: Luke Daniels ☆

JUSTIN S. LESLIE IS A BRIGHT SPARK IN THE DARKNESS OF SPACE IN HIS SCI-FI MILITARY DEBUT! (zon)

IF STAR TREK & THE EXPANSE MATED THIER OFFSPRING WOULD BE LESLIE'S DESCENDING WORLD SERIES!

Justin S. Leslie is for the most part a new author to me, introduced by another favourite author of mine, Hunter Blain. While I do own 6 of Justin's ebooks & 2 audio's, up until 2 days ago I hadn't gotten more than half way through his 1st book, Max Abbadon & The Will, which I freaking love BTW, but I decided to put that one on hold to start Asher's Fall (a new release series against an already older established series) & boy am I glad I did!

For the past 10 years I've mainly been concentrating on fantasy fiction or autobiographies as none of my favourite authors dabble much in the Sci-Fi genre. But after reading Asher's Fall, it had me wondering why I'd put aside such a beloved genre. Asher's Fall brought a Spark of Life back to my reading that's been missing for years & I couldn't wait to go outside each morning over 2 days & read it in the Australian Autumn sun!

With a fabulous storyline that hooked me almost from the start, I had trouble putting it down each evening. What I truly loved was that it doesn't overwhelm you with too much tech & military jargon. Yes, there's a lot to take in at the start of the book, but that's the same starting any new Sci-Fi series with tonnes of characters, multiple races, different crews of multiple ships, tech & military jargon, & then the techno-babble, but especially when so well done.

Leslie's hard hitting action & battle sequences keeps you on the edge of your seat. But, beware! The comedic relief has you almost falling off that seat & roaring out loud in laughter, yes, that one that you're precarious sitting on, or It sure did with me!

Oh and the characters, they are so well defined & written. You immediately learn to love, like, sympathise, root for & even despise one quite quickly.
I think the voice The world's greatest male narrator Luke Daniels used, made me take an instant dislike to one particular character, but I did start reading the ebook B4 reading along with the audio & I already had trust issues with him from almost the 1st meeting. I'm sure you'll know who I mean, but no spoilers here. Guess, I'm a great judge of character after all.
I have 2 favourite characters neither of which are human nor from Earth! The greatest bright spark of the entire book is Sparky an Alurian Battle Hound and a wise cracking AI named Albert. What an amazing comedy duo.

I must say I'm totally blown away by Mr Leslie's interpretation. He did a magnificent job combining the techo-babble, technology old & new alike, the same for weaponry, machinery flight vehicles & ground transports, the science, AI's miltary & battle tactics & combining it all together. It's intricately weaved just like a freshly spun spiders web & quite obvious Justin's had personal experience operating in this field with his incredible firsthand knowledge of the military, battle plans & tactics & their practices. And in some places the heart in which he writes is so touching & a lovely tribute to all those who have served in the armed forces, and especially to the dearly departed and unfortunate souls lost in battle whom we all should be eternally grateful for no matter which country we come from, after all most of us are Allies, and this crack group of Nova Space Rangers covers all corners of our Planet & others.

I can not wait for book 2's ebook (actual I thought I already owned it, but turns out I forgot to pre-order, but not to worry that's an easy fix & I can pre-order book #3 at the same time along with both audio books as that's almost ready for release too.

Just like Mac & Cheese or Admiral Jean-Luc Picard & Captain William T. Riker or Warrent Officer Ellen Ripley & Corporal Dwyane Hicks, our brilliant author, a real-life Army Major in Justin S. Leslie & award winning Narrator Luke Daniels just go together like 2 peas in a pod or a peanut butter & jelly sandwich!

Luke Daniels the narrator did an outstanding job once again. He is by far my all-time favourite male narrator & a master who excells at his craft.
If I could offer a small bit of advice, occasionally some of your female characters sound a little robotic, but I do strangely enjoy them (maybe try to sound slightly more feminine or listen to the women in your life & try to imitate them). I'm being very picky here, this is a small constructive criticism, so if there was one area he could improve on, this is it. He's like 99.9% proof!
And to Justin & Luke, thank you so much for listening to my suggestions for adding bloopers to the narration, they're to die laughing for!

I RATE ASHER'S FALL 5☆ OUT OF 5☆!

I highly recommend this book, author & series, I'm so invested, I'm buying book 2 & 3 in both ebook & audio.

I bought a copy of this ebook & audio & this is my fair, honest, and impartial review as always.


Reviewed By: Jewelz Pederick
🙋‍♀‍ ❤ the 🤪 🇦🇺 📖🐛❗
(Hi, Love The Crazy Australian BookWorm).

[Anna Rimmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Albert

Wonderful, fun,exciting,action packed,great characters and at times silly.read it, it's fun entertaining everything a good book should be .I promise you will love it, now into book 2 for me,

[ButtonsMom2003 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook Review:
Overall – 5
Performance – 5
Story – 5


Great action, great humor, great characters!

I started out reading this book with my eyes and admit that I had a bit of trouble getting into it. I think it was because there is so much going on, so many characters, and so much world-building. Once the audiobook came out, I decided to give it a try and I'm really glad that I did. Luke Daniels is amazing. All of the different voices he does would almost make you swear that this is being performed by multiple voice actors, not just one.

Once I got into the story there was so much that reminded me of my favorite sci-fi show ever, Star Trek. The humor between the characters and some of the things the crew goes through reminded me of certain episodes of Star Trek TOS (the original series).

I loved Sparky; he is the coolest character of all of them but Albert the AI character comes in at a close second for me. I'll be interested to see where the series goes from here.

An advanced copy of this book was provided to me at my request; my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author and I purchased the audiobook.

[Jodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, this is not a book I would seek out to read but when I had the opportunity to read it as an early pre-release, I thought why not. Oh boy, what a ride that I couldn't put down. The book literally starts off with a bang and just didn't slow down from there. Capt Ben Dailey and his crew are tasked with finding Capt Bearing 'Juice's' ship and any survivors. As they make plans to set out they gain a 'hound' that just appears out of nowhere. Sparky, eventually becomes their mascot and has his own mad skills, and that he can talk to Ben which is hilarious. He was adorable, as well as AI 'Albert'. I digress. This is space travel, worm holes, new planets and galaxies, humans stolen from Earth and other planets, filthy rich and dirty playing mining companies and greed at the highest level of the military. I can't wait for the next book as I become so invested in the crew of the Murphy.

[Zachary King · Rating 1 out of 5]

I came into this book with high hopes. Hoping I found a new military sci-fi series as I'm desperately in search of one. This one missed the mark completely. The writing and the story was completely juvenile with their stupid jokes and they're less than professional behavior. They made soldiers feel like they're nothing but drunkards who are just following around what's leading by their pants and not what's in their head. And then the complete lad to leadership that follows a dog around who all hes about is ham and his stupid jokes. And in the AI. If I wanted a snarky AI that has been way overdone. If I wanted a snarky AI I would go listen to Skippy. This book Mr. Marked on every level to call this a military sci-fi is an insult to all military sci-fies everywhere.

[Jenny P · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love, love, love this book as a sci-fi fan. I didn't know the author was writing this book! For me it was the mix of humor and action. Not to mention Luke Daniels does the audiobook and he really brings this story to life.

I will state one thing, I read this book while listening and as always can tell Justin writes his stories focused on the audiobook.

I need more stories from the ham loving Alurian War Hound Sparky!

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK, but failed to really grab my interest. I could see how the author borrowed ideas from other books I enjoyed, like a wise-cracking AI and numerous references to modern-day music and movies, but the attempts failed to hit the mark. It just kept reminding me of how much better those other books are. The way the dialog was written didn't really work for me either. In the end, I lost interest in the story line, so have decided not to continue on to the other books in the series.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good characters, good premise and fun story. The story just didn't move quite right for me, got bogged down in the minutia of things too much. At times it was too much military sci-fi and others is was too much opera. Other times it was just right.

[Dale Rosso · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a ok listen, not as good as some and better than others. Will be trying 2nd book in the series to see where the story goes.

[Marcin W · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just had no soul or broader direction.
like a Expeditionary Force ripoff.

[Peter Dettlaff · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not finish this book. The plot and dialogue made absolutely no sense. The whole thin be Summed
up by space armour with cosmic cowboy hats and space spurs come on really?