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The River Saga: The Complete Series: The River Saga, Books 1-4
Contains books 1–4 of The River Saga.
First Life, book
A dangerous expedition. Extraterrestrial alliances. Unpredictable enemies.
Colton Beck has six months to live. He works for the Angor near Los Angeles, aware that any day could be his last.
The Angor arrived twenty years ago, resolved to help mankind survive, but not everyone believes their motives are honorable.
When the Angor offer humanity a colony world, Colton is determined to see another planet before his final breath. He's been diagnosed with Xeno, a rare disorder that surfaced with the Angor's arrival, but he won't let this stop him.
With the help of his old friend Indie Hart, now the single most powerful human on Earth, he joins the Expedition to Dicore. They access the River, an alien technology that allows nearly instantaneous travel between worlds, and their universe is quickly expanded. What they find on Dicore is far from idyllic, and Colton struggles to navigate their new existence while coping with his impending death.
Second Chance, book
A fresh start. An old friend. A terrible enemy.
Colton Beck has a new lease on life. His alliance is confident they can find their enemy in the Alruna system, and it's all hands on deck. After the revelation of his origins from the mysterious woman on Dicore, Colton is at odds with where his loyalties stand.
The truth behind Indie Hart's dedication to the Angor is revealed, making Colton doubt her motives as well as the Angor's.
When Earth is threatened, it'll take a lot more than one man to save the planet.
With the help of Colton's allies, they find the source of the River and discover its connection to the Rusa.
All pieces come together for a cataclysmic resolution, but who can Colton truly trust?
Third Party, book
A missing ally. A secret world. A second colony.
With the Surial gone, Colton Beck has a chance to rebuild the Rusa race. Colton embarks on a dangerous journey to find answers, bringing his closest allies along for the ride. Each objective is a step toward repopulating Nulit, but the ultimate price might be higher than they're willing to offer.
Now that the truth about the Angor has been realized, the Unity Accord will never be the same. Colton is determined to ensure his people's position over the fabled Ocean, even if it tears the Unity apart.
When someone from Desmond's past returns to haunt him, history threatens to repeat itself.
The Realms, book
A dangerous mission. A fresh beginning. A worthy opponent.
Colton Beck has done the improbable. With the aid of his allies, he managed to save the Rusa. Just when they think it's time to focus on their new planet, Desmond returns, asking for a favor.
The Ministry of Realms, thought to be destroyed by Drunal years before, still exists, and they're hiding in the deep reaches of the River.
To find them, the team follows a trail of clues, leading to a surprise, no one could have expected.
First Life, book
A dangerous expedition. Extraterrestrial alliances. Unpredictable enemies.
Colton Beck has six months to live. He works for the Angor near Los Angeles, aware that any day could be his last.
The Angor arrived twenty years ago, resolved to help mankind survive, but not everyone believes their motives are honorable.
When the Angor offer humanity a colony world, Colton is determined to see another planet before his final breath. He's been diagnosed with Xeno, a rare disorder that surfaced with the Angor's arrival, but he won't let this stop him.
With the help of his old friend Indie Hart, now the single most powerful human on Earth, he joins the Expedition to Dicore. They access the River, an alien technology that allows nearly instantaneous travel between worlds, and their universe is quickly expanded. What they find on Dicore is far from idyllic, and Colton struggles to navigate their new existence while coping with his impending death.
Second Chance, book
A fresh start. An old friend. A terrible enemy.
Colton Beck has a new lease on life. His alliance is confident they can find their enemy in the Alruna system, and it's all hands on deck. After the revelation of his origins from the mysterious woman on Dicore, Colton is at odds with where his loyalties stand.
The truth behind Indie Hart's dedication to the Angor is revealed, making Colton doubt her motives as well as the Angor's.
When Earth is threatened, it'll take a lot more than one man to save the planet.
With the help of Colton's allies, they find the source of the River and discover its connection to the Rusa.
All pieces come together for a cataclysmic resolution, but who can Colton truly trust?
Third Party, book
A missing ally. A secret world. A second colony.
With the Surial gone, Colton Beck has a chance to rebuild the Rusa race. Colton embarks on a dangerous journey to find answers, bringing his closest allies along for the ride. Each objective is a step toward repopulating Nulit, but the ultimate price might be higher than they're willing to offer.
Now that the truth about the Angor has been realized, the Unity Accord will never be the same. Colton is determined to ensure his people's position over the fabled Ocean, even if it tears the Unity apart.
When someone from Desmond's past returns to haunt him, history threatens to repeat itself.
The Realms, book
A dangerous mission. A fresh beginning. A worthy opponent.
Colton Beck has done the improbable. With the aid of his allies, he managed to save the Rusa. Just when they think it's time to focus on their new planet, Desmond returns, asking for a favor.
The Ministry of Realms, thought to be destroyed by Drunal years before, still exists, and they're hiding in the deep reaches of the River.
To find them, the team follows a trail of clues, leading to a surprise, no one could have expected.
- GenresScience FictionFiction
Audible Audio
Published August 13, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
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September 12, 2024“Four and a half HUGE Stars” ‘The River Saga, The Complete Series” (All 4 Books) is a fantastic SciFi reading delight, a marvelous space opera, based on a fascinating universe created by author Nathan Hystad. At times there is so much going on, you have to just go with it and let the storyline carry you forward. In Book 1, it all begins on Earth in Los Angeles with Colton Beck laden with a heavy heart from a medical diagnosis. But it really begins back in Fayetteville Arkansas with the arrival of advanced aliens, the Angor, who crave human interaction, making promises. And it all ends far from there, in this fast-paced, unique, twisty drama laid out across four novels. Your feelings about characters and scenarios may completely change through this strange, tumultuous journey. You may need to make a matrix to keep track of characters, locations, and time periods, but it's all enjoyable fun. The author makes extensive use of flashbacks, to the extreme at times, to deliver some wicked, hard revelations that push the multiple sub-plots along. Some stories are set against the backdrop of thousands of years. Promises from the past, promises of the future. Four and a half RELENTLESS Stars. 1632 pages, Kindle, special reduced-price ebook, mostly reviewed in text-to-speech mode.
June 18, 2025
I wanted to like this book. I read a lot of science fiction but tend to stay away from books like this. I took a chance for some summer reading but was let down unfortunately. The plot felt like a video game stretched beyond the breaking point into a four book series. It was heavy on guns and fighting and very light on any scientific grounding. All of the aliens have two arms and two legs, a head and face, just two genders where men have all of the command, and very human based emotions and motivations. All the humans are just interchangeable macho archetypes. Our main character goes from a seeming nobody to the leader of saving the human race very easily plot wise. Language issues were solved by universal translators which feels lazy to me and aliens even used metaphors like “let sleeping dogs lie.” The jumbled time line was done in a somewhat clunky and predictable in a way. Keeping track of the alien species that are involved in the plot was difficult. It made it hard to care. To each their own. If you just want a book series that is full of shoot outs and machismo, this one has a lot of bang for your buck. But iI wasn’t for me.
August 13, 2024
Great series, and nice to have all four books so there's no waiting for the next one to be released.
This is a fascinating, quick paced story that is full of mysteries that keep you guessing to the end.
Lots of character development, with the use of timeline flashbacks to add depth to the story.
A very unique take on contact with an alien race that is technologically superior and has an agenda that they don't reveal. It's hard to determine if the aliens are helping or plotting something malevolent. It's hard to trust anyone as these aren't your usual one dimensional aliens.
Just when I felt I had someone figured out, I'm wrong and the plot takes on a new twist. There's lots of balls to juggle here.
Each of these books enjoys new adventures that rely on previous storylines, so reading the series from the beginning is fairly important.
I really enjoyed this entire series. Quite a ride.
This is a fascinating, quick paced story that is full of mysteries that keep you guessing to the end.
Lots of character development, with the use of timeline flashbacks to add depth to the story.
A very unique take on contact with an alien race that is technologically superior and has an agenda that they don't reveal. It's hard to determine if the aliens are helping or plotting something malevolent. It's hard to trust anyone as these aren't your usual one dimensional aliens.
Just when I felt I had someone figured out, I'm wrong and the plot takes on a new twist. There's lots of balls to juggle here.
Each of these books enjoys new adventures that rely on previous storylines, so reading the series from the beginning is fairly important.
I really enjoyed this entire series. Quite a ride.
September 25, 2024
If there is one thing true in almost any book you might read, then it is clarity on who the enemy is in that book.
But in the River Saga the enemy somehow keeps on shifting in name, form and accomplishments.
In The Realms (the final book in the River Saga series ) Drunal, the Spectral is by far the most horrific spectre you can possibly imagine, blessed with an immortal life as a Norosh and enemy of anything called the Rusa.
However, even he is but a touch to the real enemy Spectral called Bga'an.
Yes, even though trying to pronounce that name seems almost beyond the ken.
But this is where everything Colton and Krissa try to accomplish to re-establish the Ministry of the Realms, seems doomed to either fail miserably or get done with some major problems or even lead to their own deaths.
But not with this spectral Bga'an. With her around, their deaths seem to become accomplished fact soon.
Or will it?
Nail biting stuff. Again.
Enjoy
But in the River Saga the enemy somehow keeps on shifting in name, form and accomplishments.
In The Realms (the final book in the River Saga series ) Drunal, the Spectral is by far the most horrific spectre you can possibly imagine, blessed with an immortal life as a Norosh and enemy of anything called the Rusa.
However, even he is but a touch to the real enemy Spectral called Bga'an.
Yes, even though trying to pronounce that name seems almost beyond the ken.
But this is where everything Colton and Krissa try to accomplish to re-establish the Ministry of the Realms, seems doomed to either fail miserably or get done with some major problems or even lead to their own deaths.
But not with this spectral Bga'an. With her around, their deaths seem to become accomplished fact soon.
Or will it?
Nail biting stuff. Again.
Enjoy
November 2, 2025
Solid 3.8 to 4.0
Nothing spectacular
If you're not on to anything else.. it's still worth the read
Audiobook version
Narrator Christopher Ryan Grant
Narrator did decent, nothing to complain about
Overall characters and story is interesting however the author does not provide enough interaction and depth between the characters is very broad strokes! Same goes with the story very generic reads like anime.
The author fails to get explanation for how certain things work. He also seems to break off from one area/location of the story going to another area in a story with little to know lead up so I was frequently having to rewind to see what I missed.. and it turns out it was nothing.
Ok so.. since I "read" the audiobook.. I will give it may have just been the reader not breaking appropriately.
if the author had developed the storyline more going into greater detail and interaction between characters this could have been 20 books
Nothing spectacular
If you're not on to anything else.. it's still worth the read
Audiobook version
Narrator Christopher Ryan Grant
Narrator did decent, nothing to complain about
Overall characters and story is interesting however the author does not provide enough interaction and depth between the characters is very broad strokes! Same goes with the story very generic reads like anime.
The author fails to get explanation for how certain things work. He also seems to break off from one area/location of the story going to another area in a story with little to know lead up so I was frequently having to rewind to see what I missed.. and it turns out it was nothing.
Ok so.. since I "read" the audiobook.. I will give it may have just been the reader not breaking appropriately.
if the author had developed the storyline more going into greater detail and interaction between characters this could have been 20 books
August 13, 2024
Another good series that starts out slow so we get to know Colton Beck and the rest of the main characters that sets the scene and makes me really wonder if the Angor are the good guys that they have played for the last 20 years. As the story unfolds, it raises some interesting questions and hooks me in to try and guess what is really going on and if there is a hidden agenda. Then the fun really begins and the drama, intrigue, surprise twists and turns and then the mystery begins. Really enjoyed the story with its mix of mystery and scifi in this futuristic believable world heading to its first human colony. I found it easy to read and get sucked into the story to watch it all unfold. Found it hard to put down as had to see what happened next and what reveals would pop up too.
September 5, 2024
More twists and turns than a Rubics cube.....on steroids! Great story line and concept. Well written with a flow that kept you engaged. The only cons being it was a bit twee where the main characters were rescued after overwhelming odds, (multiple times) but you wanted them to!! The other is the battles, this is not confined to this author I've noticed a lot recently with the same issue, in that overwhelming numbers of antagonists and friendlies and the action is over in seconds!!! I don't know how they can tackle this issue but it strikes me as unfeasible, logistically and physically. Normally with these two together I would bail, but he did such a good job with his characters that I was hooked. I would highly recommend
August 13, 2024
Mr. Hystad’s stories are always built around strong characters and vivid descriptions that pull me in and make me feel like I’m involved in the action. This series brought together a variety of species and multiple story arcs that kept the action flowing, along with twists that kept me guessing where things were headed, right up to the surprising and satisfying finale. It appears this is the end of the series, but there are ample opportunities for companion or spin-off stories to keep going for a number of other books. I’ve read a number of Mr. Hystad’s books and have enjoyed them all. I look forward to reading many more!!
February 13, 2025
The first two books were quite enjoyabe, but at some point in the third book a lot became the characters being more just a voice for narrator without any of their previous characterizations. Some of these sounded like an SAT vocabulary checklist was being used, unnaturally... to the characters history. No way to know how much this may have been changing editors between books or what, but the ending was satisfactory and I'm glad some authors don't just make up characters to murder them every other page. Overall a nice romp through the universe... Just be prepared that the characters don't gain depth as it goes along.
October 2, 2024
Tantalising
A brilliantly fantastic saga that should be on every sci-fi addicts read list. The adventures never ending throughout the entire story with interlacing and weaving between this very well thought out ocean of realms. Our Author , Nathan Hystad has one heck of an imagination that is empowered by a force that can only be measured by the light years he travels spinning his yarns.
A brilliantly fantastic saga that should be on every sci-fi addicts read list. The adventures never ending throughout the entire story with interlacing and weaving between this very well thought out ocean of realms. Our Author , Nathan Hystad has one heck of an imagination that is empowered by a force that can only be measured by the light years he travels spinning his yarns.
August 26, 2024
This is how this series should be read
Back to back. There are a lot of characters and places all well fleshed out. There are many twists and pivots in this saga. Best to read this entrancing, page turning series from beginning to end all at once to truly enjoy the complexities and the stories within this wonderful story arc.
Back to back. There are a lot of characters and places all well fleshed out. There are many twists and pivots in this saga. Best to read this entrancing, page turning series from beginning to end all at once to truly enjoy the complexities and the stories within this wonderful story arc.
February 10, 2025
This is a coming-of-age space opera that is very long, has many characters, and is hard to follow, like playing a video game for the first time.
Liked: world-building, audiobook narration by Christopher Ryan Grant.
Disliked: Confusing, gave up on rewinding, and just let it go. Needs a good editor and shortened by a third.
Liked: world-building, audiobook narration by Christopher Ryan Grant.
Disliked: Confusing, gave up on rewinding, and just let it go. Needs a good editor and shortened by a third.
March 26, 2025
I liked much of the first book, but as it got into the second, the...how can I say...fakeness of the plot and the poor portrayal of the characters began to bleed through. I had to quit it 1/3-1/2 of the way through the second book as the bad science, bad characters, and overly convoluted plot less satisfying and believable.
October 7, 2024
Review
This was a good tale. The good and bad..most of the time I was continuing to read looking forward to next chapter. The looking back at people history , was somewhat disappointing but it explained what they doing to get to where they were in time. Good books.
This was a good tale. The good and bad..most of the time I was continuing to read looking forward to next chapter. The looking back at people history , was somewhat disappointing but it explained what they doing to get to where they were in time. Good books.
November 29, 2024
Another excellent series from Nathan Hystad.
Great series that just kept getting better with each book.
Read all four books back to back.
Fantastic characters with a beautiful story arch with twist and turns to keep you guessing.
Great series that just kept getting better with each book.
Read all four books back to back.
Fantastic characters with a beautiful story arch with twist and turns to keep you guessing.
December 1, 2024
when aliens invade not everything is as it seems
And interesting take on the invasion of friend aliens. A salient reminder that when things appear to good to be true, there is a very good chance they are not.
And interesting take on the invasion of friend aliens. A salient reminder that when things appear to good to be true, there is a very good chance they are not.
March 31, 2025
Have to see what happens next.
Good reading that keeps interest at a constant “what’s next” pace. Interesting dialogue between different races that seems to cement relationships quickly and efficiently. Looking forward to more stories.
Good reading that keeps interest at a constant “what’s next” pace. Interesting dialogue between different races that seems to cement relationships quickly and efficiently. Looking forward to more stories.
August 9, 2025
Great series
This book kept my interest from start to finish. I like the twists and turns the characters were well developed and interesting. The story was amazing and different. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who likes sci-fi.
This book kept my interest from start to finish. I like the twists and turns the characters were well developed and interesting. The story was amazing and different. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who likes sci-fi.
September 1, 2024
couldn’t put it down
Excellent series of books that draw you in quickly.
At the end I was in mourning, as it had finished.
Excellent series of books that draw you in quickly.
At the end I was in mourning, as it had finished.
September 10, 2024
Couldn’t stop reading
Nathan Hystad did it again. Another fabulous series. Worth the many nights of reading. Can’t wait for the next series.
Nathan Hystad did it again. Another fabulous series. Worth the many nights of reading. Can’t wait for the next series.
October 23, 2024
A great adventure
A great story meeting many new friends and questionable allies following their quest and the magical way events came together.
A great story meeting many new friends and questionable allies following their quest and the magical way events came together.
October 28, 2024
Very enjoyable
Very good read with plenty of twists, turns and unexpected side tracks. I will look forward to seeing more from this author.
Very good read with plenty of twists, turns and unexpected side tracks. I will look forward to seeing more from this author.
November 19, 2024
A great journey
An enchanting historic event on planets unknown to us,
leaving an everlasting impression with each book.
I enjoyed all 4 books.
An enchanting historic event on planets unknown to us,
leaving an everlasting impression with each book.
I enjoyed all 4 books.
March 28, 2025
great read
Wonderful series filled with good characters and a great story line. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this series and look forward to more from this author.
Wonderful series filled with good characters and a great story line. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this series and look forward to more from this author.
August 26, 2025
books 3 and 4 slowed down a bit for me
October 20, 2025
May the River be With You
Great sorry telling, although it was difficult sometimes to sort out who was who. It’s always good to see the good guys win …
Great sorry telling, although it was difficult sometimes to sort out who was who. It’s always good to see the good guys win …
October 23, 2025
How many times does the reader need to know that the MC has an incurable ailment. FFS. LOTS of repetition of information makes this tedious to listen to. The storyline itself is intriguing and the baddy race changes as the story continues.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews