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The Crypt - Original Podcast #1
The Crew
It is the best-kept and worst-kept secret in the Planetary Union navy. The PUV James Keeling, a warship that does things that no other ship can do. It is a weapon, and a liability. The rumor is that eighty percent of the people assigned to the Keeling die before their two-year stint is up. That rumor is the reason for the ship’s nickname — they call the Keeling “the Crypt,” because it is full of the dead. Those with a promising career, those with connections, those that can can avoid service on the Keeling do just that.
But still, the ship must fight, and for that, it needs a crew. The navy assigns the worst of the worst: cowards, thieves, murderers, rapists or those with nowhere else to go, no way to opt out. Your choice is simple: be executed for your crimes, or serve two years on the keeling. If you make it out alive, your record is wiped clean and you get a fresh start.
For this crew of just over 100 souls, it will be the longest two years they have ever faced. What is this ship? Where did it come from? And why, oh, why, won’t everyone stop screaming …
But still, the ship must fight, and for that, it needs a crew. The navy assigns the worst of the worst: cowards, thieves, murderers, rapists or those with nowhere else to go, no way to opt out. Your choice is simple: be executed for your crimes, or serve two years on the keeling. If you make it out alive, your record is wiped clean and you get a fresh start.
For this crew of just over 100 souls, it will be the longest two years they have ever faced. What is this ship? Where did it come from? And why, oh, why, won’t everyone stop screaming …
22 pages, Audiobook
First published January 1, 2008
13 people are currently reading
688 people want to read
About the author
Scott Sigler
133 books4,336 followersTHE CRYPT: SHAKEDOWN is Book I of a new five-book series. It’s out October 3, 2023 in hardcover, eBook, and audiobook narrated by Ray Porter.
iTunes by subscribing to his podcast.
#1 New York Times best-selling author Scott Sigler is the creator of fifteen novels, six novellas and dozens of short stories. He gives away his stories as weekly, serialized, audiobooks, with over 40 million episodes downloaded.
Scott launched his career by releasing his novels as author-read podcasts. His rabid fans were so hungry for each week’s episode that they dubbed themselves the “Junkies.” The first hit is always free …
He is also is a co-founder of Empty Set Entertainment, which publishes his Galactic Football League series. He lives in San Diego, CA, with his wife and wee little Dogs of Døøm.
iTunes by subscribing to his podcast. #1 New York Times best-selling author Scott Sigler is the creator of fifteen novels, six novellas and dozens of short stories. He gives away his stories as weekly, serialized, audiobooks, with over 40 million episodes downloaded.
Scott launched his career by releasing his novels as author-read podcasts. His rabid fans were so hungry for each week’s episode that they dubbed themselves the “Junkies.” The first hit is always free …
He is also is a co-founder of Empty Set Entertainment, which publishes his Galactic Football League series. He lives in San Diego, CA, with his wife and wee little Dogs of Døøm.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
July 23, 2012
Not bad. I was a little disappointed that we never actually got to get on board "The Crypt" and that there was no central plot whatsoever. The whole book is basically a series of short stories introducing a large array of characters who for one reason or another earn themselves a two year military stint on the space vessel The PUV Keeling - ie "The Crypt." So named because it has an 80% mortality rate and not all from combat missions. As such, The Crypt is typically crewed by deserters and criminals and the like who have "volunteered" as a means of opting out of the death penalty ie death by "venting."
I suppose if you view the book as a compendium of short stories and just enjoy them individually they are pretty good ranging from space battles with marines boarding enemy vessels to stealth missions in space as well as planetside and there's also a pretty sweet zombie story to boot. These stories also serve as world building and introduces us to the various political factions in the crypt universe.
My favourite and the longest story was "The Washington DC" - a stealth craft stalking an enemy research vessel using "biological systems" of detection to avoid giving off heat and electronic signatures. On this ship disembodied "brains" make up a "group mind" that serves as the ships AI.
The vast cast promises an expansive story in subsequent books and I would so hope Sigler delivers. The next book when it comes out supposedly sees us on board the Keeling with our current crew's first mission so that sounds promising. I gave this 3 stars which I may revise up depending on where the story goes in the next book.
I should also point out there is an excessive amount of swearing which is apparently a marines first language - so that may be off putting to some.
I suppose if you view the book as a compendium of short stories and just enjoy them individually they are pretty good ranging from space battles with marines boarding enemy vessels to stealth missions in space as well as planetside and there's also a pretty sweet zombie story to boot. These stories also serve as world building and introduces us to the various political factions in the crypt universe.
My favourite and the longest story was "The Washington DC" - a stealth craft stalking an enemy research vessel using "biological systems" of detection to avoid giving off heat and electronic signatures. On this ship disembodied "brains" make up a "group mind" that serves as the ships AI.
The vast cast promises an expansive story in subsequent books and I would so hope Sigler delivers. The next book when it comes out supposedly sees us on board the Keeling with our current crew's first mission so that sounds promising. I gave this 3 stars which I may revise up depending on where the story goes in the next book.
I should also point out there is an excessive amount of swearing which is apparently a marines first language - so that may be off putting to some.
June 28, 2018
This was intended to be the first book in a series that never happened, so what we're left with is essentially an anthology of stories that mostly involve ruthless people getting caught doing terrible things so that they are assigned to crew a mysterious spaceship used for secret, dangerous missions.
But we never really get to the ship, because these chapters are (nearly) all about getting people recruited. So, we're left with something that must have been an interesting writing exercise from Scott Sigler -- within that tight storytelling framework, how can he introduce a variety of different characters and backgrounds? He manages it, though of course some stories are better than others and the format becomes pretty tired by the end. Still, there's some interesting touches and the bits of worldbuilding that he does are intriguing. Nevertheless, this is hard to recommend since the series never went anywhere.
But we never really get to the ship, because these chapters are (nearly) all about getting people recruited. So, we're left with something that must have been an interesting writing exercise from Scott Sigler -- within that tight storytelling framework, how can he introduce a variety of different characters and backgrounds? He manages it, though of course some stories are better than others and the format becomes pretty tired by the end. Still, there's some interesting touches and the bits of worldbuilding that he does are intriguing. Nevertheless, this is hard to recommend since the series never went anywhere.
April 10, 2025
This is my first and probably last book by Scott Segler. The premise of the book was a good idea but the flow was slow and cluttered. The best part of the book was the epilogue. Enough said!
December 15, 2010
This is yet another awesome book put out by Sigler, made only more awesome by the fact that other famous podiobook authors contributed their input to this series. Normally this might make for a few too many chefs stirring the pot, but no- this worked out wonderfully.
The characters in this book were great & I honestly can't wait for the next book in the series to come out. The only thing I can see people getting a little irritated with is that this book pretty much focuses on crew introductions, hence the title. (Although the irritation will be more from them wanting more book & not wanting to wait for our FDO to put out more!)
The characters in this book were great & I honestly can't wait for the next book in the series to come out. The only thing I can see people getting a little irritated with is that this book pretty much focuses on crew introductions, hence the title. (Although the irritation will be more from them wanting more book & not wanting to wait for our FDO to put out more!)
August 24, 2018
Scott never ceases to impress me with his incredibly original and fresh settings. Four stars because there is no print version and it was never expanded upon. It was mostly just a collection of origin stories of the crew. If Scott were to go back and give it a second treatment like he has done with Earthcore I'm sure it would by a 5 star worthy entry, and I would love to see him continue the series. Another impressive entry from the FDO.
November 16, 2023
I was really into it until the last hour, then I got bored.
I don't know if I would bother with the second one, still love the unverse that Sigler created and loved all the GFL books and their companion audiobooks, listed to every single one.
I don't know if I would bother with the second one, still love the unverse that Sigler created and loved all the GFL books and their companion audiobooks, listed to every single one.
November 16, 2021
I liked this book as a collection of short stories, but it was quite unsatisfying not being able to get any narrative around what is actually happening in the ship.
October 14, 2023
Spoilers!
The most boring 2D dull characters, with jumping stories, none of which are at all gripping enough to keep you going.
The most boring 2D dull characters, with jumping stories, none of which are at all gripping enough to keep you going.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 27, 2023
Absolutely amazing!! My husband couldn't put it down!!
November 16, 2023
Space and space warfare is unimaginatively depicted as a slight variant from WWI/WWII submarine warfare. I had trouble suspending disbelief so many times in this book.
June 28, 2024
I liked the very end cliff hanger. Overall I prefer Scott's other books more.
February 23, 2017
When does book 2 come out?!?
February 1, 2014
I really loved the podcast version of the novel Infected and Scott Sigler's great performance of it and went on to listen to and also buy some print copies of and buy as presents for family and friends the SF horror thriller suspense novels Contagion, Ancestor, Earthcore, and Nocturnal, and am looking forward to Pandemic. As a person who pretty much hates contemporary team sports and the culture of spectator sports (especially football in the UK, where I live), i am not really attracted to the future galactic sports novels so I haven't bothered with those.
This book has some good characters and some interesting story lines, but is a bit repetitive. It's like an extended first reel of a caper movie where we meet each member of the team, learn their back story, their special skills, etc. But I'm thinking, we're being introduced to so many people who are each going to be assigned to the PUV James Keeling, that it'll be impossible for me to remember who they all are. Essentially, it's like a collection of short stories, all with the same punch line, So I'm nearing the end of the book and wondering when the narrative is going to pick up. And because most of the characters are military types in military scenarios, the performance often tends to the "shouty", which gets a bit wearing. So overall, a bit disappointing, but an interesting premise, and hopefully the next book will take wings.
This book has some good characters and some interesting story lines, but is a bit repetitive. It's like an extended first reel of a caper movie where we meet each member of the team, learn their back story, their special skills, etc. But I'm thinking, we're being introduced to so many people who are each going to be assigned to the PUV James Keeling, that it'll be impossible for me to remember who they all are. Essentially, it's like a collection of short stories, all with the same punch line, So I'm nearing the end of the book and wondering when the narrative is going to pick up. And because most of the characters are military types in military scenarios, the performance often tends to the "shouty", which gets a bit wearing. So overall, a bit disappointing, but an interesting premise, and hopefully the next book will take wings.
October 10, 2012
This was a disappointment frankly. The crew is a wonderful writing exercise rather than a novel. Not to say that it isn't an interesting writing exercise, but a writing exercise just the same.
This novel is really a series of character vinettes with the common theme of everyone joining the crew of a space ship called the crypt. So you get a chapter of how this particular character joins the crew, and a different character the next chapter and so on. Occasionally, a character comes back and is instrumental in recruiting another character but that is rare. You get to know a character for a chapter and never seem them again.
There is no story to it. The story comes later in a novella which is the sequel. This to is disappointing because it is so short you don't get the feel for the characters and their situation.
This is strictly for hardcore Scott Sigler junkies. If you are not one of them pass this one up. This is a fantastic writer with some fantastic stories to tell start with Infected, Earth Core, Ancestor or the Rookie.
This novel is really a series of character vinettes with the common theme of everyone joining the crew of a space ship called the crypt. So you get a chapter of how this particular character joins the crew, and a different character the next chapter and so on. Occasionally, a character comes back and is instrumental in recruiting another character but that is rare. You get to know a character for a chapter and never seem them again.
There is no story to it. The story comes later in a novella which is the sequel. This to is disappointing because it is so short you don't get the feel for the characters and their situation.
This is strictly for hardcore Scott Sigler junkies. If you are not one of them pass this one up. This is a fantastic writer with some fantastic stories to tell start with Infected, Earth Core, Ancestor or the Rookie.
March 29, 2016
This was really a lot of fun. All the book really does is introduce you to the main players that will be on the deck of the PUV James Keeling as they gear up for the next mission! This looks like the start of a great series... So we meet the crew one by one and find out what they did to deserve such a place/assignment aboard The Crypt, whether through misconduct, or the extreme bad luck of being in the wrong place at the wrong time...
I found this book at podiobooks and it is set up like a serialization of short stories creating an overarching theme with each part basically about the next crewman/victim that makes the cut. So it's super easy to grab a chapter to listen to. I do hope that there will be another book soon.
I found this book at podiobooks and it is set up like a serialization of short stories creating an overarching theme with each part basically about the next crewman/victim that makes the cut. So it's super easy to grab a chapter to listen to. I do hope that there will be another book soon.
August 7, 2010
These characters are fantastic, and I can't wait to see how they all work together on the Crypt; the creepy ship they're all doomed to.
What made it difficult to track with sometimes was the lack of a plot. It's a collection of short stories/stories that provide the background on all the characters of the next book. You should completely listen to all of the stories, because they are each very interesting and develop the characters for the story. If you don't like short story collections, you could listen to this in pieces as you meet the characters in the next novel so you don't miss out. Most of the chapters mark the character in the title, so you'd be able to find them easily.
What made it difficult to track with sometimes was the lack of a plot. It's a collection of short stories/stories that provide the background on all the characters of the next book. You should completely listen to all of the stories, because they are each very interesting and develop the characters for the story. If you don't like short story collections, you could listen to this in pieces as you meet the characters in the next novel so you don't miss out. Most of the chapters mark the character in the title, so you'd be able to find them easily.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 20, 2011
The Crew sets up what promises to be his crowning work. So much potential, and it's the heart of his attraction: gritty, hard science fiction. Same universe as his GFL series, but not YA in the least. Scary, shocking sometimes, dark, harrowing (oh, passenger virus, you sweet wonderful plot device), despairing, haunted, and "real" characters.
When he gets to Book 3, and he'd better hurry, this series will be what he's remembered for.
On the subject of his universe, at a book reading in Cambridge, MA, he stated that all his books will tie together. I think I peed myself a little.
When he gets to Book 3, and he'd better hurry, this series will be what he's remembered for.
On the subject of his universe, at a book reading in Cambridge, MA, he stated that all his books will tie together. I think I peed myself a little.
February 25, 2016
Set somewhere between the GFL series and the rest of his wonderful Siglervers novels this is a much anticipated start to a new series. The author had several projects going on at one time and took some excellent advice and prioritized his project list and is currently knocking out one project at a time. Needless to say that doing so will preserve the quality of work that Scott writes and I will be one of his patient junkies and devour his next book in anticipation to when this series continues.
September 14, 2010
The cast of characters is so huge that I found myself twitching. Though it was neat to have something that looked like a whole bunch of little short stories all compacted into the same universe. I am excited to see where this goes in the future in spite of the need for a notebook to keep track of who is who.
May 25, 2011
This book is a part of my 50-fiction-works-to-read before I can start my own novel. Therefore, my review is simply a two sentence summation of my analytical observations based upon personal style.
Believable characters and valuable backstory which prefaces future motivations. Gripping tale of the Crew - has me wanting more from the author.
Believable characters and valuable backstory which prefaces future motivations. Gripping tale of the Crew - has me wanting more from the author.
April 29, 2013
I really enjoyed this book. It's basically a science fiction horror novel based around how all the crew members of a prison exploration sheep is formed. Most people are given the option of death or become a member of the "crypt" for two year. Most pick death.
Looking forward to book 2!
Looking forward to book 2!
November 12, 2014
This was an interesting addition to the Scott Sigler universe. This book added a lot of history and context to the universe, government's, and races that Scott has been building throughout his books. I can't wait until the next one
November 5, 2016
Having listened to this for the second time, after reading all of Scott Sigler's other books I enjoyed it even more. Spotting links to his other works, and seeing the potential for where this story can go leaves me in anticipation for more!
February 6, 2017
A great intro to a potentially excellent series of books. The introduction of the crew and their backgrounds is a good start for any series. Just wish Scott would get the next book on the go, he's left me on the edge of my seat!
June 28, 2010
Scott Sigler writes action like no-one else. I thoroughly enjoyed this podiobook and recommend it very much to people who enjoy really action packed writing. He is a great reader as well.
August 8, 2016
Excellent as usual. Scott just gets better and better especially now he has ventured into space.
November 1, 2010
Great, Scott Rocks !!!!!
February 16, 2011
Brilliant. My favorite author. Can't choose a favorite book though!
March 12, 2011
Getting to know the crew was awesome. I can't wait till all together in the story.
Read
April 16, 2012Listening to the podcast. On part 7. Damn, how many characters are in this thing? So GRRM.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews