This was a fairly short, fast-paced, scifi action story. Our main character is Dalton, who was heading down the path of oblivion after his dad’s death back home. He’d been in the military, and gets recruited for a mission in space. This could make him rich… if he survives, of course.

We meet Dalton, and his shipmates Neera and Boreau, as they are trying to win over a new species called the Minarchs. These beings have insect-like bodies, and the females of the species are in charge. Another race is also trying to court them to their side. While Neera, Dalton, and one representative of the other race are planetside, their ships get into a fight up above, and annihilate each other. This leaves these three stranded until anyone else from their federations arrive to claim them.

Neera spends most of the rest of the book hiding in their lander. But, she wants Dalton in the main city, mixing it up with the Minarchs, so they don’t lose the precious opportunity of winning them over. Of course, Dalton is a soldier and not a master diplomat.

The leader of the city decides to take Dalton as her fourth consort. The first has been eaten, but numbers two and three are alive, and try to coach him on what this position entails. The other race’s representative, who Dalton names Breaker, is a little miffed that he wasn’t picked, as he is obviously a stronger specimen. But is this really an honor, or is the leader using Dalton as a pawn in some political game?

The two former enemies, Breaker and Dalton, become comrades of a sort. Breaker even starts training Dalton in some of his homeworld’s fighting techniques. Dalton is eventually called on to fight, too, as the political factions become more aggressive with each other.

One ongoing foible in this book is that their translators don’t know every word from each others’ languages. So sometimes, as various characters are talking, the translator hazards a guess as to what is meant… with low levels of certainty. Dalton has to make decisions, therefore, without knowing what is really meant. This plays into the action a lot.

An intriguing part of the Dalton/Breaker bromance is that Breaker offers Dalton a momento of his “partner,” who was killed on his ship. We have no idea if this is a partner of a romantic nature or not. Neera is convinced that Dalton has accepted a blood debt, and that Breaker is going to kill him. She pushes Dalton often to try to kill Breaker, but he just won’t do it.

Finally, Neera is forced to use her lander’s weapons to break Dalton out of the city. They’ve officially lost any upper hand with the Minarchs, and so they try to lay low outside the city until help arrives. Breaker’s people arrive first, and he comes for Dalton with just pages left of the book. What happens next… is a bit of a surprise. And then the book is just over. No winding down here!

If you’re into aliens, action, fighting, and political intrigue… with a side of humor, for sure… this might be for you.

The Fourth Consort is a new standalone science fiction novel from the currently red-hot Edward Ashton (writer of Mickey 7). The premise is relatively straightforward, but interesting. The dialogue is funny, but thoughtful. The book isn’t reinventing the wheel, but I still had a good time.

Dalton Greaves is one of humankind’s first representatives to Unity, a pan-species confederation working to bring all sentient life into a single benevolent brotherhood. That’s what he was told when he signed up anyway. Now he is on a long-haul crew indentured to spread galactic “peace and harmony” to new species and help them get uplifted before a different evil cosmic organization (The Assembly) can corrupt potential new members with their wayward ideas.

Dalton and the other members of his team land on a new alien planet populated by horrifying insectoid alpha predators. In the process of negotiating their new membership, an Assembly cruiser arrives. The Unity and Assembly cruisers murder each other’s crews and destroy all their spacecraft, leaving only Dalton and the Assembly ambassador to try and convince the natives to their side of the conflict. Dalton is then exposed to increasing levels of introspection that force him to cope with things like realizing he’s on the wrong side of history, trying to square his moral compass with a desire for survival, and processing becoming the fourth husband to an enormous ant queen alien.

The Fourth Consort is short, sweet, and feels like a small pool that is surprisingly deep. Ashton has a pretty transparent agenda from page one as to where the story is going, and he doesn’t waste a lot of time with subplots or side quests in his journey to take us to the meat of his idea. Dalton realizes fairly early on that he is likely working for the “bad guys” (with the bad guys essentially being capitalism), and is then set a harsh deadline with clear stakes that he must weigh before deciding which way to jump. It is a simple thematic setup, but there is an enjoyable number of perspectives and considerations explored before the leap is made.

While I thought the themes were fun and interesting, the plot was a little meandering and didn’t go anywhere particularly interesting. A huge part of the conflict resolution revolves around the clear buildup to a twist that is fairly telegraphed, and it makes the entire thing feel a little bit like an exercise in political theory more than a fleshed-out novel. I like the ideas on display here, but I wish the landscape surrounding the philosophies were a little more convincing.

The characters are very fun. Between Dalton, the Stickman (Assembly ambassador), and the insectoid aliens, there was a really good intersection of culture clash and character evolution. A pretty clever plot device that Ashton introduces is that Dalton’s translator is inadequate, but it uses algorithms to learn and improve its understanding of the other species’ languages as the book progresses. This begins with garbled and partially translated conversations at the start of the book, which become clearer and cleaner as the book progresses. Our protagonist mirrors this change, as he comes to understand and interact with these two different cultures himself. It is a fun and clever literary choice, and it greatly endeared the entire book to me.

In the end, The Fourth Consort was a quick read that I blasted through on a flight in a single sitting. Ashton didn’t provide me with the complete checklist of needs for me to put this on my favorite bookshelf, but what he did offer I enjoyed quite a lot. If you are looking for a short sci-fi banger and you enjoyed either Mickey7 or Mickey17, this will probably be right up your alley.

Rating: The Fourth Consort – 8.0/10
-Andrew

I thought this was an incredibly creative take on the outsider in a strange land theme. I liked that we, the reader, were stumbling along with Dalton figuring it out as we went and that he was able to do well given his "everyman" status. The ending was also really well done.

I enjoyed the book. It's an interesting tale about the merging of other cultures and lifestyles together. Ashton hit a chord with this book!!

SyFy romp into outer space, with other life forms. Different from what I usually read but equally enjoyable. Dalton Greaves was going nowhere with his life on Earth. On a mission to other inhabitable planets with a snail like leader and companion Neera. Dalton is to ally with planet natives but is busy trying to keep alive. Humor infused for a fun read.

⭐️: 4
The Fourth Consort was not at all what I was expecting, but that’s a-ok. It was a quick read that kept me engaged and not sure what was going to happen next. I especially enjoyed the banter and all the was and was not lost in translation between the different species.

The ending was satisfying enough to be a standalone but also set the scene for sequels, which I would read.

Not my favorite Edward Ashton book. I'm not a fan of political books, and unfortunately politics has a lot to do with the story. I really did not like Neera, but the other consorts were fun.

I ended up listening to the second half or so and I have no complaints about the audiobook.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital review copy.

Published by ‎ St. Martin's Press on February 25, 2025

‎I’m not sure if this was Edward Ashton’s intent — he may have intended only to entertain by crafting a science fiction thriller — but I view The Fourth Consort as an exploration of culture and the difficulty of understanding or adopting cultural norms that differ from our own. Like Mickey7, the novel is also about diplomacy and moral behavior as an alternative to fighting needless battles.

Ashton’s books tend to be uncomplicated stories that don’t require the support of a large cast of characters. In The Fourth Consort, two primary species are in interstellar conflict with each other. Both species are roaming around in our part of the universe in search of new species that might benefit from their guidance. One is called Unity; their leaders belong to a race of creatures with hard shells whose members are known as ammies. The other group is called the Assembly. Members of the race that dominates the Assembly are described as stickmen. The aliens are unimaginative, but that's a small knock on the story.

Unity visited Earth and made a lot of promises about forming an alliance that don’t seem to have been kept. Dalton Greaves is a human. Dissatisfied with his life, Dalton took a job with Unity in exchange for the promise of a vast fortune when he returns to Earth. Dalton’s job is to make first contact with aliens and act as a diplomat for Unity. He’s on a survey ship captained by an ammie named Boreau, who is probably more interested in taking a planet’s resources than in diplomacy.

The planet is populated by minarchs. Minarchs fight with their mandibles, supplemented by spears. Two political factions are struggling to control the planet. The city is ruled by something like a queen, but she is being challenged by members of the competing faction.

Dalton and another human, Neera Agarwal, take a lander to a planet, only to find that a stickman named Breaker has already made contact with the minarchs. The Assembly and Unity ships in orbit manage to destroy each other, leaving Dalton, Neera, and Breaker stranded on the planet. They nevertheless continue their diplomatic missions, a task Breaker pursues by trashing Dalton as a sneaky human who can't be trusted.

The story follows Dalton as he develops relationships with the minarch queen, her Counselor, the Prefect who wants to displace the queen, and Breaker. Dalton earns the minarchs’ respect (or triggers their fear) when he uses his bare hands to defeat a fearsome creature that attacks him in his room. Fortunately, the creature’s venom doesn’t kill humans, making Dalton seem more powerful to the minarchs than he actually is.

The queen takes a liking to Dalton and decides he will be her new consort. To his relief, Dalton won’t be required to have sex with the queen. He is nevertheless unhappy to learn that the queen ate her first consort. The second and third are marking time until they are devoured. Dalton is the fourth.

As events unfold, Dalton makes an enemy of the Prefect, whose lover is killed by the Counselor as she tries to protect Dalton. This leads to Dalton’s designation as the second in a duel between the Prefect and the Counselor. Minarchs tell him that honor compels him to fight his own duel with the Prefect. The duels are dictated by cultural norms that Dalton doesn’t share. Some people go all shivery at the mention of the word honor, but the novel suggests that dishonorable (or just stupid) behavior often results from cultural adherence to notions of honor that serve no purpose. The honor killings of female relatives after they are raped are a human example of abhorrent acts taken in the name of honor.

Novels often benefit from a protagonist who is forced to make a difficult moral choice. Dalton has to decide whether to let Neera rescue him with superior firepower. If he goes with her, his actions as a consort will reflect poorly upon the queen and will probably lead to her death. If he stays and battles the Prefect, his choice will probably cause his own death. If Dalton substitutes his own sense of honor for the views of the minarchs, what choice will he make?

Ashton always tells a good story. The novel moves quickly. It has enough action scenes to give it the feel of a science fiction thriller, but it also has some hidden depth. The characters have well-defined personalities. Ashton is a likeable guy who messed up his life and is trying to atone, or possibly to disappear. Either way, he remains true to himself, even when he must decide whether to make unselfish choices. The blend of action and philosophy has always drawn me to science fiction, and Ashton is following the best traditions of the genre.

RECOMMENDED

This is the first work of Ashton's that I read and I enjoyed it thoroughly. His characters are well-drawn with a good sense of humor and personality. I find that too often sci-fi authors give their characters a wooden disposition and never say anything mildly humorous or sarcastic. I think that's part of being human, and Ashton uses that to defuse tension like real people would given the insane situations.

I always have a super fun time with Edward Ashton's books, and this was no different! This book had a perfect combination of SciFi, aliens, and comedy (and it wasn't super cringy!). I was hoping this was going to go a different way than it did but it didn't really lower my enjoyment of the story. Unlikely friends is one of my favorite tropes and it was nice to see it in this book! My only complaint is that I had a hard time visualizing what the world/aliens looked like, but it really could've been a me problem and not a book problem. I did feel like the characters didn't really have much personality, but they were all different enough that it wasn't difficult to differentiate them from one another. I think Edward Ashton has a lot of potential to be the next big SciFi Comedy author and I'm lookking forward to see what he writes next!

This was a really fun book. I honestly thought that Dalton was pretty boring and I didn't like Neera at all, but the entire story came together into something I really enjoyed. I think at this point, Edward Ashton has cemented himself as a must read for me. The only other thing I think could have been better is that the descriptions of some of the aliens could have been a bit better because I had some trouble visualizing them. Otherwise, it was just a solid sci-fi adventure that felt like Hitchhiker's Guide with more action. Thanks for the ARC!

The Fourth Consort follows Dalton and Neera after they get stranded on a planet with a semi-developed alien society. While Neera stays behind with the ship, Dalton must navigate the pitfalls of politics and an unreliable translator, all while trying to remain as diplomatic as possible for when his agency returns to pick him and Neera up.

I absolutely loved this book. It was funny and witty with playful use of language. I loved how clever and underhanded some of the jokes were, particularly the banter between Neera and Dalton as well as between Second and Third Consort. I laughed out loud several times. I also thought the political machinations were entertaining and easy to follow.

I enjoyed Dalton as a main character as he was intelligent but not a know-it-all and could adapt to many situations that arose. The tidbits from Dalton's backstory also gave context to why he agreed to join this mission, but they didn't detract from the present day storyline.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anybody who wants a tongue-in-cheek sci-fi book with a focus on alien political and diplomatic negotiations. Even those who don't love books focused on politics I think could enjoy this book for the entertaining banter between characters and interesting worldbuilding. Definitely worth a read!

International diplomacy is tough, and interplanetary diplomacy must be a lot tougher. That may explain why relatively few science fiction novels about diplomacy exist. Keith Laumer’s “Retief” series is the only one that comes to mind immediately. After all, most science fiction worlds settle their differences with weaponry, not treaties. Edward Ashton, author of the offbeat novel, “Mickey Seven,” tries to find a peaceful solution to a tricky confrontation in his latest novel, “The Fourth Consort.” As with real-life diplomacy, the author’s effort has some stumbles along the way, but it is an overall entertaining success.

In the universe of “The Fourth Consort,” Earth is part of an interplanetary federation called Unity, led by a species of giant snails. Unity vessels cross the universe looking to persuade new planets to join for their “mutual benefit.” This interplanetary diplomacy is dangerous work (few recruits return from their ten-year hitches), but quite lucrative. The protagonist of “The Fourth Consort” is Dalton, a highly trained combat veteran, down on his luck in civilian life, who signs up for outer space duty despite a paucity of diplomatic skills. Dalton’s latest assignment is a planet populated by a species of enormous insects named minarchs, which Dalton describes as “the bastard child of a tarantula and a velociraptor.” But while Dalton tries to make his pitch on behalf of Unity, the representative of a competing federation called the Assembly advances the cause of that collective.

The plot of “The Fourth Consort” is complicated, but should be fairly easy for readers to follow. The minarchs are a female-dominant society, similar to praying mantises, and Dalton impresses the Queen so much that she names him her titular Fourth Consort. That might not be as great an honor as it seems, since, like praying mantises, male minarchs eventually “ascend,” never to be seen again. Dalton also makes friends, after a fashion, with the Assembly’s representative on the planet, a member of an extremely tall, skinny species Dalton dubs “stickmen.” The stickman enjoys lecturing Dalton on how the universe is filled with predators and prey. Stickmen and minarchs are apex predators; humans are clever, sneaky prey.

This last discussion is an example of the author’s playfulness that occurs throughout “The Fourth Consort.” Discussions between Dalton and the various minarchs are also filled with conversations like this that offer readers some entertaining food for thought. The minarchian society is a cross between the Knights of the Round Table and the Roman Colosseum. Those who enjoy science fiction action more than sociological dialogue will probably prefer the book’s second half. It features lots of palace intrigue involving a potential coup against the Queen. Ironically, Dalton becomes the Queen’s best hope for survival, having to fight a duel against the coup’s leader. The duel involves primitive close-quarter weaponry, and Dalton seems hopelessly outmatched against the larger, more powerful minarch. However, the duel’s resolution involves a great twist readers will really enjoy. (The duel raised my rating for the book.)

Edward Ashton’s writing style is not for everyone. “The Fourth Consort” has several flashbacks involving Dalton’s history and background on Earth and earlier on the mission. Most of these are needless and break up the flow of the story. The author could have provided the necessary information in a couple of paragraphs rather than a chapter. By taking readers away from the interplanetary setting and repeatedly returning to Dalton’s backstory on Earth, the author loses much of the atmosphere he has carefully established. One flashback potentially spoils one of the book’s great plot points for those who pay careful attention.

Dalton’s duel is the emotional highlight of “The Fourth Consort,” but the book does not end there. Instead, the story continues for a few listless chapters, which allow for a “surprise” ending that falls completely flat. This wobbly finish ruins some of the goodwill the author provided several chapters earlier.

“The Fourth Consort” is a flawed but entertaining book. Its social commentary is humorous and provocative. Readers won’t get much of a primer in advanced diplomacy, but the author creates three distinct social structures for the three main species and contrasts them well. There aren’t many laugh-out-loud moments here, but readers will probably smile and appreciatively nod their heads. Science fiction fans will enjoy consorting with “The Fourth Consort.”

NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.

2.5

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

The premise of The Fourth Condor immediately caught my attention, but the story just never fully connected for me. I struggled to stay engaged and found the repetitive use of “say/says” distracting enough that it pulled me out of the narrative. There were moments I appreciated – the humor and the translator technology were clever touches – but overall, it was hard to stay invested in the characters or plot. If this hadn’t been an ARC, I likely wouldn’t have finished it, and even then, I found myself skimming toward the end. While this one wasn’t a great fit for me, I can see it appealing to the right reader.

Dalton Greaves falls into work with Unity, a pan-species association that is attempting to bring all sentient life in the galaxy into a single group after his life on Earth takes a downturn. He doesn't ask a lot of questions when Neera, a human woman, recruits him.

Neera works with Boreau, a giant snail-like being, whose motives seem more mercenary, and financial, rather than in harmony with the ethos of Unity. The longer Dalton stays with Boreau, the more he thinks he's there to take the fall, and get eaten by any aliens they encounter while on a new Unity mission.

There is another confederation which is doing work similar to Unity, calling themselves the Assembly, who seem to actually seem to hue closer to their stated mission, to recruit new alien cultures to the Assembly so everyone can live harmoniously. The Assembly really, really does not like the Unity, and their new human servants, and in a battle between Boreau's ship and an Assembly cruiser over a newly discovered world, Dalton and Neera find themselves marooned on the planet below, with a stickman, an Assembly soldier, and the planet's native ruling species not happy with the humans.

Neera stays on board their ship, while Dalton and the stickman, named Breaker, are taken in by the nightmarishly insectoid ruling species. Dalton is held captive, and discovers he's in the middle of a political situation that the different sides of the species intend to solve violently.

Dalton learns more about the minarch species, and gradually befriends Breaker, much to Neera's consternation, whose intentions begin diverging from Dalton's the longer the spends with the minarch.

Edward Ashton's humour is present throughout this first contact story. Interestingly, while his “Mickey7” did not work for me, I greatly enjoyed this book. It's fast-paced, moves back and forth between Dalton's present circumstances and his dead end past, giving us a better picture of the man, and why he ends up jumping at Neera's offer. And why, despite all of Neera's urgings, finds himself empathizing with the very beings who constantly threaten to kill him, including Breaker, who proves to be such a wonderful character. The stickman is gently humorous, unexpectedly sensitive, and insightful. Dalton also connects with one of the minarch, the Counselor, who is trying to navigate an increasingly fraught situation within the minarch leadership, and who proves to be surprisingly sympathetic as the story progresses.

I also loved the ending, which though a little surprising, was also in keeping in with Dalton's responses to his evolving situation, leading to a resolution that was organic, and resolved Dalton's competing duties and interests.

I both listened and read this story, and greatly enjoyed the audiobook narrated by Barrie Kreinik, who perfectly captures Dalton's sarcasm, and empathy. I loved the way Kreinik voiced Neera, whose self-interest was delivered in a wryly funny way, and her Breaker made me sympathize almost immediately with this deadly and intriguing being.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for these ARCs in exchange for my review.

** 3.5 stars

what do you MEAN this is a standalone??


as per usual, i knew nothing going into this except that it was scifi. i certainly did not expect the fourth consort to literally mean the fourth consort. man was that a ride.

it took me at least 35% to really get invested. we start off with dalton and neera stuck on another planet with minarchs (which i imagined as giant praying mantes) that seem set on ripping their heads off. i didn't particularly like dalton, but i sure as hell didn't like neera, so i'm glad he was our protagonist.

when dalton gets into their city, that's when shit gets fun. my favorite part of this book was absolutely bob and randall. those are the aliens i love to see <3
plus our grumpy stickman breaker ... i was rooting for things to get a little ... interspecies-y between them, if you know what i mean. it was a great break from neera's crude hypocrisy and dalton's monologue of "i'm sure i just messed up, but idk what to do about it."

also, the random jumps to dalton's past felt sudden, and unnecessary at times considering the events aren't always explained. why is there a cliffhanger for something that happened years ago? i didn't totally mind a break in the middle of action, but if you want full fight scenes without a flashback and a jump forward, this could be a downside.

getting to see bob & randall and their poetic sarcasm regularly, plus the expansion of depth regarding what dalton's company is really doing, had me hooked. i love a sprinkle of politics in space. and that ENDING?? very happy with it, but also very sad that there's not a sequel planned.

overall, screw neera, dalton seems redeemable, and i love my alien men that let me have questionable ships.

**arc provided by netgalley**

Dalton Greaves decides to leave his lonely life on Earth behind and join the Unity, a pan-species confederation working to bring all sentient life into a single benevolent brotherhood, as one of the first human representatives. His job is to go down to potentially viable planets and scout whether or not they'd be a good match for Unity and convince them to join them instead of the competition, the Assembly. The two factions are so against each other that when two ships meet in the space over a non-aligned planet, they end up blowing each other up. Leaving Dalton, his human coworker Neera, and Breaker, the Assembly representative, stranded. The locals somewhat welcome Dalton and Breaker into their society as they await rescue, with Dalton getting the honor of becoming their queen's fourth consort. Now, Dalton will have to figure out a way to survive on a hostile planet while navigating politics and alien honor and morality systems with only his wits and a translator AI with an attitude.

It's a fascinating study of what makes something right when you're out of your element and survival is dubious. Dalton is so far removed from everything he knows that he's having to make things up as he goes, even as everyone around him is pushing him to do what they want. The small glimpses we get of his life on Earth help you see why he ends up making the choices he does and really help build the character. The work Ashton puts into every character to make them familiar yet alien, in more than just the fact that they are alien, is as much a driver of the plot as the events that take place.

I loved that the reader gets to question the morality and correctness of every character right along with Dalton, as his actions are also not always clear-cut. It's the kind of plot that makes you question right along with the main character if their actions are the right ones or if there could have been another option.

An interesting sci-fi read full of alien characters and in an alien world that feels increasingly human as it progresses.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the interesting read!

Edward Ashton has quickly become one of my fave sci-fi authors after my introductory read of Mickey7 (Mickey 17 to theater-goers) and the sequel, Antimatter Blues. The Fourth Consort is a stand-alone, full of humor, warmth, and deadly situations as Dalton Greaves tries to stay alive in this first-contact story.

Dalton becomes the titular fourth consort to the alien minarch city-leader/queen, which leaders other minarch factions to get mad. Lethally mad. The unnamed sorta-sentient AI translator Dalton uses doesn't quite get all the nuances of the minarch correct, which leads to diplomatic faux pas and confusion between Dalton, the minarch, and another first contact, the stickman Breaker. It's truly a comedy of errors, as Breaker and Dalton try to understand the varying morals and values of the minarch and those of each other.

It's funny; sly and sarcastic at times and yet also a very deep reflection on colonization, assimilation, being a token representative of a culture, and loyalty. It packs a lot of things into a slim book.

Imagine a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court + the Martian + C3PO + preying mantises + John Scalzi + Mur Lafferty.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this e-arc! 3/5 stars, an interesting enough sci fi read that falls a bit flat

personally, I think ashton's writing isn't my cup of tea - it's perfectly serviceable and he actually does a great job of drawing the more introspective, thoughtful parts of the narrative out in a way that goes along with the main plot relatively seamlessly. but overall, his writing is a bit bare bones for me - he did this, they did this, he said this, he's thinking this. that sort of writing works well in some genres, but I feel like it made this book feel a little flat - obviously, we see dalton's thoughts because this book is in his pov, but the rest of the characters, especially neera, feel underdeveloped and shallow because of his more straightforward writing style. the way the plot is fleshed out feels like you're being led blindfolded somewhere and you can touch the walls next to you, so you know there's something at least a little familiar, but you have no way to see or even hear what's going on around you - basically, I knew this was a sci fi book, but at no point did I really understand where it was going. if that's meant to make us feel exactly like dalton as he navigates the unfamiliar, then credit to ashton. but honestly, it just made me confused and I felt almost aimless as I tried to understand what was going on at any given moment. in addition to neera being absolutely unreadable and the minarchs throwing dalton into the deep end of understanding their culture, I'm honestly surprised I managed to tread water for so long and actually finish this. and right as the most interesting part of the book happens, it's literally the end - literally the second to last scene, and then it's over! I felt almost cheated because I saw breaker as the most interesting secondary character, and then everything ends before we even really start to understand what's going on. if ashton ever decides to write a follow up to this, I'd be more than interested in reading it, but I do suppose the mystery of it all is half the fun. overall, an unpredictable, if somewhat frustrating, read.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press, author Edward Ashton, and NetGalley for providing me an eARC. This review reflects my honest opinion and rating.

3 STARS

The Fourth Consort will likely most appeal to fans of Star Trek the Original, TNG, or Voyager. Dalton is your run-of-the-mill recruit for The Unity (think a shady Federation). He lands his space-faring AI ship and pursues a successful completion to a first contact mission with a native bug-people race. The only catch is that Dalton must forge an alliance with the bug natives in competition with the Unity's enemy, the Assembly, whose "stick men" enforcers have also arrived on the planet.

On the positive side, snappy pacing carries the book. Both the dialogue and the situations are faintly humorous.

My issue with the book was its mediocrity. It's unoffensive, like an average adventure of the week Trek episode. However, the plot never ratcheted up and evoked excitement or high anticipation from me. There are no overarching themes or messages that would make the story memorable.

I recommend The Fourth Consort to someone who wants an entertaining, breezy sci-fi adventure read.