This is an interesting book. Set in the near-ish future, there are sentient species throughout the galaxy, with two groups vying for dominance of worlds that have not joined the larger community. Dalton is a human that is recruited by one of these groups to be a grounder, or the person that initially goes down to newly discovered worlds. This book explores cultures and how beings fit within them. Dalton has always been told that his employer is the benevolent group, while the other is bad. But what if that isn’t quite right? He ends up stranded on a planet and is pulled into the political intrigues of the local species, all while trying to figure out Breaker, a representative from the “other” galaxy spanning group. What will Dalton do to survive? Does his life mean more than an entire species? All of these questions are touched on throughout the book.

No job, no family, no girlfriend, Dalton signs on for space service with the ammies (giant snails). The ammies compete with the Assembly, another alien race. The ammies portray themselves as the good guys, but is that the truth? The story unfolds on a planet run by giant ants and with Dalton and Breaker (a stickman from the Assembly) vying for favor.
I wasn’t sure what to expect at first, but before long, I was completely captivated. Dalton’s and Breaker’s characters evolve during the story, which is complex with cultural differences.
I enjoyed the story and the ending was unexpected, but perfect.
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

This was an interesting read, though I found Dalton Greaves to be not quite as charming as Mickey, from Ashton's previous books. The flashbacks to bits of Dalton's life on Earth reminded me a bit of Andy Weir's writing. To be honest, I had a hard time picturing the different alien species and ended up thinking of them as giant insects. And I am still confused as to why Dalton became a consort at all.

An exciting space job was supposed to be the way for Dalton to get away from his boring, sad life on Earth. However his latest mission turned out to be over his head. He has encountered scary aliens he is to appease but the AI translator isn’t even sure that it has explained its culture or language correctly. Soon his life depends on his actions. The Fourth Consort by Edward Ashton uses snark, humor and miscommunication to provide excitement toward the next page. Ashton employed humor in his Mickey7 duology, but it fell flat for me because of the sadness and fear that kept cropping up. In this novel it is well used in Dalton’s narrative and other character’s comments also. In addition there are well developed secondary characters who we are trying to decipher all the way to the ending. The Fourth Consort is a fun science fiction romp with aliens and new civilizations to learn. I think that Ashton would do well to continue with more episodes/ sequels trying to bring other alien groups together. True science fiction with stakes, but fun.

Alien diplomacy, extraterrestrial political intrigue, and humor
Dalton Graves meets Neera Agarwal in a bar in West Virginia, but their encounter is far from the usual bar hookup. Neera recruits Dalton to work for Unity, a pan-species interplanetary group whose goal is to promote good relations among all sentient species. Dalton anticipates some exciting times, but they go beyond expectation, like participating in duels and serving as a consort to the First-Among-Equals of one of the species Unity is trying to recruit.
Needless to say, Dalton finds himself dealing with quite a diverse group of people (He and Neera are the only humans in the book.), and this is both the strength and, to this reader, the weakness of The Fourth Consort. It was difficult for me to keep all the characters and species straight. A great deal of attention was given to setting up the situation and the relationships and giving background. Many SF fans may enjoy this; I wanted to action to get going sooner than it did. I would also have liked to see more character development and exploration. There were some interactions between Dalton and a “stickman” known as Breaker that were nice, but it was hard to see the motivation of most of the entities.
One element that DID take off quickly, though, was the humor, and my Kindle has a goodly number of Ha ha’s in the margins.
As the book ends, Dalton signs up for more adventures and exploration, so readers who enjoy intergalactic adventures may be hearing about them in the future.
I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press

This is my first book by this author as someone who doesn't typically read sci-fi. This book was funny, but in a tasteful way. It was really well-written and it was a great introduction to me for this author.

Edward Ashton's (author of Mickey7, soon to be a movie under the title Mikey17) newest stand-alone science fiction novel presents us with an first contact adventure story that is also an exploration of both honor and the "stranger in a strange world" style adventure. This book shocked me in how effortlessly funny it could be at times and yet also very poignant.

On it''s surface, this is a story about a pair of humans (Dalton and Neera), working for an interstellar "organization" (polity? empire? it is very unclear) called Unity who are stranded on a first-contact world after their employer (patron species?) destroys their starship against the ship of Unity's great adversary, the Assembly. Both sides claim to be working for the betterment of intelligent species in the galaxy, but as becomes clearer over the course of the novel...maybe Unity isn't as good as it claims to be? Stranded with them is an agent of Assembly, a "stickman" who goes by the name Breaker, and it is Dalton and Breaker who are led off to the "capital city" (it isn't, but it also is) of the alien civilization (the "minarchs") on the unnamed planet.

The plot more or less moves on from there as Dalton, our viewpoint character, learns about the minarchs and gets caught up in their internal politics. There's a lot to unpack in all of this, which the novel deftly does over its sparse number of pages. A lot of the nature of predator and prey species is explored as well as the nature of honor, which is different for all species present in the story. We slowly begin to wonder whether Unity is as noble as it seems, or what exactly is going on with the minarch civilization.

I do wish there had been a tad more world-building regarding Unity and Assembly. I'm all for "show don't tell," but I had a lot of questions regarding why Dalton would just take Breaker at his word (though lying certainly seems to be anathema to them). A bit of first hand desciption of what Unity had been truly up to might have helped things. Likewise, Neera comes across as extraordinarily shallow (until the very very very end) in her wants and desires.

But that's beside the point. This book at points is laugh out loud hilarious ("Bob" and "Randall" are particular highlights - I enjoyed every scene they were in), a fascinatingly alien civilization/culture, hints of a possible wider story in the future (I don't know if Ashton plans on writing more set in this universe, but I'd be up for it) and an excellent exploration of what makes humans different (I never saw the climax coming). Really enjoyed this and recommend it to anyone interested in good first-contact story.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance reader copy. All opinions are my own and are uncompensated. The Fourth Consort is out February 25th and you can preorder it now!

This fast-paced exploration of cultural differences, honor, and human expectations is a lot of fun. You are thrown right into the action and it doesn’t slow down, with really strong pacing. There isn’t really a lot of meat on the bones here, which is perfectly fine. The story has an objective and the writing and pacing outline and aim toward that the whole time, so you are never bored.

The main character was interesting and felt genuine and understandable. The ancillary characters were fun, but I do think they could have been filled out a little more. That is especially true for two of the ancillary characters, Neera and Breaker, both who had an important influence on our main character’s journey. They both were fun, but felt like they had more potential. Another pair of ancillary characters, the second and third consorts, provided a wonderfully dry comic relief and they fulfilled their narrative role splendidly. Overall the characters were fun and worked in the story, but across the board we could have spent a little more time with any of them and I wouldn’t have minded.

The writing was simple and direct, which worked for the story. Sometimes it felt a little too self-aware for my tastes, once in a while being a little heavier handed on the meta sarcasm than needed, which did take away a little of the gravitas that the character and situation kind of warranted. It was never too excessive though, it was just a few one-liners that felt like a hat on a hat. However, overall the tone worked, and approached a life-and-death situation with a levity that made it fun to tag along. Every chapter we got one paragraph or so, usually but not always at the start of a chapter, describing something about our main character’s past, filling in his life history, especially as it applies to whatever situation that chapter finds him in. Some of these felt a little too convenient, but overall it was a really effective structure. It never slowed down the main action, allowing for the tight and propulsive pacing to continue, but it gave more color to the character and to his reactions and decisions.

The story did approach some interesting ideas, but it never went that far with any of them. Obviously the overall intergalactic projects of the two companies, the Unity and the Assembly, to make contact with and safeguard/shepherd sentient life on other planets, has a whole lot of social and moral ideas wrapped up in it, ideas that are never really explored. What is more explored is the idea of honor, and what it means to be truthful to yourself in the face of differing cultural expectations. These ideas were interesting, but these too felt pretty simplistic in their exploration. While our main character had the appearance of going on an inner journey it didn’t feel all that profound or remarkable. This is in part because we didn’t see him acting in any ways contradictory to the moral place he ends up, we just have to trust that this was a journey for him, especially as it is contrasted with his coworker’s decisions. So I wasn’t entirely sold on the journey, nor on the depth of investigation into any of the ideas that are broached, but you know what? That is perfectly fine. Because this story was quick and fun and to the point, and the fact that it very explicitly even brought up these ideas gave me something to think about. There wasn’t a lot of internal wrestling on the characters’ parts but that doesn’t mean they didn’t offer interesting things to explore outside of the story’s pages. Plus, while I don’t know how epic or transformative of an inner journey our main character may have gone on, I still really enjoyed where he ended up. It felt like the right place for our character, and it was a satisfying way for the events of the story to unfold. Nothing felt forced or hackneyed, and even the story developments that were expected were still enjoyable.

This story is quick and fun, with interesting characters and alien races that I enjoyed spending time with. The writing and style for the story well, being very fast-paced with a story that kept you turning pages. The world-building was simple but effective, an expanded version of our world that was easy to fall into and felt believable. I wouldn’t have minded if some of the ancillary characters had a little more to do, and maybe if there were a few other misdirects or supplementary stories or ideas explored, but that is because I enjoyed the world and characters and felt the time with them too brief. Yes, the story could have gone a little deeper, but it is hard to fault it for not overstaying its welcome, especially if the ride is as fun as this one is.

I want to thank the author, the publisher St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I really wanted to love this, I feel like a lot of good elements were there, but for me, it just didn't quite come out the way I hoped. I think a lot of the tone of the book kept changing and I couldn't keep up.

This was a fun and yet thought provoking read. I really enjoyed the characters and the writing was great. The pacing was a tad on the slow side, but the story was fascinating and very intriguing. It is my understanding that this is a standalone novel, but I am certainly hoping for more books covering the adventures of Dalton and Breaker.

The book is told from the point of view of Dalton. Dalton is a very relatable character, mostly because he is human, unlike many of the characters in the story. But Dalton felt like a real person, he is indecisive at times, makes mistakes, but has a strong sense of morality and what he feels is right. Of course this gets him into all sorts of trouble when it comes to dealing with aliens who have a totally different code of ethics and morals. But somehow Dalton perseveres and manages to survive. I really liked listening in on his thoughts and feelings as he struggled to figure out what was really going on in the civilization he found himself in.

Neera is the other human trapped on the world with him. We don’t get to know her well, but I didn’t like her very much. She seemed to be involved with this whole thing just to make lots of money and didn’t seem to care how that affected the natives of the planet. She wasn’t very supportive of Dalton and his issues either, which was weird considering their situation.

Breaker was the representative from the Assembly who also gets marooned on the planet. He was an interesting character and was often a good sounding board for Dalton as he struggled to understand the Minarch’s culture. Breaker seemed to understand the minarchs better than Dalton. This might be because the Assembly did their homework better than Unity did or it might be that Breaker’s culture was enough similar to theirs to give him an edge. I did enjoy watching the friendship develop between these two and learning a little bit about Breaker’s culture.

The aliens that Dalton encounters were really interesting. They were an insect like people who were the apex predators of their planet. Their society was sort of insect like with a queen, lots of female workers and then the males who were kept in harems and traded like a commodity among the different factions. It was a really interesting concept. I loved the two consorts that Dalton spent time with, they were quite the comedic duo and often made me smile with their comments. The Queen was quite terrifying but Dalton managed to keep her a bay while struggling to keep himself alive.

The writing was great, especially the descriptions of the planet and the different creatures that inhabited it. There were some great themes woven into the story, especially that had to do with what the two groups, Assembly and Unity, were perhaps up to. This was a great first contact story that was heavily influenced by colonialism and racism. I liked it when one of the other non human characters calls Dalton out on his assigning human nicknames to them and how insulting that really was. There are a lot of instances of this throughout the book.

There is some cool tech in this book as well, but I especially liked the somewhat sentient AI earworm that translates the languages for Dalton. It is sarcastic and funny at times, especially when it is struggling to give an accurate translation that has words it really isn’t sure what they mean. A lot of this story circles around language and the many meanings of words as well as cultural differences.

Sorry this has turned into such a long review, but as I said this one gave me a lot of interesting things to think about. I really hope that this isn’t a stand alone and that we get to see Dalton and Breaker again. Perhaps they will wind up with Mickey on his planet in the future. If you are looking for a sort of light yet thought provoking science fiction story this is one you might want to pick up.

While the work started off strong, I felt like it started lagging near the middle. I kept waiting for it to venture more deeply into the politics of the alien world, or some stronger worldbuilding, or some in-depth character development, but none of these things really happened. Things generally remained surface level. The protagonist was relatively passive throughout most of the book, which really made it difficult to engage with him.

I did enjoy the aspects of the book that dealt with "predator" versus "prey" species and how that would change the species' gut reactions to things. The translator was a fun addition and I enjoyed its personality. The aspects surrounding language barriers and errors in translation (especially relating to tones) was also fun. And the author's portrayal of the human species was also accurate and added much to the work.

This one was a bit of a mixed bag, and ended up just being somewhat average for me. If you enjoy very light sci-fi, then you'll probably enjoy this one. My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I’ve drifted away from sci-fi over the years, but The Fourth Consort reminded me why I used to enjoy the genre so much. It’s a witty, lighthearted take on alien-human politics and first contact, with a strong dose of wry humor and interspecies diplomacy. While it doesn’t dive deep into character development or overwhelm you with complex science, that’s part of its charm. This is a sci-fi story that focuses on being an entertaining read rather than a technical one. If you’re in the mood for something clever and accessible, this is a great pick!

3 stars.
Creative SciFi story that approached the "first contact" storyline from a novel angle. I did have difficulty picturing the various non-human creatures and would have appreciated either an illustration or better description in the story.

This was a fun, relatively light sci-fi read. It was mostly obvious where things were heading in the book, but the journey included a lot of humor and some interesting first-contact and translation issues. The world building wasn't extensive, but it fit the flow of the book and kept things light. I felt the ending didn't live up to the rest of the book, but it didn't detract from it too much, either. It did leave room for the story to continue.

This was an overall very enjoyable read, and I would recommend it to patrons both new to sci-fi and those who are already fans of the genre.

The Fourth Consort is a first contact sci-fi novel with a lot of humor and heart. It's a good choice for readers new to sci-fi as well as long-time sci-fi readers. Loved Greaves, Breaker, and the opinionated AI translator. Fun read. I will recommend this title to my patrons.

I am a library associate and received and advance copy from #NetGalley.

First contact type stories are not something I tend to like, but this one was done well. The writing is easy to follow and succeeds in creating interesting characters as well as a bit of humor. The most questionable part of the story is our main character and why he’s there rather than someone else. He pretty much could be anyone, but that actually works in the story’s favor because he’s so relatable.

Note: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Someone please tell me this will be a series. This was the most entertaining book. Totally enjoyable. I have already preordered a signed copy. I love the unexpected lightheartedness Edward Ashton managed to impart in the middle of what starts as a very tense story. I'll admit though I had to go back and read the synopsis again to get an initial picture of what was happening. Once I'd done that I was completely immersed. Snail aliens were an interesting idea. As was Spider, Scorpions aliens. It did make me smile. What a fun, sci-fi jaunt reading this book has been. The verbiage isn't science heavy. Even readers unfamiliar with the genre will enjoy this. The only book I can compare it to remotely might be Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. It has the same humor and relatable main characters. Great book. I'll absolutely be reading more from Edward Ashton.

Overall enjoyment:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Prose: easy
Pacing
(1=slow 5=fast): 4
Scary: not
Gore: mild
Spice: none
Character Development:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Atmosphere:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

On earth, Dalton Greaves was slowly drinking himself to death to cope with grief and depression. One would think that this would make him a poor candidate to be an emissary for the galaxy-spanning Unity organization. The giant sentient snails that run Unity, however, hire Dalton because they like his military career and the fact that his recently deceased father was his only relative. In Edward Ashton’s new novel, The Fourth Consort, we get to watch what happens when Dalton puts aside his grief for the promise of a boatload of money if he survives his years of service.

Dalton’s first mission does not begin auspiciously. Not only does he not beat Unity’s rivals, the Assembly, to make first contact with the minarchs, Dalton and his human compatriot Neera end up stranded on the minarchs’ planet when the snail piloting their ship launches a suicidal attack on the Assembly ship. Dalton, Neera, and the Assembly emissary, Breaker, now have to rely on the kindness of strangers—strangers who turn out to rather violent when it comes to enforcing their rigid code of conduct.

Dalton’s sojourn among the minarchs is enlightening, mostly because it brings him into proximity to Breaker, one of the “stickmen” Unity officials firmly declare to be their (and the humans) mortal enemy. For someone he was told would dismember him on sight, Breaker is surprisingly willing to get to know Dalton. All Breaker knows about Dalton is what he’s learned from the Assembly’s always combative encounters with Unity. Breaker believes that because Dalton and Neera evolved from a prey species, it is impossible for them to behave honorably. Humans lie and deceive. They don’t fight unless they have to and, when they do, they’re probably cheating.

It’s curious, at least to me, that Breaker and the minarchs have such a strange concept of evolution. Both Breaker and the minarch characters we meet are very proud of being descended from predator species and that this is why they straightforwardly fight when faced with a challenge. As I understand it, evolution is adaptation. Sure, evolution is survival of the fittest but “fittest” doesn’t necessarily mean becoming the deadliest thing on the planet. I also take issue with describing proto-primates and early hominids as prey animals. Our ancestral species hunted and were hunted; homo sapiens is a bit of both, especially when we have the chance to use technology.

Aside from the eyebrow-raising evolutionary psychology, I was entertained by The Fourth Consort and Dalton’s adventures with Breaker and the minarchs. There was humor, tension, and a solid helping of pathos to give it all some depth. Readers who prefer their science fiction to be heavier on foreign relations with aliens than spaceship specs should enjoy this one.

This author has a talent for constantly writing enjoyable science fiction novels. Like his previous novels, this one is a lighter sci fi story with the right balance of humor. I would recommend Ashton to readers who are a fan of John Scalzi and want another fun escapist author to follow.

I rarely appreciate humor in novels but this one had me smirking from the start. The humor is woven into the narrative in a way that worked for me.

I would recommend this novel as great representation of anyone looking to try out this author's work.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

In THE FOURTH CONSORT, by Edward Ashton, Dalton Greaves finds himself marooned on a foreign planet after a deadly squabble between the ship he arrived in and an Assembly ship. The Assembly have a disdain for Dalton's group, Unity, and especially of humans. Dalton finds himself with an alien race native to the planet, an Assembly member that scares Dalton at first, and his only connection to anything he knows is Neera, his shipmate before the deadly squabble who is now scavenging around the planet in a scout ship while Dalton is trying to diplomatically find a way to escape the alien race with creating more tension with them and the Assembly and his group, Unity.
I really enjoyed the blend of sci-fi, dark comedy, and mystery in this book. Dalton is wonderfully real: he is indecisive, makes mistakes, has morals, but is also selfish. So relatable, Dalton makes the reader feels like that's how they would act if confronted with this crazy scenario. Ashton's world creation is tremendous, he clearly paints a picture of this planet and of the alien "city" that most of the book takes place in. The aliens are interesting, they have very specific and non-negotiable values that makes it hard for Dalton to figure out how to interact and understand what is going on around him. The variable of the other alien, the Alliance stickman, creates a political conundrum that Dalton spends a lot of the novel trying to figure out, much like we as a world try to negotiate with other cultures politically to understand what they want and also accurately expressing what we want.
THE FOURTH CONSORT is entertaining and full of fascinating challenges that make the reader ponder how the would handles themselves if put in these situations. Lots of appeal across genres, I think this novel will be enjoyed by many.