My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy of this science fiction novel about first contact, the ways of the heart, the intricacies of politics and culture, and discovering that it is never too late to change especially when it is for the better.

People have always fled to the emptiness to get away from their old lives and find new ones. Some signed up on great clipper ships going from this land and to that fleeing their pasts. Many went west, changing names, dropping families and becoming something better, and sometimes worse. Space will draw people also. Those who want to explore and those that want to get lost. Abetting in this will always be corporations looking for damaged people, those the world won't miss, nor care if they go missing. These corporations promise much, deliver little, but always need helpers, people with the best of intentions. Even if those best of intentions leave them in a relationship with a Spider-like alien not looking for love, but more to secure her power base. The Fourth Consort is a science fiction novel by Edward Ashton, a stand alone from his Mickey 7 series, this one dealing with new life, new civilization, and boldly making a lot of mistakes while trying to do right.

Dalton Greaves has lost his father, his current girlfriend, abandoned the real love of his life, probably has lost his job, and his interest for being around. An offer of a job, full of new worlds, and new adventures comes to him from a woman called Neera who works for an extraterrestrial group known as Unity. Unity had come to Earth years before promising a new golden age, one that Dalton was still waiting to see. Unity needs humans to travel the stars, to find new civilizations, make contact, and well after that it gets a little iffy. Dalton agrees and soon finds himself in space, but still lost in what he is doing, and if what he was doing is right. After contacting a new race who look remarkably like spiders, Dalton finds that there is another group, the Assembly also traveling space, one that is sort of antagonistic towards Unity. Dalton and Neera as soon trapped on this new world, along with a member of the Assembly, called Breaker, waiting for backup. However the arrival of two new groups has not gone unnoticed, and soon the locals are in a bit of an uproar. Something only a marriage might settle. And the groom in question, Dalton, might not survive the honeymoon.

I've read almost everything Ashton has written and enjoy the fact that he never settles for the same kind of story. This one is a first contact story, with a lot of colonial influence. Sort of a modern Dutch East India company hitting the open stars, making profits over everything else. The book also looks at how we can have the best technology in the universe, and yet simple things can just be missed. A cultural idea, a feeling, a word with many meanings, that can lead to disaster. The universe is interesting, and one I would not mind spending more time in. I like the idea of competing companies, one kind of evil, maybe one kind of better. The aliens here are different, and their culture and ways are well planned out. The book is funny, but also there is a lot of sadness. Dalton has lost a parent, done things in wars he doesn't want to talk about, even suffering captivity that might still be bothering him. Yet he keeps going. Even when he makes he hole he is in deeper and deeper. Breaker also is well-defined, and again I would like to know more about his people and the Assembly that Breaker is a part of. Hopefully there will be more.

Ashton is one of the authors that I will drop anything and rearrange my book reading to get to when I see Ashton's name on a book. I have not been let down yet. Fans will enjoy this. The book also serves as a good introduction to an author with a lot of great ideas, and skill. Also role players will get something out of this, seeing who first contact is more than universal translators and technology, technology that good lead to some bad decisions. I can't wait to read more by Ashton.

I didn’t expect a book about space politics with comedic and romantic elements to be boring, but that’s what this was. The plot felt stagnant; Dalton, the protagonist, was almost completely blank as a character. Neera was slightly more interesting, but seemed present only to set up Dalton so the reader could get to know him (not that there’s anything interesting to know). The reader is dropped right into the central conflict without much explanation, which normally I don’t mind, but nothing became any clearer as I read on. There was just nothing to propel this story forward, and I didn’t find any of the “comedy” enjoyable.

Thank you to St Martin’s Press @stmartinspress , Netgalley @netgalley , and Edward Ashton @edashtonwriting for this free ebook!
“The Fourth Consort” by Edward Ashton⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Slightly Snarky SciFi. Location: West Virginia, USA to outer space.
“Try not to get eaten. Solid advice.”
The “ammies” (giant alien snails) arrived above Earth 20 years ago. Now Dalton Greaves is a human worker for Unity, a pan-species confederation bringing sentient life together. Well, that’s what they told him. He only knows Unity member Boreau (spiral-shelled, enigmatic snail), and human Neera Agarwal,(who convinced Dalton to join so she won’t be the next eaten by aliens). The 2 of them are “ground pounders”; Boreau pilots their ship Good Tidings. Their opponents are the “Assembly” who really, really hate Unity. When Good Tidings fights an Assembly ship, Dalton is marooned with Assembly “stickman” Breaker, (with his nightmare-long, clawed limbs), the Minarch (giant predatory insectoid locals), and Neera. He’s plunged into local politics, alien morality, and a demand from the Minarch ruler, while Neera can’t decide if he’s worth more dead or alive.

Author Ashton has written a mashup of 1st contact, dark comedy, and a bizarre triangle with Minarch queen “First Among Equals”, consorts Bob and Randall-and Dalton. There’s plenty of action-Dalton destroys a giant venomous nightstalker-but not without being bitten a bunch of times. How far will Dalton go to survive? How will he deal with the stickman Neera wants dead? Ashton’s irreverent tale is full of timely cultural references, unlikely alliances, thoughts about morality. It gives me early StarTrek with Snark vibes, and it’s 5 stars from me 🌵📚💁🏼‍♀️🎀

I liked Mikey 6 well enough but this one was better! I thought the world building and characters were really well thought out, and funny of course. The author got a lot of plot into a relatively short book and I am so glad I picked it up! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed Edward Ashton's science fiction books, Micky7 and Antimatter Blues, so much that I was thrilled to see this standalone book. It is similar to the other two books in that he has crafted an alien culture in which a bumbling human must try to survive. Written with wit and odd situations, The Fourth Consort is another winner.

Dalton's life is going poorly: his father died, and his girlfriend dumped him. Faced with few prospects on Earth, he joins a group of multi-species space explorers called Unity, whose lofty goals include first contact with alien civilizations. On his first mission as an ambassador, Dalton's crewmembers consist of an alien pilot who looks like a giant snail and fellow Earthling Neera, a fellow scout. They encounter an alien culture, only to find a rival organization, the Assembly, that has gotten there first. Things go badly between the two groups, and Dalton and Neera get stranded on the planet with a crewmember of the Assembly, Dalton calls Breaker. They are in a race to see who can win over the alien culture first.

I loved the moral dilemmas Dalton faced and the diplomatic tightrope he walked. Ashton does an excellent job of world-building and describing the alien beings. First-contact stories are my favorite science fiction reads, and The Fourth Consort ranks right up there as one of the best. 5/5 stars.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The publication date is February 25, 2025.

THIS WAS SO GOOFY I LOVE IT.

this book had the vibes of Andy Weir mixed with John Scalzi. It was goofy and fun and silly but also really meaningful and I enjoyed it a lot. The whole concept of it was unhinged.

Bottom line: I really really love a good space opera

The Fourth Consort by Edward Ashton is next level and is a step above Mickey7 and Antimatter Blues, which I do not say lightly. While it is marketed as a standalone, I sincerely hope (possibly for the first time) that it someday receives a sequel.

The Fourth Consort contains the bromance of the century alongside the palace intrigue of some of my favorite historical C-dramas and K-dramas. The characterization of Dalton Greaves, a human explorer and diplomat serving on behalf of a mysterious spacefaring organization known as Unity and Breaker, a “stickman” who works for another mysterious group known as the Assembly, was incredible, especially during their private interactions. Dalton constantly grapples with the meaning of duplicity and how to counteract human nature in sight of a hazy bigger picture where he is intentionally missing the biggest pieces of an intergalactic puzzle. However, Dalton makes do and often uses the simplest tools to make the most gains when assessing how to survive daily encounters with the matriarchal minarchs, an alien race who view humans as prey due to their weak-looking appearance. While Dalton’s companion Neera leaves much to be desired with her childlike mannerisms, when First-Among Equals, the minarch queen seeks Dalton’s hand in marriage, the plot thickens. It’s complicated…

While this was my third read by Ashton, I look forward to reading Mal Goes to War next and awaiting future science fiction from an author whose comedic sci-fi mash-ups never fail to leave you wanting more.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the early read. I love reading Edward Ashton's novels. This is a great sci fi novel and the main character is from my home state of West Virginia.

This novel was great and I highly recommend.

4.5 stars rounded to 5.

I’ve been a fan of Edward Ashton since reading Mickey 7. So I was excited to read The Fourth Consort. It was excellent. I enjoy Ashton’s take on inter -species relations and galactic imperialism. His tales are always humorous as well as intriguing. In this tale 2 confederations clash in their attempt to win influence over a new planet. This results in their first contact representatives being stranded on the new planet. Dalton Greeves, new to this job, finds his experiences with the native species and his competitor to be very different from what he expected.

Funny comedy of manners, only the stage is an alien planet, and the manners are around our main character being chosen as a consort to the local leadership, and all the political fallout he has to navigate as an outsider. Fun read, and worth your time.

I really really love theme about space travel and Edward Ashton nail when doing this. I hope that a lot of people can enjoy this sci=fi novel too.

Dalton, the main character, and Breaker, an alien from an enemy race, find themselves stranded on an alien planet. While waiting for help, they must negotiate and convince a local insect-like species to join their world and not that of their enemy.

It’s the story of a first contact and how it could turn out, good or bad, depending on a misunderstanding of language or culture. Especially if you have a sarcastic translation AI that has trouble interpreting certain words.

It's the development of the characters that makes this story very interesting. Both the journey of Dalton who experiences unexpected situations, and the evolution of the relationship between the two enemies.
And it was refreshing to have a charismatic, non-murderous enemy.

I love the author's writing and humor. He created a funny situation that could have been ridiculous but managed to brilliantly develop it in a way that made sense.
I really enjoyed this story and especially the ending. It was thoughtful and moving.

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martins Press for the eARC.

I would like to thank St. Martin's Press for providing a digital copy of this novel. Having previously read Mickey 7 and its sequel by this author, I was expecting and hoping for a fun, space story. I did get that, but I also got a deep exploration into language and the pitfalls of bad translation. This is the story of Dalton who somehow finds himself in a series of unfortunate agreements with alien species. Throughout the novel, he makes decision after decision in an attempt to make things better and repeatedly makes things worse for himself, his mission, and humankind. A key aspect of this story involves Dalton trying to understand the alien species through a translator that is not always 100% accurate. So many of the problems he finds himself in come down to bad translations, where he makes agreements that he didn't fully understand he was making. The author did a great job of pointing out how understanding the culture you are dealing with is such an important part of executing an accurate translation. I highly recommend this for its satire of space stories while having very meaningful things to say. Fun, interesting, captivating, and thought provoking. It has the humor I enjoyed in the Mickey novels but it definitely is a completely different story with some very emotional moments and some great commentary on the human condition.

Exactly what I expected from the author! So intriguing and I cannot wait to see what this author writes next. The space travel, while I doubt is possible anytime soon, makes me want to travel in space. The characters are believable despite the out of this world story and I could not get enough of it.

3.5 stars!

This was a really unique and thought-provoking sci-fi novel with a lot of bleak moments that also somehow managed to keep me laughing throughout.

The Fourth Consort follows Dalton Greaves, a rookie spacefarer who escaped him empty life on earth to become a representative and beckon other aliens into alliances. Trapped on a planet with a foreign species and a rival ambassador, Dalton must navigate the convoluted politics of a society he knows almost nothing about. The politics and philosophy discussed in this story are really compelling and seeing how interpretations of honor differ between the species was clearly something the author put a lot of care into. It shows and makes for some great, reflective moments. I felt very strongly the tension of Dalton's situation, especially as he interacted more with Breaker and Dalton's position is challenged. Having said all that, there's a definite tone issue in this book that made the whole thing feel very clunky to me. It's kind of supposed to be funny and it is but it's not balanced well with the more serious content. I picked this up because I heard it compared to John Scalzi's work, who I'm a big fan of, and I think Scalzi is extremely good at balancing humor with the very tense, emotional beats in the story as well as the pretty heavy political commentary. I think The Fourth Consort for me is an example of a failure to strike this balance.

I do think this book has a lot to offer, and not many of the reviews currently have the same issues with it that I do so I definitely think it's worth picking up.

Thank you to Edward Ashton and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my full, honest review!

Happy reading!

Xenophobia Amidst Confused Space Meandering

“A new standalone sci-fi novel from Edward Ashton, author of Mickey7 (the inspiration for the major motion picture Mickey 17).” I thought I might have missed a famous film release. But no, Mickey 17 will be released next year, on April 18. Mickey7 (2022) was followed by a sequel in 2023. The original novel describes a space colonist who tries to survive in a beachhead alien colony, before being asked to colonize the ice world Niflheim. Clones of Mickey are introduced when he dies. This cloning of bodies to account for death in space (possibly natural given special distances) echoes my Cadatas’ Exploration of the Milky Way novel, which describes a realistic journey across the Galaxy; I wrote its first draft 5 years ago, but only published it for the first time earlier this year. Aside for writing these three novels, Ashton teaches quantum physics to graduate students in New York.
“Dalton Greaves is a hero. He’s 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 they told him, anyway. The only actual members of Unity that he’s ever met are Boreau, a giant snail who seems more interested in plunder than spreading love and harmony, and Boreau’s human sidekick, Neera, who Dalton strongly suspects roped him into this gig so that she wouldn’t become the next one of Boreau’s crew to get eaten by locals while prospecting.” This idea is introduced a couple dozen pages into this book, when the girl warns the guy that a bigger problem they have than possibly starving in space is that “Unity is coming for us…” Then there are digressive points about who “gives a s**t” about whom: “he gave a s**t about delivering the minarchs into Unity’s tender hands.” It is absolutely confusing why anybody would want to “vaporize” these guys. The summary makes it sound clearer, but reading through the text kind of only confuses what’s happening in this book.
“…Funny thing, though—turns out there actually is a benevolent confederation out there, working for the good of all life. They call themselves the Assembly, and they really don’t like Unity.” The first mention of Assembly notes that they are different from Unity because they make “every effort to learn all that can be learned about potential client species…” The opening section was specifically about learning about species, and that’s when Unity was in charge of the mission, so this makes no sense… The next mention is when the AI translator whispers that trying to replace him “with Assembly technology” is inadvisable. Then, there’s talk of winning a planet “for the Assembly”, so apparently there’s an interplanetary territorial conflict between these two organizations, with both trying to steal territory, rather than serve anybody’s good. This would at least be an interesting premise, but this is not exactly what this blurb is saying. “…More to the point, they really, really don’t like Unity’s new human minions. When an encounter between Boreau’s scout ship and an Assembly cruiser over a newly discovered world ends badly for both parties, Dalton finds himself marooned, caught between a stickman, one of the Assembly’s nightmarish shock troops, the planet’s natives, who aren’t winning any congeniality prizes themselves, and Neera, who might actually be the most dangerous of the three.” They try to kill the stickman to survive seemingly, though they decide on this before there is any clear threat. They are just afraid that if left alone with “minarchs, he’ll have them hunting us for sport in under a week…” This shows a general fear of the alien, or foreign, even when there is no real threat that would indicate the need for an aggressive offensive. “To survive, he’ll need to navigate palace intrigue, alien morality, and a proposal that he literally cannot refuse, all while making sure Neera doesn’t come to the conclusion that he’s worth more to her dead than alive. Part first contact story, part dark comedy, and part bizarre love triangle…” I could not find who the third wheel in this triangle is, as I searched for “three” and other relevant terms. There’s a bit about Scarface killing his “lover”… It “asks an important question: how far would you go to survive? And more importantly, how many drinks would you need to go there?” Ah… maybe the writer of this story has had too many drinks, and that’s why it’s so incoherent…
Chapter 1 opens pretty well with a conflict between parties, as the narrator attempts to serve as a sort of ambassador on behalf of Unity, and meets a curious alien with giant proportions. The description of this alien body is well executed, with just enough details for the reader to picture it. On the other hand, this opening goes on to describe a negotiation before explaining what “Unity” is, or what the point of this discussion is. They are miscommunicating, and discussing mis-translations, without really getting to the point of what either side is trying to achieve. The next section includes a brief and helpful description of a “docking bay” and of the “ship”. After further chatter about translation quality, they chat about the “psychology” of the species they just encountered, but the main point on this is that they are believed to be “apex predators.” That’s not really “psychology”, but rather biology… I think. A further elaboration is that “they’d be bitchy as hell.” The characters slouch as they casually chatter about this stuff without doing much of anything. It is pretty difficult to read this type of prose without being tempted to take a nap. The further one gets in this novel the more confusing and nonsensical it becomes. Characters are challenging each other. They are referring to love and lovers without a coherent love-plotline. There are some lucid moments that are interesting and offer hope in the story getting good, but there are too many problems for those who are brave enough to march forward.
—Pennsylvania Literary Journal, Fall 2024: https://anaphoraliterary.com/journals/plj/plj-excerpts/book-reviews-fall-2024

Never could get into the book. Never really figured out what was going on and where it was going, could not finish it.

The Fourth Consort by Edward Ashton

Dalton Greaves thought he was taking on a heroic job representing Unity, a pan-species confederation working to bring all sentient life into a single benevolent brotherhood. Actually Unity may be just looking for places and beings to plunder for greedy reasons. If Dalton and his human coworker, Neera, perform as their employers demand they could retire wealthy but if they mess up they could end up taking a short, deadly walk in outer space.

Neera and Dalton don't divide their work evenly. When things go completely, devastatingly wrong on a new world, Neera claims she must stay with the ship while demanding that Dalton venture out among the citizens of this new to them world and also deal with a visiting nightmarish shock trooper who belongs to another visiting ship manned by a benevolent confederation calling themselves the Assembly. The shock trooper is nicknamed Stickman due to the appearance of his body.

The ruling citizens on this world are big, have mandibles, sectioned arms and legs, uh, I'm picturing lobster looking roaches maybe? I'm not good at this, I really need a photograph, maybe they are more attractive than my mind is conjuring but I can see why Neera is staying with the ship, napping, eating, bossing Dalton around from afar.

Part of the many messes Dalton finds himself in is that the top dog Minarch (that's what this planet's people are called) keeps selected males as her consorts. That has to strike fear in a human male's heart for many reasons but Dalton has no choice but to "accept" the privilege when it's offered. At no time is Dalton's safety assured, right before he became a consort the First Consort ascended, or was forcefully ascended. This is a violent world with way too many rules that can get broken without one even knowing there was a rule to be broken. Everything seems to lead to a vicious clobbering, torture, and another fight to the death. It seems if someone is left standing they are the next to fight to the death.

There are life lessons here, there are decisions to be made. Dalton is smart, he thinks ahead, he's going to use his wits but he's also going to make some decisions that will put others ahead of himself. Even though I struggle to picture much of what is described here (are my lobster/roach creatures anywhere near what are being described?) I enjoyed the story and Dalton's interactions with his new friends/enemies.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

An utterly amazing and hard to put down read that you won’t want to stop. I know this is supposed to be a standalone, but does it have to be? I want more!

This is the fourth book I've read by Ashton and, while I enjoyed it, it was a little rough at the beginning and a wee bit more alien politics than I would have liked. (More action, please!)

First the pluses. Ashton has a great narrative voice. Sure it's similar in many books, but he creates male characters that are entirely lovable--dorky guys doing work they're not quite qualified for, who end up saving the day in spite of their mess-ups.

Dalton fits this mold to a T, and the story mostly follows his adventures being taken on as the fourth consort for a large bug like alien queen (who finds him hideous).

I thoroughly enjoyed the relationships between Dalton and his AI translator, as well as his relationship with Breaker, another alien envoy. The fact that Dalton is unable to clearly interpret the world around him and yet trying to navigate a very dangerous situation was interesting.

On the negative side, Neera seemed like a wasted character, and there wasn't quite enough action for me. Dalton spends an awwwwful lot of time talking to people about what's the right thing to do instead of, you know, DOING STUFF.

There are just my personal quibbles. I still found the book to be a smooth read that gave me some chuckles. Thank you to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.