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.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one! Ashton has an incredibly witty way of telling his stories that I genuinely enjoy. It's acerbic and whimsical while still being coherent, and it's paced so well. The characters he creates remind me of the Guardians of the Galaxy in their specificity and uniqueness (I mean, who else could make a giant snail weirdly believable), and I love his commitment to the world he creates.

With all the buzz around the upcoming Mickey 17 movie, I had really been wanting to read some of Edward Ashton’s writing. So I was thrilled to be given the chance to read his newest novel, The Fourth Consort. In it we follow Dalton and Neera two humans working for Unity, a completely altruistic pan-species confederation whose goal is to bring all sentient life together, totally for selfless reasons, trust them. But due to unfortunate circumstances they get stranded on a new site after having just made contact. And they’re not alone, there is also a member of the Assembly, whose group just might actually be altruistic but poses a threat to the Unity team.

I think often people can find jumping into a sci-fi novel a bit daunting, but this was a really a really easy read and getting into the world and its players felt effortless. The characters are really endearing and I loved Dalton’s interactions and relationship with Breaker(the competition) and Neera(his slightly unhinged coworker). Consorts 2 and 3 (We don’t talk about what happened to consort 1) were also so snarky and great! And while I found myself laughing at the witty darkly funny dialogue, it’s really well balanced with genuinely emotional moments and character exploration.

The aspects of encountering an alien civilization and the communication and miscommunication aspects were super interesting, especially the AI translator and cultural misunderstanding and mishaps. The AI translator reliability with the new language creates so many great moments. Did what they just say express hesitance or hunger?? 

If you’re looking for a sci-fi adventure with humor and heart this is a really fun read! I think readers who enjoy John Scalzi’s vibe would enjoy this. This has made me eager to read Mickey 7!

Thank you very much to NetGalley and the publisher. I received an advance review copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

4.5 I really enjoyed this book. Sci-fi with some great characters.
I don't want to go in to detail and ruin all the surprises.
Put it on your wish lists!
Enjoy!

BOOK REPORT
Received a complimentary copy of The Fourth Consort, by Edward Ashton, from St. Martin's Press/NetGalley, for which I am appreciative, in exchange for a fair and honest review. Scroll past the BOOK REPORT section for a cut-and-paste of the DESCRIPTION of it from them if you want to read my thoughts on the book in the context of that summary.

Started out enjoying this, feeling like it had a good Doctor Who vibe.

Wound up nearly stupefied with boredom by the end, struggling not to pass out stone-cold sober whilst sitting upright in my office chair.

I dunno, maybe if the giant snail had been featured more prominently I would’ve liked it more? Or if we’d gotten at least some of Neera backstory, and maybe a lot more of Dalton’s?

Who knows?

In short: Lots of words, very little story.

DESCRIPTION
A new standalone sci-fi novel from Edward Ashton, author of Mickey7 (the inspiration for the major motion picture Mickey 17).

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.

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. 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. 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, The Fourth Consort asks an important question: how far would you go to survive? And more importantly, how many drinks would you need to go there?

The synopsis of this book was great and had me thinking that I would absolutely devour it and love it. In reality, I could not get into this one. I tried on four separate occasions to read this book and giving it a fair shot only to put it down. While I think this may be engaging and a great read for some, it was not something that could keep my attention. I really wanted to love this one but I have to give it up for now as I don't think it's for me. Maybe I'll give it a go another time in the future but for now it's a DNF.

A quirky mix of dark comedy, first contact chaos, and survival drama, this story keeps you guessing, even if it doesn't dive too deep.

Nice stand alone sci gi. There is s lot going kn snd ig is well executed. First read with this author but won't be the last. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Like a shorter, weaker, and less amusing version of Project Hail Mary, largely consisting of people threatening to kill each other over and over again for no real apparent reason. If it hadn't been so short and briskly paced, I would have found it tedious and unengaging.

This one was a really fun read, think Mickey7 meets Enemy Mine. Human Dalton Greaves is sent to convince an alien species called minarchs (pictured in my head as giant centipede things) to join up with his intergalactic gang, Unity, instead of the rival Assembly. Misunderstandings and hilarity ensue.
4.5/5 stars

From the publisher: 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. Part first contact story, part dark comedy, and part bizarre love triangle, The Fourth Consort asks an important question: how far would you go to survive?

The Fourth Consort is one of my favorite books of 2024. (I know, it doesn’t come out until 2025, but I read an advance reader copy.) It was fun to read, and I really had no idea what to expect. I stayed up late into the night reading it, something I haven’t done in some time. Both the main character and the characters around him surprised me. Some of the plot twists also surprised me.

This is not what I’d call an action story. It’s a character study. The main character is a human, stuck on a planet with a race of sentient and intelligent insects. Dalton works for a consortium that evaluates intelligent life. Also on the planet is an individual from a different insect species that also represents a consortium evaluating intelligent life. The two consortia are rivals. The AI translating the various languages is sarcastic and not always helpful. The climactic battle to rescue Dalton takes place off stage and doesn’t quite end the way one might expect. Dalton is a military veteran of two combat tours who received three Purple Hearts, and he is very thoughtful about how much fighting and killing is really necessary. He is also grieving and battling PTSD.

Other readers may compare The Fourth Consort to other stories, but I found it fresh and engrossing. If I were to compare it to anything, it would be to the feel of the best of Star Trek. It’s morally very thoughtful. It’s so nice to read something hopeful every now and then. Ashton’s Mickey7 comes out as a movie in 2025; I hope a movie version of The Fourth Consort is also in the works.

I read an advance reader copy of The Fourth Consort from Netgalley. It is scheduled to come out on February 25, and the Galesburg Public Library will own it in multiple formats.

I definitely recommend this book. It was an unusual book. It started off rather slow and dull, but I kept going. I hate to not finish a book. But Greaves started to grow on me. He seemed to have no direction at the start and then he grew and matured as the story went along. The concept of honor and the alien who was trying to stop Greaves' side in the conflict was interesting. Greaves is forced to look at honor and how he treats others. The different society which Greaves is forced into changes him.

There is humor along the way. Greaves' translator computer is funny and snarky. His partner, Neera, is no nonsense, greedy, and deadly and puts him in tough situations. Greaves, who just wants to go with the flow, ends up in all sorts of problems.

I really enjoyed the book and am glad I kept reading. I now want to find more books by Ashton.

As a big fan of Edward Ashton’s work, I was excited to dive into The Fourth Consort, and it did not disappoint. Ashton delivers a gripping blend of expertly written action, intriguing characters, and science fiction concepts that are both imaginative and accessible. The pacing is tight, and every scene crackles with energy, keeping you fully immersed from start to finish.

One of Ashton’s strengths is his ability to balance thrilling action with clear, straightforward explanations of the science and technology driving the story. Whether he’s describing futuristic tech or alien environments, the concepts are presented in a way that’s easy to grasp without slowing down the narrative.

The story itself is packed with twists, high stakes, and moments of genuine emotion, making it a standout in the genre. Ashton has a knack for crafting characters you root for, even in the direst of circumstances. The Fourth Consort combines the best elements of sci-fi and action into a page-turner that’s impossible to put down.

If you’re a fan of thought-provoking yet accessible science fiction with plenty of heart and adrenaline, this book is a must-read. Edward Ashton proves once again why he’s one of my favorite authors in the genre.

Dalton takes a leap of faith and finds himself on another planet, acting as a diplomat (sort of) for the group Unity, which is led by the alien race that once invaded his world. At least, that's what he thinks his mission is all about. As he navigates this strange new reality, Dalton's journey is anything but straightforward. His pilot and boss is a giant snail, and his colleague Neera, a highly skilled and experienced operative, seems to despise him from the very beginning. The hostility between them makes every diplomatic encounter tense and unpredictable.

Dalton's confusion deepens when he meets a diplomat from the Assembly, a rival faction that claims to be working to bring peace and unity to the galaxy. The Assembly seems to represent the opposite of Unity's mission, yet the lines between enemy and ally blur as Dalton learns more about both groups. The Assembly's diplomat appears to be genuinely committed to galactic harmony, which leaves Dalton questioning his role and whether he is truly on the right side of this conflict.

As tensions rise, the fragile balance between the two groups is shattered. The Assembly and Unity ships end up in a catastrophic standoff, leading to mutual destruction. In the chaos, Dalton suddenly finds himself stranded on an alien planet. He is welcomed by the local inhabitants in bizarre and mysterious ways, and before he knows it, he agrees to something that appears to make him the consort of the planet's Female President.

The role of consort is far from clear, and Dalton is thrust into a labyrinth of alien customs and political intrigue. What exactly does a consort do? How can he navigate the treacherous landscape of alien politics, where every gesture and word carries weight and significance he doesn’t fully understand? And why do the locals keep ominously referring to the first consort being devoured?

With its blend of humor, suspense, and intergalactic intrigue, this book takes readers on a rollicking, fun adventure that is truly out of this world. If you're looking for a story filled with unexpected turns, complex characters, and an imaginative setting, "The Fourth Consort" is a journey you won't want to miss.

#stmartins #thefourthconsort #edwardashton

i DIDN't expect to like this nearly as much as I did, but this one was a total wild ride with some awesome, well-done charactrers and twists. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.