Given the number of books the author has written and published, I was expecting a polished and well honed plot, and well developed characters.

In Book 1, Hozark discovered that a former Ghalian, once considered dead, is actually alive, and has turned rogue, working for an organisation called ‘The Council of Twenty’. The Council is the ruling body for the Sector, and is meant to be an unbiased group, that looks out for the best interests of all those in the Sector, whether that be trade, planetary issues, people’s rights. However, they are totally corrupt, using their positions to gain money, power, and magic. Every member is either a Visla or an Emmik, one of the two privileged positions of power in the Sector, and the two that can hold significant magical power. As such, part of this story becomes about Hozark finding his own Vespus Blade, and this is no easy feat, as there are very few left who can create such amazing weapons.The repetition of words and phrases (“circuitous”, “myriad”, “for all intents and purposes”, “when all was said and done”) screamed aloud in an audiobook and someone just needed to take to it with a red pen for the lazy editing (eg “…for the purpose it was intended for” and “for the poor child that was something that the poor child could really use about now.” I never had anything to do with the books once they left these shores, and it was always a surprise to see what Puffin had done. For example, the puzzle attached to paragraph 332 in Space Assassin was as much a mystery to me as to anyone else reading the book. It certainly bore no resemblance to the puzzle I sent with the manuscript. There is so much mystery, intrigue, captivating story lines as pieces on the board are moved around in this incredibly complex game on both sides. We see this all from Hozark’s point of view, as he looks on at what is occurring between not only the Wampeh Ghalian’s, but all the other different people in the Sector, and the Council of Twenty, and all of their interests. A player's weapons are determined by a 1d6 roll with the amount rolled able to be "spent" on a choice of weapons: Electric lash, Assault blaster, Grenade, Gravity bomb, Armour . The player must buy an electric lash or an assault blaster before anything else.

Demelza is another really captivating character, with her ability to keep up with the Masters, but having taken a bit of a different learning path than others. We get to learn more about her in this book. The author has fleshed out the plotline quite well while still keeping enough secrets that you can't actually figure out where it is going. Just the fact that it is going, at a good pace, and well written at that, keeps the reader engaged. There are also excellent descriptions along with the author's good imagination of many different planets and the life forms that exist on them. Or so he thought until someone quite unexpected reared their head. An appearance that gave him pause. Someone he had thought long dead. His former lover. A revelation like that could throw even a master assassin for a loop. That she too was an assassin only complicated things more. This book is obviously written by a reader of science-fiction and fantasy who understands world-building. The characterizations are sketches at first, allowing readers to fill some blanks, but the dialogue and story reveal who the people truly are. Fight scenes are realistic as far as I can tell (not an expert), but the space travel is not hard science; it's fantasy--which works out just fine for its purpose.

Paying attention to the warning given at (68) is liable to result in making a suicidal decision at (14). A sister Ghalian. Of course you do.” “I will retrieve them and be aboard in five minutes.” Hozark nodded. “Very well. Once we are safely aboard our mothership, I will introduce you to Bud and his new copilot. And then we begin our deadly work in earnest.” This book feels like it should be longer. It's set up to be one of those long ass book with big sciencey words that I end up not remembering or caring to remember because they're so long and so many. But this book is nothing like that!

Mr. Baron has a created a main character that is an assassin who appears to be powerful and overcomes any obstacle he faces to complete the assassination. As I read the story, I did not feel the main character was not facing any adversity and there did not seem to be any real stakes or danger. I thought the other characters featured are flat and not fully fleshed out and realized. There is nothing wrong with shorter length fantasy/sci-fi, as long as it is done right. One notable example is Martha Wells Murderbot series. Each book is short and sweet but the character’s voice is so strong throughout and everything is told from their perspective. Unfortunately, this was not the case in this story. The Interstellar Slayer: Space Assassins 1 by Scott Baron is a novel I considered to be a blend of fantasy and science fiction genres which would be something akin to science fantasy. As a representative of AudioBookReviewer.com here is my review on Space Assassins 1 and 2 written by Scott Baron and narrated by Eric Bryan Moore. And on the topic of sciencey words, I like that this mixes magic and science and that even then we aren't clogged up and made to feel like we know nothing. Scott Baron doesn't lose us with big words and long-winded explanations about the science and magic of it all, instead he keeps it simple and therefore let's me care enough to try and understand the magic system and science of it all. I like that, like that in a book that could've gone all the way with the fake science, it decided to keep it simple and understandable.

Publication Order of The Clockwork Chimera Books

A sci-fantasy adventure across space, with magic, star ships, sword battles, treachery, deadly beasts, and, of course, a healthy dose of snark and sarcasm.