Book Review: Drone Ensign by Kyle Johnson (Drone Rising Book 1)

 Genre: Science Fiction / LitRPG / Space Opera

Tropes: Dystopian System Control, Leveling Up, False Memories, AI Companion, From Nothing to Captain, Willpower Awakening, Cliffhanger Ending

Spice Level:  None – Action-Focused

Format: Audiobook

Series: Book 1 

                Drone Benning Kidd serves very little purpose. She walks the tunnels, cleans mold, and walks on with her little ai assistant. She doesn’t think of anything or remember long term things. In fact, if she tries the system rewards her with a sharp dot of pain to curb her desire to further the pain by thinking. When she is offered 3 game credits to go on a second job for the day she doesn’t hesitate. 2 credits is rare, but 3 for 1 job is basically unheard of. When she arrives she is to be put into a chamber to be chosen for a Citizen to be respawned into. But, the system deems her willpower too high for a drone, moving her up to a Citizen herself. Now, with false memories in place Benning Kidd decides to take on her new life as a warrior and starship captain.

                I got this book with my audible credit of the month. I have been on a bit of a LitRPG kick recently and it seemed like a good idea. I haven’t read a lot of space opera’s but this one is decent. We have a character that was the lowest of the low, little more than a meat suit waiting for a Citizens respawning needs. She gains consciousness and her own Citizenship, but temporarily looses her memories in the process. With the system urging her to “move ever forward” and a new set of false memories to go with her desired plan for the future she is ready to become a starship captain and warrior.

                This is a very action packed book although the audiobook left much to be desired. If I hear km and m physically said instead of meters and kilometers one more time I may just go insane. I almost stopped reading the book entirely because of it and my husband asked me if this was an ai generated read since surely no human narrator could be simple enough to literally say the letters instead of the metric reading system. Except according to google it’s a decently popular narrator. Now, I get to start looking for that narrator’s name to avoid.

                The story ends on a cliff-hanger and I might get the eBook to read on, but no way am I going near the audiobook again. Ignoring the audiobook I enjoyed the story. I won’t hold the narrator’s poor performance against the author. It really isn’t their fault. I really enjoyed the non-stop action in this book as well as how Ensign Benning Kidd was able to manipulate both the system and those around her. It made for an enjoyable read that kept you wondering what she would do next. Also, the amount of petty revenge in this book is just wonderful.

                This book is available on Kindle Unlimited or buy it on Amazon for $6.99 by clicking here. (eBook- not audio)

You’ll Love This Book If You Enjoy:

• LitRPG progression fantasy in space
• AI-controlled dystopian systems
• Strong female leads rising through ranks
• Starship captain arcs
• Non-stop action
• Strategic manipulation of rigid systems
• Cliffhangers that demand the sequel

A high-action sci-fi with a clever, evolving heroine—just maybe grab the eBook instead of the audiobook.