I started listening to book one (Midshipman’s Hope) in November 2024 and finished with book seven (Children of Hope) at the end of September 2025. These are long books, between eighteen and twenty-four hours. Vikas Adam narrated five books, Jed Drummond one, and Josh Hurley also just one. Truth be told, they all had flaws that irritated me. Adam had several grating pronunciations that Hurley also used. All mispronounced words; Drummond had the fewest.
The “Seafort Saga” is one of my favorite novel series, but I have to admit that it was extremely painful to listen to at times. You just want to slap the characters for being prideful or for adhering to the very strict moral code that the space Naval Service adheres to.
Even though it would lengthen them even more, I would love to hear at least the first three redone as “full cast” audios with multiple voices. There were times that the narrators just weren’t up to the varied voices and book five (Voices of Hope) that deals with ‘transpops’ (think New Yorkers with a degraded slang speech) almost gave me a headache at times to listen to.
I have mixed feelings about this set. I acquired each book over time with months of getting Audible deals, so it didn’t cost me a lot, but I wish it could be done by a better studio.
Meeting David Feintuch at BucConeer (56th WorldCon and my first) in 1998 was an amazing afternoon that cemented my love of SF fandom. I just wish the audiobooks left him a better legacy.