
The Fourth Consort
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Barrie Kreinik
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By:
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Edward Ashton
About this listen
A new standalone sci-fi novel from Edward Ashton, author of Mickey7 (the inspiration for the major motion picture Mickey 17).
“Barrie Kreinik, one of the best narrators around, succeeds in making distinct characters not just of Dalton and Neera, Breaker and some of the aliens, but even of the AI translator that’s embedded in Dalton’s neck.”—The Valley Breeze
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?
A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.
©2025 Edward Ashton (P)2025 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Humor, interspecies diplomacy, and unexpected alliances enliven this zippy sci-fi romp... Ashton strikes an impressive balance of humor, action, and thought-provoking sci-fi concepts."—Publishers Weekly
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Scientist Beth Darlow has discovered the unimaginable. She's built a machine that allows human consciousness to travel through time—to any point in the traveler's lifetime—and relive moments of their life. An impossible breakthrough, but it's not perfect: the traveler has no way to interact with the past. They can only observe. After Beth's husband, the co-creator of the machine, dies in a tragic car accident, Beth is left to raise daughter—and continue the work they started. Mired in grief and threatened by her CEO, Beth pushes herself to the limit to prove the value of her technology.
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This guy is one of the best writers out there
- By Anonymous User on 03-18-25
By: Philip Fracassi
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Invaders 1
- An Alien Invasion Thriller
- By: Nick Clausen
- Narrated by: Spencer Dillehay
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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A strange, glowing object lands in the forest. Tim is the only one who sees it. Venturing out to investigate, he discovers animals infected with a mysterious black growth. When he returns to his cabin, he realizes the horrifying truth: whatever disease the object brought to Earth, Tim has caught it too.
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Exciting
- By B on 03-04-25
By: Nick Clausen
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Aberrants
- Short Stories
- By: Mitchell Lüthi
- Narrated by: George Weightman
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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In Kharkiv, mysterious eyes sprout from the walls of buildings as the Russian invasion of Ukraine intensifies. A cynical spacefarer on a paradox-chasing mission confronts an ancient star—and the limits of human understanding—while his sentient navigator may know more than it’s letting on. A man mistakenly receives a letter meant for another drawing him into the world of a lost tribe who believe writing itself is a sin against God. In Raghast, a civilization of rats grinds to a standstill every three months as the breeding instinct throws them into chaos.
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Weird & Wonderful
- By Milton Scott on 03-10-25
By: Mitchell Lüthi
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The Last Days of Good People
- By: A.T. Sayre
- Narrated by: Chris Andrew Ciulla
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Warin is one of a small team charting the demise of the last few inhabitants of Retti 4, a distant planet in the throes of an extinction-level virus. It’s not Warin’s job to intervene in natural evolution or to question the whims of a cruel universe. He is only to observe and report. Until Warin actually steps foot on Retti 4.
By: A.T. Sayre
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Two Truths and a Lie
- A Novel
- By: Cory O'Brien
- Narrated by: Tim Lounibos
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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In a mostly underwater near-future Los Angeles, aging combat-drone veteran Orr Vue now lives a simple and small life, trading snippets of what's become the most valuable currency: information. So when the cops show up at his door looking for data on a murder he’s not even aware has happened, things get interesting for the first time in 25 years.
By: Cory O'Brien
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Zardoz
- By: John Boorman, Bill Stair
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 5 hrs
- Unabridged
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In a post-apocalyptic 2393, society is split between an elite group of immortal Eternals and a brutal underclass that live in the outlands and are controlled by the Exterminators. Zed, an Exterminator who has come to question his role and the exact nature of the world he inhabits, stows away in the flying head that descends to issue guns and sermons to the Exterminators, and enters the world of the Eternals: the Vortex. An ostensible paradise of rationality and order, the Vortex is revealed as a place which is itself full of division and intrigue. Has he come here of his own free will?
By: John Boorman, and others
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A Psalm Sung in Spores: Citadel
- By: John Baltisberger
- Narrated by: Susanna Lloyd
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Equipped with the very best in technology, weaponry, and armor, the Crusaders are an elite galaxy-spanning military organization dedicated to destroying the gods, psychic entities capable of twisting reality on a whim. They traverse the stars in power-suits, dealing death to the tyranny of false deities in the name of freedom and equality. Crusader Enianna Loret has trained her entire life to hunt down these twisted and cruel monsters.
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Such a Packed Story!
- By Megan McFall on 03-26-25
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The Alley
- Alien Abduction
- By: David Anderson
- Narrated by: Jacob Baird
- Length: 3 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Inspector Jack Daniels noticed that there were many missing persons in Liverpool. Normally he wouldn’t look at these but he noticed that many disappeared around Bath Street. Jack and his team decided to investigate. What they witnessed and how they coped with the unbelievable events would change their lives forever. It was a case they could never acknowledge to the wider world or to Liverpool people and only a few would be told as no one else would believe them. They had to find the answers quickly, apprehend the culprit and bury this case before higher authorities found out.
By: David Anderson
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When We Were Real
- By: Daryl Gregory
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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JP and Dulin have been the best of friends for decades. When JP finds out his cancer has aggressively returned, Dulin decides it’s the perfect time for one last adventure: a week-long bus tour of North America’s Impossibles, the physics-defying glitches and geographic miracles that started cropping up seven years earlier—right after the Announcement that revealed our world to be merely a digital simulacrum. The outing, courtesy of Canterbury Trails Tours, promises the trip of a (not completely real) lifetime in a (not completely deluxe) coach.
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Funny, sharp, delightful
- By ElectricStirrer on 04-09-25
By: Daryl Gregory
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The Distributor
- By: Jeff Doka
- Narrated by: Shawn Richardson
- Length: 17 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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In a world without rain, the desert sands are controlled by the only group with the technology and infrastructure to give water to the thirsty: The Distributor. When Friedrich, a nerdy engineer, discovers a bug in the Distributor’s systems, he realizes this is a chance to overthrow their oppressive regime. Friedrich’s tech can offer a better life to thousands in the Barrens, but he’ll need to reach the Distributor across hundreds of miles of empty desert.
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Action packed and great world building
- By james on 03-20-25
By: Jeff Doka
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Once Was Willem
- By: M. R. Carey
- Narrated by: Joe Jameson
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Eleven hundred and some years after the death of Christ, in the kingdom that had but recently begun to call itself England, I, Once Was Willem, rose from the dead to defeat a great evil facing the humble village of Cosham. The words enclosed herein are true. I speak of monsters and magic, battle and bloodletting, and the crimes of desperate men. I speak also of secret things, of that which lies beneath us and that which impends above.
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The story. The writing and the narration. Created a dream that I will likely dream again.
- By Joseph F. Answine on 04-16-25
By: M. R. Carey
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Reunion
- By: Chris Kennedy
- Narrated by: Daniel Wisniewski
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Sixteen years ago, during a pause in the Algarian War, Duke Alessio Valente implemented a coup in the Star Kingdom of Narantea, killing King Altan Kotaro and Queen Brooke Kotaro. Before he died, though, the king gave his four children, Kellye, Yoshi, Jonatan, and Jayme Kotaro, to four trusted advisors and told them to take them to where they’d never be found.
By: Chris Kennedy
What listeners say about The Fourth Consort
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- Mike
- 04-14-25
This book’s a dud
Just a very mediocre and simplistic story, I regret having wasted a credit on it
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- Ruykann
- 03-15-25
Excellent
I’ve been listening to so much crap scifi that it is refreshing to remember that some artists remain and continue to hone the craft. Will definitely listen to more from this author.
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- Kevin S.
- 04-10-25
Beginnings of an intriguing story but falls short
I wanted to like this based on the interesting concept of similar but competing galactic organizations, and even the plot twist of the "evil" stickmen aliens not being so evil, but had a few things that just took me out of it a little. First was the narration just lacked the gravitas or the tongue in cheek humor - whatever the author was getting at with occasional one liners. The only character that sounded right to me was Neera(sp) and I wasn't sure if she was just a "I was just following orders" type mercenary or what, given the abbreviated ending of the novel. Making one organization subtly the bad guys just disconnected and it was hard to see if Unity was like this all around or just the specific representatives characterized in the story. The concept of honor is meant to be a keystone but its elements are never clearly defined, are fluid, and often appear markedly different between races and even individuals - maybe that was the point? But one is left somewhat confused at the end - which is again abrupt. The intended homoeroticism alien bugs and alien to alien relationships makes little sense in an insectoid civilization and between stickman and human as well, but there needed to be some motivation for the conflicts and eventual outcomes it seems. After the hot mess of the Mickey movie adaptation which apparently had my algorithm recommend this book to me, I think I'll sit out future material from this author.
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- Kindle Customer
- 04-03-25
The anthro lesson
Great story. There is an anthropology lesson in it which was totally new to me. Thank you. Loved Mickey7, and loved this too (they are not related stories)
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- Joseph
- 03-17-25
Story had potential but struggled to finish.
Breaker character had great potential but acted just like only another anxious human (except one very exciting instance). Nera played almost no part except in one isolated instance (she was a bore).
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- Dan Shay
- 03-14-25
fun, lightweight stuff
Not everything needs to be complicated. This is a fun, straightforward read/listen. I'm hoping for a sequel!
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- High Priestess Enoch
- 03-03-25
Witty, Humour, Action
Very good book......It has a good plot, has witty humour (a must have with me), and action to keep me on my toes.The main charactor has a military background. He has to deal with a sarcastic co-worker, and dry aliens with illogical morals. It is all wrapped up nicely ......I finished it quickly because it had me laughing and seeing how each odd alien situation would be handled. This book is not all laughs though.....It did make me think of my own boundaries . This is a series of books of which I am gladly going to follow.
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- Mallary Decker
- 03-27-25
Originality
I loved the humor and relationship building between species. I also enjoy when I cannot predict which direction things are going to go.
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- Luis Araujo
- 03-28-25
Great Listen
I really enjoyed this book. This will definitely need a re-listen in the future.
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- s bell
- 03-11-25
Loved the Mickey 7 books. But this was bad.
Just a weak and boring story. Very juvenile dialog. Nowhere near the quality of the Mickey 7 books.
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1 person found this helpful