A rollercoaster of first contact
—
If you’e a fan of Banks’s Culture novels, this is full of the same sardonic, smart-alecky, dumbassery with a First Contact plot. We know all the tropes of the first meeting with an alien race: no advanced technology, no transmitting deathly diseases, and try not to offend or get killed. Dalton Greaves is a former soldier, unemployed and grieving for his late dad. So when he gets recruited to join a Unity mission out there in space, making first contact with sentient species before they blow themselves up, he has a think but there’s no real question. And now, three years later, he and his crewmate Neera are stranded on a planet ruled by supersized mammalian insects with an impenetrable honour code, and also accompanied by a representative of the Assembly, the other galactic federation, who are explictly not fans of the Unity or of bloodthirsty, duplicitous humans. Of course, the sh!t has to hit the fan when Dalton catches the eye of the queen of the insects, and becomes the Fourth Consort; which is when death threats, politics and a super camp Waldorf and Stadtler rear their heads.

This is a rollercoaster of a read, even though 90% of the action takes place in an alien termite mound city. Dalton is a gormless go-getter but just charming enough to keep my attention throughout, from flashbacks to his hapless life before becoming a space ambassador, to his unsubtle bumbling through as a nexus of alien feeling. Ashton’s inventiveness is at full throttle here, giving us things that look or feel familiar but then turn out to be some other third or fourth or fifth thing. And the ending is a blindsider that might set up another tale…

Four and a half stars.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

Dalton Greaves was recruited by Unity to travel the stars and bring their message of harmony to new worlds, new civilisations. But his first mission doesn't exactly go to plan. Stranded on an alien world with the warrior native species, the remains of his Unity crew, and an ambassador sent from their sworn enemies, the Assembly, Dalton's first negotiation gig has a lot more moving parts than he expected.

The Fourth Consort is a fun sci fi thriller about first contact, communication, and connection. Despite the fast pacing, Ashton's second novel relies heavily on the development of character's relationships, and how those relationships shape the choices made.

If you ever loved a first contact episode of 'Star Trek', but wanted more than the universal translator, this book is for you. It was definitely for me.

The book begins with Dalton and his colleague Neera landing on an alien planet. Their mission: to establish first contact with a foreign (alien) civilization and prepare everything for takeover by the intergalactic confederation Unity. Unfortunately, the rival organization has also sent its emissary, Breaker, to the planet. When the spaceships of both factions explode, our protagonists Dalton and Breaker find themselves cut off from all support and forced to venture among the citizens of this new world. Complications inevitably arise, and Dalton must not only navigate alien politics but also rethink his own role within Unity, which may not be as peaceful and charitable as it wants to portray to humans. The Monarch civilization lives in a violent world with far too many rules that can be broken without one even noticing, so Dalton finds himself facing a life-and-death struggle more than once.

"The Fourth Consort" is a political science fiction novel that's more fun than you'd expect. The story itself is very dialogue-driven, but that never bothered me, as I truly loved all of the characters (except for one), even the exceedingly sarcastic AI translator. The story is about aliens, political intrigue, enemies among friends, court dynamics, colonization, and, above all, the question of who is actually the good guy and who is the bad guy in this scenario. The focus of the plot is on differing views on ethics and morality, but Ashton skillfully incorporates this into the otherwise lighthearted tone of the story. I really liked the writing and narrative style anyway, as it was a good mix of humor and more serious topics. I just wish we'd seen more of the supporting characters.

The Fourth Consort is an excellent sci-fi novel, written by Edward Ashton (Mickey7, Mal Goes To War), and published by Solaris Book. An absolutely astounding mix between a lot of humour, alien politics and the interventionism over social orders, supported by an excellent cast of secondary characters and a deep exploration of themes such as conquest, exploitation and colonization.

An intriguing story following Dalton Greaves, an ex-soldier turned into emissary for the Unity, a pan-species federation working to bring all sentient life into a "benevolent brotherhood", and against the efforts of the Assembly, a group that claims to do the same. Stranded into a bug-alien planet after an event, he will find himself entangled into a political fight, becoming the fourth consort of the ruling queen; all while Breaker, a stickman from the Assembly, is also trying to bring the species towards his own organization. We will not only see how the alien society works, but also how Breaker and Greaves will slowly get together, and even understand how notions such as honor work from their own prism.

Ashton brilliantly weaves a fun story which encloses a fair share of social commentary, all while we keep wondering which will be the next desventure our Greaves will suffer while on his role for the Unity; the difficult societal equilibrium that is broken as a result of external interference, and the structures of power seen from the eyes of a foreigner. Personally, I totally enjoyed the kind of bromance that is established between Greaves and Breaker, coming from really different backgrounds, but that slowly coming into shared grounds, breaking those preconceived ideas they had. Unity and Assembly are no more than two aspects of the same kind of colonialism, applied to the universe.

I have to recognise that even if the world-building is just secondary to the story, I was particularly intrigued by how this bug-alien society was organised; we get a glimpse of their traditions and rituals, but from the lense of a foreigner with his own targets. The pacing is really on the spot, making of this a book that you quickly devour.

The Fourth Consort is a fun but clever novel, an excellent proposal that I heartily recommend if you are interested in exploring themes such as assimilation and colonialism in a sci-fi setting. Another excellent novel by Edward Ashton, proving he's a powerhouse of the genre.

This is an enjoyable science fiction romp that asks the question (Mitchel and Webb style) "what if we're the baddies?". It's got snarky dialogue and a 'hero' who is doing his best and does just fine. It's got serious themes running in the background, and an easy breezy style. It would be a great book if you've read all of John Scalzi's and are wondering what you should read next.

Liked it . Due to health issues cannot will write a proper review at a later time
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mineA more extensive review will follow

I have read and enjoyed a few books by this author, including the brilliant and soon to be a film, Micky7, so I was quite excited to get my hands on this, his latest.
In it, we follow the hapless Dalton Greaves as he attempts to make contact with other sentient life with the aim of bringing them under the banner of the Unity brotherhood. Unity to him just being himself, his sidekick Neera and a giant snail-like creature known as Boreau. They have a rival in this endeavour though, the Assembly and the two factions really don't like, or even tolerate each other. So it is unfortunate when they both descent on the same planet at the same time. It is even more unfortunate when both their motherships destroy each other, effectively abandoning Neera, Dalton and the Unity stickman, Breaker, on said planet, home to the Minarchs.
Firstly I have to give a big shout out to the wonderful characterisation of the Translator which added much colour, humour, and ambiguity to the whole proceedings. Also helpful is Dalton's habit of naming everyone he comes in contact with, which made it very easy to keep them all straight in my head.
As to the story, it was everything I wanted and more. Hapless, and on occasion helpless, he staggered through it at times like a lost boy, but also at others like the warrior he used to be - which we get to know about in flashback. I won't spoil things by going into the story more than I already have as it would spoil it for you, but I also have to mention the relationship between Dalton and Breaker and how it developed as the story progressed. I also loved the use of the duel as the preferred way of settling scores... And why the Minarch queen should pick Dalton as her latest (fourth) consort beggars belief but here we are!
All in all, a crackingly funny story which is profound but at the same time also doesn't take itself too seriously. It's a book that, on the face of things, not much really happens but it is also one that will keep you thinking about things long after you turn the last page, if you let it...
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

The Fourth Consort is a first contact story in which a group of intrepid ambassadors from a group called The Unity are attempting to bring an alien race into the fold of a supposedly benevolent consortium of likeminded planets.

However, when their rivals The Assembly turn up on the scene, things go from bad to worse. In the midst of negotiations both ships of the representatives of the competing factions are destroyed, leaving them on an alien planet.

Two of the three representatives, Dalton Greaves, a human who has been employed by The Unity, and Breaker, a being commonly known as a stick man are taken to the city of the alien race. An insectoid type life form that resembles ants.

Whilst there, Dalton has to traverse the complex society, assassinations, strained relationships with the Unity’s enemies and being made consort to the queen.

This is a fun little sci fi adventure that moves at a fast pace from the very first page. We are thrown into the story almost immediately with absolutely no preamble and then join the characters as they attempt to survive whatever is thrown at them.

Whilst the book is generally good, the story never seems to move below surface level. There are no particular depths to the story and it is what it is. Similarly, the characters do not have much depth and can at times be a little one dimensional with hardly any reason for their motivations. However, Edward Ashton’s storytelling is good and the book is largely enjoyable.

On the whole, if you want an enjoyable story that throws plenty of adventure at the reader, this fulfils all those expectations. However, don’t go looking for anything deeper.

4.5/5 stars

The Fourth Consort is a first contact science fiction standalone by Edward Ashton. Dalton Greaves is one of a few humans recruited by the intergalactic confederation Unity on its mission to discover sentient life and bring them into its fold. After three years on a scouting expedition led by the giant snail Boreau and fellow human science officer Neera, this is his first ever first contact mission. Complications arise when they find themselves competing for the native’s alliance with another intergalactic benevolent group called the Assembly. And when he is left marooned on this planet with an Assembly representative, Dalton must navigate alien politics and rethink his own role within Unity.

This was such a fun book and not at all what I expected. It is purely a political science fiction told entirely from Dalton’s perspective interspersed with some flashbacks to his past. It’s a more laid back and political mix of Project Hail Mary and The Immortality Thief. While the focus on ethics and morality (of expansionism and more) is there, the book doesn’t go into it quite as deeply as it could have, giving precedence more to maintaining a fun and easy going tone despite some heavier topics.

Dalton is a great protagonist as a man who was supposed to be the brawn of the mission that is forced reexamine morality and the choices he and the group he works for have made. He has the self-awareness and wry personality to carry both the humor and heaviness of the story. I do wish we had gotten more from the rest of the characters, especially Breaker and the Counselor, both of whom played major roles but felt like they just kept making impactful appearances then disappearing altogether.

The Fourth Consult is a political science fiction that is more fun than you would expect.

*Thank you to Solaris Books for the eARC via NetGalley

We follow Dalton, who ends up on a mission to another planet along with Neera as a representative from a pan species confederation. Things don't exactly go to plan with the natives, and story takes some turns.
I had fun with this. It was action packed with parts that made me laugh, and with heart. An enjoyable read.

Fans of Ashton's Mickey7 series will enjoy this as-for-now stand alone sci-fi novel of first contact. It's so similar to the Mickey books that you could probably do a "search and replace" Dalton with Mickey and come up with the next in the series. That's not to say it's not enjoyable, it's just very similar in plot, characters, and theme to the Mickey books. Very similar. Except less death of the MC.

Could easily see this becoming a series and hope that it moves into new territory to make it distinguishable from the Mickey series.

The Fourth Consort is a sci-fi novel set in a universe where the earth is still very much like present, but part of the space-faring Unity, after aliens showed up to make sure humans don’t destroy the planet. But the Unity isn’t quite that altruistic and they always get something in return. From the earth, they get people.

Dalton Greaves is an engineer, a former soldier, and an all-around accomplished person who has lost the grip of his life after his father died. No other family is mentioned. When even his girlfriend dumps him, he’s more than willing to accept an offer to work for the Unity and leave the earth.

Three years later, somewhere deep in the universe, he’s starting to question the wisdom of the decision. For years, he’s travelled from one potential planet to another in a three-person grew captained by Boreau who is a giant slug representing the Unity, and Neera, a fellow human who recruited him. He hasn’t really had a chance to do what he was hired to do, diplomacy to win over the inhabitants of whichever planet they want won over. Mostly, he and Neera are very bored.

When they finally find a promising planet with intelligent civilisations, it turns out they’re not the first ones there. The Assembly, a rivalling alien organisation on the same mission as the Unity is there as well. Dalton, Neera, and the representative of the Assembly have barely landed on the planet, when both their motherships are destroyed, stranding them.

For Neera, the proper way to handle things is immediately to kill the person from the Assembly, an insectoid species derogatorily called stickman, though we never learn what they call themselves. Dalton refuses. As a former soldier who has done his fair share of shady missions in Bolivian jungles, there are things that shouldn’t be done, and unprovoked killing of an unarmed person is one. Miffed, Neera decides to stay in their landing craft while Dalton and the stickman go to negotiate with the natives of the planet, giant ant-like people called minarchs who live in underground hives.

The negotiation takes a bizarre turn though, when the queen of minarchs (First Among Equals) decides to make Dalton his fourth consort. Consorts two and three (Bob and Randall) are still around, but the first consort has met an unfortunate end. Consorts don’t have any power—males are powerless in the female led society—and Dalton finds himself confined to a harem and sidelined from the negotiations.

For minarchs, exchanging consorts is a way to deal and consolidate power with neighbouring hives. But choosing Dalton, who they see as a prey species, is an odd choice that triggers a coup to remove the queen. And the easiest way to do that is to kill Dalton.

That’s only the beginning of his troubles. He’s constantly juggling between trying to stay alive, the pressure from Neera to kill Breaker, the stickman he’s sort of befriending, and making sure the Unity wins the negotiations. But it seems that the only thing he has any influence on is choosing how to die, honourably—according to the codes both minarchs and Breaker subscribe to—or dishonourably. Someone will be disappointed, no matter how he chooses. But increasingly, he’s starting to lean towards disappointing Neera and the Unity.

This was a really good and entertaining novel. It’s deceptively small; it takes place in one hive, and nothing major happens, even if a coup is going on in the background. Dalton sort of drifts from one event to another, with no real agency over anything but his own reactions to them. But he’s not helpless, and in the end, he pulls through on his own terms.

Dalton is a great character with a good moral code, even if Breaker and the minarchs don’t understand or respect it. Neera, for her part, is a corporate drone and her actions are dictated by her fear of the Unity leaders. Breaker is the aloof knight type of a character, a teacher or sensei, who is more atop of things thanks to his clearer understanding of what kind of people minarchs are. He has the teacher’s hope of elevating Dalton to his and the Assembly’s level, and in the end, the two come to understand each other as friends. (The description mentions a bizarre love triangle, but that’s misleading in every way, as there is no third or even a romance.)

The ending is good, and while it concludes the story, it does have a seed for a new beginning. I’d definitely read more stories of Dalton travelling the universe.

Bob and Randall forever.

After reading a certain number of books by an author you can tell whether they're a sure thing or not. I've officially reached that number with Edward Ashton and, much like Blake Crouch, it's safe to say I’m guaranteed to have a good time with his writing 🙌🏽

Set in the not too distant future, our unlikely protagonist is your standard ex-marine character who has planets to explore and trouble to find. He soon lands himself in a predicament with a race of aliens who consider themselves much higher up the food chain than he is.

Unusually I found myself really enjoying the sections focussed on political tensions within the strange alien colony, probably more than any other part of the book, although there were also some hilarious moments of misunderstanding where human turn-of-phrase or behaviour was lost in translation.

I love a bit of comic relief when the plot gets a bit tough and there were some perfect examples from Ashton in this book 👌🏽 I honestly love the way he blends sarcasm into different situations, it's always done so well that I wish he built more of it into this one. But I guess I can't have everything.

It was short but brilliant, and as with Ashton's other books its left me wanting more!

I have loved Edward Ashton's other works, however, I'm not very keen on this one. It's not that it's badly written or anything like that, it's just my reading preferences. The story is character-driven, and I enjoyed the banter and dry humour of Dalton Greaves' interactions with the AI Translator, also those between Dalton and the "stickman". Personally, I think the Translator stole the whole show.

I found the social aspects of the aliens, and the perks(!) and pitfalls of being a diplomat a wee bit flat. In particular, the Second and Third Consorts were more like a couple of Scottish "sweetie wives". There was a lot to enjoy here, though I did feel a bit disappointed overall. It might be right up your street, so don't let me put you off. I'll still read anything this author writes.

I chose to read an ARC of this work, which I voluntarily and honestly read and reviewed. All opinions are my own. My thanks to the author, publishers, and NetGalley.

Well done Mr A, I can always count on you to provide a volume that engages brain and senses and imagination and The Fourth Consort is no exception.

Ending up as the only human male on an inhabited planet in order to decide what should be done with said planet is an interesting concept. Add into the mix a bossy human female who likes to stay in her landing craft, a very idiosyncratic Universal AI Translator and things get weirder; just the way I like it. Then add in the inhabitants of said planet, ruled on all levels by the females; better and better. The current ruler First-Among-Equals then decides the only human male needs to become her Fourth Consort and things get interesting. Even more so when you take into account that the First-Among-Equals is enormous and a hybrid reptile/insect.

The denouement is just perfect.

Enough from me, buy the book, be amazed, be entertained and bemused.

Another amazing read from Edward Ashton with his unique style of “fun” sci-fi with deeply serious undertones.

A story that really shows how human nature works. How we deal with adversity and how we are viewed.

The premise of an intergalactic company who scour the universe for civilisations deemed as weaker to help them but with the deceptive intention to harvest the planet of anything good just cries out how our planet works.

It’s intriguing and genuinely emotional and just very compelling. The character of Breaker , a scary alien with a reputation as a cruel killer is quite genius as this Killing machine serves to make us as humans think about what we are.

Incredibly good. I loved it

4.5🌟
Such a funny and entertaining read, this made me chuckle and outright LOL.
After everything that he’s been through, Dalton decides to join a space confederation called Unity. Supposedly as a hero he should be continuing to do heroic things, such as travelling through space, helping to bring other planets into peaceful alignment. Except what if it turns out that he might not be working for the good guys. Trapped on a planet, with only the colleague who recruited him, he gets caught up in local politics and finds himself forced to join the leader’s harem.
There are so many twists and turns, with some heart warming and head scratching moments. What makes us human and is that a strength or a weakness.

To note, there is no smut or spice. It’s not that kind of book.

I know this is terrible, but I legitimately thought we would have some form of smut or romance in here. I'm 99% sure I requested this after hearing about this on BookBub and well, while I didn't the romance or smut, I'm very happy I read this.

As someone who has been out of reading sci-fi for a very long time, it was definitely hard for me to visualise a lot of the other beings encountered and keeping track of their details. That being said, I think the world building was very well done in the conversations between the characters and the descriptions. I also love the details that aren't 100% cleared up; such as why do the male minarchs get eaten and is Breakers friend a friend or like a "friend"?

It's also interesting to see how Breaker and Dalton interact with the minarchs and their customs; Dalton is such an American, while Breaker does have a genuine interest in making sure he doesn't mess up in his interactions and helps. I also love how things are left untranslated or the AI tools says that it's not 100% accurate; there is so much lost in translation.

Neera was a whole back of crazy and I love that, but I also wonder how many times she's been stuck isolated before she got that way? It is a bit sad that this is a standalone, because a series where these guys interact again would have been very interesting.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this ARC!

In The Fourth Consort we follow Dalton on a mission to establish friendly relations with an alien race called the minarchs. However matters get complicated when not only a possible enemy shows up, but he also loses contact with his direct superior leaving him stranded on an unfamiliar planet with a politically volatile society.

This novel is fairly slow-paced and could in a way be described as cozy scifi. While there are elements of suspense and action, there is a lot of focus on the day to day life, and on the social and political dynamics.

"You are my consort now, blood of my blood. It is my place to lead, and yours to follow."

Dalton is our protagonist, and is surrounded by a colourful cast of mostly aliens. I enjoyed seeing how different his interactions were with every character. From the camaraderie with his only human companion, Neera, to the at times adversarial, at times cordial attitude towards the various aliens he comes into contact with. My favourite aspect of this was the relationship between Dalton and the stickman, Breaker. While they came frome very different backgrounds it was interesting to see how their interactions often led to fresh insights for both of them.

Ashton possesses a sharp sense of humour shown with not only the comedy duo of Bob and Randall, but also the nod to Animal Farm with the minarch's leader First-Among-Equals. He manages to grace us with some very memorable quotes.

"Offense is by necessity a matter for equals, no? One cannot afford to take offense at the actions of one’s superiors. At the same time, however, one can hardly take offense at the bumbling of a simpleton."

While I can certainly appreciate a slower pace, I do feel The Fourth Consort has some pacing issues along the way. The beginning and ending move along at a fairly steady pace, but in the middle there is a lot of (literal) waiting around for things to happen. The switching between Dalton's present predicament and his memories of the past helps to keep the storytelling feel more dynamic, in my opinion portions of this novel could have been shaven off to make it flow better.

Despite this small gripe overall I enjoyed my time with this novel, and I was especially happy with how Ashton manages to wrap it all up. The ending felt very fitting to the whole of the story and its characters.

"You still present a mystery to me, and I am not willing to end you until it is resolved."

The Fourth Consort could be your next favourite read if you enjoy character-driven, politically focused novels with a unique scifi cast. Some parts of the novel are in a way reminiscent of Murderbot, so if you enjoyed that series, you might want to give this one a try as well.