If you want the skinny on character driven fiction, then this is the first step you need to take, listen to Nathan Lowell’s Quarter Share. Lowell has taken on the space opera and breathed into a new life and enjoyment, at least for me, by making it about the characters and not about a plot. Truth be told, I can’t find an overwhelming plot within the confines of Quarter Share and I’ve listened to it twice.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, it has a plot. A small one consisting of main character Ishmael Horatio Wang and how he must leave the planet he’s accustomed to and take a berth on the SC Lois McKendrick. The plot is mostly his acclimatization to the spacer’s life and figuring out what he wants to do now that he’s on ship. While this plot works its way beneath the characters it’s still there, but it is definitely the characters that drive the story and make it as good as it is.

The minute Ishmael (Ish) steps aboard the Lois his life is changed when he’s surrounded by new people and new tasks. At no time does Ish complain about his new life, instead he embraces it and learns how to make it work for him. He finds himself making friends unexpectedly and easily and each of Ish’s new friends is as delightfully detailed as Ish himself.

Within the covers of Quarter Share, Ish is galley bound and we get a series running joke about coffee in the third chapter. A joke that never fails to bring a smile to my lips each time coffee is mentioned in the story. Perhaps its as amusing as it is because I’m a coffee fiend myself.

I could go on for pages about all that is good and wholesome about this story. There’s no graphic, “ickitah” as Nick would say, sex; little cursing that I’ve noticed and no ugly, violent monsters. No visable violence. Even details that could drag on for paragraphs are summed up nicely and without boring the life out of the listener.

Additionally there’s a phenomenal website that has a Ship’s Roster, the specs of the SC Lois McKendrick, and all the details you could want for Nathan’s stories. If you’re not listening to Quarter Share yet, you should be, especially if you enjoy well developed characters.

Reviews of Half Share and Full Share will follow during the week, and while yes, I have already listened to them, Nathan has an excellent voice for weaving a story.  If they ever hit dead tree version, they are on my shelf.

Rating: