I saw The Fourth Consort on Net Galley and did not request it- as I was 8 ARC's deep at the time, but I really liked the cover, and I had enjoyed Mickey Seven, so I thought this one might be a hit for me.
It certainly fits the theme of Outer Space- with main themes of the book being Space travel, First Contact, and Aliens. (Someone has put forth a Love Triangle, but frankly, that's reaching, there is no love triangle that I could find anywhere in this novel. There wasn;t a whole lot of love at all.)
I found it via my library's Libby App, and I was sort of surprised that it wasn't several months deep in holds.
This book has the most interesting, creative premise. Our "hero" Dalton has a berth on a ship run by Alien Snails where his job is to go planetside on various planets and make first contact, establishing various agreements with the inhabitants. He's promised an enormous end salary with benefits, though the job itself is so dangerous he's pretty sure he won't be seeing those benefits.
At the start, readers find themselves stranded on an alien world full of an insectoid species, Dalton and his crewmate Nera and an alien known as "The Stickman" (from an opposing force also seeking to establish various agreements with the planet's inhabitants).
Chaos ensues. (IF you want a spoiler free review, please stop here!)
Nera retreats to the landing capsule, leaving Dalton and The Stickman to contend with the Insectoid species. Both the Stickman and Dalton seem sure that someone is coming for them, but honestly as the reader, I was suspecting that "no one is coming for you" was going to be part of the plot.
Dalton finds himself unexpectedly given the dubious honor of becoming the Fourth Consort to the Insectoid leader "First Among Equals" In this society, things are matriarchal, and Dalton is pitied because he is indeed male. Through a wild series of events, Dalton and The Stickman, establish a fragile friendship of sorts, while Nera- from afar, attempts to dictate things from her point of view. It's definitely an interesting read on how things are interpreted with various amounts of information. Nera, from her removed perch in the landing pod is more prone to a violent response, while Dalton, who's deep in the city is discovering the nuances of this society, and learning more about the Stickman as well.
As our story concludes, Dalton is given several choices for his future, and I must admit, I was not expecting his choice at all, though it did delight me.
Barrie Kreinik narrated, and really did a fantastic job with several voices, including alien voices. Nothing was "over the top" and the narration style kept me listening, so I highly recommend the audiobook.
My main disappointment is the same one that I had with Mickey 7. Although I enjoyed the story, I felt like - firstly- Ashton failed to explore the alien cultures deeply. Dalton is made a consort but we never quite fully understand what that entails. I was wildly curious about what that entailed, but most of the book did not actually involve interaction with the consort or the consortee. Nera and breaker are both interesting characters, and even though readers are given backstories on most of the characters, the characters themselves still seem to lack personalities.
So, while I did enjoy this one, I didn't really LOVE it. Definitely will be interested in more narration from Barrie Kreinik though!
STATS
First Published : 2/25/25
Pages: 288
Available as an Audio Book : YES ( ~ 8hrs)
Trigger Warnings: violence, death, death of parent, death of spouse, interspecies experiences, colonialization (in space), abandonment,(this is not a full list, read responsibly)
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