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    Conquest: The Chronicles of the Invaders: Book 1
    Conquest: The Chronicles of the Invaders: Book 1
    Conquest: The Chronicles of the Invaders: Book 1
    Audiobook14 hours

    Conquest: The Chronicles of the Invaders: Book 1

    Written by John Connolly and Jennifer Ridyard

    Narrated by Nicola Barber

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    “A beautiful book…one that should not be missed!” (The Guardian): The first in a stunning science fiction trilogy, this mesmerizing novel introduces a world where young rebels must unlock their powers to rescue humankind from a powerful alien rulership.

    Earth has been invaded by the Illyri—a beautiful, civilized, yet ruthless alien species. But humankind has not given up the fight, and Paul Kerr is one of a new generation of young Resistance leaders waging war on the invaders.

    Syl Hellais is the first of the Illyri to be born on Earth. Trapped inside the walls of her father’s stronghold, hated by the humans, she longs to escape. But on her sixteenth birthday, her life will change forever. Syl becomes an outcast, an enemy of her people, for daring to save the life of one human: Paul Kerr. Only together do they have a chance of saving not only each other, but also the planet they both call home.

    For there is a greater darkness behind the Illyri conquest of Earth, and the real invasion has not yet even begun…
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateFeb 11, 2014
    ISBN9781442369078
    Conquest: The Chronicles of the Invaders: Book 1
    Author

    John Connolly

    John Connolly is the author of the #1 internationally bestselling Charlie Parker thrillers series, the supernatural collection Nocturnes, the Samuel Johnson Trilogy for younger readers, and (with Jennifer Ridyard) the Chronicles of the Invaders series. He lives in Dublin, Ireland. For more information, see his website at JohnConnollyBooks.com, or follow him on Twitter @JConnollyBooks.

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    Reviews for Conquest

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    • 5/5
      I read a lot of his other books, so I was kind of curious when I saw this one. It’s SUCH a different genre than his usual ‘dark fiction.’ But despite that, he did a very good job I think. It was a complicated storyline, but I got into the characters. I would have liked more physical descriptions of the characters and other ‘aliens’, and it was a little ‘teen romance’ but I enjoyed it well enough to want to read the next one right away!
    • 5/5
      I love this book I listen to it all the way through
    • 4/5
      Conquest was a fun and enjoyable read that for the most part hit the marks that I like in Sci-Fi novels. It has some interesting topics in there even if it does not cover much new ground compared to other works. The characters were well written and detailed though not all of them I liked. Interesting technology, aliens and world building were all present so it kept my interest all the way through. I will be continuing with the series when the next novel arrives in 2015.

      3.5/4 stars for the fun story.
    • 2/5
      As a Young Adult novel, this isn't bad. It has a teenage protagonist (and appropriate sidekicks), close calls, narrow escapes, and various adventures, but as science fiction... well, it just didn't quite click for me.

      It's a story of alien invasion. The aliens (Illyri) arrive, subjugate the planet (as somewhat benevolent conquerors), and then defend themselves against the pesky, unappreciative humans who have now become terrorists. Until a plot twist at the end (which reminded me of one of the poorer Star Trek TNG story arcs), the Illyri seem to be pursuing the same kind of folly as European colonial powers of the 19th Century, with Earth serving in the role of Africa, India, and China. It seemed unlikely to me that an advanced, star-faring civilization would be so short-sighted, and the Illyri's motivations for conquering Earth are never clear (or, when implied, not believable). But then the aliens don't seem very alien. Essentially, they are people without eyelids (who can pass for human in poor light if they wear sunglasses), but their intelligence, worldview, emotions, reactions, and culture are all on par with contemporary mediocre humans. They've got some cool gadgets and spaceships and such, but they don't seem like an 'advanced' or even alien civilization to me.

      The prose is adequate for a YA novel, the dialogue works, and the editing is good, but the characters and plot felt contrived beyond my ability to suspend disbelief. All in all, the book is okay. In Goodreads parlance that equates to 2 stars.
    • 2/5
      Really promising start, then spirals down into mediocrity.
    • 3/5
      I read this book when I read "Desperation's" companion "The Regulators." I thought the plot of those two books would be the same, thus wanted to read another book. The two "Stephen King" books turned out to have different plots, but the fact that Conquest had two authors made this book "fit" nicely.Unfortunately, some of the chapters really sucked for me. There was a chapter when the heroin met the villainess, and the heroin purposely dumped a cup of coffee or something on a rug - that was a "she needs to be disciplined" moment, but I think was suppose to be a "she's got spunk" moment. Maybe? maybe it was put into the book as a "she's young" thing.Another section that bothered me: our heroin was in trouble. The brother of her boyfriend to be was trying to help, but also got into a no-way-to-get-out-of-this-situation. The way the situation was resolved was too convenient. The author backed into a corner, and to get out of it, gave a character a supernatural ability. Convenient - and that bugs me.Some of the other parts were very enjoyable. However, I can't think of examples of the good parts as I can of the bad. That's not a good thing - probably says more negative about me not being able to list positive things than negative about the book.
    • 4/5
      Conquest was the first book I won on Goodreads, and I was so stupidly happy to start reading it. I'm not going to lie, I had completely forgot not only about entering the contest but what the book was about, but after a quick re-read of the summary I was looking forward to it. Then I started it, and I'll be honest with you, I didn't really click with it straight away. This book is nearly 500 pages, and for the first 100 pages I was close to putting it down and forgetting about it. However in the summary on goodreads it's regarded as a book for fans of THE 5TH WAVE and I AM NUMBER FOUR. Now I haven't read the Lorien Legacies but I do happen to be a big fan of The 5th Wave, so I thought I would give the book the benefit of the doubt and carry on with it. Well low and behold soon after contemplating it in my DNF pile, I became hooked.Though this book has been compared to The 5th Wave, the one big difference you have between the two is one is about a young girls survival in a world that's recently been invaded by alien, while this book we get to see it mainly from the aliens having the majority of the dialogue coming from the Illyri which is really refreshing. As far as character's in the book go we have a lot of interesting one's but the one's that will stick in your mind the most for obvious reason's is the 16 year old Syl, the only child of the new ruler of earth and Paul, not only a human but also part of the resistance. Both characters, as well as the rest, are not only well written but relatable at times no matter the race.I think as much as I love the characters, and I do, the one thing that took my break away about this book was the world they had built. Set in Edinburgh, we have the lovely Scottish highland and castles, one of which Syl lives in, nothing is left to the imagination, they set a picture in your mind perfectly and it sticks with you for a long time. Aside from that, the relationships in the story are so believable and slow building, you enjoy it , you feel along with the characters and in the end it leaves you wanting more. The best type of relationships always do.Though this book written by the new comer, Jennifer Ridyard and name that people around the YA community have heard at lest once, John Connolly (author of The Book of Lost Things) is in the YA genre, it more than your typical book aimed for younger people. It has mature themes (not content, it's pretty straight and narrow), the authors don't try to treat you like children by dumbing things down and overall it's just a really lovely, unique SCI FI book that could be enjoyed by people of all ages
    • 4/5
      Conquest by John Connolly and Jennifer Ridyard is the first volume in The Chronicles of the Invaders. This is a great introductory volume in what looks to be an exciting series. The book takes place largely in and around Edinburgh, Scotland. I found the setting to be a refreshing change for an alien invasion/occupation story. The countryside and the history of Scotland played as important a role in the story as the characters.The aliens were nicely detailed, both in their character’s descriptions as well as their internal politics and history. The authors pick up the story after several years of occupation giving us a look at how earth’s population settles into an uneasy equilibrium with its invaders. The aliens are highly advanced, but not invincible. There is an active human resistance but it is largely cautious and just barely coordinated. It becomes clear that the Illyri invaders are still hiding secrets, both from the humans and from each other. The main plot moves forward largely around four young people who become inadvertently entangled in each other’s lives; two Illyri girls and two human boys. The romantic angle involving these four is my least favorite part of the book, but it is a fairly minor quibble. The romance is understated, but it seems unnecessary to the plot. The adult characters are compelling and the book moves forward at a good pace.Hidden agendas and secrets are everywhere. It gradually becomes clear that the future of two civilizations is in the balance. Each answer revealed leads to more questions. Some of the actions are truly evil and hint at a great danger remaining, perhaps to both races.Conquest does a good job of telling a complete story in and of itself while simultaneously setting the stage for much more exploration of its universe. The story leads to an action packed climax and sets the stage for the next entry in the series. I’m very much looking forward to seeing where this story goes from here. Highly recommended.I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of this book.
    • 3/5
      “The Earth has been invaded by the Illyri, a beautiful, civilized, yet ruthless alien race. Humanity has been conquered, but still it fights the invaders. The Resistance grows stronger, for it is the young people of Earth who are best equipped to battle the Illyri.Syl Hellais, conceived among the stars, is the oldest alien child on Earth, the first to reach sixteen years of age. Her father rules the planet. Her future is assured. And Syl has hidden gifts, powers that even she does yet fully understand.But all is not as it seems. The Illyri are at war among themselves, and the sinister Nairene Sisterhood has arrived on Earth, hungry for new blood. When Syl helps a pair of young Resistance fighters to escape execution, she finds herself sentenced to death, pursued by her own kind, and risks breaking the greatest taboo of her race by falling in love with a human.Now the hunter has become the hunted, the predator become prey.And as Syl is about to learn, the real invasion has not yet even begun..I acquired this book through a goodreads giveaway and was pleasantly surprised. While the story of heroic teens fighting alien invasion isn’t new, authors John Connolly and Jennifer Ridyard presented a well-crafted tale with the right balance of exposition, action and mystery that kept my interest. The story was fast paced and believable and clues for future revelations s as well as the behind the scenes machinations we’ve yet to discover were unobtrusively slipped in giving the reader just enough of a hint as to what was to come without any overt spoilers.Unlike many YA science fiction stories of late, Conquest Is less an unrealistic ‘paranormal romance’ than it is an action packed science fiction adventure. All of the key elements of a good read are present; fast paced realistic action; likeable major characters whose development is congruent with the plot and minor characters who add dimension to as they propel the story line. This was an easy, interesting and entertaining read. I’ll look for the sequel.
    • 4/5
      Pros: compelling story, political machinations, minor romantic elementsCons: slow openingConquest takes place roughly 16 years after the Illyri, a race similar to humans, take over the Earth. Syl, conceived among the stars and the first Illyri born on Earth, lives with her father, the governor of Britain and Ireland, in Edinburgh castle. On her 16th birthday she and a friend sneak out of the castle and encounter two human teenagers, members of the Resistance just as a bomb goes off on the Royal Mile. Events spiral into a series of political machinations that change the world as these 4 youths know it.The book gets off to a slow start, as there’s a lot of background information the reader needs to know in order to follow what happens after the bombing in Edinburgh. Once things start happening they happen fast. By page 100 I found that I couldn’t put the book down, I was so invested in the characters and what was happening. While a lot of the politics happen off stage, given the ages of the protagonist, there’s still a fair amount of political maneuvering, among the humans (different resistance groups) but mainly among the Illyri (the sisterhood, the military and the diplomatic corps). It’s the alien politics that fascinate, and I’m hoping the next book includes more information about the sisterhood.There are a lot of SF elements borrowed from other sources, but the authors do a great job of using those elements in new ways. The addition of a burgeoning romance between one of the humans and Syl only enhances the difficulties the two races face. And the ending contained some great twists.This book is more complex than humans: good, aliens: bad. Having protagonists on both sides makes both sides partly sympathetic. And partly not. It’s a great start to a series.