Hearts of Darkness

Christopher Ryan Grant’s narration is the beating heart of this audiobook, gluing together a story that could easily spiral into chaos. His performance is a masterclass in tonal versatility—he nails the Strange Company’s swaggering defiance, the Monarch Empire’s smug arrogance, and the sheer weariness of a galaxy on its last legs. The man does accents like a chameleon on espresso, switching from grizzled mercenary to aristocratic villain without missing a beat. That said, the production occasionally stumbles with abrupt volume shifts during action sequences, a jarring habit that snaps you out of the immersion just when things get explosive. Narratively, the first act drags slightly with setup that feels overly detailed for an audiobook, but once the Strange Company’s ship lifts off, the story tightens into a relentless, blood-soaked chase. The moral gray zones are where Cole shines, and Grant sells every moment of them—whether it’s the crew’s black humor or the creeping dread of a system too broken to fix. If you love your sci-fi with a side of moral ambiguity and a narrator who’s as invested in the chaos as you are, *Hearts of Darkness* delivers.