Jacey Bedford's Journal

Audiobook narrated by Jefferson Mays

A bunch of (human) academic researchers on a planet called Anjiin are negotiating with their authorities for future funding and the continuation of their project. The political infighting ends suddenly when aliens (the Carryx) invade and take (most of) the research team to work on an arbitrary lab project as a demonstration to prove that they are 'useful'.  (More useful than teams of other species engaged on a parallel project.) Not being useful is likely to end in death, and there can be only one winning team (apparently). But what are the Carryx really up to? How is the team going to adjust to their new reality as prisoners? This is an ensemble piece, with several viewpoints, but Dafyd Alkhor, a research assistant, is learning to play the aliens' game, and he's the viewpoint I'm most invested in. Also, there is the puzzle of the Swarm, a different alien entity opposed to the Carryx. There were times when I found this frustratingly slow, but there’s an interesting story developing, if somewhat slowly. The book doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, but it’s obviously leading to more stories. I probably won't read further in this series. The narrator is invisibly competent.