What do you think?
Rate this book
EarthCent Ambassador #1-3
Union Station 1, 2, 3: Three Book Bundle
Remember when science fiction was about a future you wouldn't be terrified to live in? Humanity has finally reached the stars, thanks to a leg-up from ancient alien AI. EarthCent's diplomats are learning on the job - but the galaxy doesn't come with instructions. Get a running start on the funny and heartwarming Union Station series with a three book bundle at the special introductory price.
Kelly Frank is EarthCent's top diplomat on Union Station, but her job description has always been a bit vague. The pay is horrible and she's in hock up to her ears for her furniture, which is likely to end up in a corridor because she's behind on rent for her room. Sometimes she has to wonder if the career she has put ahead of her personal life for fifteen years is worth it.
When Kelly receives a gift subscription to the dating service that's rumored to be powered by the same benevolent artificial intelligence that runs the huge station, she decides to swallow her pride and give it a shot. But as her dates go from bad to worse, she can only hope that the supposedly omniscient AI is planning a happy ending.
Kelly Frank is EarthCent's top diplomat on Union Station, but her job description has always been a bit vague. The pay is horrible and she's in hock up to her ears for her furniture, which is likely to end up in a corridor because she's behind on rent for her room. Sometimes she has to wonder if the career she has put ahead of her personal life for fifteen years is worth it.
When Kelly receives a gift subscription to the dating service that's rumored to be powered by the same benevolent artificial intelligence that runs the huge station, she decides to swallow her pride and give it a shot. But as her dates go from bad to worse, she can only hope that the supposedly omniscient AI is planning a happy ending.
- GenresScience Fiction
550 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 31, 2017
386 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
E.M. Foner
59 books246 followersI wrote Date Night on Union Station while taking a break from work on a science fiction epic I've been struggling with for years. The goal was to cheer myself up and to find out if there is still an audience for a science fiction comedy that gets its laughs from dialogue and funny situations rather than from gross-outs and shocks. As many readers have pointed out, the EarthCent series could be rated PG under the old fashioned system, no bloodshed, no graphic sex, no four letter words. And after years of imagining a galaxy for my epic in which multiple human civilizations are at war with each other, it did me a world of good to write about a galaxy where most people are just trying to make a living and find some joy in life. I received so many requests to extend the Date Night universe into a series that I put aside my epic for an extended period to write a sequel, Alien Night on Union Station. The events take place five years after the conclusion of Date Night, and the plot involves a mix of business, diplomacy, gaming and family relations. As a bonus, we finally get to meet Kelly's mother. After the positive response to Alien Night, I wrote a third book for the series, High Priest of Union Station, which is currently in the editing stage and due out in mid-October. I just started a book that extends the EarthCent galaxy with a different mission and cast of characters, though they may intersect at some point.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 15, 2018
Excellent stories
I read the entire series a little over a year ago. I found the series a fun read with great progression of characters. I feel like part of the family as each story complimented the prior ones. I wanted to rediscover the characters, after getting to the last book I was trying to remember how they all started out. There were so many humans and aliens to keep track of, I just needed to restart the series. I am glad I did, it is enjoyable to read a book that doesn't have cuss words or adult situations. Just plain fun and entertaining.
I read the entire series a little over a year ago. I found the series a fun read with great progression of characters. I feel like part of the family as each story complimented the prior ones. I wanted to rediscover the characters, after getting to the last book I was trying to remember how they all started out. There were so many humans and aliens to keep track of, I just needed to restart the series. I am glad I did, it is enjoyable to read a book that doesn't have cuss words or adult situations. Just plain fun and entertaining.
February 14, 2018
I love my kindle. Not only is it a great way to read, but it gives me ads suggesting other books to read. I'd been seeing ads for Union Station for month. It looked interesting, but based on the cover, I thought it would be a graphic novel, so I put it off. When I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas, I picked it up. Well I was wrong about it being a graphic novel, but I figured it would be sci-fi, and it is, well sort of. To be honest, this is a book like few I have read and I loved it. It's not so much an action story as it is a story about relationships. It's a very funny book, clean and well written. The reason I say it's sort of sci-fi, is because it's set on a space station and there are aliens and artificial intelligence beings all over the place, but what really sells this book is the relational stuff that happens as all these diverse beings learn to coexist in spite of some pretty vast cultural differences. As such this humorous little sci-fi series could be pretty important in life today.
That's not to say it's a morality play or a parable. At times it feels like a more lighthearted Hitchhikers Guide. It's told from the perspective of Earth Ambassador Kelly Frank McAllister, who struggles to understand what her role is in the grand scheme of things at Union Station. The station is run by these sentient robotic AI beings called the Stryx who help her in the process while at times complicating her life. The characters are immensely well developed. The three books in this collection were a lot of fun. I thoroughly enjoyed these books, and I look forward to reading more in the series. The only bummer was that it's a three book set, but it will only count as one book on my yearly goodreads reading challenge. Oh well, I will catch up.
That's not to say it's a morality play or a parable. At times it feels like a more lighthearted Hitchhikers Guide. It's told from the perspective of Earth Ambassador Kelly Frank McAllister, who struggles to understand what her role is in the grand scheme of things at Union Station. The station is run by these sentient robotic AI beings called the Stryx who help her in the process while at times complicating her life. The characters are immensely well developed. The three books in this collection were a lot of fun. I thoroughly enjoyed these books, and I look forward to reading more in the series. The only bummer was that it's a three book set, but it will only count as one book on my yearly goodreads reading challenge. Oh well, I will catch up.
August 6, 2020
Date Night on Union Station4/5
This is a cute, light, fun series with no shooting and just a bunch of humorous faux pas that somehow resolve into a tidy story about learning to live with who you are. I really like all the central characters and, in the best traditions of sci-fi and fantasy, I want to live on Union Station and have a bunch of A.I. friends who can help me sort my life out.
Alien Night on Union Station 3/5
Much like the previous book, only it's four years later and the protagonists from the first book have grown a little older and a little wiser, making room for younger mistakes and innocent faux pas that could pass as minor diplomatic misunderstandings. Thankfully, the A.I.s that make up Union Station are here to help as are a few new characters who may not be all that they appear.
High Priest on Union Station 4/5
Our heroes continue to grow and change even as the world grows both more familiar and more chaotic around them. This time, there's a suicidal race in need of a new world, now if Kelly can only convince them to move to it.
This is a cute, light, fun series with no shooting and just a bunch of humorous faux pas that somehow resolve into a tidy story about learning to live with who you are. I really like all the central characters and, in the best traditions of sci-fi and fantasy, I want to live on Union Station and have a bunch of A.I. friends who can help me sort my life out.
Alien Night on Union Station 3/5
Much like the previous book, only it's four years later and the protagonists from the first book have grown a little older and a little wiser, making room for younger mistakes and innocent faux pas that could pass as minor diplomatic misunderstandings. Thankfully, the A.I.s that make up Union Station are here to help as are a few new characters who may not be all that they appear.
High Priest on Union Station 4/5
Our heroes continue to grow and change even as the world grows both more familiar and more chaotic around them. This time, there's a suicidal race in need of a new world, now if Kelly can only convince them to move to it.
June 16, 2022
Book 1 and Book 3 are Enjoyable
I liked the Prequel, Book 1, & Book 3 ... but I have to admit that I found Book 2 a tedious bore that I had to plow through. I debated not finishing it but skimmed through it Instead as best I could in order to move on to the next book in the series. Book 2 is full of looong descriptive detailed chapters about alien customs & eating habits alternating with looong descriptive detailed chapters about a weird game that I had a hard time feeling any interest in. There wasn't much of a storyline or any action going on either; very boring book for me. Others may not mind all that, I don't know. I definitely can recommend the other 3 books though.
I liked the Prequel, Book 1, & Book 3 ... but I have to admit that I found Book 2 a tedious bore that I had to plow through. I debated not finishing it but skimmed through it Instead as best I could in order to move on to the next book in the series. Book 2 is full of looong descriptive detailed chapters about alien customs & eating habits alternating with looong descriptive detailed chapters about a weird game that I had a hard time feeling any interest in. There wasn't much of a storyline or any action going on either; very boring book for me. Others may not mind all that, I don't know. I definitely can recommend the other 3 books though.
April 28, 2025
Great read
This is a really good series and believe this is my second ot third read through. Been reading Science fiction and fantasy all my life and will say this is the only future I would want to end up in. The only complaint is that in the first 4 or 5 books the original characters were aged considerably and the children became the focus, wish more time had been spent on the originals.
This is a really good series and believe this is my second ot third read through. Been reading Science fiction and fantasy all my life and will say this is the only future I would want to end up in. The only complaint is that in the first 4 or 5 books the original characters were aged considerably and the children became the focus, wish more time had been spent on the originals.
February 17, 2019
Amusing if predictable
It's funny, but we can also see most of the plot development a million miles off. And to some extent, the women are caricatures, either ditzy, or pushy and bossy. So a lot depends on your tolerance for the exact balance of himorous space opera and trite romance, of mysterious AIs and easy-to-manipulate dumb Earthlings.
It's funny, but we can also see most of the plot development a million miles off. And to some extent, the women are caricatures, either ditzy, or pushy and bossy. So a lot depends on your tolerance for the exact balance of himorous space opera and trite romance, of mysterious AIs and easy-to-manipulate dumb Earthlings.
Read
January 9, 2023So much fun to read 😊😊
These stories of the earth central ambassador on Union Station are my favorite form of relaxation. Quirky, imaginative and very entertaining. A universe where the Strix exist as an altruistic higher power ensuring all the many sentient species coexist peacefully. With just enough scifi magic to make everything possible.
These stories of the earth central ambassador on Union Station are my favorite form of relaxation. Quirky, imaginative and very entertaining. A universe where the Strix exist as an altruistic higher power ensuring all the many sentient species coexist peacefully. With just enough scifi magic to make everything possible.
March 13, 2018
Just good old-fashioned story, no need for sex no need for violence no need for anything other than the story itself. A good set of three stories set around the number of fixed characters living on a space station.
This introduction leads me to wants me to read the whole series.
This introduction leads me to wants me to read the whole series.
August 7, 2020
Fun Read
Read this for enjoyment. It is not high art, or a deep philosophical excersie, it is just joyful. No military battles or insightful technology, but a little romance, on a grand scale, with interesting characters and a delightful galaxy.
Read this for enjoyment. It is not high art, or a deep philosophical excersie, it is just joyful. No military battles or insightful technology, but a little romance, on a grand scale, with interesting characters and a delightful galaxy.
November 27, 2020
5 stars for each story
Each story is excellent and builds on the previous one. I am just starting this series and expect to read all of the books. The auction in book three is a real hoot! A fun read.
Each story is excellent and builds on the previous one. I am just starting this series and expect to read all of the books. The auction in book three is a real hoot! A fun read.
February 7, 2021
Fascinating and unique
I have read the first 3 on the Union Station books. All 3 are completely unique and fascinating. The author has developed several complex and interesting characters and a series of interlocking adventures that keep a reader involved.
I have read the first 3 on the Union Station books. All 3 are completely unique and fascinating. The author has developed several complex and interesting characters and a series of interlocking adventures that keep a reader involved.
February 6, 2022
The trilogy is a bargain.
The series gets off to a great start. Kelly seems like a silly earth girl like a million other college dopes. But she gets a job she grows into and just keeps surviving everything the universe throws at her.
The series gets off to a great start. Kelly seems like a silly earth girl like a million other college dopes. But she gets a job she grows into and just keeps surviving everything the universe throws at her.
March 9, 2022
kept me coming back
this series is fun and so very interesting. have read all three books through without going to my tbr books because the story was like a magnet, pulling me back in to see what’s going to happen next
this series is fun and so very interesting. have read all three books through without going to my tbr books because the story was like a magnet, pulling me back in to see what’s going to happen next
September 12, 2022
Just finished the series for the second time, (up to no.20, plus the companion series).
Thoroughly enjoyable read that I highly recommend, either to jump in and out of, or to immerse yourself in if you have the time.
Thoroughly enjoyable read that I highly recommend, either to jump in and out of, or to immerse yourself in if you have the time.
November 19, 2017
Cutesy. -
November 22, 2017
Some good moments
Bye and large, there some enjoyable bits and pieces. However, some parts seem to be overlong. Altogether a decent read.
Bye and large, there some enjoyable bits and pieces. However, some parts seem to be overlong. Altogether a decent read.
January 20, 2022
Great read for cheering up.
April 13, 2022
Meh... great world building, but the characters are caricatures and very one dimensional...
August 19, 2020
This was so much fun! There are some really interesting sci fi concepts underpinning this series of novellas, far more interesting than I expected from the blurb. Plus, fun and engaging characters, species and events, all told in a light and highly enjoyable writing style. There are many more books in this series and I fully intend to spend many lighthearted hours reading more of them.
Read
May 6, 2019Read all of the series as they are addictive.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews