Truth of the Divine

A Novel

De: Lindsay Ellis

Narrado por: Abigail Thorn, Kaveh Taherian, Stephanie Willis

PLEASE NOTE: An earlier version of this audiobook had chapters out of order, but this error has been corrected.

Truth of the Divine is the latest alternate-history first-contact novel in the Noumena series from the instant New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times bestselling author Lindsay Ellis.

The human race is at a crossroads; we know that we are not alone, but details about the alien presence on Earth are still being withheld from the public. As the political climate grows more unstable, the world is forced to consider the ramifications of granting human rights to nonhuman persons. How do you define “person” in the first place?

Cora Sabino not only serves as the full-time communication intermediary between the alien entity Ampersand and his government chaperones but also shares a mysterious bond with him that is both painful and intimate in ways neither of them could have anticipated. Despite this, Ampersand is still keen on keeping secrets, even from Cora, which backfires on them both when investigative journalist Kaveh Mazandarani, a close colleague of Cora’s unscrupulous estranged father, witnesses far more of Ampersand’s machinations than anyone was meant to see.

Since Cora has no choice but to trust Kaveh, the two must work together to prove to a fearful world that intelligent, conscious beings should be considered persons, no matter how horrifying, powerful, or malicious they may seem. Making this case is hard enough when the public doesn’t know what it’s dealing with—and it will only become harder when a mysterious flash illuminates the sky, marking the arrival of an agent of chaos that will light an already-unstable world on fire.

With a voice completely her own, Lindsay Ellis deepens her realistic exploration of the reality of a planet faced with the presence of extraterrestrial intelligence, probing the essential questions of humanity and decency, and the boundaries of the human mind.

While asking the question of what constitutes a “person,” Ellis also examines what makes a monster.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

©2021 Lindsay Ellis (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

Great Follow Up

I really enoyed this book, her depictions of mental illness were incredibly well done. I did like the additional characters. I was a bit resistant at first but Kave was a good dude. The voice performance was a little meh and was maybe why I didn't like it. Compared to Kora's voice performer who was amazing. The political stuff seemed so poignant to todays atmosphere that it was almost infuriating to here over and over. but that is what makes it a great book. Great work Lindsey Elis, great work

Best of the first book with an amazing story

Lindsay made a truly amazing story. The second book takes the aspects of Axiom’s end that were unique and that I liked and makes them even better. I found my self on a wave as I was listening to the book. Lindsay wrote in a way that got in my soul.

Lindsey does it again but better

loved it
mental illness + aliens
I am completely in love with this series

Incredible

This novel, like the first in the series, was captivating from beginning to end. Though it is science fiction, it is the characters (human and otherwise), not the fantastical premise, that kept me hooked.

Good beans! L.E. is really good at this!

I'm really enjoying Lindsay Ellis's take on first contact. A lot of authors would just make the aliens unknowable, but she really does a great job of presenting another culture/species in a super relatable way!

While I found the new POV chapters.... poorly read and a little uninteresting, Cora still remains a great character and perfect lens to view this all from. Personally I feel that everything this male POV did would have been better served if done by Cora.

But this is still a great flubbing book. Totally glad I grabbed these over the 3 booty problem series.

A darker look at universal civilizations

There are a lot of dark and hopeless implications in this story. It seems frightfully accurate in how humanity will argue among itself when first contact is made and extraterrestrial life forms attempt to communicate and live among us. There is hope too but this book is not for anyone who struggles with depression or hopelessness as the cycles of hope and despair can be exhausting.

Really great

Can’t believe how interesting this got. The beginning was slow, but the pay off was outstanding

Great Story, sometimes narration too quiet

I loved the story and having different narrators added a lot. Sometimes the performers would speak very quietly (because the characters are whispering or whatever) and that's nice and all if you're in an ideal listening environment, but it was hard to hear over ambient noise. Small complaint. I really dig the story and the characters very well written.

Remove the Filter?

A truly heartbreaking follow up which will probably become even better in hindsight as the story continues. It sets up interesting questions about intelligence and ways of communication that were mentioned in the first book and will probably be focused on for later installments. However, that voice filter that they use for the amygdalines detracts significantly from the performance. The standout performance from the last book was Stephanie Willis’s Ampersand voice (before and after he learns to make it sound more natural). It’s frustrating that they chose to dampen that to make the aliens sound more alien—especially since that contradicts the whole journey this book takes. There are unknowable differences between beings, but there’s also so much that is knowable and understandable; we may find comfort in the most surprising connections. Not trusting the performances and the human imagination does a disservice to listeners, and that’s what the robot filter does. There’s a brief bit towards the end where they left it off, and it was such a relief before they snapped right back to it. Not holding my breath for if, but I do hope that a version of this would be released without that filter, and that future installments bring back the respect that Willis’s performance deserves.

Somber, delightful, realistic. A new favorite.

This book comes with a content warning I can appreciate. Ellis writes honestly and accurately about the messiness and non-linear nature of trauma—especially in the face of something you don’t understand and can’t control when you have minimal support. Cora is a hot mess who could, in fact, benefit from a little saving. But she is not a trope. She is human and vulnerable and has faced unspeakable and not-at-all-romanticized trauma. Same is true of Ampersand. And Kaveh.

Ellis spends much of the his book building our relationships and personalities of supporting characters as well as world-building. It’s nice to see supporting characters evolve in opinion and personality in organic ways. Can’t wait for the third installment.