-
The Speed of Dark
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Sheepfarmer's Daughter
- The Deed of Paksenarrion, Book 1
- By: Elizabeth Moon
- Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck
- Length: 15 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Refusing to marry a pig farmer and joining the army, even if it means never seeing her family again, Paksenarrion begins an adventure that enables her to restore an overthrown ruler.
-
-
Enjoyable Listen!
- By Josiah on 07-30-10
By: Elizabeth Moon
-
Sassinak
- The Planet Pirates Series, Book 1
- By: Anne McCaffrey, Elizabeth Moon
- Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sassinak was 12 when the raiders came. That made her just the right age: old enough to be used, young enough to be broken. Or so the slavers thought. But Sassy turned out to be a little different from your typical slave girl. Maybe it was her unusual physical strength. Maybe it was her friendship with the captured Fleet crewman. Maybe it was her spirit. Whatever it was, it wouldn’t let her resign herself to the life of a slave. She bided her time, watched for her moment. Finally it came, and she escaped. But that was only the beginning for Sassinak.
-
-
Definitely dated, but very enjoyable sci-fi story
- By Melinda on 04-16-22
By: Anne McCaffrey, and others
-
Gateway
- By: Frederik Pohl
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman, Robert J. Sawyer
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When prospector Bob Broadhead went out to Gateway on the Heechee spacecraft, he decided he would know which was the right mission to make him his fortune. Three missions later, now famous and permanently rich, Robinette Broadhead has to face what happened to him and what he is...in a journey into himself as perilous and even more horrifying than the nightmare trip through the interstellar void that he drove himself to take!
-
-
A human-focused SF classic
- By Ryan on 12-05-13
By: Frederik Pohl
-
Trading in Danger
- Vatta's War, Book 1
- By: Elizabeth Moon
- Narrated by: Cynthia Holloway
- Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first of the acclaimed Vatta's War books, the exciting military science fiction series that features a swashbuckling spaceship-captain heroine who mixes commerce with combat.
-
-
Highly Recommend
- By L'Aura on 11-28-09
By: Elizabeth Moon
-
Oath of Fealty
- Paladin's Legacy, Book 1
- By: Elizabeth Moon
- Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck
- Length: 17 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Paksenarrion Dorthansdotter follows her dream of becoming a hero out of legend by running away to join the army. Military life and warfare aren't anything like she imagined - yet she holds to both her duty and her dreams. Sheepfarmer's Daughter, Divided Allegiance, and Oath of Gold tell of her rise to become the paladin who saves a kingdom. In this new trilogy, Paks's former comrades in Duke Phelan's Company assume new roles and the story turns to follow their adventures.
-
-
More Moon Magic
- By James on 04-20-10
By: Elizabeth Moon
-
Starter Villain
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.
-
-
Volcanic Lairs, Death Rays & Cats… Oh My! 😼
- By C. White on 09-19-23
By: John Scalzi
-
Sheepfarmer's Daughter
- The Deed of Paksenarrion, Book 1
- By: Elizabeth Moon
- Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck
- Length: 15 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Refusing to marry a pig farmer and joining the army, even if it means never seeing her family again, Paksenarrion begins an adventure that enables her to restore an overthrown ruler.
-
-
Enjoyable Listen!
- By Josiah on 07-30-10
By: Elizabeth Moon
-
Sassinak
- The Planet Pirates Series, Book 1
- By: Anne McCaffrey, Elizabeth Moon
- Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sassinak was 12 when the raiders came. That made her just the right age: old enough to be used, young enough to be broken. Or so the slavers thought. But Sassy turned out to be a little different from your typical slave girl. Maybe it was her unusual physical strength. Maybe it was her friendship with the captured Fleet crewman. Maybe it was her spirit. Whatever it was, it wouldn’t let her resign herself to the life of a slave. She bided her time, watched for her moment. Finally it came, and she escaped. But that was only the beginning for Sassinak.
-
-
Definitely dated, but very enjoyable sci-fi story
- By Melinda on 04-16-22
By: Anne McCaffrey, and others
-
Gateway
- By: Frederik Pohl
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman, Robert J. Sawyer
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When prospector Bob Broadhead went out to Gateway on the Heechee spacecraft, he decided he would know which was the right mission to make him his fortune. Three missions later, now famous and permanently rich, Robinette Broadhead has to face what happened to him and what he is...in a journey into himself as perilous and even more horrifying than the nightmare trip through the interstellar void that he drove himself to take!
-
-
A human-focused SF classic
- By Ryan on 12-05-13
By: Frederik Pohl
-
Trading in Danger
- Vatta's War, Book 1
- By: Elizabeth Moon
- Narrated by: Cynthia Holloway
- Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first of the acclaimed Vatta's War books, the exciting military science fiction series that features a swashbuckling spaceship-captain heroine who mixes commerce with combat.
-
-
Highly Recommend
- By L'Aura on 11-28-09
By: Elizabeth Moon
-
Oath of Fealty
- Paladin's Legacy, Book 1
- By: Elizabeth Moon
- Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck
- Length: 17 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Paksenarrion Dorthansdotter follows her dream of becoming a hero out of legend by running away to join the army. Military life and warfare aren't anything like she imagined - yet she holds to both her duty and her dreams. Sheepfarmer's Daughter, Divided Allegiance, and Oath of Gold tell of her rise to become the paladin who saves a kingdom. In this new trilogy, Paks's former comrades in Duke Phelan's Company assume new roles and the story turns to follow their adventures.
-
-
More Moon Magic
- By James on 04-20-10
By: Elizabeth Moon
-
Starter Villain
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.
-
-
Volcanic Lairs, Death Rays & Cats… Oh My! 😼
- By C. White on 09-19-23
By: John Scalzi
-
Deeds of Honor
- By: Elizabeth Moon
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With two exclusive, never-before-published stories featuring characters from the Paladin's Legacy series, Deeds of Honor gathers together lore and legends from Paksenarrion’s world, along with tales from the Paladin’s Legacy era, all revised and updated for this special compilation. Rich with the vivid and immersive storytelling for which Elizabeth Moon is known, the eight short stories in Deeds of Honor are certain to please any fan of the Paksenarrion saga.
-
-
Great icing on the cake
- By Amy Conner on 06-23-21
By: Elizabeth Moon
-
Surrender None
- By: Elizabeth Moon
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 20 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Paksenarrion was the finest paladin her world would ever see. But Paksenarrion could never have become a fighter at all had it not been for he who had come before: Gird, the liberator, who taught his people that they could fight - and win - against their Mage-born rulers. And after Gird came one more: Luap, Gird's sworn follower and the king's half-breed bastard. Riven by internal conflict, Luap dare not lie and cannot tell the truth, nor face the future.
-
-
How can you not love Gird?!
- By Amy Conner on 06-19-22
By: Elizabeth Moon
-
The Calculating Stars
- A Lady Astronaut Novel
- By: Mary Robinette Kowal
- Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a cold spring night in 1952, a huge meteorite fell to earth and obliterated much of the East Coast of the US, including Washington, DC. The ensuing climate cataclysm will soon render the Earth inhospitable for humanity, as the last such meteorite did for the dinosaurs. This looming threat calls for a radically accelerated effort to colonize space and requires a much-larger share of humanity to take part in the process. Elma York’s drive to become the first lady astronaut is so strong that even the most dearly held conventions of society may not stand a chance against her.
-
-
Never achieves lift off
- By Richard Bruno on 10-01-18
-
The Kaiju Preservation Society
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When COVID-19 sweeps through New York City, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end driver for food-delivery apps. That is, until Jamie makes a delivery to an old acquaintance, Tom, who works at what he calls “an animal rights organization”. Tom’s team needs a last-minute grunt to handle things on their next field visit. Jamie, eager to do anything, immediately signs on. What Tom doesn't tell Jamie is that the animals his team cares for are not here on Earth. Not our Earth, at at least. In an alternate dimension, dinosaur-like creatures named Kaiju roam a warm and human-free world.
-
-
I'm listening with a permanent smile on my face
- By Lucy A. Pithecus on 03-15-22
By: John Scalzi
-
All Systems Red
- By: Martha Wells
- Narrated by: Kevin R. Free
- Length: 3 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
All Systems Red is the tense first science fiction adventure novella in Martha Wells' series The Murderbot Diaries. For fans of Westworld, Ex Machina, Ann Leckie's Imperial Raadch series, or Iain M. Banks' Culture novels. The main character is a deadly security droid that has bucked its restrictive programming and is balanced between contemplative self-discovery and an idle instinct to kill all humans.
-
-
I just wish all four stories were one book...
- By Garrett Stone on 11-05-18
By: Martha Wells
-
The Spare Man
- By: Mary Robinette Kowal
- Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tesla Crane, one of the richest women in the world, is on her honeymoon on an interplanetary space liner, cruising between Earth and Mars. She’s traveling incognito and is reveling in her anonymity. Then someone is murdered and her husband is named as the prime suspect. To save him from the frame-up, Tesla will risk exposure and face demons from her past. Even though doing so might make her the next victim.
-
-
Classic mystery, forward worldbuilding
- By Deana on 10-16-22
-
Eon
- By: Greg Bear
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 17 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Perhaps it wasn't from our time, perhaps it wasn't even from our universe, but the arrival of the 300-kilometer long stone was the answer to humanity's desperate plea to end the threat of nuclear war. Inside the deep recesses of the stone lies Thistledown: the remnants of a human society, versed in English, Russian and Chinese. The artifacts of this familiar people foretell a great Death caused by the ravages of war, but the government and scientists are unable to decide how to use this knowledge.
-
-
Am Epic Original SciFi Read Worth Your Time...
- By Michael on 07-01-12
By: Greg Bear
-
Downbelow Station (1 of 2) (Dramatized)
- Alliance-Union Universe: The Company Wars, Book 1
- By: C.J. Cherryh
- Narrated by: Holly Adams, James Konicek, James Lewis, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pell was just the first living planet. Then came Cyteen, and later others, and a new and frighteningly different society grew in the farther reaches of space. The importance of Earth faded and the Company reaped ever smaller profits as the economic focus of space turned outward. But the powerful Earth Fleet was still a presence in the Beyond, and Pell Station was to become the last stronghold in a titanic struggle between the vast, dynamic forces of the rebel Union and those who defended Earth's last, desperate grasp for the stars.
-
-
Stunningly Magnificent Performance/Production
- By Gentle Reader Jill on 09-03-21
By: C.J. Cherryh
-
Ender's Game
- Special 20th Anniversary Edition
- By: Orson Scott Card
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Harlan Ellison, Gabrielle de Cuir
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why we think it’s a great listen: It’s easy to say that when it comes to sci-fi you either love it or you hate it. But with Ender’s Game, it seems to be you either love it or you love it.... The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Enter Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, the result of decades of genetic experimentation.
-
-
6 titles in the series so far
- By Kapila Wimalaratne on 01-29-03
By: Orson Scott Card
-
The Shadow of the Torturer
- The Book of the New Sun, Book 1
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Shadow of the Torturer is the first volume in the four-volume epic, the tale of a young Severian, an apprentice to the Guild of Torturers on the world called Urth, exiled for committing the ultimate sin of his profession - showing mercy towards his victim.
Gene Wolfe's "The Book of the New Sun" is one of speculative fiction's most-honored series. In a 1998 poll, Locus Magazine rated the series behind only "The Lord of the Rings" and The Hobbit as the greatest fantasy work of all time.
-
-
great writing, won't appeal to everyone
- By Ryan on 03-20-10
By: Gene Wolfe
-
Flowers for Algernon
- By: Daniel Keyes
- Narrated by: Jeff Woodman
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charlie Gordon knows that he isn't very bright. At 32, he mops floors in a bakery and earns just enough to get by. Three evenings a week, he studies at a center for mentally challenged adults. But all of this is about to change for Charlie. As part of a daring experiment, doctors are going to perform surgery on Charlie's brain. They hope the operation and special medication will increase his intelligence, just as it has for the laboratory mouse, Algernon.
-
-
Walk with a Swagger
- By Tim on 05-30-14
By: Daniel Keyes
-
Childhood's End
- By: Arthur C. Clarke
- Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer, Robert J. Sawyer - introduction
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Overlords appeared suddenly over every city - intellectually, technologically, and militarily superior to humankind. Benevolent, they made few demands: unify earth, eliminate poverty, and end war. With little rebellion, humankind agreed, and a golden age began.
-
-
Food for Thought
- By Kindle Customer on 11-17-08
By: Arthur C. Clarke
Publisher's summary
Lou Arrendale is a member of that lost generation, born at the wrong time to reap the awards of medical science. Part of a small group of high-functioning autistic adults, he has a steady job with a pharmaceutical company, a car, friends, and a passion for fencing. Aside from his annual visits to his counselor, he lives a low-key, independent life. He has learned to shake hands and make eye contact. He has taught himself to use "please" and "thank you" and other conventions of conversation because he knows it makes others comfortable. He does his best to be as normal as possible and not to draw attention to himself.But then his quiet life comes under attack.
It starts with an experimental treatment that will reverse the effects of autism in adults. With this treatment Lou would think and act and be just like everyone else. But if he was suddenly free of autism, would he still be himself? Would he still love the same classical music - with its complications and resolutions? Would he still see the same colors and patterns in the world - shades and hues that others cannot see? Most importantly, would he still love Marjory, a woman who may never be able to reciprocate his feelings? Would it be easier for her to return the love of a "normal"?
There are intense pressures coming from the world around him - including an angry supervisor who wants to cut costs by sacrificing the supports necessary to employ autistic workers. Perhaps even more disturbing are the barrage of questions within himself. For Lou...
Critic reviews
- Favorite Audiobooks of 2010 (Fantasy Literature)
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
Murphy's Boy
- By: Torey Hayden
- Narrated by: Loretta Rawlins
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
His name was Kevin but his keepers called him Zoo Boy. He didn't talk. He hid under tables and surrounded himself with a cage of chairs. He hadn't been out of the building in the four years since he'd come in. He was afraid of water and wouldn't take a shower. He was afraid to be naked, to change his clothes. He was nearly 16. Desperate to see change in the boy, the staff of Kevin's adolescent treatment center hired Hayden. As Hayden read to him and encouraged him to read, crawling down into his cage of chairs with him, Kevin talked.
-
-
want to meet Kevin
- By Cherish on 10-14-15
By: Torey Hayden
-
The Name of the Star
- Shades of London, Book 1
- By: Maureen Johnson
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it’s the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city - gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific work of Jack the Ripper in the autumn of 1888. Soon “Rippermania” takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect.
-
-
Paranormal Ripper-Related YA
- By Amy on 08-05-14
By: Maureen Johnson
-
Twilight Children
- Three Voices No One Heard Until a Therapist Listened
- By: Torey Hayden
- Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A light in the darkness for severely troubled children, former special education teacher Torey Hayden faced three of her most extraordinary challenges after she left the classroom. Nine-year-old Cassandra, kidnapped by her father and found starving, dirty, and picking through garbage cans - a child prone to long silences and erratic, violent behavior, whose hard-won recollections of the nightmare she endured could not be fully trusted.
-
-
loved it.
- By Lace M. Jackson on 06-23-17
By: Torey Hayden
-
Second Hand Heart
- By: Catherine Ryan Hyde
- Narrated by: Khristine Hvam, Anthony Bowden
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Vida is only 19, but she knows a lot about dying. Her weak heart has kept her on the edge of death her whole life. It hasn't been much of a life. Thanks to her overprotective mother, Vida's only friend is Esther, an elderly Holocaust survivor who lives upstairs. Vida's heart is finally about to give out unless she can get a donor heart in time. Richard is 36 and blissfully married until he gets the call that his beloved wife has died in a car accident. His world falls to pieces.
-
-
Worst one yet
- By SAL on 06-23-16
-
The Mystery of Grace
- By: Charles de Lint
- Narrated by: Richard Powers, Tai Sammons
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Grace, as her friends call her, has a Ford Motor Company tattoo running down her leg and grease worked deep into her hands. She works at Sanchez Motorworks customizing hot rods. Finding the line in a classic car is her calling. Now Grace has to find the line in her own life. Grace loves John, and John loves her, and that would be wonderful, except that John, like Grace, has unfinished business: He's haunted by the childhood death of his younger brother. He's never stopped feeling responsible.
-
-
interesting love story
- By Yuriko on 08-23-10
By: Charles de Lint
-
Hope and Other Luxuries
- A Mother’s Journey Through a Daughter’s Anorexia
- By: Clare B. Dunkle
- Narrated by: Abby Craden
- Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Clare Dunkle seemed to have an ideal life - two beautiful, high-achieving teenage daughters, a loving husband, and a satisfying and successful career as a children's book novelist. But it's when you let down your guard that the ax falls. Just after one daughter successfully conquered her depression, another daughter developed a life-threatening eating disorder.
-
-
Potent and Real
- By Susie on 09-17-15
By: Clare B. Dunkle
-
Murphy's Boy
- By: Torey Hayden
- Narrated by: Loretta Rawlins
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
His name was Kevin but his keepers called him Zoo Boy. He didn't talk. He hid under tables and surrounded himself with a cage of chairs. He hadn't been out of the building in the four years since he'd come in. He was afraid of water and wouldn't take a shower. He was afraid to be naked, to change his clothes. He was nearly 16. Desperate to see change in the boy, the staff of Kevin's adolescent treatment center hired Hayden. As Hayden read to him and encouraged him to read, crawling down into his cage of chairs with him, Kevin talked.
-
-
want to meet Kevin
- By Cherish on 10-14-15
By: Torey Hayden
-
The Name of the Star
- Shades of London, Book 1
- By: Maureen Johnson
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it’s the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city - gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific work of Jack the Ripper in the autumn of 1888. Soon “Rippermania” takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect.
-
-
Paranormal Ripper-Related YA
- By Amy on 08-05-14
By: Maureen Johnson
-
Twilight Children
- Three Voices No One Heard Until a Therapist Listened
- By: Torey Hayden
- Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A light in the darkness for severely troubled children, former special education teacher Torey Hayden faced three of her most extraordinary challenges after she left the classroom. Nine-year-old Cassandra, kidnapped by her father and found starving, dirty, and picking through garbage cans - a child prone to long silences and erratic, violent behavior, whose hard-won recollections of the nightmare she endured could not be fully trusted.
-
-
loved it.
- By Lace M. Jackson on 06-23-17
By: Torey Hayden
-
Second Hand Heart
- By: Catherine Ryan Hyde
- Narrated by: Khristine Hvam, Anthony Bowden
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Vida is only 19, but she knows a lot about dying. Her weak heart has kept her on the edge of death her whole life. It hasn't been much of a life. Thanks to her overprotective mother, Vida's only friend is Esther, an elderly Holocaust survivor who lives upstairs. Vida's heart is finally about to give out unless she can get a donor heart in time. Richard is 36 and blissfully married until he gets the call that his beloved wife has died in a car accident. His world falls to pieces.
-
-
Worst one yet
- By SAL on 06-23-16
-
The Mystery of Grace
- By: Charles de Lint
- Narrated by: Richard Powers, Tai Sammons
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Grace, as her friends call her, has a Ford Motor Company tattoo running down her leg and grease worked deep into her hands. She works at Sanchez Motorworks customizing hot rods. Finding the line in a classic car is her calling. Now Grace has to find the line in her own life. Grace loves John, and John loves her, and that would be wonderful, except that John, like Grace, has unfinished business: He's haunted by the childhood death of his younger brother. He's never stopped feeling responsible.
-
-
interesting love story
- By Yuriko on 08-23-10
By: Charles de Lint
-
Hope and Other Luxuries
- A Mother’s Journey Through a Daughter’s Anorexia
- By: Clare B. Dunkle
- Narrated by: Abby Craden
- Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Clare Dunkle seemed to have an ideal life - two beautiful, high-achieving teenage daughters, a loving husband, and a satisfying and successful career as a children's book novelist. But it's when you let down your guard that the ax falls. Just after one daughter successfully conquered her depression, another daughter developed a life-threatening eating disorder.
-
-
Potent and Real
- By Susie on 09-17-15
By: Clare B. Dunkle
-
Clean
- A Mindspace Investigations Novel, Book 1
- By: Alex Hughes
- Narrated by: Daniel May
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I used to work for the Telepath’s Guild before they kicked me out for a drug habit that wasn’t entirely my fault. Now I work for the cops, helping Homicide Detective Isabella Cherabino put killers behind bars. My ability to get inside the twisted minds of suspects makes me the best interrogator in the department. But the normals keep me on a short leash. When the Tech Wars ripped the world apart, the Guild stepped up to save it. But they had to get scary to do it - real scary.
-
-
Some good, Some annoying!
- By Lisa on 01-03-14
By: Alex Hughes
-
The Other Side of the Bridge
- By: Cameron Wright
- Narrated by: Nancy Peterson
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Katie Connelly has lived in San Francisco all her life. Her late father made his career as an ironworker on the Golden Gate Bridge, and the many stories of him trying to save jumpers still haunt her. When she's asked to write a history about the bridge, her research uncovers a secret journal hidden in her father's desk, pages of familiar advice penned by the hand of a stranger. The scribbled words tell of a promise ring and a distant love, clues that Katie hopes may answer her own unresolved sorrow.
-
-
Enjoyable enough story, terrible female narrator
- By Rebecca on 04-02-20
By: Cameron Wright
-
Introductions
- The Academy: The Ghost Bird, Book 1
- By: C. L. Stone
- Narrated by: Natalie Eaton
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With an agoraphobic mother and a barely-there father, Sang abhors the isolation keeping her in the shadows. The only thing Sang craves is a fresh start and to be accepted as ordinary by her peers, because for her being different meant being cast out alone. When her family moves to a new school district, Sang infiltrates a group of boys nearly perfect in every way.
-
-
Great story, great listen
- By Twinmom on 04-13-18
By: C. L. Stone
-
The Wrong Sister
- By: T. E. Woods
- Narrated by: Angela Dawe
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From behind the wheel of her car, Tess Kincaid glimpses a woman walking down a Madison, Wisconsin, street. They've never met, but Tess sees the same features every time she looks in the mirror. Tess introduces herself and discovers that she and her doppelganger, Mimi, have more than appearance in common. They even share the same birthday. Mimi - confident and outgoing where Tess is understated and shy - is convinced they're twins, separated shortly after birth. When a body is discovered in a local marsh, Tess is entangled in a search for the truth....
-
-
Nothing like anything T E Woods has written B4!!!
- By shelley on 03-01-18
By: T. E. Woods
-
The Coincidence Makers
- A Novel
- By: Yoav Blum
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What if the drink you just spilled, the train you just missed, or the lottery ticket you just found was not just a random occurrence? What if it's all part of a bigger plan? What if there's no such thing as a chance encounter? What if there are people we don't know determining our destiny? And what if they are even planning the fate of the world? Enter the Coincidence Makers - Guy, Emily, and Eric - three seemingly ordinary people who work for a secret organization devoted to creating and carrying out coincidences. What the rest of the world sees as random occurrences, are, in fact, carefully orchestrated events.
-
-
Amazing!
- By Gal Wolff on 07-31-18
By: Yoav Blum
-
Fault Line
- Ben Treven, Book 1
- By: Barry Eisler
- Narrated by: Barry Eisler
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Silicon Valley, the eccentric inventor of a new encryption application is murdered in an apparent drug deal. In Istanbul, a cynical undercover operator receives a frantic call from his estranged brother, a patent lawyer who believes he is the next victim. And on the sun-drenched slopes of Sand Hill Road, Silicon Valley's nerve center of money and technology, old family hurts sting anew as two brothers who share nothing but blood and bitterness wage a desperate battle against a faceless enemy.
-
-
Boy was I wrong
- By Jerry on 02-22-14
By: Barry Eisler
-
Dr. Bloodmoney
- By: Philip K. Dick
- Narrated by: Phil Gigante
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What happens after the bombs drop? This is the troubling question Philip K. Dick addresses with Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb. It is the story of a world reeling from the effects of nuclear annihilation and fallout, a world where mutated humans and animals are the norm, and the scattered survivors take comfort from a disc jockey endlessly circling the globe in a broken-down satellite.
-
-
Post nuclear apocalyptic surburban middle class
- By Michael G Kurilla on 01-04-18
By: Philip K. Dick
-
Enchanted, Inc.
- A Novel
- By: Shanna Swendson
- Narrated by: Eva Wilhelm
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Katie Chandler had always heard that New York is a weird and wonderful place, but this small-town Texas gal had no idea how weird until she moved there. Everywhere she goes, she sees something worth gawking at and Katie is afraid she's a little too normal to make a splash in the big city. Working for an ogre of a boss doesn't help. Then, seemingly out of the blue, Katie gets a job offer from Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc., a company that tricks of the trade to the magic community. For MSI, Katie's ordinariness is an asset.
-
-
Enjoyable Story Ruined by Awful Narrator!
- By Theresa on 04-28-14
By: Shanna Swendson
-
A Dangerous Road
- Smokey Dalton, Book 1
- By: Kris Nelscott
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Private Investigator Smokey Dalton works for Memphis, Tennessee’s black community. He has almost no interaction with the white hierarchy, even though they exist only blocks away. So he’s surprised the day a white woman walks into his Beale Street office. Laura Hathaway has sought him out because he’s a beneficiary in her mother’s will, and Laura wants to know why. So does Smokey. He’s never heard of the Hathaways, but his search will take him on a journey that will change everything he’s ever known.
-
-
Interesting Slice of US History...but Ponderous
- By Rancher on 12-18-13
By: Kris Nelscott
-
Open Your Eyes
- By: Paula Daly
- Narrated by: Emma Fenney
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jane Campbell avoids confrontation at all costs. Given the choice, she'll always let her husband, Leon, a best-selling thriller author, fight their battles. She'd prefer to focus on the good things in life: precious days with her two young children, a steady and loving marriage, their mischievously playful cat Bonita, and her fulfilling job as a creative-writing teacher. In Jane's eyes, life is altogether sweeter than any individual bump in the road. But when Leon suffers a brutal attack, Jane has to finally face reality.
-
-
Finally a book that held my interest
- By PollyAnna2 on 10-13-18
By: Paula Daly
-
Paper Angels
- A Novel
- By: Jimmy Wayne, Travis Thrasher
- Narrated by: Stephen Bowlby
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When his mom decided it was time for them to leave for good, Thomas knew they better get far away or he'd come and find them. It was Christmas Day, with Mom sweating in a tiny room over a tiny stove, and Dad watching college basketball and drinking with a vengeance. "Thomas, I want you to get your sister and go out to the car, okay?" Mom had promised them that they would be getting a special Christmas present today. Just the two kids. They couldn’t mention it to Dad. This is her present, Thomas thought....
-
-
Giving and FORGIVING . . . Great Christmas Story
- By Debbie on 11-25-14
By: Jimmy Wayne, and others
-
The Escape Artist
- By: Diane Chamberlain
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Susanna Miller loses custody of her 11-month-old son, Tyler, but rather than turning the little boy over to her ex-husband and his new wife, she goes on the run. She dyes her hair, changes her name and escapes from Boulder, Colorado, leaving behind everyone she knows, including Linc Sebastian, the man who has been her best friend since childhood and who knows her better than anyone. Susanna lands in Annapolis, Maryland, alone, frightened, and always looking over her shoulder for someone who might recognize her. Just as she's beginning to feel safe in her new surroundings, she stumbles across information that could save the lives of many people....
-
-
Just mediocre...
- By leigh mann on 05-19-16
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Remnant Population
- A Novel
- By: Elizabeth Moon
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For 40 years, Colony 3245.12 has been Ofelia’s home. On this planet far away in space and time from the world of her youth, she has lived and loved, weathered the death of her husband, raised her one surviving child, lovingly tended her garden, and grown placidly old. And it is here that she fully expects to finish out her days - until the shifting corporate fortunes of the Sims Bancorp Company dictates that Colony 3245.12 is to be disbanded, its residents shipped off, deep in cryo-sleep, to somewhere new and strange and not of their choosing.
-
-
Grandmother Wisdom Wish Fulfillment
- By Jon B on 04-25-22
By: Elizabeth Moon
-
All the Birds in the Sky
- By: Charlie Jane Anders
- Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Childhood friends Patricia Delfine and Laurence Armstead didn't expect to see each other again after parting ways under mysterious circumstances during high school. After all, the development of magical powers and the invention of a two-second time machine could hardly fail to alarm one's peers and families. But now they're both adults, living in the hipster mecca San Francisco, and the planet is falling apart around them.
-
-
Too twee for me.
- By Amy on 03-13-17
-
A Talent for War
- An Alex Benedict Novel
- By: Jack McDevitt
- Narrated by: Gregory Abbey, Jack McDevitt
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everyone knew the legend of Christopher Sim. Fighter. Leader. An interstellar hero with a rare talent for war, Sim changed mankind's history forever when he forged a ragtag group of misfits into the weapon that broke the back of the alien Ashiyyur. But now, Alex Benedict has found a startling bit of information, long buried in an ancient computer file. If it is true, then Christopher Sim was a fraud.
-
-
Very good - but the cover and title are deceptive
- By Brian on 09-25-10
By: Jack McDevitt
-
Among Others
- By: Jo Walton
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Startling, unusual, and yet irresistably readable, Among Others is at once the compelling story of a young woman struggling to escape a troubled childhood, a brilliant diary of first encounters with the great novels of modern fantasy and SF, and a spellbinding tale of escape from ancient enchantment.
-
-
Subtle Character Piece
- By Eoin on 09-15-11
By: Jo Walton
-
The No-Show
- By: Beth O'Leary
- Narrated by: Evanna Lynch, Heather Long, Kathryn Drysdale, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Siobhan is a quick-tempered life coach with way too much on her plate. Miranda is a tree surgeon used to being treated as just one of the guys on the job. Jane is a soft-spoken volunteer for the local charity shop with zero sense of self-worth. These three women are strangers who have only one thing in common: They’ve all been stood up on the same day, the very worst day to be stood up—Valentine’s Day. And, unbeknownst to them, they’ve all been stood up by the same man.
-
-
Disappointed
- By Cheryl Lynn on 05-07-22
By: Beth O'Leary
-
Rite of Passage
- By: Alexei Panshin
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Evans
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2198, 150 years after the desperate wars that destroyed an overpopulated Earth, Man lives precariously on 100 hastily-established colony worlds and in the 7 giant Ships that once ferried men to the stars. Mia Havero's Ship is a small closed society. It tests its children by casting them out to live or die in a month of Trial in the hostile wilds of a colony world. Mia Havero's Trial is fast approaching, and in the meantime she must learn not only the skills that will keep her alive, but the deeper courage to face herself.
-
-
May have been the Inspiration for Hunger Games
- By DAVID on 07-05-12
By: Alexei Panshin
-
Remnant Population
- A Novel
- By: Elizabeth Moon
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For 40 years, Colony 3245.12 has been Ofelia’s home. On this planet far away in space and time from the world of her youth, she has lived and loved, weathered the death of her husband, raised her one surviving child, lovingly tended her garden, and grown placidly old. And it is here that she fully expects to finish out her days - until the shifting corporate fortunes of the Sims Bancorp Company dictates that Colony 3245.12 is to be disbanded, its residents shipped off, deep in cryo-sleep, to somewhere new and strange and not of their choosing.
-
-
Grandmother Wisdom Wish Fulfillment
- By Jon B on 04-25-22
By: Elizabeth Moon
-
All the Birds in the Sky
- By: Charlie Jane Anders
- Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Childhood friends Patricia Delfine and Laurence Armstead didn't expect to see each other again after parting ways under mysterious circumstances during high school. After all, the development of magical powers and the invention of a two-second time machine could hardly fail to alarm one's peers and families. But now they're both adults, living in the hipster mecca San Francisco, and the planet is falling apart around them.
-
-
Too twee for me.
- By Amy on 03-13-17
-
A Talent for War
- An Alex Benedict Novel
- By: Jack McDevitt
- Narrated by: Gregory Abbey, Jack McDevitt
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everyone knew the legend of Christopher Sim. Fighter. Leader. An interstellar hero with a rare talent for war, Sim changed mankind's history forever when he forged a ragtag group of misfits into the weapon that broke the back of the alien Ashiyyur. But now, Alex Benedict has found a startling bit of information, long buried in an ancient computer file. If it is true, then Christopher Sim was a fraud.
-
-
Very good - but the cover and title are deceptive
- By Brian on 09-25-10
By: Jack McDevitt
-
Among Others
- By: Jo Walton
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Startling, unusual, and yet irresistably readable, Among Others is at once the compelling story of a young woman struggling to escape a troubled childhood, a brilliant diary of first encounters with the great novels of modern fantasy and SF, and a spellbinding tale of escape from ancient enchantment.
-
-
Subtle Character Piece
- By Eoin on 09-15-11
By: Jo Walton
-
The No-Show
- By: Beth O'Leary
- Narrated by: Evanna Lynch, Heather Long, Kathryn Drysdale, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Siobhan is a quick-tempered life coach with way too much on her plate. Miranda is a tree surgeon used to being treated as just one of the guys on the job. Jane is a soft-spoken volunteer for the local charity shop with zero sense of self-worth. These three women are strangers who have only one thing in common: They’ve all been stood up on the same day, the very worst day to be stood up—Valentine’s Day. And, unbeknownst to them, they’ve all been stood up by the same man.
-
-
Disappointed
- By Cheryl Lynn on 05-07-22
By: Beth O'Leary
-
Rite of Passage
- By: Alexei Panshin
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Evans
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2198, 150 years after the desperate wars that destroyed an overpopulated Earth, Man lives precariously on 100 hastily-established colony worlds and in the 7 giant Ships that once ferried men to the stars. Mia Havero's Ship is a small closed society. It tests its children by casting them out to live or die in a month of Trial in the hostile wilds of a colony world. Mia Havero's Trial is fast approaching, and in the meantime she must learn not only the skills that will keep her alive, but the deeper courage to face herself.
-
-
May have been the Inspiration for Hunger Games
- By DAVID on 07-05-12
By: Alexei Panshin
-
Camouflage
- By: Joe Haldeman
- Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The artifact is found seven miles below the surface of the sea and beneath 40 more feet of sand. The Navy's efforts to raise a wrecked submarine uncover it - and set in motion a scientific race to retrieve it, to discover just what it is and where it came from. Denser than any substance known to man, it has broken every drill bit they've tried on it and will not budge an inch. It resists every effort to breach it - or communicate with it.
-
-
Loved it!
- By Nathan Caroland on 09-21-08
By: Joe Haldeman
-
The Forever War
- By: Joe Haldeman
- Narrated by: George Wilson
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
William Mandella is a soldier in Earth's elite brigade. As the war against the Taurans sends him from galaxy to galaxy, he learns to use protective body shells and sophisticated weapons. He adapts to the cultures and terrains of distant outposts. But with each month in space, years are passing on Earth. Where will he call home when (and if) the Forever War ends?
-
-
A classic.
- By John on 09-24-08
By: Joe Haldeman
-
Timescape
- By: Gregory Benford
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble, Pete Bradbury
- Length: 15 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a future wracked by environmental catastrophe and social instability, physicist John Renfrew devises a longshot plan to use tachyons - strange, time-traveling particles - to send a warning to the past. In 1962, Gordon Bernstein, a California researcher, gets Renfrew's message as a strange pattern of interference in an experiment he's conducting.
-
-
An enjoyable book with problems
- By Mike Schultz on 10-26-08
By: Gregory Benford
-
Updraft
- Bone Universe, Book 1
- By: Fran Wilde
- Narrated by: Khristine Hvam
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Welcome to a world of wind and bone, songs and silence, betrayal and courage. Kirit Densira cannot wait to pass her wingtest and begin flying as a trader by her mother's side, being in service to her beloved home tower and exploring the skies beyond. When Kirit inadvertently breaks Tower Law, the city's secretive governing body, the Singers, demand that she become one of them instead. In an attempt to save her family from greater censure, Kirit must give up her dreams to throw herself into the dangerous training at the Spire.
-
-
Wait for it
- By G. Parish on 06-06-16
By: Fran Wilde
-
Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang
- By: Kate Wilhelm
- Narrated by: Anna Fields
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the first warm breeze of Doomsday came wafting over the Shenandoah Valley, the Sumners were ready. Using their enormous wealth, the family had forged an isolated post holocaust citadel. Their descendants would have everything they needed to raise food and do the scientific research necessary for survival. But the family was soon plagued by sterility, and the creation of clones offered the only answer.
-
-
Great read!
- By Jack on 06-19-07
By: Kate Wilhelm
-
Sheepfarmer's Daughter
- The Deed of Paksenarrion, Book 1
- By: Elizabeth Moon
- Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck
- Length: 15 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Refusing to marry a pig farmer and joining the army, even if it means never seeing her family again, Paksenarrion begins an adventure that enables her to restore an overthrown ruler.
-
-
Enjoyable Listen!
- By Josiah on 07-30-10
By: Elizabeth Moon
-
Way Station
- By: Clifford D. Simak
- Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this Hugo Award-winning classic, Enoch Wallace is an ageless hermit, striding across his untended farm as he had done for over a century, still carrying the gun with which he had served in the Civil War. But what his neighbors must never know is that, inside his unchanging house, he meets with a host of unimaginable friends from the farthest stars.
-
-
A very special novel that will inspire you.
- By Noe on 08-08-10
-
2312
- By: Kim Stanley Robinson
- Narrated by: Sarah Zimmerman
- Length: 19 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year is 2312. Scientific and technological advances have opened gateways to an extraordinary future. Earth is no longer humanity's only home; new habitats have been created throughout the solar system on moons, planets, and in between. But in this year, 2312, a sequence of events will force humanity to confront its past, its present, and its future. The first event takes place on Mercury, on the city of Terminator, itself a miracle of engineering on an unprecedented scale. It is an unexpected death, but one that might have been foreseen....
-
-
Good story, HORRENDOUS narration.
- By New on 11-19-12
-
Trading in Danger
- Vatta's War, Book 1
- By: Elizabeth Moon
- Narrated by: Cynthia Holloway
- Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first of the acclaimed Vatta's War books, the exciting military science fiction series that features a swashbuckling spaceship-captain heroine who mixes commerce with combat.
-
-
Highly Recommend
- By L'Aura on 11-28-09
By: Elizabeth Moon
-
Spin
- By: Robert Charles Wilson
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One night when he was 10, Tyler stood in his backyard and watched the stars go out. They flared into brilliance, then disappeared, replaced by an empty black barrier. He and his best friends, Jason and Diane Lawton, had seen what became known as the Big Blackout. It would shape their lives.
-
-
Great Listen!
- By pems-integ-tests on 03-28-08
-
Darwin's Radio
- By: Greg Bear
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 17 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a cave high in the Alps, a renegade anthropologist discovers a frozen Neanderthal couple with a Homo sapiens baby. Meanwhile, in southern Russia, the U.N. investigation of a mysterious mass grave is cut short. One of the investigators, molecular biologist Kaye Lang, returns home to the U.S. to learn that her theory on human retroviruses has been verified with the discovery of SHEVA, a virus that has slept in our DNA for millions of years and is now waking up.
-
-
A huge let-down
- By Chris on 05-14-12
By: Greg Bear
-
A Case of Conscience
- By: James Blish
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Father Ruiz-Sanchez is a dedicated man - a priest who is also a scientist, and a scientist who is also a human being. He has found no insoluble conflicts in his beliefs or his ethics...until he is sent to Lithia. There he comes upon a race of aliens who are admirable in every way except for their total reliance on cold reason; they are incapable of faith or belief. Confronted with a profound scientific riddle and ethical quandary, Father Ruiz-Sanchez soon finds himself torn.
-
-
Moldy Oldie still gets it done
- By Bob V. on 03-22-09
By: James Blish
What listeners say about The Speed of Dark
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
- Holly Helscher
- 12-22-08
Unexpected Interest
Lou is a high functioning autistic adult working for a pharmaceutical company. A new boss decides that the supportive work environment is too costly and presents a drug trial that could very well cure adult autism. But it is not without considerable risk because although tried on primates, it has not yet been tried on humans. The first half of the story introduces the reader to Lou and his world. The second half of the story centers on Lou's decision making process about whether or not to participate in the trial. I bought this book because of a series I have read by Elizabeth Moon, although this is a stand-alone novel. Although Moon doesn't describe how her futuristic setting got there, I don't feel that is important to the overall tone or plot of the novel. Moon portrays a high functioning world of adult autism in a very capable, compassionate manner. The style of writing keeps the reader inside the autistic world without bogging down. I found it to be an interesting literary device that many writers may not have considered in writing such a piece. There were times when I felt better editing could have enhanced the novel, but overall it was a great read and certainly much different than most sci-fi or mystery novels. It unexpectedly held my interest and was worth the coin.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
43 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Andrew
- 01-02-09
Totally Recommended!
Lou Arrendale is a high functioning Autistic whose world is turned upside down with the news that there may be a possible cure for his condition. Set in the near future this is a deeply absorbing story that makes for a compulsive listening experience. A deserved Nebula award winning novel that would certainly appeal to fans of THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT TIME. If you are not a Sci-Fi aficionado, relax. This is a deeply compassionate journey into the mind of a man trying to find his place in the world. Joins my all time top 10 Audio experiences.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
33 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Robert
- 02-11-14
A lot to like
There was a lot to like about this book. I felt it was original having been written in the 1st person with a protagonist who is autistic. My understanding is that the author has personal experience with a family member who is autistic and we can probably rely on its authenticity. Thinking and speaking from the perspective of one who is autistic was for me sometimes painful. I wanted to give up on the book at times. But I could not, which must say something for the book in itself.
From the aforementioned perspective, the book is quite simple. And this is not meant in any kind of derogatory sense in that respect. If most of us were more simple not only in how we view and feel about the world but also in how we relate about those things to others, there might be fewer misunderstandings among us. I think that the strongest aspect of the book is its ability to really get inside the head of the protagonist and help us to feel what he must have been feeling especially in his frustration with "normal" people. And truly, he was much more normal if not more ideal than many of us who do not carry the label of autistic.
I believe that the book deserved a better plot. The plot seemed almost too trivial given the nature of the subject material. The ending was not what I expected and it seemed too short. Further, I have to think that in the end, I would not have chosen for myself what the protagonist chose for himself. Perhaps the book was deeper than I thought and I might have missed something. But I don't think so.
I'd liked to have given the book a 3.5 stars rating but since I could not, and because for me it was quite original, I gave it 4 overall.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
23 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kenney
- 11-08-11
Pleasantly surprised!
I read sci-fi and fantasy almost exclusively. This book is really neither. It is a very in depth look into a fictional world of an autistic man and to a lesser degree his autistic co-workers. And to my astonishment, I loved it!
I am impressed with Moon's ability to convey the complexities and nuances of an autistic point of view. I work in IT for a behavioral health company that has an Autism department, I understood nothing of what Autism was. Now I am still greatly ignorant about Autism, but I have an appreciation for the condition and an idea of what it is that I do not know. The light of knowing is replacing the dark of not knowing, the dark was faster.
The story really engaged me. As others have noted it could have been edited a bit more, but would the autistic veiwpoint have lost some of it's power and focus? I think it would have. My real complaint is that the story ended to quickly. Let me explain that, the beginning and middle were full of rich detail and viewpoints while the end was terribly rushed in comparison. Had the whole story moved at the speed of the ending then the pattern would have been balanced and symetrical, Lou would not have approved of this imbalance to the pattern. I really related to Lou's relationship with Marjorie (or is it Margery?), I could understand his side of it and I also tried to nudge him in the right direction, but of course the story followed its course no matter how much I willed it to alter it's path. Even though I felt the ending lacked the depth and detail of the rest of the story, I felt the story and message were strong enough to get 5 stars (I really wanted to award 4.5 but had to round up for this great story). I'd love to see a set of short stories to fill in some of the of viewpoints and/or to flesh out the ending (and perhaps extend the ending to fill the gap between the end of this book and the epilogue).
I was blown away with the philosophical idea that there was a "speed of dark". You will have to decide for yourself if dark has a speed. I'm not sure, but now I know that I do not know, which is better than not knowing what it is that I do not know. This made me think, is there a speed of silence?
I am different, if even in a small way, for having listened to this wonderful story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
17 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Brooke P. Anderson
- 04-17-09
I gave up after 5 hours of listening
The summary of this book sounds intriguing, and it is rated well. I liked it at the beginning, as the author does an interesting and admirable job of getting the reader into the mind of a man who is mildly autistic and of developing his likable personality. I think the narrator does a fine job of portraying the main character as well.
However, that portion of the book continues on long, long after it has ably done it's job -- entering and far surpassing the "OK, I GET it" stage.
Finally, after 5 hours of listening, I felt that I was still in the exposition, and the the once-interesting techniques of portraying the autistic thought process had, through this overexposure, become as tedious as reading a parts catalog; and I gave up.
This book might be one that polarizes opinion -- some enjoying it greatly, and some for whom it is not at all a good fit.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Adam
- 12-27-15
Well-performed, well-intentioned, but meh overall.
Would you try another book from Elizabeth Moon and/or Jay Snyder?
I don't think I'd give another Elizabeth Moon book a try, to be honest. This book felt like it was designed to accomplish something very specific that she set out to do, and whether or not the book was a strong book on its own was irrelevant to her goal of bringing attention to the concept of "healing" autistic people. I would be hard-pressed to imagine her other books being better-built.
The narrator, however, did an outstanding job of encompassing the many characters and voices he was asked to undertake. I was very happy with how the audiobook was presented.
Would you ever listen to anything by Elizabeth Moon again?
I would not, no. There were some substantial flaws in the book despite its intriguing premise, and I found myself often exasperated at how those flaws colored my perception of the book at large.
Have you listened to any of Jay Snyder’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I have not, but I would be willing to do so again. That said, I tend not to follow *narrators* from one book to another. I choose my audiobooks by whether I would have wanted to read the book itself.
Did The Speed of Dark inspire you to do anything?
It made me want to learn ASL, since I felt like the entire "autism cure" premise was a mediocre allegory for cochlear implants.
Any additional comments?
This book means well. It really does, and I have a lot of respect for the author for taking it on. But there were some fundamental issues. The characters are either saints or devils; there are no shades of gray. Everybody is either Lou's biggest supporter or actively trying to make his life difficult. Nobody is indifferent.
The ending of the book, from the "treatment" forward, progressed so quickly that I'm not entirely sure it was fully intended. It felt as though it was tacked on because an editor asked for it, not because it was key to the plot.
"The Speed of Dark" was a phrase often incorporated directly into conversations in the book, often shoehorned in. It felt like a reminder, "hey guys, this is what the book is called!" I don't think it served any compelling purpose other than to explain why the book was titled what it was.
Certain characterizations seemed to be repeated at every opportunity. I swear, I lost count of how often Lou described himself as "sweaty", generally for little or no reason.
This was an ambitious book, and a worthy attempt, but it could have stood another round of editing by a talented editor, who would have fixed many of these issues.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
12 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Richard
- 04-01-09
Thought provoking
This story is told from an autistic mans point of view. It is no page turner but is not meant to be. It did hold my interest and is the second book of this kind I have read. The other is The curious incident of the dog in the night-time. I did rate that book one more star but it is only 6 hours and this book is close to 15. This is the better buy and has a better ending. I did not expect this book to end as it did. I believe I will remember the characters in this book for a long time and will probably listen again after time has passed. I do not mind paying a credit for a book I enjoy.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
12 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- jabezd
- 03-19-09
engrossing and meaty
I was caught up in the characters and subject of un-orthodox book. I'm not sure you'd label it science fiction, but it was a wonderful read that I wanted to go on and on.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
12 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- L. Kirkman
- 01-01-11
Very intriguing
This was a great listen. A good vehicle showing how making choices can have both really great and really sad outcomes at one and the same time. I highly recommend this novel --- makes you think and sticks with you afterwards.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- J
- 06-04-09
Too padded
Premise of the story is good but this book is so padded with redundant and mostly worthless dialogue that I struggled to get through it. This could easily have been written with half the content. Basically just borish and little imagination around facts about autism.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful