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Influx  By  cover art

Influx

By: Daniel Suarez
Narrated by: Jeff Gurner
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Publisher's summary

What if our civilization is more advanced than we know?

The New York Times best-selling author of Daemon - "the cyberthriller against which all others will be measured" (Publishers Weekly) - imagines a world in which decades of technological advances have been suppressed in an effort to prevent disruptive change.

Are smartphones really humanity's most significant innovation since the moon landings? Or can something else explain why the bold visions of the 20th century - fusion power, genetic enhancements, artificial intelligence, cures for common diseases, extended human life, and a host of other world-changing advances - have remained beyond our grasp? Why has the high-tech future that seemed imminent in the 1960s failed to arrive?

Perhaps it did arrive…but only for a select few.

Particle physicist Jon Grady is ecstatic when his team achieves what they've been working toward for years: A device that can reflect gravity. Their research will revolutionize the field of physics - the crowning achievement of a career. Grady expects widespread acclaim for his entire team. The Nobel Prize. Instead, his lab is locked down by a shadowy organization whose mission is to prevent at all costs the social upheaval sudden technological advances bring. This Bureau of Technology Control uses the advanced technologies they have harvested over the decades to fulfill their mission.

They are living in our future.

Presented with the opportunity to join the BTC and improve his own technology in secret, Grady balks, and is instead thrown into a nightmarish high-tech prison built to hold rebellious geniuses like himself. With so many great intellects confined together, can Grady and his fellow prisoners conceive of a way to usher humanity out of its artificial dark age?

And when they do, is it possible to defeat an enemy that wields a technological advantage half a century in the making?

©2014 Daniel Suarez (P)2014 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"You'll hear a lot of reviewers compare Suarez to [Michael] Crichton, including me for his previous book Kill Decision. And Suarez deserved the honor in the truest sense...he had achieved a truly Crichton-level of storytelling. But with Influx, Suarez becomes the master, and Crichton is the one who is honored by the comparison." (Stephen L. Macknik, Scientific American)

"[Influx is] done with the dazzling sophistication, the play of ideas, the hints of a new understanding almost within our grasp that characterize sci-fi in the cybertronic age." (The Wall Street Journal)

“With this terrifying thriller, Suarez provides further support for the proposition that he’s a worthy successor to the late Michael Crichton… Suarez once again mixes science and fiction perfectly.”(Publishers Weekly, starred review)

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What listeners say about Influx

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Clever Premise....Wooden dialogue

I'm at a crossroads with Daniel Suarez. The comparisons to Michael Crichton are intriguing. But the one talent that Crichton excelled in comparison was dialogue. In INFLUX, you have an imaginative book with a clever premise that just falls short on the dialogue. Wooden exchanges, cliched comebacks, etc.. take quite a bit away from the story. In fact, i was torn whilst listening. chapter after chapter it was 'yuck' then 'more please' . It might have been the narrator contributing to this, but i found him to be quite tolerable. So in the end, i've come to the conclusion Suarez makes up with his imagination what he lacks in storytelling strength. Crichton was able to somewhat merge the two masterfully. Despite all shortcomings, I have become somewhat of a fan of Suarez in hopes that he can evolve.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Was not disappointed at all !

What was one of the most memorable moments of Influx?

Finding out who "Leroy Jenkins" really is outside of WoW.

Any additional comments?

Let me say one thing about this book, "Physics rocks!"

I had high hopes for this book being such a fan of the three previous books to this point. I was greatly satisfied. It had me reading at lunch at work, at work, and up late at night. Its not like the other books, but in its self a great work of Sci-Fi.

It was a great read(Listen) , and highly recommend this book if you love tech, and Scf-Fi.

Only one thing I had to get over, John Grady sounded just like John Ross. My mind resolved it quickly.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Language made it hard for me to enjoy

I couldn't make it through chapter one. The language was over the top with every sentence seemingly containing another swear word. The reader seemed strong, and the high level story seemed intriguing, but like I said, I had to turn it off.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Daniel Suarez never fails to disappoint

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is one of those reads where I found myself not wanting to stop listening. This didn't go over well at dinner time. :)

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Heir to Michael Crichton? No way.

Daniel Suarez knows some science, but his plot could have been written by a 12-year-old.

The story opens in an interesting way, but soon goes off the rails with some ridiculous choices by the author:

1. The bad guys are too evil. This is a common problem in storytelling, and it makes for a boring plot that lacks nuance and creativity.

2. For all his knowledge about science, Suarez demonstrates absolutely no understanding of how scientific discoveries and applications come to be, As a result, he imagines that one laboratory full of people can advance science in 50 years as much as the entire planet could in maybe 150 years. They are magically able to capitalize on every scientific breakthrough they find, and in months or years they've developed them to their logical end.

This story takes so many liberties that it's impossible to suspend disbelief. Suarez's plot never even comes close to the realm of plausibility, even if you accept his moronic premise.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

TRASH

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

You might enjoy this novel if you are uninterested in character development of any kind. If you long for cliches spoken with confidence at the climax of every scene then you will enjoy this. If diamond aggregate nano-rods sound sexy then this book is for you! I just finished listening to the Millennium Trilogy which made this story seem like a well needed comedic break from fiction. Bad news if you are interested in serious sci-fi.

What could Daniel Suarez have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

How about some real dialogue or having characters say the kind of things that real people might actually say. Realism of character!! Even if you are writing about far out science!!

What didn’t you like about Jeff Gurner’s performance?

I liked his character voices ok but his regular tone of voice sounds like a robot programed to sound sexy. In fact I think this guy is a robot!!

What character would you cut from Influx?

The ones who speak.

Any additional comments?

Still not the worst book I have ever heard. But.......

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent story and excellent reader

Any additional comments?

This is one of those books where you hope to get stuck in traffic so you can continue listening in the car. By far the best produced audio book that I have ever read. Excellent story and excellent reader.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great Fun But Hard to Believe

First of all the book is a lot of fun and it went quick. The premise was a bit too hard to believe (for science fiction that is saying a lot) and therefore not as hard hitting as his earlier books... which are even more fun. However if you like a science fiction thrill ride, lots of action, fun characters, and a "page turner" then get it. Great Reader.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great dark Sci Fi

Loved it. Read a couple of his other books and loved them, so I decided to try this one out. I was not disappointed. Once again Suarez has written one of my top 5 favorite Science Fiction stories.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

For the first time, I had to DNF after one chapter

I hate this book. I hate this author. Never going to try this author again.

That first chapter is the worst way to start a book that I've ever experienced and I absolutely am insulted with how much they were trying to dissuade me from reading further.

Well guess what? It worked.
I'm not impressed with how many big words and technical jargon you can stuff into one chapter. Thanks for torturing me.

I DNF'd after chapter 1 based on how terrible of a way it was to start a book like that. It was just trash.
I hate to be so absolutely furious but that just did not respect my time and it was so incredibly messy that I just don't trust this author anymore.

How can you trust an author to give you a good time after that?

I have never DNF'd a book so fast, I always prided myself with at least trying to get to 50%. I refuse though with this book. It was so bad that I feel disrespected.

This is just not for me.

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