Arctic Rising

By: Tobias S. Buckell

Narrated by: Carolyn Michelle Smith

Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

Global warming has transformed the Earth, and it's about to get even hotter. The Arctic Ice Cap has all but melted, and the international community is racing desperately to claim the massive amounts of oil beneath the newly accessible ocean.

Enter the Gaia Corporation. Its two founders have come up with a plan to roll back global warming. Thousands of tiny mirrors floating in the air can create a giant sunshade, capable of redirecting heat and cooling the earth's surface. They plan to terraform Earth to save it from itself—but in doing so, they have created a superweapon the likes of which the world has never seen.

Anika Duncan is an airship pilot for the underfunded United Nations Polar Guard. She’s intent on capturing a smuggled nuclear weapon that has made it into the Polar Circle and bringing the smugglers to justice. Anika finds herself caught up in a plot by a cabal of military agencies and corporations who want Gaia Corporation stopped.

But when Gaia Corp loses control of their superweapon, it will be Anika who has to decide the future of the world. The nuclear weapon she has risked her life to find is the only thing that can stop the floating sunshade after it falls into the wrong hands.

©2012 Tobias S. Buckell (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Buckell represents an important force behind the genre’s change. Buckell’s work deals with complex racial issues in a way worthy of the self-proclaimed ‘literature of ideas’: head-on, with no visible flinching, while still managing to give its readers a rollicking good time.” (The Seattle Times)

Interesting story ruined by narration.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Yes, use another narrator.

Would you be willing to try another book from Tobias S. Buckell? Why or why not?

Yes. Once I got past the annoying narration, the story and concepts he introduced were very intriguing

Would you be willing to try another one of Carolyn Michelle Smith’s performances?

Not unless there is absolutely no other choice and I REALLY wanted to listen to the book.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No.

socialist book promoted as libertarian book

I am absolutely shocked that this book is a contender for an award from the Libertarian Futurist Society. The book has strong socialist undertones. And, anyway, the story isn't very good.

Impressive world building, plotting and action.

Any additional comments?

I am not sure why I put off listening to Arctic Rising other than I was busy and initially did not want to think about climate change. When I finally did get around to listening, I was impressed by the ingenuity of working it into a cohesive story. The characters, plot and action scenes were handled deftly. The shifted centers of military and economic power were believable.

absolutely horrible, a waste of a credit

Any additional comments?

Not only is the book a GIANT propaganda rag, it is full of these weird utopian descriptions of the near future. Everyone uses airships ie blimps. Somehow there is this extremely rapid change in climate (not weather) that somehow makes everyone in the world live a better life because of ease of access to natural resoures and the use of an orbital mirror? As always I do NOT rate the narrarator. Its not the narrators fault the book is terrible and not the authors fault if the narrarator is poor. I knew up front, given the description that it would contain environmentalist wacko theme, BUT this includes weird economic theory mixed with a bizarre global political framework. Throw in a chase to find a nuclear warhead of course, because otherwise, this book has NO plot to speak of.

Wonderful story

Would you consider the audio edition of Arctic Rising to be better than the print version?

Excellent Book. Amazing. Nice .

Who was your favorite character and why?

Excellent Book. Amazing. Nice .

Have you listened to any of Carolyn Michelle Smith???s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Excellent Book. Amazing. Nice .

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Excellent Book. Amazing. Nice .

Narrator issue

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

This narrator would be excellent for children's books. I think this may have been a better listening experience if a person could tell if it was a serious story,..........or a child's fantasy book. Except for the swear words.