Blindsight

By: Peter Watts

Narrated by: T. Ryder Smith

Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Set in 2082, Peter Watts' Blindsight is fast-moving, hard SF that pulls readers into a futuristic world where a mind-bending alien encounter is about to unfold.

After the Firefall, all eyes are locked heavenward as a team of specialists aboard the self-piloted spaceship Theseus hurtles outbound to intercept an unknown intelligence.

©2006 Peter Watts (P)2008 Recorded Books LLC

Dark and intelligent.

The best sci-fi treatment of vampires I've seen, in a dense, head-spinning novel about first contact with very alien aliens... and even worse dangers. The crew of the space ship Theseus is indeed a bunch of freaks, each one with dark secrets and a ton of baggage. This is the sort of book that requires you to pay attention -- don't blink or you'll miss an important detail. Watts's writing was a pleasant surprise; not enough sci-fi writers put effort into their prose, sticking to the story and neglecting style. I read for story first and foremost myself, but I appreciate literary flourishes, and Watts provides plenty of those. This is one of my new favorite hard sci-fi novels. It's dark and intelligent.

Couldnt get into the story.

I couldn't get into the story. After listening from beginning to end the storyline is the same struggle. This book was more of a burden then a great listen. Narration is excellent.

Entertaining and deep

Solid hard Science Fiction leaving the reader with much to ponder after the narrative ends. This is definitely the perfect audio book for that long haul drive.

kinda hard to follow

good story kind of confusing multiple people being inside of one person head, multiple names used at different times for the same person

Good but hard to follow

The ending felt a bit rushed. Would have liked to see the story flushed out and continued a little more

What an amazing book!

Think of Peter Watts as Alastair Reynolds on steroids. Watts interweaves hard science, a prodigious imagination and character psychology into one of the best SF novels that I have ever read.

( Spoilers)The book itself is like an acorn. An outer shell of hard science, first contact story, a middle layer of interactions between the genetically engineered crew and a hard kernel of a detailed psychological study of the main character who although, unlike his crew mates is unenhanced, turns out to have more in common with the aliens than any one else. A true tour de force!

Camus like sci-fi alien encounter

This was a good read to break the monotony of escapist stuff I've been reading lately. you might especially like if you've ever felt like an imposter or emotionally detached.

superb all around

this book shines so well as an audiobook. great narrator, good emotive reading that helps watts's dense concepts land clearly.

Complex and fascinating.

One of the most engrossing science fiction novels I’ve read in a long time. Many deep philosophical insights and wildly divergent elements put together in surprising ways. Rather dark, though: I’d put this in the category of existential horror. Nonetheless I had heard a lot of people mention this one, and I’m glad I decided to read it. Enjoyed the voice performance as well.

A little heavy but still very good.

The story lags behind a little when the writer goes into too much irrelevant detail, but the story plus the voice actor doing different characters in different voices is top-notch. I would definitely recommend this audiobook.