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Blindsight
- Narrated by: T. Ryder Smith
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
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- By: A. C. Hadfield
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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They tried to destroy our planets. Our way of life. They tried to send us into extinction. But we, the Coalition, fought them and won. That was a decade ago. They’re known as the Host: a cabal of aliens seeking to dominate our sector of space. And they’re back - with help from a powerful new enemy. We’re outnumbered and unprepared. But there is hope. An ancient race of long-dead but technologically advanced aliens called the Navigators have a ship called the Blackstar that could potentially turn the tide. That is if I, Kai Locke, a humble ship racer, can find it and learn how to harness its power in time.
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Newly found love.
- By L. Rampey on 03-22-19
By: A. C. Hadfield
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Intrinsic
- By: Philip C. Quaintrell
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Kalian Gaines has a secret; he just doesn't know it yet. He looks like us, he lives like us...but he is not one of us. Kalian knows nothing outside of his mundane life teaching history on 30th-century Earth, until a day like any other triggers a series of events that will tie his fate to that of humanity. A human handprint, embedded into a rock with alien script, is discovered on a moon that mankind has never set foot on. This discovery holds a secret, which will sweep Kalian into the heart of a conspiracy that has corrupted the galaxy for 200,000 years.
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Unexpectedly Brilliant
- By Fraser on 04-22-18
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Passage at Arms
- By: Glen Cook
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Passage at Arms tells the intimate, detailed and harrowing story of a climber crew and its captain during a critical juncture of the war. Cook combines speculative technology with a canny and realistic portrait of men at war and the stresses they face in combat. Passage at Arms is one of the classic novels of military science fiction.
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One Long Running Space Battle ….
- By DocJim on 09-29-14
By: Glen Cook
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Fleet of Worlds
- 200 Years Before the Discovery of the Ringworld
- By: Larry Niven, Edward M. Lerner
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
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Fleet of Worlds takes a closer look at Human-Puppeteer (Citizen) relations and the events leading up to Niven's first Ringworld novel. Kirsten Quinn-Kovacks is among the best and brightest of her people. She gratefully serves the gentle race that rescued her ancestors from a dying starship, gave them a world, and nurtures them still. If only the Citizens knew where Kirsten's people came from.
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Hurrah!
- By Bruce on 01-25-08
By: Larry Niven, and others
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The Reality Dysfunction
- Night's Dawn Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Peter F. Hamilton
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 41 hrs and 6 mins
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In AD 2600, the human race is finally beginning to realize its full potential. Hundreds of colonized planets scattered across the galaxy host a multitude of prosperous and wildly diverse cultures. Genetic engineering has pushed evolution far beyond nature's boundaries, defeating disease and producing extraordinary spaceborn creatures. Huge fleets of sentient trader starships thrive on the wealth created by the industrialization of entire star systems, and throughout inhabited space the Confederation Navy keeps the peace.
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Finally on Audible!! My favorite Hamilton series!
- By Patrick on 04-05-16
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In a frozen, apocalyptic landscape, destruction abounds: great walls of ice overrun the world and secretive governments vie for control. Against this surreal, yet eerily familiar broken world, an unnamed narrator embarks on a hallucinatory quest for a strange and elusive "glass-girl" with silver hair. He crosses icy seas and frozen plains, searching ruined towns and ransacked rooms, all to free her from the grips of a tyrant known only as the warden and save her before the ice closes all around.
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Ever notice that all watch ads show 10:10 as the time? Or that all fast-food restaurants use red or yellow in their logos? Or that certain stores are always having a sale? You may not be aware of these details, yet they’ve been influencing you all along. Every time you purchase, swipe, or click, marketers are able to more accurately predict your behavior. These days, brands know more about you than you know about yourself. Blindsight is here to change that.
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Solaris
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At last, one of the world’s greatest works of science fiction is available - just as author Stanislaw Lem intended it. To mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of Solaris, Audible, in cooperation with the Lem Estate, has commissioned a brand-new translation - complete for the first time, and the first ever directly from the original Polish to English. Beautifully narrated by Alessandro Juliani ( Battlestar Galactica), Lem’s provocative novel comes alive for a new generation.
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A comment on negative reviews
- By Burns on 09-20-11
By: Stanislaw Lem, and others
What listeners say about Blindsight
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- james
- 11-17-08
You'll just have to imagine you're Siri Keeton
I had read multiple reviews of this book that said it was dark, and it is but only in a nihilistic, deterministic way--it was not that depressing to me, but maybe it should have been. Either way, I could hardly resist the quirkiest character ensemble since the Wizard of Oz. The crew selected to make first contact consists of a biologist so interfaced with hardware that his wetware is now buggy, a linguist with surgically induced Multiple Personality Disorder, a military officer with too much empathy for her enemies, and a designated observer who comprehends more with his one remaining brain hemisphere than most do with both. The mission commander is a genetically resurrected vampire and the ship is captained by an AI.
They are off to see some truly alien aliens whose actions are less scary than their implications. The book is a study of consciousness, sentience, and the Chinese Room concept. This is definitely hard SF with lots of scientific concepts and terminology, but most of the time you can grasp the science from context when it is not explained outright. That was not a big deterrent for me and I actually learned a great deal.
The Peter Watts website also has some interesting end notes.
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29 people found this helpful
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- Cassowary
- 08-06-18
Intelligent and Fun
I chose to give this book a 5 star rating because I couldn’t put it down. I found the science part just as interesting as the fiction part. The science was heavy, which I like, but I did have to slow my normal listening speed down a bit to keep up. I also liked that some mythology was woven into the story. And the performance was excellent - Smith really made the creepiness of one of the characters extra creepy. Will definitely check out more of Peter Watt’s books!
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- Vivianne
- 05-06-19
Ending was a little rushed
The ending was a little rushed, and the plot could have been developed more, but overall an entertaining read. I feel like authors today spend too much time trying to set up the next story rather than telling you this one. About 1/4 of the book could have been cut out - it was repetitive or setting you up for a story that isn't being told yet. The writing was excellent, just wish the story telling was better.
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- Waleed
- 08-06-18
Makes you think
An excellent book about the nature and purpose of consciousness, empathy and human connection. On one side there's the religious explanation for sure, but even that leaves room to wonder about the mechanics of it all, and Peter Watts has an interesting take. Sure, there are aliens in this book - great ones, at that - but that's not where this book shines. It's Watts' philosophy and take on what it means to be human, his imaginative characters and world-setting, and his writing style. T. Ryder Smith's narration in the audiobook version was excellent. I absolutely enjoyed this book and it blew my mind. If you're intrigued by ideas from books like Thinking, Fast and Slow, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales, you'll enjoy this one.
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- M. Lambert
- 11-03-17
Great hard science fiction
Manages to weave current science into a powerful story with an interesting perspective. The characters are well defined, not cookie cutter supporting cast. Leaves enough doubt to keep you reading. Worth a reread, and not much is.
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- Alissa
- 03-07-13
Terrible audio
Any additional comments?
I'm not sure if it was the tonation of the narration, the production quality, the content, or all three combined, but the audio had a quality that begged the listener to tune out. Try as I might, I couldn't keep my focus on the book. I gave up after listening for a couple of hours and realizing I still had no idea what was going on.
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- Ed
- 07-08-15
Thought provoking
Very interesting and thought provoking concepts are explored in this story. It's a future where people with mental disorders or brain defects are not only "fixed" but also enhanced beyond "baseline" humans, at some expense to their humanity. On top of that there is the existence and integration of a mythical bloodline, first contact, and an interesting solution for long-distance multi-year space travel.
The story is told as a first person narrative about a first contact with an entirely unfathomable entity. The character's purpose on the mission is to be the equivalent of an embedded reporter, but with the added responsibility of translating the actions of the enhanced humans on the mission into baseline understandable terms. Exactly what this means is hard to explain, because the reader is only human. :-) Although he is enhanced himself, his abilities permit him to straddle both sides of the situation... And this struggle of understanding his ability is one of the themes.
The narrator does a great job of evoking the character's tone. The narrating character's enhancement makes him emotionally stunted, so the narrator reads the story in a fairly monotone voice. In my opinion this really adds to the story and makes the character's behavior more understandable. It really makes him stand out as apart from normal humans.
Definitely one of my favorite stories.
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- Locked Lamora
- 12-17-19
Gets better with each listen
This is probably my favorite book of all time, but it may have taken 5 or so listens to reach that point. it also may have ruined much of SF for me. luckily I have the job type where I can put in 50 hours a week listening.
I don't want to talk about the story much but I would press the listener to finish it and analyze it for some time. I think it may even come off as oddly written to most and it certainly was difficult for me.
I think it's crucial to listen as if Siri is actually speaking, not Watts. I see a lot of stuff written about how the author must have problems but I truly think he was able to write from this bizarre perspective of a man with half a mind and no thoughts of his own (I found Siri far to relatable for my comfort).
t. Ryder Smith does an absolutely phenomenal job. though initially strange (all new books sound weird at first) his voice is soothing and I often listen to it to focus on work. He smoothly reads sentences that I can only mentally stumble through.
the best I can say is this book will not appeal to everyone, but if you have an open mind it's certainly worth a credit and 12 hours.
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- matt fiocchi
- 02-02-18
absolutely marvelous
captivating characters; lucid, complex, effortless prose; even explores the nature of conscious identity. if you haven't read this, read it.
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- Zachery
- 07-18-18
Good!!
I loved this book. Cool characters, amazing concept on consciousness and self awareness. The ending was satisfying.
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