Blue Remembered Earth

By: Alastair Reynolds

Narrated by: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

Length: 21 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Critically acclaimed author Alastair Reynolds holds a well-deserved place “among the leaders of the hard-science space opera renaissance." (Publishers Weekly). In Blue Remembered Earth, Geoffrey Akinya wants nothing more than to study the elephants of the Amboseli basin. But when his space-explorer grandmother dies, secrets come to light and Geoffrey is dispatched to the Moon to protect the family name - and prevent an impending catastrophe.

©2012 Alastair Reynolds (P)2012 Recorded Books

Couldn't Get Into It But Hope for the Future!

I don't know - maybe I'm a little too American-centric but I just wasn't able to get into the story. Probably sounds bad but not meant to be. The story was kind of like a scavenger hunt but I had no understanding of the goal in mind. People just headed off because some dead person told them to do so. The story ended with hope for the follow-on books if developed properly. I'll give "On the Steel Breeze" a try just because the last chapter or so of BRE finally seemed to go somewhere.

Kobna Holdbrook-Smith's reading and accent were actually very pleasant. Some of the characters voices were a bit outrageous, funny even, but for the most part I really enjoyed the narrator's work. Personally, I don't think the narrator would need to be ethnically limited. I'd listen to any sci-fi story he decided to read. Obviously, he was the perfect choice for this book. I hope Adjoa Andoh does as well with the second book.

Great story and excellent narration.

While some of the plot seemed contrived and pointless (I won't give any spoilers here) the book is jam packed with original ideas and interesting people. As is usual with Reynolds he has created a fascinating and believable world. In some ways the book ends just when it's going to get interesting, I hope the author is working on a sequal, I really want to know what happens next!!!! Narration was excellent, I had not heard this performer before but will look for more stuff by him. Easy 5stars, loves it.

Kept me going.

This was my first Alastair Reynolds, though probably not my last. I actually bought it for the reading by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, whose phenomenal performances made the Ben Aaronovitch "Rivers of London" series worthwhile all by themselves. This is an earlier effort by Holdbrook-Smith, and I don't think he'd quite gotten the hang of it, yet. It's also clearly further removed from the comfort zone of his diction, which I'd describe as "fifty shades of London."

The story is engaging, and the setting (22nd Century Earth (East Africa), Moon, Mars, and points outward in the Solar System) well-developed. I found none of the main characters especially appealing. In an extreme case that would lead me to stop listening to a book, but I got through this one, and enjoyed it. This isn't a high concept work, but it's solid hard SF.

Reynold's Weakest Novel but Still a Good Read...

I have read all of AR's work and he is, without a doubt, my favorite author. But this book was a bit disappointing relative to his other novels. It is still a good story (and worth a listen), but just not up to the standard that I have come to expect from Reynolds.

My biggest complaint.....the book starts off very slowly and I was almost tempted to pull the plug. Fortunately it got better and ended up being a decent story overall.

Reynolds has also left the story open for a sequel and it still has the potential to be a great series, even if it got off to a shaky start. And yes....despite my negative comments, I am still looking forward to reading the sequel.

Fabulous narration, detailed and interesting story

This book was found because I enjoy the narration of Kobna Holdbrook-Smith and was looking for another enjoyable performance of an audio book.

What a great story! The intricate details and descriptions along with the fantastic narration made this a wonderful experience. If I was interrupted, I would be sure to go back and go over the part I just missed. It was that good.

great job on the storyline

was hard at first to get into but after a few chapters really got into it

great narrator

Would you consider the audio edition of Blue Remembered Earth to be better than the print version?

I did not read the print version.

What about Kobna Holdbrook-Smith’s performance did you like?

His narration is excellent. Since my eyes have gotten poor, and I mostly read audiobooks, my biggest complaint has been poor narration. But that is not the case with this narrator. I was quite pleased with his diverse accents and characterizations. Also, there was much less of the usual mispronunciation of scientific and technical terms that I find so irritating in most narrators of science fiction. Good job, Kobna.

Any additional comments?

The book was good enough that I downloaded the second one in the series, as I approached the end, so that I could jump straight into it. Now that I am coming to the end of the second one, I plan to do the same with the third book.

Not my favorite work by Reynolds

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would recommend other Alastar Reynolds books over this one. The Revelation Space series is terrific. In comparison, this was only so-so.

Would you recommend Blue Remembered Earth to your friends? Why or why not?

Same question - same answer.

I would recommend other Alastar Reynolds books over this one. The Revelation Space series is terrific. In comparison, this was only so-so.

What does Kobna Holdbrook-Smith bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Wonderful African accents. She was the most enjoyable part of this audiobook. I was not surprised to learn she is also an actor.

Could you see Blue Remembered Earth being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No.

Any additional comments?

The book was good. However, Reynolds has a lot of books that are near great to great.

Well performed; Weakest work of a brilliant author

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

It's OK. It is almost like the author dusted off an early un-submitted manuscript and updated it for publication. The story is nothing at all comparable with Revelation Space, etc.

What was most disappointing about Alastair Reynolds’s story?

Almost is juvenile science fiction, like the sort of stuff I read of Heinlein or Bradbury in the 60s, S is for Space, for example.

Have you listened to any of Kobna Holdbrook-Smith’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. He did a well enough job with the African accent. John Lee (performer of Revelation Space, etc)., is my favorite reader, is not used here. But these characters are African with the British accented English and this narrator does a fine job with that.

Was Blue Remembered Earth worth the listening time?

Yes. It is an OK story. . . Just disappointed in the lack of: brilliant ideas, grand themes. richly-composed characters. This is not a space opera. Lots of Deus ex machine plot elements. Not up to the quality of the author's usual brilliance. Sad to have to say all this. Alastair Reynolds and Peter F. Hamilton are my two favorite modern sci-fi authors and that is because their work is everything this particular book just does not live up to.

difficult to get into the story and hard to unders

difficult to get into the story and hard to understand the narrator at the beginning.