Camouflage

By: Joe Haldeman

Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer

Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

The artifact is found seven miles below the surface of the sea and beneath 40 more feet of sand. The Navy's efforts to raise a wrecked submarine uncover it - and set in motion a scientific race to retrieve it, to discover just what it is and where it came from.

Denser than any substance known to man, it has broken every drill bit they've tried on it and will not budge an inch. It resists every effort to breach it - or communicate with it. So the government turns to marine biologist Russell Sutton for help.

Meanwhile, unknown to any of them, two creatures have wandered the earth for generations. The aliens have no knowledge of each other, but possess a residual memory of the artifact - and an affinity for deep water. One, which calls itself the changeling, has survived by adaptation, by taking on many different forms: man, woman, snake, shark. The other, which calls itself the chameleon, has survived solely by destroying anything or anyone that threatens it.

Now, finally brought up from the bottom of the sea, the artifact calls to them both...to come home. For all these generations there have been two invincible creatures on Earth. But the chameleon has decided there's only room for one.

A novel of human and inhuman nature, Camouflage will take you to the depths of the sea, to the limit of man's imagination - and beyond.

©2005 Joe Haldeman (P)2008 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

Nebula Award, Best Novel, 2005

"Haldeman trips through history wearing alien goggles but his message is all about human nature." (Entertainment Weekly)
An extremely intelligent thriller." (Washington Post)

awesome story telling

A great story by a writer who has a very imaginative and creative sense. The narrator seems to be the perfect voice for this tale of the impossible alien encounter. The ending is a surprising twist I never expected. I have a new favorite author.

Good premise, but falls flat

I liked the premise and it was somewhat entertaining, but in the end it fell flat. The writing style is very enjoyable, and I liked the descriptions of the various places and times. The character development wasn't great. I didn't find the main love story to be believable. The ending felt like a cop out. Things were resolved to quickly and easily.

When is the movie?

Where does Camouflage rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Its one of my all-time favorite books and everyone else I recommended it to loved it.

Good Storytelling!

An interesting premise with good storytelling to boot. A mix of different science disciplines that didn’t get pedantic and bog the story down.

Grows on you

Little by little as the main character becomes more human and interacts more with humans, so does the listener's interest in the story grows. There are some very sexually frank scenes as well as some gruesome spots. However, the author does involve us in the protagonist's story and the listener is rooting hard for the welfare and love life of the Changeling by the end of the book.

Graphic Sex unneccessary for great story

If you could sum up Camouflage in three words, what would they be?

Humanization of changeling

Any additional comments?

The changeling went through many lives before it discovered what love is. It, the changeling, began the story by killing a human as it came out of the sea, where it had been living as a great white shark, a killer whale, and other denizens of the deep for a million years. It was immortal and unkillable but vulnerable. It could be seriously injured, but its nature was immortality.It spent so much time roaming the oceans that it had forgotten its past and didn’t know where it came from.After killing its first human and taking over the persona of its victim, it began learning the meaning of being a human. At one point, it had a graphic sexual encounter with its nurse, then injured another woman while attempting forced anal intercourse, and then took an active part in a homosexual incident. Later, it decided to carry on as a woman.Finally, while trying to uncovered the mystery of a million-year-old relic that had amazing physical properties, it befriended a man while it was in the guise of a woman, and fell in love.

Excellent, right up until the end.

This was an excellent book, keeping me riveted right up until the final 10 minutes or so of the recording. I might describe the story as a mash-up between "Forrest Gump", "Contact", and "Rendezous With Rama", if you can imagine that. Right up until the final scene, I could hardly put it down! Unfortunately, the book turns very cliche at the end. I would have given it 5 stars without hesitation if not for the ending. Without giving anything away, I felt it was very "Disney-esque", with a little "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull" thrown in (if you hated the way that movie ended, you might feel the same about this ending). Everything is resolved WAY too quickly, with a heavy dose of deus ex machina. I do recommend it, just because it's such an enjoyable ride, but in my opinion the author just got lazy at the end. It could have been much better.

Great Story Line

well worth a read will look for more from this writer Execllent very clever weaving past and future together.

Very Good Book

The narration was great and the story flowed. It was a good story and I enjoyed the listen.

another hit from Joe Haldeman

very creative. really enjoyed it. in fact, I couldn't stop! finished it in just a couple of listens. makes you think, what would I do if I had these abilities??