Firstborn

A Time Odyssey, Book 3

By: Stephen Baxter, Arthur C. Clarke

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

The Firstborn, the mysterious race of aliens best known as the builders of the iconic black monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey, have inhabited the writing of science fiction master Arthur C. Clarke for decades. In the first two books of his acclaimed Time Odyssey series, Clarke and co-author Stephen Baxter imagined a near-future in which the Firstborn seek to stop the advance of human civilization by employing a technology indistinguishable from magic. That fate was narrowly averted, at an inconceivable price. But now, 27 years later, the Firstborn are back. This time, they have sent a "quantum bomb" speeding toward Earth, a device that human scientists can barely comprehend, let alone stop or destroy. But when shocking new insights emerge about the nature of the Firstborn and their plans, an unexpected ally appears from light-years away.

©2007 Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Amazing story

This amazing story was well thought out using certain historical facts and was an amusing blend of fact and fiction.

Enjoyable

it's a shame there is no sequel. the story just doesn't feel finished, such a shame

Awesome

It would be great to see where the story goes from here. Has been quite a fun adventure so far.

The end to the Trilogy!

What did you love best about Firstborn?

The way the story all tied together. The three books are very different but the main message seemed to be the indomitable strength of the human spirit to never give up.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Give it a happier ending? Then it wouldn't be the same book though, right?

What about John Lee’s performance did you like?

He is always wonderful, his nuances on different words and characters he portrays are certainly his greatest strengths.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The ending. Three women coming together, all I can say without being a spoiler.

Any additional comments?

Arthur C Clarke was able to take all of his works and tie them into this trilogy. The firstborn from 2001 and the space elevators from Fountains of Paradise and even a bit of Rama thrown in.
I am very happy I took the time to listen to this trilogy, it helps me to remember that maybe humans aren't the greatest things in the universe, but we may be the most tenacious!

First Born, Arthur C. Clark

A bit hard to follow, but very interesting seeing that I am reading it in 2021 and Mr. Clark's many predictions concerning technology have certainly come to pass save the technology yet to come. I am certain he was a time traveler himself.

Very slow, not much happens

The third book of a trilogy should be the payoff book. This seemed more like a filler book. The first two were better.


Spoiler
No resolution, horrible ending for a finale.

Excellent!

The entire series was absolutely amazing. Only two caveats. One, that there was too much spent on the Alexander aspect. Secondly, the reader was somewhat tedious. The British accent was okay, but oddly like a sleep aid. Didn’t realize until the end that I had invested in three books only to be set up for a continuation. A non-ending. Like the power going out before the end of a movie.

Not The Ending I Expected

I am a fan of Clarke's works and somewhat of Baxter's. Their collaborations have put out some good stories with this Time Odyssey Series being one of them. I was hoping for a decent conclusion to this, but was left wanting by the end. The story seemed to meander a bit too much for me towards the end, but overall it was good.

This is the second narrated story by John Lee I have experienced. During the first one, I wasn't too impressed, but I'm a better fan of this work. I still think his accent get's in the way at times, but his range of male voices is impressive. A good job all around.

old fashioned world view

Clarke's world view is stuck in the 1960s, a world dominated by powerful governments and gigantic government projects, cold wars, military endeavors, bureaucracies, government experts, and global action. Oh, he realizes that there are problems with this system, his bureaucrats sometimes bumble, and he longs for and increase in participatory democracy through technology and AI, but he is simply incapable of articulating or imagining how human society actually might progress.

Technologically, his science fiction also seems somewhat dated and at times inconsistent. Why bother with all this messy spacetime reassembly of worlds of you could simply store and simulate people and environments? Even more fundamentally, how does life supposedly use up exergy any faster than having it dissipate naturally? The energy given off by stars dissipates whether or not life forms uses it.

Probably the most enjoyable aspects of the series are the historical vignettes, in particular of the first two books.

Firstborn

Agreat final chapter in the trilogy by Arthur C Clark and Stephen Baxter! Ir leaves you wondering what may have been written if there were another book in the series.