Galileo’s Dream

By: Kim Stanley Robinson

Narrated by: George Guidall

Length: 20 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

Kim Stanley Robinson’s illustrious SF career has earned him every major award in the business—including the Nebula and Hugo Awards.

With Galileo’s Dream, Robinson crafts an instant masterpiece that blends epic adventure and thoughtful alternate history. Ganymede, a rebellious Jovian, attempts to bring famed scientific mind Galileo forward in time to alter the course of history with astonishing results.

©2009 Kim Stanley Robinson (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLC

good story. just way too long

at times is seems like it will never end. but it's a interesting point of view

Empathy for a brilliant jerk

Kim Robinson has done a great job with this story. I will definitely buy more of her audiobooks. She deftly manages to weave a complex, far-fetched future into the historical facts of Galileo's life in a way that is both fantastic and utterly rooted in the scientific method. The texture of Galileo's personality and relationships is vividly illustrated by the narrator, George Guidall, who's gritty and occasionally impatient speech almost makes you forget you're listening to a narrator and not to Galileo himself. If you like mysteries, you'll find this book plodding. If you're a scifi fantasy lover, it'll be good. If you are a scientist, you'll be enthralled. Well done, Kim. Well done.

Excellent book

This is a very good book and fun to listen to. There is a nice story, interesting setting, likable characters and excellent narration. The author and the narrator are very talented.

Time traveling Galileo on Jupiter

Kim Stanley Robinson’s Galileo’s Dream is not so much an alternate history tale, but rather a bit of license in the life of Galileo Galilei, especially his dreams. His tumultuous life is detailed. While Copernicus is credited with placing the sun at the center with the planets including Earth revolving around the sun, this was viewed as a mathematical convenience (in order to accurately calculate when Easter would be). Scriptural interpretation placed the Earth at the center and everything else was blasphemy. Galileo’s discovery of the moons of Jupiter was the first suggestion that not everything revolved around the Earth. His dreams involve time traveling from the 31st century where alien life has been found initially on one of Jupiter’s moons. One individual from this future is intent on influencing Galileo to be burned at the stake (rather than the house arrest he received) with the goal of forcing science into an earlier and more dominant role in world affairs that would impact their current situation.

Robinson does an admirable job of relating Galileo’s situation at the time (early 17th century) beyond the scientific and ‘white-washed’ religious issues. There are power struggles and petty jealousy. Galileo himself is a bit of a playboy, in spite of his hernia truss. The clergy are venial and vindictive. Interestingly, the major players of the 31st century are not much better.

The narration is excellent with solid character distinction. Pacing is smooth and brisk.

Treat yourself to some wild imagination.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes! Especially to those that wonder how quatum fluctuation actually work.

What did you like best about this story?

The way it came alive and helped me see the historical context of Gallileo's life.

What about George Guidall’s performance did you like?

He's my favorite reader. He reads so that you forget he's there. Every character distinct and vibrant.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No. But I did enjoy it. I laughed, I cried, I was glad I bought it.

Any additional comments?

No. Out of time.

Read this book

A beautiful, moving, human story of a brilliant, flawed visionary, reimagined here by Robinson. Worth the read.

Quit listening about a third of the way in.

If I didn't even finish this book, why am I giving it 3 stars? I think much of the problem is in me rather than in the book. I have read other books by Robinson and think he is a good writer, and this book is also well written. So what was the problem? There is not any sympathetic character. Galileo is celebrated in this book as "the first scientist", and I would not disagree. When I was a science teacher, I portrayed him so to my students.... However, he was also a fairly unpleasant person. I had known about many of his less admirable traits before reading this book, but I had not realized that he came from what is now called a dysfunctional home. He had a horrible father and a horrible mother. Unfortunately, he was one of those people who continued the cycle of horribleness rather than breaking free of it. Apparently when he was in a bad mood or drunk (a frequent occurrence), servants and children had to hide from his fists. I already knew about the shameful way he treated his daughters, but I had forgotten some of the details. When I got to the part where he has the servants tie his 12-year-old daughter hand and foot and cart her screaming and crying to the place where she would be imprisoned for the rest of her life, I just couldn't go on any further.

I also had not realized the extent of his terrible health. I have come away from this book with increased sympathy for how much he accomplished in spite of it.

I was further infuriated by pretty much every single Roman Catholic bigwig in the book. The evils of the Inquisition and the corruption in the Catholic Church in those times is widely known, but as one "holy" man after another adds to the torment of Galileo's life, it just got to be too much of a bad thing. I felt myself slipping from my normal laid back atheist position to a strong desire to run out and find a Catholic priest that I could punch in the belly for old times' sake.

So, if you can tolerate a LOT of misery and horribleness inflicted on and by the main character and still enjoy the book, then you may very well find much in this book to recommend it. But if, like me, you need a main character who is simpatico, and a few rays of sunshine to leaven the shadows, you may not like this one. Consider carefully.

p.s. George Guidall, the narrator, does his usual excellent job.

Loved this book!

I need to start by pointing out I'm a huge KSR fan and own something like 9 or 10 of his books.

I simply loved this novel. It had me interested from start to finish. Portions of it were exquisitely well-written, there was plenty of drama and even a little romantic tension to keep things moving. The deep descriptions of math and science didn't phase me, although having read many KSR books, I'm used to it.

The narrator was wonderful and a pleasure to listen to. I loved his low growl and his character voice work.

You probably have to be a hardcore SF fan, or at least a big Robinson fan, to enjoy this book as thoroughly as I did, but if you are, you won't be disappointed.

Gallileo lives here.

Once he was just a name in my science book. Now I think I would have liked to be his friend. Kim Stanley Robinson wrote a beautiful story and George Guidall breathed life into that story as no one else could.

Deleted the third part of download

After listening to the first 2 parts of the download the third part sat unplayed in my MP3 player. Finally deleted it after 2 months, nuf said.