Hellhole

By: Brian Herbert, Kevin J Anderson

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 19 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Only the most desperate colonists dare to make a new home on Hellhole. Reeling from a recent asteroid impact, tortured with horrific storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and churning volcanic eruptions, the planet is a dumping ground for undesirables, misfits, and charlatans…but also a haven for dreamers and independent pioneers.

Against all odds, an exiled general named Adolphus has turned Hellhole into a place of real opportunity for the desperate colonists who call the planet their home. While the colonists are hard at work developing the planet, General Adolphus secretly builds alliances with the leaders of the other Deep Zone worlds, forming a clandestine coalition against the tyrannical, fossilized government responsible for their exile.

What no one knows is this: the planet Hellhole, though damaged and volatile, hides an amazing secret. Deep beneath its surface lies the remnants of an obliterated alien civilization and the buried memories of its unrecorded past that, when unearthed, could tear the galaxy apart.

©2011 DreamStar, Inc., and WordFire, Inc. (P)2011 Audio Renaissance

Critic reviews

“This new space epic from the best-selling team of Herbert and Anderson is wide and complex…Audie Award winner Scott Brick's performance keeps the suspense elevated. Fear not, these authors will deliver the rest of the story on schedule. Fans of traditional sf fare will keep this, and future volumes, moving off the shelves.” —Library Journal, starred review

“[Scott Brick] manages to capture the fiery determination of exiled General Adolphus and the cold calculating cruelty of Diadem Michella while still allowing the listener's imagination to fill in the gaps. The book's many other viewpoint characters also find unique expression in Brick's capable hands…Hellhole manages to stand out as a science fiction novel that succeeds in all the areas that the genre should. It's cerebrally engaging, spiritually challenging, and yet emotionally powerful as a story in its own right. I'm very excited to find out what the next two volumes have in store.” —Azurescape

“[Brick] has a very versatile voice which is easy to listen to, bringing life to all the characters in his own special way…The dialogue is fast and furious, likewise the action, and it is a page-turner from start to finish. Space opera at its best…this audiobook is certainly recommended not just for its story but for the good quality reproduction of the narration. It's new and exciting and it will surely be well received.” —SFCrowsnest.com

You feel like you have been ripped off.

The story in general is a good one, the only problem is the ending. There is none!! Imagine watching Star Wars and right before they blow up the death star the movie ends. I have never listened to a book in all my years that the author did something so stupid. I will not be getting the second book if it ever comes out. The story was not that interesting and I will boycott on principal alone.

HALF A BOOK...MAYBE A THIRD OF A BOOK!

It's shocking that this book was sold as a complete work. After much build up, and as it seemed to be getting to the end-game the BLOODY THING ENDS!
HOW CAN THE BOOK BE FINISHED WHEN EVERYTHING IT WAS BUILDING UP TO WASN'T INCLUDED!
This is half a story and it was cut short so Herbert and Anderson can release what will be in essence the end of the first book as a second book to rip people off. Ridiculous

20 hours and no ending!!!

I am at a loss with this book. Never before could my rating have ranged anywhere from 1 to 5.
First off, after reading the write-up, I thought this was going to be sort of a post-apocalyptic book, telling us how they built a civilization on a ravaged planet. NOPE! chapter 2 begins with "Ten years later". Ok, I can't blame the writers for not doing what I thought.
But then, out of the next 6 hrs, there is about 1 hour covering life on the planet Hellhole. Too much background!!!
Then, the last 2/3rds of the book, it starts to get real good, as they focus on Hellhole. In fact, I couldn't stop listening. But, as other have said...this book as no ending. Book 1 of any trilogy has an ending! yes, there are loose ends, but that is not the case here. It builds and builds, and then just ends. Didn't we all learn in Writing 101 that all books need a climax and a resolution? As others have suggested, wait until part 2 is out if you don't want to be left hanging.

way to leave us hanging

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

This started out to be a great story and then it just ended . I guess they just want to sell more books.

Misleading

This book was publicized by audible as a complete novel, but it is written open ended as one of a series. I feel mislead and wasted my money as, frankly, it's not good enough to be a series.

19 hours to disappointment

I have purchased and listened to 6 or 7 multi-book novels but I have made sure that all of the books in the series are available as I don't like to be left hanging, waiting months or even years for the next book in the series.

In this case Audible put an interesting looking book with a plot line that seemed complete on its list without any warning that it concludes up in the air with odds and ends of plot flapping in the breeze. Had I any warning I would have saved my credit for a different book.

worst book ever

This is a very poor effort. I cannot believe it got published, and I wish I had actually *read* some reviews of this book before buying it. Instead I just went with the star rating it has which seemed decently high. I don't understand how the rating can be so high, I gave it one star only because I couldn't give it negative stars, it's *that* bad.

This book is full of literally stupid characters and so many cliches it's not even funny. The storytelling style is naive and simplistic, as if this was written for children. The characters are flat, uninteresting, stereotypical, completely unbelievable and one dimensional. They're either exaggeratedly good or exaggeratedly bad. Like I said - simplistic. But most of all it's really irritating how incredibly stupid they are. This makes the story incomprehensible at times.

The narration doesn't help. I will avoid this narrator in the future at all cost. He's horrible. He's whining, melodramatic, and completely inadequate.

If I could play editor I wouldn't release this book at all. Or at least I'd target a very young audience. This book is below the average adult. I have no problem with the book not having a true ending because there's no way I will subject myself to listening to the rest of this crap. I listened to 3 hours and I can't take it anymore. Enough.

Save your credit for something else.

not even a half hour in and already tired of trash

"Starts" ok, by which i mean first few minutes. then it jumps off the slopes of mount retard with a bungee cord tied around its genitals and throat. overly melodramatic in those first minutes kills interest fast, and the narrator sounds like someone ran over his dog and he just doesnt want to work. refund time.

lame and contrived setup/prologue

The beginning prologue is preposterous and kinda misogynistic to boot. bitch this and bitch that. Are all strong women bitches, Frank and Kevin? Ruined the story for me.