• Orion

  • Orion Series, Book 1
  • By: Ben Bova
  • Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
  • Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
  • 3.8 out of 5 stars (706 ratings)

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Orion  By  cover art

Orion

By: Ben Bova
Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
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Publisher's summary

John O'Ryan is not a god...not exactly. He is an eternal warrior destined to combat the Dark Lord through all time for dominion of the Earth. Follow him, servant of a great race, as he battles his enemy down the halls of time, from the caves of our ancestors to the final confrontation under the hammer of nuclear annihilation.

Listen to more titles in the Orion series.
©1984 Ben Bova (P)2010 Audible, Inc

Critic reviews

"Non-stop action and mind-bending concepts combine to make Orion absolutely unforgettable…. Ben Bova brings it to life on a canvas spread over time and space." (Isaac Asimov)

What listeners say about Orion

Average customer ratings
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Time Traveling Hero Battles Across Time

Maybe this book just hit me at the right time, but I had a lot of fun with this one. I think the testament of a good book is one that makes you crave for more. And I certainly will get the sequel to Orien.

This novel is about the creation of civilizations, Gods, and men in a journey through space and time. The protagonist, Orion, has been created in the form of a man and is warrior/hero for the human race. He also is not quite human. He has been given intelligence with the ability to process events faster (quicker reactions) and is able to control all his bodily functions. He can still die like normal men, but with the help of a God like being he rises time and time again with the purpose to save human kind from total destruction. Ahriman is Orien's nemesis whom he pursues across time to kill. Orien starts from the future and goes backwards in his encounters. Unlike Orien, Ahriman travels the normal direction of time plotting all the while the destruction of space time and the universe. The effect is that Orien does not know who he is and what he can do at the very beginning and becomes more knowledgable about his purpose every jump back in time.

The settings and landscapes will change as Orien goes back in time and we get to see a lot of different era's and technological capabilities of man. If you study history and like science fiction this series might be a fun fit. Time travel is always tricky to deal with and explain off. I felt Ben Bova did a great job keeping the reader engaged in the story and less with the mechanics. However, we do get some explanation that time is very fluid and events can change either direction in time you follow. The answers to questions like who is Ariman, why he wants to destroy the human race, and who/what Orien is are slowly answered throughout the tale with each era they travel. You may even find yourself thinking differently about Orien and his mission by the end of the novel.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Never got into it

I love sci fi, but this one just didn't do it for me. I got about halfway through the first book and gave up. I didn't like anyone or anything in the book enough to finish it. I couldn't find any character or plot line or really anything sufficiently interesting to make me want to continue reading. Not my cuppa tea.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Murder has been committed.

The narrator killed one of my favorite books . Slow , tedious reading with no inflection of voice at all . Poor Orion , doomed to cross worlds with this guy reading his story .

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Thank you

¡Gracias! Спасибо! 谢谢! Teşekkürler! آپ کا شکریہ! Salamat! Eskerrik asko! Tak! Σας ευχαριστούμε! Asante! Kiitos! शुक्रिया! Þakka þér! நன்றி! Vielen Dank! Thank You!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Not too bad

While the story flowed reasonably, and was somewhat interesting, the overall plot was simplistic and a little too flawed for my tastes. I did listen to the end and appreciate what Bova was trying to say, and I do like the message and philosophical questions. Probably aimed at a younger audience.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Better than a 3, not quite a 4

It took me a chapter or two to get into Rudnicki's style, but once I got the hang of it I really started to like it.

The book, as a beginning of a series, has good points and bad points. Some of the action is great, some of the philosophical meanderings of the "gods" not so much. I'd probably have a go at the second book in the series, but I have almost a dozen other audio books lined up before it.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Old School Sci-Fi

Very good story...great narration! I don't know if I can make it through the entire series...but would recomend this as a great stand alone novel.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Enter Text Here...

Orion chases the dark side through time to it's beginning...three times he encounters darkness and three times Orion must chase him some more. That repetitiveness made me think about putting the book away. But, I knew that there would be a kicker at the end. There was one. As always, Bova does a good job with the personal interactions. Wondering whether I should continue the series?

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Well written story.

Imaginative and thoughtful. A little different from this author’s regular work. All good ideas and enjoyable.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Orion

I found this story to be one of Bovas best.
Looking forward to following through more of the Orion series.

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