Pushing Ice

By: Alastair Reynolds

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 19 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

2057. Humanity has raised exploiting the solar system to an art form. Bella Lind and the crew of her nuclear-powered ship, the Rockhopper, push ice. They mine comets. And they're good at it.

The Rockhopper is nearing the end of its current mission cycle, and everyone is desperate for some much-needed R & R, when startling news arrives from Saturn: Janus, one of Saturn's ice moons, has inexplicably left its natural orbit and is now heading out of the solar system at high speed. As layers of camouflage fall away, it becomes clear that Janus was never a moon in the first place. It's some kind of machine - and it is now headed toward a fuzzily glimpsed artifact 260 light-years away. The Rockhopper is the only ship anywhere near Janus, and Bella Lind is ordered to shadow it for the few vital days before it falls forever out of reach. In accepting this mission, she sets her ship and her crew on a collision course with destiny - for Janus has more surprises in store, and not all of them are welcome.

©2008 Alastair Reynolds (P)2010 Tantor

Critic reviews

"[Reynolds is] a genius for big-concept SF and fans of Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama and Larry Niven's Ringworld will love this novel." ( Publishers Weekly

Rama meets Mote meets Coyote

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. For me it combined the best elements, ideas and themes from the books Rendezvous With Rama, The Mote In God's Eye and the Coyote series. Doing so within it's own unique universe and in a fresh new way.

For me this book seemed much longer than it's nearly 20 hours, but never dragged on such was the ever developing plot lines and solid characters. Long in the good way. It was also refreshing to read a long book that was well written and self-contained and not having to commit to reading a series of several books just to find out what happens - where there are inevitably flat spots, flat books even, from all but the very best writers.

Will definitely grab another of Alastair Reynolds' books.

Fantastic storey

What made the experience of listening to Pushing Ice the most enjoyable?

Discovering the mysteries of the "ship" and how the society evolves on it.

What other book might you compare Pushing Ice to and why?

None in particular. Mostly why I liked it so much.

Any additional comments?

A great book to get really absorbed in with it's revelations and future tech.

Really imagitive sci fi

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

I found myself really getting lost in it just the right balance of escape and containment

What was one of the most memorable moments of Pushing Ice?

When they were under the iron sky

Which character – as performed by John Lee – was your favorite?

Bella

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

It was a little scarey going out into the totally unknown and still surviving

Any additional comments?

I might listen to it again

Reader's gender doesn't match characters

What aspect of John Lee’s performance would you have changed?

Although I am only 1 hour into this book, I wanted to point out that it is strange to me that a book featuring primarily female characters (at least so far) has a male reader/narrator.

Still a fan!

Another great book! Loved it! This is the second time I listened. As good as the first time.

Decent story with mediocre conclusion

while there were a number of things that I liked in the technical imagination and World building, I just didn't like either of the main characters that much. instead of finding their flaws interesting and adding depth, it just annoyed me.

Didn’t see this coming

Purchased the book on sale and have to admit I was blown away by a story that was original, flawlessly created and beautifully narrated. If you like a mystery you did not see coming look no further than this one.

Nice story but the narration was lacking

A nice story of humans having to live and adjust to a life in alien worlds. Nice, ir does focus on the overall story more than in developing characters and working their relationships. Reminds me a bit of Childhood's End.

The narration was a bit lacking here and there. The voice actor has a great voice and proper control of the emotional flow of the story. But there were a lot of moments, when narration skipped pauses and brakes. It was a weird experience to be listening to a conversation regarding a subject and all of the sudden ir has changed to something else. Probably the producer fault, not the actor.

I'd recommend for science fiction readers, but not casual ones.

Should Be Called Hatley's and McCoys in Space

Would you listen to Pushing Ice again? Why?

Absolutely, the science fiction is excellent and the story is very well developed.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I absolutely hated Sventlana but at the same time she also was the most tangible character. As to favorite I really like Parry (her husband) he balanced the needs of crew against his own needs time again and really filled the role of mediator I just wish he had stood up to Svetlana more often.

Have you listened to any of John Lee’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I generally enjoy John Lee he is a solid voice actor who puts a lot of emotion into his voices. That said his range of voices is a bit limited (generally). In this case however he did a fantastic job.

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

Yes, when Svetlana broke her word to Bella I wanted to smash the iPhone against the wall.

Any additional comments?

Starts out a bit slow but once and some of the build up in the beginning is a bit confusing but it wraps up nicely.

Grand in scope, but slightly missing the mark

What did you love best about Pushing Ice?

The large scope, the use of actual physics and a universe that hints at so much more.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I didn't really have a favourite character, they all had their charms and they all played an important role in the book.

What about John Lee’s performance did you like?

His character representation. I already had listened to him in previous books and I think he does a splendid job.

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

No, not really. There were moments of confusions though where I thought the audiobook was defective as it suddenly jumped forward in time. Maybe this could have been a bit better marked in the audiobook, though as I haven't seen the written text I am not sure how it went there. It felt rather abrupt at times.