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

Space Opera With a Few Good Plot Twists

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I wouldn't say it was a complete waste of time, but I would say that if I hadn't been commuting that this book would have taken me longer to get threw. As horrified as I am to say it I think this one (for me) would be better abridged. If that is, you cut out most of the Drama Between the main character and her best friend then you can get down to some good Science Fiction. If you are looking for a more action science basted book like I was this is not the one for you. If you are looking to have some of that as well as lots of conflict between crew members on a long journey than this book is for you. For me that is just not what I was looking for.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I did enjoy the end overall. It was a good twist. Not all of it was unpredictable but it finding out the big picture was one of the best parts of the book for me.

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

I have listen to three other John Lee books, and this is a point for me that I'm a little conflicted on. Though I do enjoy his style of reading and his voice for the narration, his voices for the characters have the tendency to run together with little distinction be tween them making long conversation sometimes hard to fallow.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes. I think the action would be there in the movie that you really don't get as much of tin the book. and the character based story would have to be cut down to get it all in.

Sweeping space opera in the grandest tradition

Would you consider the audio edition of Pushing Ice to be better than the print version?

This was my first audio book and I am hooked. The thought provoking storyline was well versed and kept my interest through the 20 hours of performance. As a lifelong reader of Sci-fi with a penchant for space opera and harder sci-fi this audiobook had it all in spades.
The performance took a while to appreciate by by the middle of the book I was impressed with the narration as much as the content.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Bela Lind - because the depth of her character was explored so deeply

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

Sevetlana (the russian protaginist)

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

When the "cube" was unlocked by Bela

Great SciFi

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

Of course John Lee is great, but the writing is great and the story flows

What did you like best about this story?

There are many identifiable themes that are great to follow

What about John Lee???s performance did you like?

He's great. Many voices and a great reader

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

Yes, there were many moments that I kept rewinding to enjoy it again.

Any additional comments?

It's a story that is not freaky, follows the rules and a great

Extra long but good

What did you love best about Pushing Ice?

The story and universe the author created was imaginative and in ways hopeful. It was a great story to hear. In lots of ways the realism of operations in space was excellently conveyed.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

You will want to know more even after such a long story. Some of the best parts during the book used advanced technology then at the end I was left wondering what will happen with the new stuff.

Which scene was your favorite?

I found myself really enjoying all the alien contact scenes. The aliens were imaginative and somehow likely, though in certain ways they felt stretched around the author's themes.

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

There was a moment when Bella, the captain, gives a pep talk to the crew and it all seems to go horribly wrong. I found myself very frustrated at that point but also very invested in the outcome.

Any additional comments?

Alistair has a great story with multiple narratives, he seems to have both squeezed exposition which seems difficult for him and three books worth of story into a frustrating and in some ways ridiculous personality conflict. It was almost like he had completely stereotypical characters but every three chapters he would roll dice to see if all but the most frustrating characters would stay in the story. It was worth the price and the narration/acting sets a new high standard.

Wasted opportunities

Too much talk about 2 ladies having an argument about who's in charge, wasted so much potential of exploration etc from the book. Bela was right

Need more!

This books needs an Act II. Fantastic read that meshes realistic themes with science fiction. You won’t be disappointed. The books allows for multiple , additional, stories to be told… and I hope we get more.

Hints of Rama - yet stands on its own merit

Alastair writes across incredible distances of both space and time. Mixing elements of first contact with human civilization’s endurance and failings, and the desire to continue on and build a legacy and maybe find purpose and the meaning of life along the way.

A Twist

Great story. Was a bit slow at start, but wait there’s more. Nice twist in the middle & a great ending. Well worth a listen.

Interesting Ideas—Disconnected

Good character work in this one. Like the Bella/Stephlana relationship. Tye story also goes from big to bigger to biggest, but doesn’t offer any answers in the end. Also the jump from space miner to (SPOILER) seems a big too large a leap. Too many ideas it feels like. I also didn’t understand how many humans there were to continue civilization. That bugged me a bit.

Another book i regret not buying it earlier

This book was amazing.... i really loved it and loved all what happened.

But there is one issue with this book.. is how they jump between years... i reading this book and in a point it suddenly jumped forward in time without saying "x-time later"

other than that the book was a blast...