Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.
Pushing Ice  By  cover art

Pushing Ice

By: Alastair Reynolds
Narrated by: John Lee
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.63

Buy for $20.63

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

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

What listeners say about Pushing Ice

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,529
  • 4 Stars
    1,790
  • 3 Stars
    709
  • 2 Stars
    170
  • 1 Stars
    95
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,668
  • 4 Stars
    1,387
  • 3 Stars
    422
  • 2 Stars
    102
  • 1 Stars
    64
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,249
  • 4 Stars
    1,492
  • 3 Stars
    627
  • 2 Stars
    180
  • 1 Stars
    102

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great example of classic Sci-Fi and with closure.

Great book. I have been a Sci-Fi fan for over 50 years and this book was well worth the investment. The story is good, and unlike the latest fad, of writing books that bring no closure without buying several more in a series, this book can stand alone while creating the desire for more. Looking forward to reading more by Alistair Reynolds.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Meh

I love Sci-Fi but this book drove me nuts and not in a good way... I rarely write comments and rather just rate what I listen to or read but I felt I should say how underwhelming I found this. While I respect the fact that Authors can organize a book; this one wasn't for me. The writing style, the lack of imagination, and the blahblahblah of it all...

With all that said; the wife loved it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Fingernails on a chalkboard.

Very hard to get through. No positive attributes what so ever. I could not recommend this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

compelling and frustrating

Svetlana is a petulant child guilty of far more than her self-righteousness would suggest. she got off way too easy in my opinion

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

It was okay

What did you like best about Pushing Ice? What did you like least?

It was okay.
It was a little long.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Make it shorter.

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

He ran some characters together

Do you think Pushing Ice needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

nope.

Any additional comments?

It could have been shorter.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

A great new series has begun

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

Once you get past a bit of setup, the story captivates and delivers. I have learned to be a bit patient with science fiction novels since they often need to spend time painting a picture of a world and situation so unfamiliar to our current reality. This one really got going and held my attention. I am very much looking forward to the next book in the series.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

I stuck with it... but don't know why.

At 4 hours in I nearly gave up.

The narration was driving me nuts. Machine gun like and characterless it made a reasonable story very hard going. Don't get me wrong, the narrator was talented with an amazing array of voices and accents, but his normal speaking voice was clipped and boring. For me it sucked the life out of the story.

The story itself was OK but a bit tedious and overly drawn out at times. I normally love long books: I was just relieved when this one ended.

I hope you get more out of it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

A good classic sci-fi

This good "old school" space exploration sci-fi, offers an intriguing story while also exploring genuine human relations.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Brilliant all round!

This may seriously be one of his best... Right up there with the best of revelation space. Engaging and unique story. Well worth the listen.

Especially since it starts with: "Pushing Ice, narrated by John Lee...". What a legend! 😎

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Overall very good!

Slow startup for me, since I wasn’t too familiar with his accent, but the story totally made up for it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!