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Surface Detail
- A Culture Novel
- Narrated by: Peter Kenny
- Length: 20 hrs and 23 mins
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They tried to destroy our planets. Our way of life. They tried to send us into extinction. But we, the Coalition, fought them and won. That was a decade ago. They’re known as the Host: a cabal of aliens seeking to dominate our sector of space. And they’re back - with help from a powerful new enemy. We’re outnumbered and unprepared. But there is hope. An ancient race of long-dead but technologically advanced aliens called the Navigators have a ship called the Blackstar that could potentially turn the tide. That is if I, Kai Locke, a humble ship racer, can find it and learn how to harness its power in time.
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Newly found love.
- By L. Rampey on 03-22-19
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Tantalus Depths
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The Tantalus 13 survey expedition went off the rails as soon as Mary Ketch and the crew of the Diamelen learned that the thing beneath their feet wasn’t a planet. An impossibly vast and ancient artificial structure lies below, hidden from the universe under a façade of cratered stone. SCARAB arrived on Tantalus 13 two years ago. An artificially intelligent, self-constructing factory, it was supposed to aid the crew in their mission, to meet their every need.
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Good primer for Young Adults new to sci-fi!
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Hyperion
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On the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all.
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The Shrike Awaits. Enter The Time Tombs...
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Mech Zero: The Dominant
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Death awaits the curious! Out along the rim of the galaxy hangs a loose configuration of some 60 stars known as the Faustian Chain. This whorl of sparkling suns is rich in planets and occupies an irregular volume of space some 20 light years in diameter. From an external viewpoint, the Chain presents a colorful display of plasma-streams, luminous nebulae and sparkling pinpoints of light.
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Nice Pre to the Mech saga
- By Dennis on 11-20-12
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In the Ocean of Night
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It is 2019. NASA astronaut Nigel Walmsley is sent on a mission to intercept a rogue asteroid on a collision course with Earth. Ordered to destroy it, he instead discovers that it is actually the shell of a derelict space probe - a wreck with just enough power to emit a single electronic signal….
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Like some Space with your Soaps?
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By: Gregory Benford
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Requiem for a Ruler of Worlds
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Mankind was beginning its third leap into the Galaxy, but Old Earth had so long kept to herself that her people were unable to travel safely among the rough-and-tumble cultures that had evolved on distant worlds. That annoyed Earth's rulers, for Hobart Floyt--a minor Terran bureaucrat-- had been left a mysterious inheritance by the deceased ruler of a small but wealthy interstellar empire.
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Best Sci Fi Fun anywhere!
- By A. Foxter on 07-07-15
By: Brian Daley
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The Atlantis Ship
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Carson Mach, a former war hero turned freelancer, seeks the biggest payday of his life when he's tasked to hunt down a ghost ship that has echoed through the centuries. The legendary Atlantis ship has become a reality, appearing at the Commonwealth frontier and obliterating an orbital station.
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Very Good Story, Looking Forward to the Next Book
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The Course of Empire
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Conquered by the Jao twenty years ago, the Earth is shackled under alien tyranny - and threatened by the even more dangerous Ekhat, one of whose genocidal extermination fleets is coming to the solar system. The only chance for human survival is in the hands of an unusual pair of allies: a young Jao prince, newly arrived to Terra to assume his duties, and a young human woman brought up amongst the Jao occupiers. But, as their tentative alliance takes shape, they are under pressure from all sides.
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ERIC FLINT'S VENTURE INTO FULL SCI-FI MODE
- By Professor on 11-01-12
By: Eric Flint, and others
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What listeners say about Surface Detail
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Fred
- 06-21-13
Peter Kenny is the master!
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Absolutely! Peter Kenny gives a brilliant performance of a good story.
Any additional comments?
The story is good. Its a good for SF in general and a good Culture series book. I find, however, that's its actually narrator that keeps me riveted. There are points where I felt the words were not as good as the delivery. Great job, Peter!
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- Amazon Customer
- 10-30-20
Weaker culture book. Still worth reading.
kicking around a lot of interesting ideas, but the book lacks narrative cohesion. Feels more like 3 half finished novels jammed together than anything else. Still, its got good ideas, some great scenes and A+ voice acting delivery. Definitely worth your time if you like the culture series, but not a good introduction to the series
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- R. Bane
- 11-09-18
Fantastic
This was a fantastic Culture story, the setting and characters were engrossing. Post my favorite of the series.
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- Brikitherik
- 06-13-21
Gotta listen close to the last sentence!
Normal Awesome Iain Banks novel! Main character is a little thin by Banksian standards. Support characters are well fleshed out. Ships are conniving and moral, to a point. Listen to the last sentence.
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- Anaximander
- 03-27-23
Awesome
This and the Hydrogen Sonata are the best of the culture novels. Highly recommend. Great.
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- Jason Henry
- 11-18-23
Top 3 Culture Books for sure!
Most of the Culture books do, but this one really made me contemplative. What does it mean to be human? What does hell mean, and if it exists, what are its implications? What's the difference between retribution, revenge, and justice?
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- Ryan
- 10-16-11
An enjoyable but not stunning intro to Banks
This was my first Iain M. Banks novel, and I enjoyed the experience, though it didn't knock my socks off the way it seems to have for other readers. Fans of contemporary "hard" science fiction will find a lot familiar elements here: sentient AIs, extremely advanced physical technology, a swarming pan-galactic meta-civilization filled with biological and machine-based societies (or those that have gone from one to the other), and the uploading of consciousness into virtual realities or new bodies. However, Banks' stories feature The Culture, a highly advanced, benevolent society that has a way of guiding affairs in the galaxy, but not interfering with the self-determination other societies without good cause. The drama of his novels usually plays off the question of what the utopian Culture will do in ambiguous cases, since it can't become involved in an obvious way.
This time, the matter is "Hells", virtual realities into which the consciousnesses of the dead are uploaded, subjecting them to terrible torment for their crimes in "the Real". Naturally, the more progressive cultures and factions in the galaxy are firmly against the Hells, while more traditional ones wish to keep them. A war is in progress to decide the outcome, taking place mostly in VR, but with risk of spilling over into the Real. Banks tells the interlocking stories of several different characters caught up in various parts of this conflict, each with a stake of some sort.
I will say that the writing is smart and imaginative, with some interesting speculation and questions. I enjoyed the creative virtual reality battle sequences and the grotesque horror of a Hell. There are also a handful of amusing characters, such as the roguish AI that commands the Culture warship Falling Outside the Normal Moral Constraints, who reminded me more than a little of the Christopher Eccleston version of Doctor Who.
That said, I eventually lost interest in what was going on in the war or who was playing for which side (possibly while pretending to play for the other). Beyond some characters trapped in a Hell and a "conservative politician" figure, it never felt very personal to anyone. I thought Banks might have done something deeper with the idea of the "rights" of a consciousness trapped in virtual reality, unable to escape or die, and not relied as much on ham-fisted literalisms involving demons and pitchforks. Also, I feel that Banks does a better job with side characters than main characters; I found the protagonists in this story pretty bland.
All in all, I enjoyed Surface Detail well enough that I'll be seeking out some of Banks' other works in the near future. He's certainly a good SF writer and has a lot of intriguing ideas. That said, this wasn't quite as enthralling a work as all the glowing reviews had let me to hope.
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Overall
- Aerindel
- 11-18-10
Excellent.
Ian M banks is another one of those authors that I have been hoping to see on Audible for years.
The basic premise of this book is as follows: All civilizations start out with a belief in some kind of Heaven and Hell.
All civilizations that survive long enough advance to the point where they can recreate their myths in virtual afterlife's for the souls of their dead, aka the Matrix but for disembodied minds.
Some civilizations feel the need to create Hells to torture some members of their societies after they die.
The over arching plot of the book concerns a battle between factions of the galactic community who want to abolish hells and the ones that want to keep them. The war is fought both virtually and physically on many fronts.
Of course, being an Ian M. Banks book their is much more going on.
Please audible, bring us the rest of his books!
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4 people found this helpful
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- Dustin
- 06-04-16
Solid sound and story
Iain Banks gives us a culture novel with several merging story lines. Its a satisfying romp through the culture universe. Peter Kenny is an amazing voice actor, maybe my new favorite.
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- Carl
- 09-11-12
Dynamic Post-Cyberpunk Overture
Genre: Sci-Fi, Post-Cyberpunk (computerized consciousness in a developed world; rather than in a dystopia)
Rated: R Very graphic torture and violence, strong sexual themes and abuse
Static or Dynamic: Dynamic! The story entices you along from experience to experience with little time to get bored with any of it. Each setting that is generated is thought provoking and exciting to resume when the story swings back to it.
1st or 3rd Person: 3rd person, there are 8+ characters to follow.
Abstract or Concrete: Mainly abstract. There are very few parts of the book that are strongly mechanical and descriptive. Most of the book is an existential question wandering through the lives of many characters. The argument of "what is real?" comes up a lot sense a main element of the book is virtual existences and virtual people. The book is concept heavy and will require some in depth thought to fully appreciate.
Linear or Non-Linear: Linear; the same story progresses on multiple fronts in radically different situations.
Narrator: OMFG this guy is good. The playful characters with playful and the dark characters were dark. The scope of this guys abilities is splendidly vast.
Plot Outline: If you could live forever in a virtual environment, what becomes the meaning of death? If you die, should you be judged? If you are punished or rewarded, does it mean anything? These are themes that are sewn into the book in a variety of different settings. Because virtual life, or in some cases sufficiently technologically advanced biological life, can render a certain level of immortality, how do people act when they have this option? A large disturbing part of the book goes through a virtual hell, literally, and the concepts of whether or not that fate means anything are highlighted. Other parts are more dubious and political but still settle around the same concept. If you lose your mind in hell, can you still be the same person that needs to be punished? If you live long enough in heaven that you no longer remember the life that you lived, are you still the same person? Fun stuff :) Oh yeah and artificial intelligences are awesome!
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