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The Apocalypse Codex
- Narrated by: Gideon Emery
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
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- By: F. Paul Wilson
- Narrated by: Alexander Cendese
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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If you've never read a Repairman Jack novel, this is the place to begin. It's 1990. A twenty-one-year-old named Jack has dropped out of college, leaving his old life behind to build a new one in New York City. Manhattan's rough edges are jagged enough to shred any unwary newcomer, but perhaps not one who is determined to stay off the grid, at any cost, in the busiest metropolis on earth. And to do so, he'll have to take jobs of a less than legal nature.
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Fun, as long you don't think too much
- By Andrew Pollack on 01-17-14
By: F. Paul Wilson
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The Book of Spies
- By: Gayle Lynds
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Ann Blake, a rare-book expert and conservator, was imprisoned for a drunk-driving accident that she doesn't remember, one that resulted in the death of her husband, a famous rare-book expert. But she is freed from prison by CIA undercover agent Tucker Anderson in exchange for her help and expertise on the Library of Gold, a legendary collection of books that have been lost to the world for over a century.
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Exciting spy tale, and then....
- By Janice on 05-31-11
By: Gayle Lynds
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Altered Carbon
- By: Richard K. Morgan
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 17 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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In the 25th century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N. While divisions in race, religion, and class still exist, advances in technology have redefined life itself. Now, assuming one can afford the expensive procedure, a person's consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack at the base of the brain and easily downloaded into a new body (or "sleeve") making death nothing more than a minor blip on a screen.
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Altered Carbon
- By Jake Williams on 09-22-07
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The Cutting Room
- A Time Travel Thriller
- By: Edward W. Robertson
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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In the future, there are many parallel Earths - but only one of them has time travel. Known as Primetime, its criminals break into the pasts of other worlds, far beyond the reach of conventional police. Blake Din is the top agent of the Cutting Room, the group tasked with stopping these trespassers. After a mission to undo the murder of a young boy, he uncovers extensive damage to another world's timeline - and a conspiracy that reaches all the way back to Primetime.
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Characters and their journeys mildly interesting
- By Sailfish on 09-27-16
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Two Weeks' Notice
- A Revivalist Novel, Book 2
- By: Rachel Caine
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
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After dying and being revived with the experimental drug Returne, Bryn Davis is theoretically free to live her unlife - with regular doses to keep her going. But Bryn knows that the government has every intention of keeping a tight lid on Pharmadene's life-altering discovery, no matter the cost. Thankfully, some things have changed for the better; her job at the rechristened Davis Funeral Home is keeping her busy and her fragile romance with Patrick McCallister is blossoming.
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Great Middle Book!
- By Felicia The Geeky Blogger on 12-16-13
By: Rachel Caine
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METAtropolis
- By: Jay Lake, Tobias Buckell, Elizabeth Bear, and others
- Narrated by: Michael Hogan, Scott Brick, Kandyse McClure, and others
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Armed camps of eco-survivalists battle purveyors of technology in this exclusive, original production featuring five sci-fi masters and five all-star narrators.
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Not a wasted credit
- By james on 10-27-08
By: Jay Lake, and others
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Libriomancer
- Magic ex Libris, Book 1
- By: Jim C. Hines
- Narrated by: David DeVries
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Isaac Vainio is a Libriomancer, a member of the secret organization founded five centuries ago by Johannes Gutenberg. Libriomancers are gifted with the ability to magically reach into books and draw forth objects. When Isaac is attacked by vampires that leaked from the pages of books into our world, he barely manages to escape. To his horror he discovers that vampires have been attacking other magic-users as well, and Gutenberg has been kidnapped.
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A reasonable start
- By Simon on 04-08-13
By: Jim C. Hines
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Preternatural Affairs, Books 1-3
- Witch Hunt, Silver Bullet, and Hotter Than Helltown
- By: SM Reine
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
- Length: 16 hrs and 6 mins
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My name's Cesar Hawke. I'm a witch working for a division of the government you've never heard about. The world's not what everyone thinks it is - unless you think that our world's a pawn in a game of chess between Heaven and Hell, and riddled with as much magic and wonder as it is with evil. In that case, the world is exactly what you think. My place of employment - the Office of Preternatural Affairs - takes a modern approach to an ages-old problem.
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Bad, "it was a dark and stormy night" bad
- By Dianne on 12-07-14
By: SM Reine
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Without Warning
- By: John Birmingham
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 17 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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On the eve of the U.S. invasion of Baghdad, as the world waits for war, a miles-high energy wave cordons a vast area from southern Canada to northern Mexico. In a moment, 99 percent of the U.S. population has been wiped from the face of the earth.
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Language in book is a bit over the top.
- By John R. Dritenbas on 07-07-10
By: John Birmingham
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Gonzo giggleworthy geekitude
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It is a stark and inhospitable place, where the landscape itself poses a challenge to survival, yet its strange, silent beauty has long fascinated scientists and adventurers. Now Antarctica faces an uncertain future. The international treaty which protects the continent is about to dissolve, clearing the way for Antarctica’s resources to be plundered, its eerie beauty to be savaged. As politicians wrangle over its fate, major corporations begin probing for its hidden riches.
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This outstanding collection of short stories features some of the best of Tor.com original fiction, in audio for the first time. Written for and originally published exclusively on Tor.com, this audiobook includes Nebula and World Fantasy Award-nominated short stories, brand-new fiction from best-selling authors, and tales that feature characters and worlds that listeners already know and love. In this unique story collection, listeners will enjoy fiction from Sylvia Day, John Scalzi, Brandon Sanderson, and many others.
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very long
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It's been three long years since Deadbreak. That's what everyone's calling it - the day the dead rose. Every day since then, Jeremiah Reid has had one goal: to make his way back to his daughter. With his four-legged companion, Joe, Jeremiah has to travel a lawless wasteland teeming with zombies, bandits, and worse, like people who put anchovies on pizza (you know who you are). It's a new world out there, and no one is safe. People are weary, cities are in ruin, supplies are scarce, and brains are on the menu.
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One of the better books
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What listeners say about The Apocalypse Codex
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- A reader
- 07-31-12
Still great, though a bit of the magic has faded
I am a big fan of the Laundry series, and this book is still excellent, but, as the series moves on, it has matured, by necessity, in ways both good and bad. In general, much like the Harry Dresden series, as the series has developed, it has become less lighthearted, losing the parody and many of the pop-nerd-culture references in favor of more spy- and Love-craft. The characters are now quite well developed, but that leaves less room for the cartoonish bad guys and bizarre plots that made the early books amusing. On the other hand, it means that the stakes feel more real, the plot more grounded in previous novels, and the action more engaging.
This trend is not the reason why I have slightly mixed feeling about the book (though I still strongly recommend it to anyone who has read the series so far). First off, the plot in this particular book is, in some ways, a little less inventive then Stross often is capable of - you are introduced almost immediately to an evangelical church leader with clearly ominous intent, which is a bit of an easy target. There are twists and turns, but perhaps the revelations are more expected in this novel then previous ones.
The second issue is that, as the series has gone on, the main character has shifted from regular schlub to a hero on a larger stage. This is fine, but, as the protagonist moves up the ranks, and as more of the secrets of the Laundry universe are revealed, it removes a little of the overarching cosmic horror that made the series some interesting. Again, this is natural for any ongoing series, but it, plus the slightly less surprising plot, makes the book Really Good rather than Amazing.
On the other hand, the reading is insanely good - many accents, from cosmic horrors to royalty, are covered beautifully. Overall, a really good choice, though this is clearly not where new readers should start.
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- Ken
- 11-18-12
Advanced computational demonology
Any book that actually contains the phrase that titles this review deserves to be read. This book is, by the way, the sequel to "The Atrocity Archives," and that book must be read before this one, so if you haven't read that one, stop reading now to avoid possible spoilers and go get the first book.
Stross, normally known for his very hard science fiction, has decided to reboot Lovecraft's view of our universe as a place that horrible monsters from other worlds/dimensions/universes are just waiting to invade for all sorts of terrifying reasons. And the keys to such invasion are certain kinds of advanced mathematical routines that, if run or activated or invoked by either a person or the right kind of electronics, will open the doors to these other universes and let the monsters in. All of those intelligence agencies like the CIA and MI6 are really just covers for the true bulwarks against these monsters -- agents who understand this threat and use a combination of technology and intuitive mathematics ("magic") to fight the good fight. It's all great fun, has a strong tongue in cheek element, and is built around a strong story with lots of interesting plot twists and clever surprises. One warning: Stross takes a particularly hostile view of certain flavors of Christianity here, so if you find such attitudes off-putting, you probably won't enjoy this. Gideon Emery does a really solid job with the narration.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Bryan
- 04-02-13
A Rather Listless Laundry Episode
Most people now know the basic premise behind the Laundry - the super secret British agency that was setup to fight the jibbering horrors that exist in another dimension. This episode finds Bob Howard sent on a mission to Colorado to supervise two field agents who are investigating a charismatic evangelical preacher who has suddenly become a friend of the British Prime Minister. Of course, the Christian preacher is really a worshiper of some alien diety and is putting mind-controlling bugs inside the bodes of his minions. After a rather straightforward mission Bob and his friends foil the evil one and end up isolating the preacher on another world with his possibly awakened deity.
As always with Charles Stross, lots and lots of denigration of Christianity and Americans. Just what kind of culture produces someone who would call a minister a "God botherer"?
Of interest to me, most of the action is set in Colorado. The village of Palmer Lake is where the evil Christians setup their compound, and I live 3 miles from there. Either Mr. Stross has actually visited Colorado, or his research is pretty accurate. There actually is a New Life church in Colorado Springs with associated World Prayer Center. Of course, they are not actually secret demon worshipers, their leaders are not trying to dominate the world, and they are simply living their lives according to their chosen faith, but its part of the setup for the whole Laundry series.
As for the story, it never really felt like Bob was ever in any real danger and the conclusion was obvious almost from the beginning. Let's hope that Mr. Stross goes back to concentrating on an exciting story and stops bashing his favorite strawmen in future stories in this series.
The one excellent part of this audio book is Gideon Emery's narration. It was outstanding and really kept me listening.
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- BazaarPatron
- 03-30-15
Gone is the macabre, mystery and magic...
I really enjoyed the first book in Stross' Laundry series. Listened to it more than once in fact. He did such a great job of combining macabre, mystery and magic with a modern-day tech/mathematics sensibility - and then seasoned with the ridiculousness so many of us have encountered in office-based corporate/government cultures, hierarchies and "management".
I felt he veered from that vision too far in the second book, got some of it back in the third, though that one was still a thumbs-down to my mind.
This fourth book is the worst of the four.
Stross, if you read this, I love your first Laundry book dearly and owe you a great deal for having authored it - but with no malice whatsoever, please know I wouldn't recommend that anyone read the second, third, or this fourth novel in the series.
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- Zachary Tatlock
- 12-30-20
It's a personal rant session...
Enjoyed the first two books. However, this book quickly turned into a rant of his personal demons and a vitreous story line.
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- Katherine
- 03-20-15
Bob takes on an American televangelist
3.5 stars, Originally posted at Fantasy Literature.
Charles Stross continues to entertain with The Apocalypse Codex, the fourth novel in his LAUNDRY FILES series. I suppose you could read this without reading the first three books, but it’d be better to start with book one, The Atrocity Archives. For this review, I’ll assume you’re familiar with the story so far.
Bob has been unintentionally working his way up in the Laundry, the secret British agency where computer scientists, mathematicians, and physicists have, by accident, become sorcerers. For every case he’s been on, Bob has sort of bumbled his way into a successful outcome just by using his brains and creativity. Now he’s being groomed for a leadership position, so he needs some people skills. A lot of his preparation involves sitting in boring management training classes and seminars where he has to use role-playing to learn how to navigate the upper levels of the British government’s bureaucracy. This is not fun for Bob.
He’s also learning more about how the Laundry functions and he’s surprised to discover that the agency uses “External Assets” when they need something done that is too politically sensitive for a government agency. In this case, the delicate issue is that the Prime Minister has become chummy with a wacky TV evangelist from Colorado Springs. Why is Pastor Schiller trying to get in with the PM? The Laundry suspects something fishy is going on, so they dispatch Persephone Hazard, an External Asset with an unsettling past. Bob is sent to Colorado Springs to monitor her activities and make sure she doesn’t embarrass the Crown… and, of course, he discovers that the something fishy is more than fishy; it’s tentacled, too.
If you’ve read the previous LAUNDRY FILES novels, you know what to expect here. The Apocalypse Codex is fast-moving, has a unique and unpredictable plot, has a great supporting cast (including some new characters who we’ll hope to see again), and is clever and full of silly nerd in-jokes (if you don’t like nerd in-jokes, stay away from THE LAUNDRY FILES).
All of this is fun, as usual, but it would be nice at this point in the series to see a little more development of Bob. Even though he’s moving up in the Laundry, it’s not due to any motivation or intention on his part. He’s essentially the same person he’s been all along, though he’s aged several years since The Atrocity Archives. For someone who has learned the secrets of the multiverse and who has nearly died several times while facing eldritch horrors, you’d think we’d see a little more character development. (Or maybe Bob should start going mad, because that’s what usually happens when humans encounter the Elder Gods).
Stross takes a huge swipe at American fundamentalist Christianity in The Apocalypse Codex. It’s not pretty (it actually sounds like a long angry rant) and is likely to offend some readers. I wonder if Stross really thinks that most American evangelical Christians reject science, believe the earth is only a few thousand years old, dress their daughters in maxi-dresses, and are trying to take over the world with “full quivers.” I hope he knows that what he describes in this story is a CULT, not Christianity. I’d like him to know that there are plenty of American Christians (including myself) who practice science, accept evolution (it’s a theory about how life on Earth has developed, not how it was created), like to hang out with people who have different worldviews, and sneer at televangelists.
Interestingly, Stross introduces an Anglican Vicar in this novel — he’s Bob’s friend who will be dragged into the Laundry in the next novel. It will be interesting to see what Stross does with him. I’ll let you know…
The audio versions of THE LAUNDRY FILES, narrated by Gideon Emery, continue to be excellent.
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- S. Yates
- 09-19-17
Another nice entry in the series
Any additional comments?
3.5 stars. Again, more of the same in a good way - mixture of nerd references, James Bond action, and Lovecraftian horrors Which is to say, all in a day's work for Bob Howard.
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-26-17
OK, but limited replays for me
I enjoy parts of the book, but not the new characters or the (in my opinion) excessively gross/perverse villains.
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- Ian
- 11-05-12
Third Book is the Best
Any additional comments?
I've enjoyed this series from the git go and it's with some surprise that it's getting better with each episode. Please, if you haven't read a 'Laundry' book don't start with Apocalypse Codex, the book assumes you know some back material and are familiar with the lead characters. The narrator is about the best I've ever listened to.
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- S. Harrison
- 09-11-12
Mr. Howard comes into his own!
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes and No. If they had listened to (or read) any of the previous Laundry Files books then this is a fantastic addition and I would heartily recommend it. If they hadn't read a prior LF novel then this would be a bad place to start. Read (listen to) The Atrocity Archives first - at the very least.
What did you like best about this story?
Mr. Howard is changing and growing as a character and spook. He is no longer just a desk jockey getting a chance at field work or a trusted assistant out and about - he is really getting out there. AND, it helps that the stakes are getting larger.
What does Gideon Emery bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
He has the ability to convey the whole scene in the voice and tonal selections he makes. He has a captivating voice for the primary narrator and does a terrific job with others. His accent and delivery carry just the right amount of amused horror that this series captures so well.
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