The Circuit

By: Rhett C. Bruno

Narrated by: Jefferson Mays

Length: 28 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

USA Today Best-seller Rhett C. Bruno's debut sci-fi series is a gritty, space-opera epic perfect for fans of The Expanse!

Earth is a dying planet. To survive, humanity founds the Circuit, a string of colonies across the solar system, dedicated to mining resources vital to preserving what remains of mankind. Here there are no heroes or villains, only those willing to do what's necessary to survive.

The New Earth Tribunal, a powerful religious faction, has risen to rule the Circuit. They believe a Spirit within the Earth will one day appear and welcome humanity back home. Following a string of seemingly random attacks, the Tribunal suspects its mortal enemy, the Ceresians, have again rallied to challenge their absolute rule. But a new, sinister threat has arisen - and it plans to bring down the Tribunal once and for all.

Join an unlikely band of would-be saviors - the Tribunal's best spy, a roguish Ceresian mercenary, a subservient android, and a disgraced general - as they are drawn into a conspiracy destined to change the Circuit forever.

"Bruno has crafted a complex, multi-dimensional story that combines the best of his genre with age-old truths - and quandaries - about humanity, politics, religion, family, and, yes, love." (Portland Book Review)

©2017 Diversion Books (P)2018 Podium Publishing

Critic reviews

"All the distinctive voices carry a complicated, ultimately very human, story to a powerful conclusion." (Audiofile Magazine)

Start to finish death-war-violent killing

The plot never deviated from its focus on deranged human civilisations constantly committing mass murder for delusional
Religious and political reasons.
The story ends when it runs out of characters to kill off.
R

I want to like this more...

and perhaps as time passes and my memories fade I'll remember it more fondly. I don't plan to give any spoilers here, but where are the good guys? Everyone's past is riddled with murders. Who ard we supposed to admire? Perhaps the enforcer that shoots people he likes in the head because his boss said to? Perhaps the religious zealot enforcer whose religion obviously does not preclude murder? Or maybe the good guy who wants to destroy the earth? Or the robot that kills anyone that the others might have missed, including the others themselves? I finished it, so 3 stars for that. The narration was easy to tolerate so 4 stDr's for not being annoying, but all characters sounded the same. Most of the book I preferred to read rather than listen to because my imagination does a better job. Ehhh...It's OK, but I will not look for the sequel that is obviously alluded to at the very, very end. I'm done and moving on.

A riveting read

A non stop rollercoaster of a space opera. Once you start listening you won’t stop plus Jefferson Mays is an Excellent narrator

Gravitum? If you can suspend your disbelief...

This was an excellent story, made even better by Jefferson May’s performance. My only problem with it lies in the ‘unobtainiun’ material that drives its main plot line. GRAVITUM - a substance discovered deep inside the Earth and the key to gravity generators making life in the solar system’s thousands of asteroids, moons, and planets possible, is also the reason why the Earth was made uninhabitable. I just couldn’t get past that concept. I would have given the story 5 stars, but every time I thought about it, the ‘new’ substance pulled me out of the moment.
The characters were well done, with no real noble or evil main characters. The writing was crisp and not fueled with unnecessary detail.
Overall, enjoyable - but work on suspending your disbelief.

Epic space opera

Space operas are a hit, or miss proposition. I am glad to report that this book falls in the former category, a hit all the way. I begun reading with a little trepidation and we we got to gravitum I a was almost certain that my fears had been confirmed but I read on. To my surprise and delight, the book paid out with a well thought out, interesting engaging story. With characters that felt earnest and flawed. A massive story aptly told in a blur of action. Thank you Mr. Bruno for a complete story. Thank you Mr. Mays for a great narration. A space opera which is worth the time invested.

An Ugly Yet Beautiful Gift to Space Opera

Rhett delivers a fast-paced, dystopian, gray-morality thriller in the Circuit Trilogy. Having read science fiction for over 30 years, it is refreshing to find new authors with the talent to create characters that you'll remember after putting their books down. Rhett delivers here: from a broken-hearted megalomaniacal savior, to a brain-hijacked, religious assassin to a pirate father who is desperate to save his innocent daughter, you'll find gems of humanity in this story about so much inhumanity.

The fact that Podium picked Jefferson Mays, narrator for the wildly successful Expanse series, tells you all you need to know about the confidence that they have about how much you will enjoy this story.

You're going to want to keep reading.

A great story. The characters were compelling. I found myself wanting each main character to achieve their goals, despite having conflicting motivations. This is one of those great novels that makes you want to keep going, eschewing sleep, just to finish the story.

Amazing

True SCI FI, the author painstakingly creates a universe, fills it with rich characters and turn them loose. Narration is top notch, if you enjoyed “The Expanse” this is a must buy, an incredible tale!

Multiple character perspectives

While I really enjoyed the story overall, the thing that impressed me most was how switching between characters was handled. Even when you experience something you already saw with another character you remain invested. Throughout the whole experience I kept jumping between who I related to most and which side I was rooting for.

A wonderful story

Bruno has built a convincing world where Humankind has nearly destroyed the earth and sentimentality has turned regard for its former home into a religion. But while humans have learned to succeed outside of its original world, there are factions fighting for the claim to earth and independence. Bruno's work has nicely three-dimensional characters, very good world building, an interesting plot, and tensions around the primary characters values. A wonderful read.