Traveling in Space

By: Steven Paul Leiva

Narrated by: Jeff Cannata

Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

A unique science fiction first-contact novel told from the aliens' point-of-view; a 21st-century Gulliver's Travels with Homo sapiens as the Lilliputians. The last thing the factfinders - who call themselves Life - expected to find while traveling in space in The Curious on a mission from their planet, The Living World, was other life. But one day they stumble upon the third planet out from a backwater sun and find it teeming with a vast diversity of life, including one sentient and cognizant, if primitive, species that they dub: Otherlife. Being not only from The Curious but inherently curious themselves, they begin to study the Otherlife and their alien culture, discovering such strange things as: marriage, intoxicating drinks, weapons of minor and mass destruction, the gleeful inhaling of toxic substances, two-parent families, layered language, genocide, non-nude bathing, and - the strangest thing of all - religion. This first contact between Life and Otherlife, disconcerting for both, has moments of humor and moments of horror - and neither escape the encounter unchanged.

©2011 Steven Paul Leiva (P)2014 Steven Paul Leiva

Narrator Cannata was wonderful

Where does Traveling in Space rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top 5

What other book might you compare Traveling in Space to and why?

Ringworld

What does Jeff Cannata bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Definitely wouldn’t have enjoyed this book as much if I were to read myself. I thought Jeff Cannata did an outstanding job. Loved this book!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

I came across this audiobook by accident. Was not disappointed. Great story, with a great narrator. He sounded delightful in my ear helping me get through my day at work. I really enjoyed his multiple voices and personalities. Great Listen. Would recommend to anyone who is interested in this type of genre. I hope the narrator gets more opportunities in the future. Well done…

Imaginative but poorly executed

What did you love best about Traveling in Space?

Jeff Cannata's spectacular performance

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

The very ending was actually very nice but it felt like it took ages to get there.

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

I listen to a lot of Jeff Cannata's podcasts but this is a truly singular performance. One of the best I've ever heard.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No! I tore into the beginning or so, but the middle third dragged on and the pacing got weird and wonky.

Any additional comments?

The book does an extreme amount of telling instead of showing. Even most of the climax is presented this way, which infuriates me. The schtick of the aliens being extremely literal and almost entirely without subtext was really funny at first but grew tiresome. I think this would have functioned as a better short story than the very long novel it is. Jeff Cannata, however, makes the best of the material and it's one of the best performances I've ever heard. I really hope he does more books.

A different first contact story

There has been a pletora of first contact stories trough the years, this one is special because in this case we are the other life, the book describes the perplexity of a culture based in the search of knowledge and the absolute love for life and hate for death when confronted with the reality of our inner contradictions as a culture, and the awe and horror of the good and the bad that we are capable of.
An special mention to Mr Cannata who gives a moving perfomance he gives voice and personality to all the characters i sincerily hope this is not his last performance

Fun sci fi novel

Great performance by Jeff.
Great production value and sound effects.
Good story and enjoyable to listen to repeatedly.

Great story Incredible narration

The story was insightful. Jeff Canatta's narration was stellar. I wished this audio book would never end. I can't believe that was a single voice actor!

Great idea, too silly and comic book for my taste

This seemed to be to be an excuse for showing how irrational aspects of human society are. The alien characters are 2 dimensional and portrayed as logical intellects that are confused and dismayed by all the obvious human failings.
Some thought provoking ideas, but the big drama near the end did not produce the required suspension of disbelief.
The narrator was fabulous and totally inhabited the various characters with enthusiasm.
I could see this as a tongue in cheek movie like Mars Attacks, but it was a little too predictable for my taste.
I would have given it two stars but the narrator really put lifer into it.

Please normalize the audio!

1) Wonderfully entertaining story, characters, and a funny (if not slightly out of date) perspective on Americans and humans.
2) The huge difference in volume between the reader's normal voice and his "excited" voice left me having to tweak the volume back and forth continuously through the whole book.
3) Also, the BONG sounds between sections is both completely unnecessary and seems to have been designed to vibrate the inner lining of my skull.

Hard to get started on this

What did you like best about Traveling in Space? What did you like least?

I downloaded this mostly based on the narrator's appearance on a popular podcast. I only listen to audiobooks in the car, and my gf also enjoys scifi, so I thought it would be something worth trying for our weekend road trips. Unfortunately, we ended up turning it off within the first chapter.

For starters, the foreword by the author rambles on and on and seems to have significant "spoilers" - much like a bad movie trailer that gives you half of the movie. Maybe it doesn't actually give away as much as it seemed, but it certainly felt like a dis-incentive to continue with the book.

More importantly, the author reads the book with such a vast volume range that it was impossible to listen to in the car. One character's voice would be so faint that we couldn't hear what was being said and the next was a loud, shouting, robotic voice that blasted us out of the car. We could never find a happy medium and I was forced to shut it off. We've listened to dozens of audiobooks and podcasts in the car and this is the first time we've had this problem.

It may very well be a good story, and I was originally looking forward to it. Unfortunately, these production aspects have me disappointed that I bought it. Perhaps someday I'll revisit the book when I can be in the right setting to be able to listen to it with enjoyment rather than frustration.

A book all We Have Concerns fans should read

I chose this book based on Jeff Canata as the narrator.I was impressed by himself performing over 60 different voices throughout the book

I struggled with parts of the novel as I'm a Christian.But Steven Paul Leiva wrote a compelling story that points out very valid questions what a visiting alien species would ask if they wished to contact us.

There were some difficult parts to get through when the main characters witness and describe genocide by "other life" in Africa towards the middle of the story.

Steven wrote a great ending.And perhaps some day we as a species might learn to not erase hate with death.But to erase the hatred we have within ourselves through learning and adapting.

A fantastic journey

The alien point of view of us "other life" provides a perfect framing device for this story. Leiva's ability to examine humanity from without beautifully defines the potential and pitfalls of humanity.

The personal story of Lief also demonstrates very human notions of discovery of one's own self. Indeed, the tale is ultimately a very unique coming of age story.

Jeff Cannata's performance is astounding. The unique characterizations allow for wonderful relationships to develop between the various characters. From laugh out loud hilarious to deeply contemplative, it was a joy to listen to.