The Aurora Project

Eemians, Book 1

By: Paul McGowan

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

The race to save humanity.

Two researchers working to save Earth from its climate crisis unexpectedly uncover a 100,000-year-old secret under Antarctica's ice.

Will our ancient ancestor's secret be Earth’s salvation or the greatest threat to our survival?

The action is fast-paced and nonstop in this international thriller to save the planet and humankind.

Dive into this nail-biting roller-coaster ride as Sam and Julia fight the forces of the Sons of Nephilim in this epic struggle to uncover a long-lost secret.

The first of four thrillers in the heart-pounding Eemian series.

©2023 Paul McGowan (P)2023 Paul McGowan

Controversial

I really liked this story, my imagination enjoys this kind of writing. If something like this ever did happen, you better believe there would be a lot of people trying to cover it up.

Very suspenseful and timely story.

I really enjoyed the characters and storyline. I feel that climate change and what is happening to our planet is something we should all be concerned about and although the story is fictional the things that are happening to our planet are not. The story kept me very engaged and left me wanting more and being a bit disappointed when it was over. I am looking forward to book 2. The narration was beyond excellent! Good read!

Really fun book!

I’m am invested! I really want to know what happens and I am excited for the next in the series. The narrator does an amazing job! His pacing is perfect and he conveys a lot of emotion in moments of intensity. My only complaint is the gawdawful long pauses between chapters. I don’t know how many times I checked my phone to see if it was still playing only to find going.

The story is a bit slow to begin with and there are a few errant threads that don’t seem to get tied into the main story, and I would love to know a bit more about the background of the antagonist. He’s scary to be sure, but really his backstory is still pretty shrouded. Once the book hits it’s peak though, it’s hard to stop. Nice job and looking forward to the next one!

a bit slow to start. but great characters.

good book. glad I took a chance. a bit slow but I think it was mostly necessary. I already bought the next book in the series. debating if I should start tonight and then I'm spending a couple hours extra a week or just wait till tomorrow. Time will tell

Well crafted and engaging

The author is a well known figure in the realm of high end stereo gear, who evidently found free time during the pandemic lockdown year(s) to try his hand at fiction. Thankfully the result doesn’t display hallmarks of dilettantism, this is stylistically assured and commercial-grade thriller writing. Having a reader on the level of Edoardo Ballerini may have elevated the perceived quality, but I suspect Elmore Leonard’s advice to aspiring writers, to leave out the boring parts people skip over, played a role here. It’s a good page turner.

We’re told this is the first of a series of four, and part one is rather like Wagner’s Das Rheingold, not self-contained but a prelude. The protaganists are climate researchers, and it’s mostly set in Greenland and Antartica. They discover evidence of an ancient, far too ancient civilization, so we’re in the world of Graham Hancock, albeit properly presented as fiction. I was hearing echoes of Call of the Wild and White Fang, between the frozen settings and the prominent role of the faithful, suffering dog among the dramatis personae. Also a bit of Indiana Jones, perhaps his adventures on Hoth. There’s surely a Harrison Ford role in here.

When we make it to Act 3 of Götterdämmerung, after the fat lady to sings, a fuller appraisal can be offered.

fair openings to a book series

the book is very much a setup for book two, but not too much happens in the book until the last few chapters. the book kinda reminds me of "Timeline" by michael crichton (probably more known for Jerasic Park ) in some ways. it just doesn't feel like it can stand by itself as well as other book series first book. but that's kinda my biggest negative. I like the characters, the funny moments, and pacing. It's all pretty good in the book. The bad guys are believable. They do have a little bit of coming out of nowhere because of the whole secret organization thing. I wish we got to see more of them and how they work more than just a little bit in the beginning and end. I think it was OK on the explanation of some of the events in the middle and the effects in the background, I just would like to see it written in the book a little bit more.

the spoilers section, I like the dog and the descriptions and breaking up some of the boring stuff with interesting language for basic dog stuff. you can clearly tell some of the political views Paul McGowan has. However, it's only a little bit, and it's only a little information about academics, climate change, fossil fuels, and religion is touched on, but it's clear he made well written characters with the relevant beliefs and thy accept the belief and move on. the book is not preachy and is likely enjoyable if you have the opposite opinion. you can get more information about Paul McGowan from his book "99% true".

I would recommend this book, I think it just leaves and a lot of unanswered questions and my be better to wait until book 2 so you get a more complete arc. it feels like they find what they are looking for, but they don't actually figure out what it means or how what they find worked.

Good story line, good characters

A good read. I’m really glad this is only the first of 3 books. I am really looking forward to the others!

Story is great. Started out great.

Story is great. Started out great. Eventually seemed to drag on a bit, meaning a bit too much "color" and ran out of substance.

Great listening

Listening was a pleasure, both for content and the reader. There was some interesting facts as well.

Great first book

I read the kindle version before the rereading with Audible. Loved the narration. Such a compelling story that really changed the way I thought about our history and where we are headed. This is the first book in a series of 3. I already read book 2 which is equally as good, maybe even a touch better.