• Opening Atlantis

  • A Novel of Alternate History
  • By: Harry Turtledove
  • Narrated by: Todd McLaren
  • Length: 16 hrs and 4 mins
  • 3.6 out of 5 stars (170 ratings)

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Opening Atlantis  By  cover art

Opening Atlantis

By: Harry Turtledove
Narrated by: Todd McLaren
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Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling author Harry Turtledove has intrigued readers with such thought-provoking "what if..." scenarios as a conquered Elizabethan England in Ruled Britannia and a Japanese occupation of Hawaii in Days of Infamy and End of the Beginning. Now, in the first of a brand-new trilogy, he rewrites the history of the world with the existence of an eighth continent.

Atlantis lies between Europe and the East Coast of Terranova. For many years, this land of opportunity lured dreamers from around the globe with its natural resources, offering a new beginning for those willing to brave the wonders of the unexplored land.

©2007 Harry Turtledove (P)2007 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Turtledove excels in alternate history." ( Library Journal)
"Harry Turtledove is probably the best practitioner of the classic alternate-history story since L. Sprague de Camp." ( Locus)

What listeners say about Opening Atlantis

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
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Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Opening Atlantis.

A great book! But, Harry Turtledove books usually are. Looking forward to a sequel.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

1st half good, but then...

I really liked the first half of this book, but about half way through the story jumps forward 200-300 years and I completely lost interest. 4 stars for the first half, 2 stars for the second half equals 3 overall stars.
The reader did a good job, but it was edited together so that you couldn't easily tell when the story jumped from one group of people to another and you are left wondering what just happened until you realize you are on another line of the story.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

love it

Love it except the 200 year jump in time line. it pulls on your imagination.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Good book, great narration

I enjoyed the book, not the best, but very good. The narrator really helped keep the book alive with his voice and cadence. This book is actually 3 shorter books, the 2nd being my least favorite. My only complaint was that just as I was getting into the original characters, the story was finished and I had to get to know new ones.

I don't think I'll read the next books in this series, but this was a good buy.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Fun

This was a fun book. Since the book steps forward in time at least twice, I wish in the audio version there was a distinct division here, such as "Book 1, Book 2, Book 3" No big deal, but it would make it easier to follow.

The characters were vivid and narration was excellent.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Now what I expected

I am a fan of Turtledove's alternate history stories, but not this one. I do not know what happened here. My first question was "what was this a alternate history of?" (poor grammar, but you get the point. The story was boring and seemed to drag on forever. Even when there was "action," it was flat. Part of the problem was the narrator. I do not want to disparage anyone's work, but there was very little emotion, and it was difficult to tell the character's apart by their "voice."

This was discouraging. This has also modified my future purchases in terms of both the author and narrator.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

poor writing/boring reader

The writing is overly simple with little character development. The writer would have been better off slowing things down and putting more effort into colorful descriptions of the settings, developing the plot and the characters. Occasionaly the writer got lazy and used modern terms that were not in use at that time which was quite distracting. The reader used the same tone when going from one character to another which made for a very boring listen.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Interesting speculation, flat story

What did you like best about Opening Atlantis? What did you like least?

The premise about the colonization of a large landmass mid-Atlantic intrigued me and the alternate history was fascinating.

What could Harry Turtledove have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I needed more involvement with a central character -- or a succession of them, as Steven Saylor provides in Roma. Especially in the first third, I would have been much more engaged if I had a main character to focus on with some personal concerns I could identify with. As it was, it was merely a man in his time with little thematic juice.

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

The narrator was excellent: great tone, pace, and rhythm.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

The worst one I've read by Turtledove.

Would you try another book from Harry Turtledove and/or Todd McLaren?

I will since I've read other good ones but not if this were my first.

What was most disappointing about Harry Turtledove’s story?

Poor all around.

Which character – as performed by Todd McLaren – was your favorite?

None

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The cover was nice.

Any additional comments?

I am considering not finishing the other 10 hours and see if I can return it to Audible. Glad it wasn't my first of his to try.

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1 person found this helpful