Glasshouse

De: Charles Stross

Narrado por: Kevin R. Free

Hugo Award-winning author Charles Stross delivers “credible and bold SF” (Science Fiction Weekly) that continually pushes the boundaries of the genre. With Glasshouse, Stross pens a Kafkaesque tale set in a 27th-century of teleport gates and mind-attacking network worms.

After Robin awakes in a clinic, he struggles to summon details of his life, but too many of his memories have been wiped clean. More troubling is the stark awareness of immediate danger: someone is trying to kill him. On the run, Robin makes a desperate gamble and volunteers for what he hopes is the sanctuary of an unusual study at the Glasshouse. Once there, however, he realizes the true terror has only begun.

Stross pulls out all the stops in a searing adventure that will keep listeners’ hearts racing. Propelled by Kevin R. Free’s riveting narration, Glasshouse is a novel SF fans will not soon forget.

©2006 Charles Stross (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLC

A fantastic story

This is usually my go to book when people ask what my favorite book ever is. It's hard sci-fi, which isn't for everyone, but I absolutely love every minute of this story. This audiobook version was my 4th time through, and narrator is great and really does the story justice. The voice work is particularly impressive given the gender variance in the story. Cannot recommend highly enough.

Glasshouse: reading this book have me happiness.

I want to read more Charles Stross. I'm sure I have read him before, but can't remember what it was. I intend to look him up in my files. I think this is the first time I've received such happiness from a book. I enjoyed the adventure. 😳 you will too.

Stross is a visionary storyteller

I am a Charlie Stross fan already, and I found this to be again a great listen from him. The story is very interesting, and it is hard to see the final resolution coming. The ideas are important and I find myself still thinking about it long after being done. On the one hand I wanted it to finish so I could know the resolution, but on the other hand, I did not want it to end as the characters were interesting and the story creative.

The performance was good, but tricky since the main character has two genders. The reader does not do a good female voice...but once I got used to it, it was no longer distracting.

Great Story and Great Narration

What made the experience of listening to Glasshouse the most enjoyable?

The story was fascinating, and brought to life brilliantly by the narrator

What other book might you compare Glasshouse to and why?

It is just great writing, and a riveting story - no specific book comparison Mr Stross creates a unique world all his own.

Have you listened to any of Kevin R. Free’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but will definitely be on the lookout for other books read by him.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Love transcends gender

Vintage Stross

Variations on what humanity might look like post-singularity are Stross's reason d'etre as a writer, and here he does something very clever by (1) focusing on the ability to re-engineer human biology as the focus of the singularity (instead of the more common super-human AI), and (2) showing us how late-twentieth, early twenty-first century humans might look to their post-human descendants in the remote future. There are some thought-provoking questions about just how much of our humanity we could leave behind when going post-human, and the clever historical distortions and gaps in understanding that he describes show a deep appreciation for the slippery nature of history. Although the plot twists are a bit too well telegraphed to be surprising when they happen, the overall story arc is excellent. The battle between good and evil is as alive for post-humanity as it is for us today, and it's gratifying to read an optimistic take on how that battle might go.