Slow Gods

De: Claire North

Narrado por: Peter Kenny

"An astonishing, thought-provoking and above all touching story of found meaning and lost humanity.” —Adrian Tchaikovsky, Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author of Children of Time

Slow Gods is the galaxy-spanning tale ​of one man's impossible life charted against the fate of humanity amongst the stars—a powerfully imaginative space opera from multi-award-winning author Claire North, perfect for fans of A Memory Called Empire and The Vanished Birds.

My name is Mawukana na-Vdnaze, and I am a very poor copy of myself.

In telling my story, there are certain things I should perhaps lie about. I should make myself a hero. Pretend I was not used by strangers and gods, did not leave people behind.

Here is one truth: out there in deep space, in the pilot's chair, I died. And then, I was reborn. I became something not quite human, something that could speak to the infinite dark. And I vowed to become the scourge of the world that wronged me.

This is the story of the supernova event that burned planets and felled civilizations. This is also the story of the many lives I've lived since I died for the first time.

Are you listening?

Reseñas de la Crítica

"An astonishing, thought-provoking and above all touching story of found meaning and lost humanity.”

—Adrian Tchaikovsky, Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author of Children of Time

"Deeply imaginative and achingly human, Slow Gods lures you gently into the dark between the stars." —Megan E. O'Keefe, author of The Blighted Stars

"[An] epic and enthralling galactic adventure. North’s worldbuilding is dizzying and dazzling, full of fascinating and convincing characters, and thought-provoking meditations on destiny, duty, and power. Add in a doomed romance and stirring action, and this immersive, inventive space opera proves a sheer delight."
—Publishers Weekly

"A deeply philosophical standalone SF epic that brilliantly and subtly utilizes elements of cosmic horror to complement its metaphysical speculations. The best kind of science fiction: mind-blowing and wildly thought-provoking."

—Kirkus

"Riveting and complex. I expect it to prove to be one of the best science fiction books of 2025." —Locus

"Claire North’s latest is a dark and intricate space opera with a highly intelligent narrator, which makes for a satisfying and mind-boggling read." —Reactor Magazine

"A gloriously inventive story with a protagonist as unique and compelling as Martha Wells Murderbot or Anne Leckie’s Justice of Toren. A wide-ranging enthralling, resonant and cathartic fable." —Fantasy Hive

Not as interesting as I hoped for

After reading some reviews I decided to give this novel by Claire North a try. The premise is very good and the world-building expansive but the execution did not live up to the promise and the result didn’t keep me engaged. Breathless comparisons to I.M. Banks do not do the author any favours. Peter Kenny’s narration is up to his usual quality and he gets the most out the material.

The gods aren't the only thing slow about this boo

Since forcing myself to finish, I've debated what to rate this. For a while, I thought the narrator had some sort of speech pathology when it came to the letter 'h'. In one of the few interesting info-dumps, that was made clear. And, okay, it made sense in the logic of the story. And once the meaning clarified, the narrator's consistency at using these is why it's four stars, and the actual story only two.

But 'story.' There is a plot here, but the author didn't really care about it. That's why they only dedicated, oh, maybe a quarter of the book to any actual plot.

The rest was anthropological and sociological academics.

I'm impressed at the effort the author put into their world-building here, well, worlds. In coming up with disparate human societies that developed in some isolation. This had the usual space opera issue of every planet a monoculture, but that was minor. Instead, we had pages and pages of this society where song is vital, that society were ritual poetry, and so on. (Note: the narrator does NOT actually sing. Instead, info-dumps about how songs and singing are involved in one culture's rituals.)

Unfortunately, the author was also impressed at the amount of work they did on world-building. And wanted it to be the subject of the book. So we had endless description of it. Such as long sections describing scarification and how one culture used scars. The fact that essentially only a couple (associated with the protagonist) were in any way important other than as "hey, I created this whole matrix of scars and their meanings, so you better believe I'm going to make you go through it all" didn't seem to bother the author nor their editors.

This is going to be a double listen... once for enjoyment, second for full understanding.

If you're not new to Claire North, then you know that when you follow her on an adventure, the terrain can be tough, and she will absolutely not slow down to wait on you to catch up, but she's leading you somewhere incredible. Follow her. This book is not easy to follow at first. If you get frustrated with the pronouns, skip to section 13 which is chapter 10 for a clear explanation of what she's doing. then go back and start again. It will make your listen much easier, and let you enjoy the story. Otherwise, listen and trust her. The pronouns are not cripplingly central to the story. The story is worth the work and the work of adventuring in science fiction is a pleasure.

This is an ambitious piece that spans time and space and challenges our understanding of personhood, value and humanity. I enjoyed it thoroughly and started it again immediately upon finishing to pick up what I missed the first time in my inattention.

Simply Epic

Wow. Just wow. I haven’t enjoyed anything so much in a long time. It has the scale of Iain M Banks and so much imagination. Will probably listen to it again soon.

The building of the universe

this was a great opera of a life a story. many things to think about afterwards, mostly understanding.