Truth of the Divine

A Novel

By: Lindsay Ellis

Narrated by: Abigail Thorn, Kaveh Taherian, Stephanie Willis

PLEASE NOTE: An earlier version of this audiobook had chapters out of order, but this error has been corrected.

Truth of the Divine is the latest alternate-history first-contact novel in the Noumena series from the instant New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times bestselling author Lindsay Ellis.

The human race is at a crossroads; we know that we are not alone, but details about the alien presence on Earth are still being withheld from the public. As the political climate grows more unstable, the world is forced to consider the ramifications of granting human rights to nonhuman persons. How do you define “person” in the first place?

Cora Sabino not only serves as the full-time communication intermediary between the alien entity Ampersand and his government chaperones but also shares a mysterious bond with him that is both painful and intimate in ways neither of them could have anticipated. Despite this, Ampersand is still keen on keeping secrets, even from Cora, which backfires on them both when investigative journalist Kaveh Mazandarani, a close colleague of Cora’s unscrupulous estranged father, witnesses far more of Ampersand’s machinations than anyone was meant to see.

Since Cora has no choice but to trust Kaveh, the two must work together to prove to a fearful world that intelligent, conscious beings should be considered persons, no matter how horrifying, powerful, or malicious they may seem. Making this case is hard enough when the public doesn’t know what it’s dealing with—and it will only become harder when a mysterious flash illuminates the sky, marking the arrival of an agent of chaos that will light an already-unstable world on fire.

With a voice completely her own, Lindsay Ellis deepens her realistic exploration of the reality of a planet faced with the presence of extraterrestrial intelligence, probing the essential questions of humanity and decency, and the boundaries of the human mind.

While asking the question of what constitutes a “person,” Ellis also examines what makes a monster.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

©2021 Lindsay Ellis (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

Great Story, sometimes narration too quiet

I loved the story and having different narrators added a lot. Sometimes the performers would speak very quietly (because the characters are whispering or whatever) and that's nice and all if you're in an ideal listening environment, but it was hard to hear over ambient noise. Small complaint. I really dig the story and the characters very well written.

Remove the Filter?

A truly heartbreaking follow up which will probably become even better in hindsight as the story continues. It sets up interesting questions about intelligence and ways of communication that were mentioned in the first book and will probably be focused on for later installments. However, that voice filter that they use for the amygdalines detracts significantly from the performance. The standout performance from the last book was Stephanie Willis’s Ampersand voice (before and after he learns to make it sound more natural). It’s frustrating that they chose to dampen that to make the aliens sound more alien—especially since that contradicts the whole journey this book takes. There are unknowable differences between beings, but there’s also so much that is knowable and understandable; we may find comfort in the most surprising connections. Not trusting the performances and the human imagination does a disservice to listeners, and that’s what the robot filter does. There’s a brief bit towards the end where they left it off, and it was such a relief before they snapped right back to it. Not holding my breath for if, but I do hope that a version of this would be released without that filter, and that future installments bring back the respect that Willis’s performance deserves.

Somber, delightful, realistic. A new favorite.

This book comes with a content warning I can appreciate. Ellis writes honestly and accurately about the messiness and non-linear nature of trauma—especially in the face of something you don’t understand and can’t control when you have minimal support. Cora is a hot mess who could, in fact, benefit from a little saving. But she is not a trope. She is human and vulnerable and has faced unspeakable and not-at-all-romanticized trauma. Same is true of Ampersand. And Kaveh.

Ellis spends much of the his book building our relationships and personalities of supporting characters as well as world-building. It’s nice to see supporting characters evolve in opinion and personality in organic ways. Can’t wait for the third installment.

The Truth is... it's Devine!!

I loved this book, it's themes, it's characters. Truly relevant in today's context of fearing others, anxiety about a world changing beyond our control, and love that can hopefully conquer all. Lindsay Ellis' second book made me laugh, cry, and gasp in horror. Cannot wait to see what comes next

Better then the first book!

This book is gripping all the way though. I listened to the whole thing in under a week.