Machine

By: Elizabeth Bear

Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh

In this “spectacularly smart space opera” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) set in the same universe as the critically acclaimed White Space series and perfect for fans of Karen Traviss and Ada Hoffman, a space station begins to unravel when a routine search and rescue mission returns after going dangerously awry.

Meet Doctor Jens.

She hasn’t had a decent cup of coffee in fifteen years. Her workday begins when she jumps out of perfectly good space ships and continues with developing treatments for sick alien species she’s never seen before. She loves her life. Even without the coffee.

But Dr. Jens is about to discover an astonishing mystery: two ships, once ancient and one new, locked in a deadly embrace. The crew is suffering from an unknown ailment and the shipmind is trapped in an inadequate body, much of her memory pared away.

Unfortunately, Dr. Jens can’t resist a mystery and she begins doing some digging. She has no idea that she’s about to discover horrifying and life-changing truths.

Written in Elizabeth Bear’s signature “rollicking, suspenseful, and sentimental” (Publishers Weekly) style, Machine is a fresh and electrifying space opera that you won’t be able to put down.

Critic reviews

"Narrator Adjoa Andoh is a true storyteller. She has a natural, engaging manner as Dr. Jens, a trauma rescue specialist who tends to people, aliens, and androids. When the doctor is confronted with more than 10,000 humans who have been in cryogenic suspension for 600 years, the situation raises a lot of questions. Andoh depicts Dr. Jen as a person who creates a fast rapport with her patients and colleagues. Listeners will also find Andoh's portrayal compelling as the doctor is in chronic pain and frequently muses on her past and her hope for the future. This second installment in Bear's White Space series is not a direct sequel and easily stands on its own, although a couple of characters reappear in minor roles."

An engaging and smart sci-fi

Bear's second White Space novel builds on a strong debut, feeling more confident in the universe being built. The pace, characters, setting, and commentary are all engrossing.

Not Her Best Work

I love Elizabeth Bear's stories. However, I had trouble with this one for a simple, yet important reason: The ad nauseum lengths of the inner monolog of Dr Jens became so annoying I took to skipping chapters. After a discourse or three on the pain she lives with, why am I listening to a regurgitation of the same issue again and again, oh and let's not forget, again. I guess what it comes down to is this not being a favorite Bear story. Is it enough to turn me away from this author? Absolutely not, but for me Machine gets a C-

Exciting

This was better than the first book. I really like the main character. The performer did an excellent job. highly recommended

Adjoa Andoh is unsurpassed as a audiobook narrator

Ms. Andoh transforms this already excellent novel into something that is beyond words (there's a pun there); an audiobook that is a brilliant performance by one of the UK's best actors, period. An unbelievable interpretation of an already magnificent novel by Elizabeth Bear, Ms. Andoh lent her vocal skills to give life to the many characters in this expansive novel. Her pitch and timbre were perfect, with a quality that had me re-listening and re-reading several chapters over and again. Adjoa Andoh is absolutely one of the best Audible narrators in my experience; I am glad that I had the chance to witness her art in this Audible production.

Literary Science Fiction

Bear is at the top of her craft. I don't read a lot of science fiction but the White Space series captured me completely. Bear's stories remind me of novels by Ursula Le Guin and Margaret Atwood. She imagines future societies in a way that reflect on the here and now by implication. What would the future look like if humans on Earth had finally gotten desperate enough to work together and they'd saved the planet? What was left of it anyway. And then mastered space travel? What role would they play in a truly multicultural civilization out there in the galaxy? Where machines have personhood. Where ships travel faster than the speed of light in something called white space? Where there is no bigotry, no poverty, no crime, no shame, and humans haven't lost their sense of humor? What could possibly go very, very wrong? Machine is my favorite kind of book, a well-written story that takes you to places you've never been before and challenges you to think hard about what you find there.