A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe

By: Alex White

Narrated by: Charlotte Blacklock

Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's Summary

Firefly meets The Fast and the Furious in this science fiction adventure series that follows a crew of outcasts as they try to find a legendary ship that just might be the key to saving the universe.

A washed-up treasure hunter, a hotshot racer, and a deadly secret society.

They're all on a race against time to hunt down the greatest warship ever built. Some think the ship is lost forever, some think it's been destroyed, and some think it's only a legend, but one thing's for certain: whoever finds it will hold the fate of the universe in their hands. And treasure that valuable can never stay hidden for long....

Listen to the audiobook that V. E. Schwab called "A clever fusion of magic and sci-fi. I was hooked from page one."

©2018 Alex White (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Creative, fun, breathless. Seamless meld of sci-fi and magic.

That was delightful! High adventure spanning the galaxy, set in a reality where magic and tech flow onto one another. The landscape is vivid, the cast complex and snarky, and the stakes high. The narration is great, too! This is my kind of book. Can’t wait for the next one!

Fun book once it gets going; iffy narrator

The story took awhile to really get going and, as other reviewers have said, even longer before the two main characters became likeable. Ms. Blacklock, though, did not do a great job as the narrator. She read clearly and rapidly enough, but she failed to establish different voices and accents for most of the characters, male and female alike. Nyla, in particular, was clearly intended by the author (based upon her phrases and words) to have a British accent, but as Ms. Blacklock completely missed that, Nyla just ends up sounding like an American who happens to call people "mate" and pepper her speech with incongruous Britishisms.

A great blend of Fast and the Furious + Star Wars

This space opera takes off from the first minute and never slows down. Great characters, realistic relationships, intense action, and a well thought out ending make for a great listen. Don't miss out on this one.

Brilliant!

I will admit that I am only on chapter 4 as I type this. But, this does not in anyway stop me from loving this book so much!

The setting is out of this world quite literally, but with a twist I will not ruin here. Amazing world building that makes me want to read more just on that alone. But then you meet our great cast of characters and it just makes the need to read more worse!

Also I want to give kudos to the narrator as well. She of course does the characters great, but her action scene narration just nails it as well.

Great book, can't wait for more!!

Excellent storytelling.

The narration is flat, but the story itself is amazing. Don't let poor casting color your opinion of the plot.

wow. this was terrible

I am a generous reviewer. This is by far the worst rating I have ever given. This was an unholy mess of bad fantasy and truly awful scifi. I am a completionist, so I did finish it. it felt like a literary death march. The characters were awful. Calling them one dimensional caricatures may be offensive to caricature artists who actually do pack a lot of personality in their creations. Stereotypes on top of tropes may be a better way to describe it. Anyway. Do not waste a credit. The name and cover art are the best part of this. The rest is a precepitous downhill slide.

Weak mix of Technology and Magic

I hoped- made it all the way through- it just didn't get better. There is an LGBT relationship that was done quite well - not overdone, as many heterosexual relationships are portrayed. None of this could make it more interesting.

This series tried to mix technology and magic- frankly, it is un-necessary for a science fiction story. To take from Arthur C. Clarke: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" The Magic in this story just seems like a shortcut to avoid trying to deal with the "science" part of science fiction. Avoiding a spoiler- there is a plot point that does take advantage of the "magical" aspects- still doesn't seem strong enough. There was some exciting potential in the beginning as racing was included, but that aspect of the character and story potential was mostly neglected.

The narrator tried- wasn't great, and could not make something from otherwise weak source material (such as the awesome Ray Porter)- though I see potential in her performance.

If magic and science fiction appeals to you, this may be an attractive story. Otherwise, this is a story to avoid.

A painfully corny reading

I will try the physical copy and will continue to read it. I think the story is intriguing enough. However the combination of writing and vocal performance is so difficult to listen to. Lines like “ whoaaaa it’s cooold maaaan. Shouted the king of the obvious” came off so juvenile that I frequently cringed. I don’t know if it was the writing or the voice acting or the combination of the two, but it is an uncomfortable listen.

Horrible Cartoon-Like Narrator

I couldn't even get into the story because the voice actress sounds like she is pining for a walk-on role on The Animaniacs reboot. She is the worst and completely distracts from the story. My word.

DNF

The narrator was so awful, I had to stop listening within the first few paragraphs. And the "soundtrack" just made it worse.

Thoroughly enjoyable and a clever mix

Good use of magic within science fiction, very nicely read.
Great story line and some good plot twists.

Billed as Sci-Fi but only a magic wish

'They' didn't say it was a magic genre book. I don't like to read 'magic' books (unless by Larry Niven, of course). This was touted as Sci-Fi. It isn't!