Atlas Alone

Planetfall, Book 4

By: Emma Newman

Narrated by: Emma Newman

Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Hugo Award-winner Emma Newman returns to the captivating Planetfall universe with a novel about vengeance and the lengths to which one will go to save the future of humanity.  

Six months after she left, Dee is struggling to manage her rage toward the people who ordered the nuclear strike that destroyed Earth. She's trying to find those responsible, but she's not getting very far alone.  

A dedicated gamer, Dee is endeavoring to discover a mersive good enough to enable her to escape her trauma. When she is approached by a designer who asks her to play test his new game, she hopes it will be what she needs - but it isn't like any mersive she's played before. When a man suddenly dies in the real world, she realizes that at the same time in the game, she killed a character who bears a striking resemblance to the dead man - a man she discovers was one of those responsible for the death of millions on Earth.  

Disturbed but thinking it must be a coincidence, Dee continues the hunt for information. But when she finds out the plans for the future colony, she realizes that to save what is left of humanity, she might have to do something that risks what remains of her own.

©2019 Emma Newman (P)2019 Tantor

Emma Newman has nailed the kind of sci-fi I want!

You know how you read a book and then devour the subsequent novels because you loved the first one soooooo much but then they are never as good. This is an exception to that rule. Every single book in the planetfall series is excellent. All are a must read for sci fi fans who want something other than space battles.

Excellent!

I often thought about this book when I wasn't listening to it. that's my personal metric for an engrossing book. this delivered in diamonds.

Wait for it...

The more time that goes by after finishing the final pages, the more I like this book. The beginning is cumbersome and overly complicated. It was slow to warm and slower to hook, but I felt like the payoff was worth it.

However, it was the meta-narrative, the one you really don't get until the very, very end, that was PURE GOLD.

Note: Trigger warnings for violence, exploitation, and a crap-load of expletives. Not recommended for kids under 13. Also, beware of two-dimensional NPC's.

Slow and disturbing

Continues the Planetfall series in a different location and features a new lead character, although it is someone we have heard about in previous books. The writing is excellent as I have come to expect from Newman. Character development in particular is something she does very well, although now that I have read a few of her books I am starting to see a pattern: deeply flawed protagonist, dealing with emotional baggage that is slowly revealed to the reader.

This book was quite disturbing to me on several levels that are hard to describe without giving away the ending. The ending was a surprise and helped justify some of the disturbing parts of the plot, but ultimately I found the whole thing less successful than the other books in the series. Too many scenes that took place entirely in virtual reality seemed to make the story drag on too long. I think maybe this would have been more successful if it had been a novella or even a short story.

[I listened to this as an audio book read by Emma Newman. She is one of the few authors who can read a book well.]

Another Gem from the Planetfall Series

I was quite prepared to dislike this novel. It begins slowly, as do all novels in the series, and I wasn't sure if I had the patience to stick it out for the fourth time. I did, and found it rewarding.

The story is told in the first person, from the perspective of Dee, Carl's good friend. As with all Newman's main characters in the series, there is deep psychological scarring that is the main plot driver. There are aspects of Dee's personality I find disturbing, and she becomes unlikable after a while, but by then the plot has become compelling enough for the reader/listener to want to see the developments.

Approximately one-third of the way into the novel, 'Atlas Alone' appears to be about manipulations: how Dee hates being manipulated, how she constantly manipulates others, and how Newman is manipulating both the reader and the listener. All writing is about managing the reader's perceptions and even emotional responses, but Newman's machinations are somewhat heavy handed here. In a timely fashion, however, there is a conclusion which, though unexpected, makes sense, and the audience can exhale the breath that was unknowingly being held.

Newman's voice performance is spot on. It works since the story is told in the first person so she can focus on that one, and the author knows exactly how she wishes her characters portrayed. The main character can get a bit shrill at times, but she is under pressure and one can assume this is exactly how Newman wishes her to appear.

All in all, I'm very happy I finished this novel. Depending on your responses to the other books in the series, your mileage may vary.

She’s done it again!

Another stellar (get it) entry in the Planetfall series with another maddening, brilliant, flawed protagonist. I can’t even process what just happened.

Emma Newman is a goddess and enchantress

As a cisgender 72-year-old white male who has little interest in gaming, mysteries, sci-fi, or violence, I AM NOT Emma Newman’s target audience. However, I fell into her web of intrigue and excitement when I listened to her narrate a 23-hour book and then discovered that she is a storytelling writer of this great series (PlanetFall). I have read the series and this book was the most difficult for me, but I persevered and am so very glad I didn’t miss the clever twists and turns leading to the surprise ending.

Religion IS one of my interests, and Ms. Newman consistently alludes to religious themes and philosophical questions. I would not recommend this book to anyone in the U.S. who identifies as a conservative Christian (some other reviews point out that they felt the author has an agenda opposing that worldview.) But if you can handle some suspense, gaming and real world violence, cynicism, and realistic speculation about the world’s future, you will be amply rewarded (as I was/am) by the writing, the plot lines, and the heavenly narration of this book (and the entire series)!

Best Book in the series!!

I really enjoyed the first three books, and this one took it over the top for me. It’s partly because I love the contacts, the game are working through illusory worlds to find herself. Good job Emma! I can’t wait for the next series.

Revised review after finishing

I liked the way the book turned out, I was a bit miffed at certain interactions at the start but soon came to realize I didn't know the characters as well as I thought I should. Loved the story but feel like there should be a fifth book in the series.

A secret admirer

Emma Newman’s Atlas Alone is her fourth entry in the Planetfall series. While each entry is standalone, the tales are interconnected. This one concerns the second Atlas ship that left Earth at the end of the third installment. Most of the passengers are in storage. Dee, who was govcorp employee focused on VR gaming and Carl, an investigator (from the second installment) had their contracts bought out to join the trip. Dee is offered a job involving gaming which leads to a killing in VR that turns out to have actually happened. At this point, she becomes suborned to hunting down the individuals responsible for nuking Earth, while needing to stay ahead of Carl investigating the murder. Her secret admirer provides IT assistance.

Newman crafts a respectable mystery, although Carl gets less attention than Dee. The eventual reveal of the secret assistance devolves to a philosophical excursion while the blurring between VR and the real world is stressed throughout.

The narration is quite respectable with solid character distinction. Pacing is smooth and a bit brisk.