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Becalmed in Hell  By  cover art

Becalmed in Hell

By: Larry Niven
Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
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Publisher's summary

Eric is the "Brain" of the first ship to explore Venus. Howie is his human crewmember. When a fault develops, forcing the ship down onto the hostile Venusian surface, Howie must figure out the problem with Eric, be it mechanical or psychological. Becalmed in Hell first appeared in Fantasy and Science Fiction in July 1965.

©2017 Larry Niven (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about Becalmed in Hell

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This was pleasantly surprising!

Initially I didn't think I would be satisfied with a.sifi short. I thought "how can the author paint a picture in only 30 minutes?" Thankfully, I was mistaken. This piece is very interesting. Its a scifi work that had all the technical mumbo jumbo, while not being convoluted. I'm gonna listen to more of Larry Niven's shorts.

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Solid short sci if

This is a solid short story from Larry Niven. Nothing too crazy going on here but entertaining.

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Good short story

Very imaginative. The human drama is always more compelling than the exploration. Study of friendship and what it means to be human.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Time Passr

Decent overall listen. obviously it is a short and in some ways that is the downfall. Great for a quick relaxing moment. if that's what you're looking for it will fit the bill.

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Short Story!

If you've only got a short drive this 30 minute, story is what you're looking for!

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Ending Has a Great Surprise

An astronaut and an AI have to find a way to pull together if they are to get their crashed ship off the planet Venus in a delightful psychological tale from Larry Niven. The ending was a great surprise.

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Working the problem ... dully

This author’s short stories are hit or miss for me. Unfortunately, this was a miss. A half hour tale of a guy banging around in a space ship, trying to get safely away from Venus. He has to play some mind games with his sentient ship. But, I just didn’t get it.

I quite liked For a Foggy Night, which set a better, suspenseful tone and told a complete story in 17 minutes.

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2 people found this helpful