Earthcore

By: Scott Sigler

Narrated by: Ray Porter

Length: 20 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

Deep below a desolate Utah mountain lies the largest platinum deposit ever discovered. A billion-dollar find, it waits for any company that can drill a world's record, three-mile-deep mine shaft. EarthCore is the company with the technology, the resources, and the guts to go after the mother lode. Young executive Connell Kirkland is the company's driving force, pushing himself and those around him to uncover the massive treasure. But at three miles below the surface, where the rocks are so hot they burn bare skin, something has been waiting for centuries. Waiting...and guarding. Kirkland and EarthCore are about to find out first-hand why this treasure has never been unearthed.

©2014 Empty Set Entertainment (P)2014 Empty Set Entertainment

Awesome Book. Well written and very creative!

This book was very hard to stop once I started. I really enjoyed everything about it. I like how it's a mystery science fiction book and seems to be poised for a series. The characters are very well developed and each have true motivations. I like the way Sigler takes the time tell the story. He really doesn't rush anything. He is clearly a very creative person with a big imagination. I can also tell he spent time learning about the mining industry. What would a sci-fi book be these days without cool technology and of course guns? He delivers on the tech side and gives us some nice action scenes. The Kool suits are badass. I wouldn't have minded him expanding the gun/black ops aspect but it seems that will be coming in the next book if there is one. Overall I highly recommend the book and really look forward to the next one.

Now for Ray Porter. He is the best narrator on audible right now. I enjoy listening to books and for me the narrator is a big factor for the books I choose. Ray gives an amazing performance in Earthcore. He makes the book rise up and brings each character to life with unique voices. I also enjoyed the little bit of production in there. They use a little sound in between each intense scene to kind of accent the moment. Usually that type of thing is annoying but it works great with Ray Porter's bad@ss performance.

Nope, Yes, Nope

The Good: The narration by Ray Porter was excellent - male and female voices, ethnic accents, use of non-word cues were all excellent. I'm looking forward to more Ray Porter. The underlying concept of the book was interesting, but was marred by The Bad (below).

The Bad: Everything else. There was not ONE sympathetic character in the entire book. I didn't like, or relate to, ANYONE. Some of the characters were so two-dimensionally evil or obnoxious that it felt like fingers on a chalkboard every time they were on stage. The violence was uncomfortable and endless. The profanity from every character began to feel like middle school boys trying to best each other at being bad ass. Finally, while POSSIBLE, I found it highly IMPROBABLE that at BYU graduate student and her adopted BYU professor father would be foul-mouthed atheists. I attended BYU and never encountered people like these - especially representatives of the school. It seemed like Sigler picked a major university near where he wanted his story to play out, but knows nothing about the school itself. I kept hoping the characters I didn't like from the beginning would somehow redeem themselves, but for me that never happened. I only finished the last few chapters to be able to credibly write this review.

Maybe the writing is a joke about itself?

It might be unfair to rate a book I haven't finished, but after a few hours in, I see little reason to keep listening, and Earthcore will likely be the first book I return to Audible.

Somewhere in this story, there might be an interesting premise. In order to get to that premise, you have to wade through some of the most poorly written characters in the genre. Everyone in the world of Earthcore is a world-weary, cynical, self-styled badass who curses like a clichéd truck driver and whose internal monologs exclusively take the form of weak sexual metaphors. The problem isn't that the language in and of itself is offensive—it's that it's so over the top, so relentless, that it becomes self-parody by the third chapter. Worse, it's self-parody that the writer seems oblivious to.

The thinly drawn characters are, so far, accompanied by extensive chunks of unnecessary story. Plot point after plot point is presented, and the outcomes are always predictable. For example, if one character decides to blackmail, betray, or harm another character, their efforts will be successful as if by fiat. There are no clever twists or reversals. Yet the book spends chapter after chapter trying to earn these obvious outcomes, belaboring pointless details that add nothing to the story. The plot remains predictable, the characters remain shallow, the dialogue remains ridiculous.

Lastly, I bought this book because several reviews likened it to Peter Clines. I don't see the comparison at all other than that Clines' books are in the same genre. Frankly, I'd argue the comparison is insulting to Clines. And poor Ray Porter. I can only imagine how much eye-rolling he did while narrating this. I hope he knows a good ophthalmologist.

If you want a story that is engaging, fun, clever, or thoughtful, dig elsewhere.

...I guess my expectations were just set too high.

I'm going to keep this short and succinct so I don't accidently drop a spoiler.

There was a sizable cast of characters in this story, but with one or two possible exceptions, they were all so unlikable that I really didn't care what happened to them in any given scene. That made it difficult enough to enjoy, but what drove me crazy about the story was the totally unbelievable motivating factor that drives the primary antagonist. I can suspend an awful lot of disbelief to enjoy a thriller, but that was just too much for me.

So poorly written

Wow where to start on this one. First of all not a single character in this is likeable, at all, besides Randy I guess. The author vaguely talks about a pandemic, and a terrorist attack, which I have no idea why that was in there. Because it has zero to do with this book and that's literally all that's said "a pandemic" and "a terrorist attack". What? Why even mention that? Something happened to Chicago? Who knows!! Never goes onto explain any of it. The whole book makes zero sense, without giving too much away, the narrator made things worse 98% of the time especially when doing the women voices. The one dimensional femme fatale is so loathsome every time she comes into the story you just want to fast forward out of it. What happened to Angus? Did he live? Who knows? Do we care? Not really. Is he a sociopath garbage person like every other character in this book? He sure is! Also a nice heaping amount of homophobic and racist dialogue so that was super fun as well. What an amateur mess this was. Really bummed I wasted my credit on this one.

blah story decent reading but blah story

blah story. predictable and sigler-esc. mistake thinking he would get better. complete waste of a credit

Hard to empathize with any character.

Would you try another book from Scott Sigler and/or Ray Porter?

Of course. Ray Porter never disappoints and maybe next time Scott Sigler would include some main characters that I would give a damn about.

What did you like best about this story?

The overall concept of aliens coming to earth for refuge.

Which scene was your favorite?

When the mountain was destroyed. Thank god it's done.

Was Earthcore worth the listening time?

Yes and No. Yes because the story was interesting, but no because I disliked the characters so very much, that I really could not care how the book ended or what happened to any of them.

Any additional comments?

Good enough to keep me listening. But, one by one I kept hoping one character after another would die is some horrible way. With the exception of one or two minor characters they were people I would not want in my life. Self absorbed selfish, criminals, bullies and psychopaths.

Slow start, but it gained momentum quick

This was a fun read! It started a bit slow, with a lot of character and plot building, but I was soon hooked on the story. What was happening in that cave? Who would get to the truth first? And who would survive?

I found the characters well presented, giving them background and depth to make them more interesting. Although the backstory of one of them, Kayla Meyers, could've been without the explicit telling about the abuse she went through as a child. Way too detailed.

There were no real heroes, IMO, in this book. No anti-heores either. Just people, making them more interesting to follow.

The secret down in the caves was cleverly revealed, making me want to find out more and more, faster and faster. It was hard to stop listening, the further down they got.

Good but not great

Maybe I was expecting too much from the book given the description and having one of the best narrators around but I was dissappointed. Too long, to farfetched a story and just not what I expected. I stuck with it only because of Ray Porter's narration but was sorry to have wasted the credit at the end. Just one persons opinion....

Good characters but leaves you dissatisfied

It's a love hate thing I have for this book. I enjoy the characters and their personalities. Yet the story predictable and the ending terrible. The ending felt rushed. Ray Porter was amazing as always. He could read a dictionary and make it interesting.

EPIC

From the get get go I grips you
20 hour books sometimes have a lull but noooooo way did this.
Good characters and excellent narration.

Awesome

In my opinion, one of the best books to come from the awesome imagination of Mr Sigler

Well worth the wait

Any additional comments?

I've been waiting for this for so long and was worried that I'd overhyped it to myself. But no, not at all! This is one of those stories when I found myself parked in the drive listening to the end of a chapter and wondering whether I could listen to another before stopping for the night. It also made me late for work. Loved the storyline, loved the characters and the ending. Hoping for a sequel.

a bloody good read, just couldn't put it down

its been a long,, long time since a book held my intrest this much...thoroughly enjoyed it

Lovable horror and action novel

I have followed the author for years and Earthcore is one of my favourite books. it contains solid science married with outrageous yet possible innovations PLUS a possibility of other life forms. I love Scott's work and so am very delighted by this book. it is very tasty.

I love it!

This was the first of Scott's books that i read and i loved it, have been following his progress ever since and the Siglerverse stories. The narration is very good too.

brilliant.

love this book, it kept me listening long into the night and never once getting board.

Go Scott

What did you like most about Earthcore?

Easy flowing story, interesting characters, nice dark sci-fi. Have about 4 hrs left... always enjoy switching on the mp3 and seeing what's around the corner.

Any additional comments?

gg

gripped throughout

fantastic characters and a really engaging plot. couldnt stop listening any moments I had. Brilliant

Earthcore

Great spin great story, graphic well read all in all worth every penny Scott Sigler does it again