Endeavour

Sleeping Gods, Book 1

By: Ralph Kern

Narrated by: Michael Kramer

Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's Summary

Since we first looked at the stars, there have been no signs of alien life - no one who has tried to speak to us, a mystery that a long-dead scientist called the Fermi paradox. "Where are they?"

In 2118 the first daring mission to another star, Tau Ceti - 12 light-years away - is launched. Tom Hites and Harry Cosgrove command the starship Endeavour on an epic journey to solve the Fermi paradox. From the first nearly disastrous steps on a distant world, their quest takes them further than they ever imagined. Out amid the mysterious, long-abandoned worlds and ancient relics, they discover some strange, some wonderful, and some deadly. The question they seek to answer becomes: "Where are they now?"

©2015 Ralph Kern (P)2015 Tantor

A nicely written journey through the galaxy

What other book might you compare Endeavour to and why?

It is kind of unique as the the book is more about first contact and exploration rather than large space battles, it was a very nice change of pace from what I normally read and I wish there was more novels like it.

Which character – as performed by Michael Kramer – was your favorite?

I liked them all just about equally honestly maybe Tom is my favorite, the character development is great very balanced they all have a lot to share.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes Michael Kramer is fantastic with the narration it was my first audio of his and made the listening very easy and enjoyable but it took two sittings.

Any additional comments?

This is a novel about first contact and a journey through space, exploring new worlds with a lot of future Earth based tech as well, don't buy it if your looking for space battles or space marines only. Don't get me wrong I like that type of science fiction as well but this book works perfectly for what it is, if you enjoy the question where are they what are they and how to get there with some great characters then this book is a great listen.

One of the best!

I have read,(recently listened) to about 300 science fiction books. This book took me hostage, had not planned to take the time, but listened to the whole thing in one sitting. I don't know much about Ralph Kern... I would like to see more of his work! Michael Kramer was a perfect match, you could tell Mr. Kramer was into the book. When is #2 going to be out, I hope very soon.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Where does Endeavour rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I would put this Book in the top 10 of the science fiction novels I have listened to.

What did you like best about this story?

What I enjoyed most was this was a science fiction story that did not involve any armies or or space navies. The main theme was Space exploration.

Have you listened to any of Michael Kramer’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

I want more!

Would you consider the audio edition of Endeavour to be better than the print version?

I would enjoy the print version just as much as the audio version.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Tom. A true explorer in the classic S.F. way. "Where is Everybody?"

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, If I could I wouldn't stop listening until it was done.

Any additional comments?

Very unexpected book. I'm so tired of military heroes going around blowing up the universe. Finally, a break in the space version of an author's naval career.

Endeavour

It's hard for me to write a fare and balanced review of this book because I loved it so much that I forgave it for all of its faults. The same faults that I rant and rave about in other books. You have to understand that I love books about space exploration and especially first contact novels. I also love books that are considered hard science fiction (and/or speculative fiction) that a lot of space opera fans find dry and boring. Give me all of this and I'll not notice that the characters are wooden or their dialogue is atrocious or the writing is sort of amateurish... OK, I'll notice but I'll pretend not to, like the polite southern gentleman that I am.

So, with all that said, the only thing I'm going to complain about with this book (and the reason it's only getting 4 stars from me) is it's pacing. There are parts that felt rushed. I would have loved it to go into more depth than it did describing Endeavour's discoveries especially in the first few hours of the book. I feel like this may have been a grander story than Ralph Kern could handle at his current writing abilities, but damn, I loved this story. I'm looking forward to a sequel (or two or three or a dozen) in the future.

One last thought on Michael Kramer's narration. He's a professional and a veteran of audio book reading. There was nothing about his performance that will stand out and make you say WOW, but there is also nothing to complain about.

I hope you enjoy Endeavour as much as I did. Thanks for reading my review.

Slow start, small finish

There was nothing wrong with the narration but there was nothing special about it either. The story took a while to get moving. Not what I was expecting, thinking it was more of a space opera but it turns out to be more like a summary of things that happened over a long period of time. More fantasy in space kind of story. I thought the idea of first contact would make this an interesting story, but I was left wanting for something that I had not already seen in the depiction of alien life . The main characters are not deep, they seem to have nothing that makes them stand out for the positions they hold in the story. Maybe 1.they are used to try explaining new areas as they travel through space over long periods of time. and tech both bio and alien, as they jumped through time but it just felt very confusing and all over the place. I did enjoy some of the story concepts that the writer used for the ending chapters.
I don't like writing bad book reviews. This story just left me not wanting more.

great listen

take time to listen to this one, it's really good. I hope there will soon be more books.

Reminds me of Arthur C. Clark

Would you consider the audio edition of Endeavour to be better than the print version?

This story is an adult space opera. It addresses the question, "Where is everybody?", a question first posed by Enrico Femi.

What did you like best about this story?

The story blends the space opera and time travel (forward travel only) seamlessly. Traveling to another star means Traveling into the future.

Rare take on exploration

Found this book because I was searching for books Michael Kramer narrated. Glad I gave it a chance. Very unique look at our universe, possible theories on other civilizations, and good usage of technology and theoretical technology. The end was so unexpected I jolted in the my seat when the last "act" started taking shape. Really am not surprised that much but...I was with this one! Looking forward to the next installment.

Uninspiring hard sci-fi with little originality and no heart

The concepts in this novel are mostly borrowed from classic sci-fi and the characters are dull and two dimensional. I listened to the end but it was a struggle. Unless you are a hard core fan of this type of thing, (or have never read Asimov or Heinlein,) don’t waste a credit. The narrator was ok, apart from the accents which were all over the place. However, since the purpose of the dialogue was mainly exposition, and the characters pronouncements were interchangeable, it hardly detracted from the overall performance.

A Sci Fi Epic, such a worthy read.

this book is something to wonder at, its depth and detail is high enough to populate your mind with enough image to see where you are but low enough to keep the story flowing and moving at an exciting pace.

if you like science fiction then this book will fully satiate your desire for an adventure, true to science fiction, true to a better future for humanity.

not a struggle to finish, enjoyable and with a narrative and narrator both excellently chosen to compliment each other, you will continue to listen being kept interested.

try it and enjoy it.....the author needs to write a sequal or something else within this universe he's created.

excellent

Where does Endeavour rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

in the top ten

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes

Any additional comments?

fast moving,exciting,intriguing,a little disappointed with the ending,maybe left room for a sequel?

Pedestrian plot

Some nice ideas and I welcome the lack of love story/pointless antagonism between characters. But unfortunately there is no depth, this reads like a screen play, very little description, no back story, no colour. There is a follow on book but I'm not engaged enough to want to read it. The narrator is good on other books but he is quite monotone and can't do British regional accents so was not a good choice for a slow book with British characters.

Yawn!

Only managed a few chapters of this book. It might have been good, but you wouldn’t have known it from the narration, which was as flat as a plank of wood with no feeling whatsoever.

The book deserved better.

Destroyed by performance

If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

I can imagine it would work a lot better as a book, without the awful performance.

How could the performance have been better?

Kern's regular reading voice appears fine, but unfortunately his grasp of British accents is laughably poor. Literally - I laughed out loud at his hopeless attempt at Scottish. Unfortunately, since one of the main characters is from Yorkshire, the excruciating mess of rotating mangled accents became too much to bear. I'm not being precious about it - I'd not care if the accents were simply wrong - but these are so all over the place I couldn't concentrate.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The book is likely fine. It seemed an interesting prospect. I shall find out if it ever has a Kindle release.