Exo

By: Steven Gould

Narrated by: Emily Rankin

Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Award-winning author Steven Gould returns to the world of his classic novel Jumper in Exo, the sequel to Impulse, blending the drama of high school with world shattering consequences.

Cent can teleport. So can her parents, but they are the only people in the world who can. This is not as great as you might think it would be - sure, you can go shopping in Japan and then have tea in London, but it's hard to keep a secret like that. And there are people, dangerous people, who work for governments and have guns, who want to make you do just this one thing for them. And when you're a teenage girl things get even more complicated. High school. Boys. Global climate change, refugees, and genocide. Orbital mechanics.

But Cent isn't easily daunted, and neither are Davy and Millie, her parents. She's going to make some changes in the world.

©2014 Steven Gould (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Critic reviews

"Heady, zippy, fabulous reading....an intensely human story about love, honor, loyalty, betrayal and family." ( BoingBoing)

An Unexpected Pleasure

Having read the whole series thus far, I was a bit disappointed when I first listened to this story because the publisher description kind of misleads you as to the direction that the story is going to take. I was expecting more of a story along the lines of "Reflex", and so I felt let down by how the story went. I then decided to listen to it a second time with a more open mind as to the plot, and it was as if I was listening to another book even though it had the same words. And wonder of wonders, it turned into a total pleasure finding out what was going on with Cent and her parents, and how things finally work out for them. (Not going to provide any spoilers)

After listening to this book, I get the feeling that this is going to be the last book in this series. If it is the last one, you won't be disappointed. Steven Gould brings everything to a satisfying conclusion with very few if any lose ends. So if you have enjoyed the "Jumper" series up to now, ignore the publisher description and just enjoy the story. I have done so 4 times already, and hope that Mr. Gould will continue the story.

As always Emily Rankin makes the story come alive with her reading, and listening to her read is a treat in itself.

Worst in series. Worst period.

You know when you go to someone's graduation and you have to listen to all those other people's names other than the one you know? Well this book is 14 hrs of that!!!

Teenage girl with boyfriend problems jumps into space. Now you don't have to listen to this........book? Is a book? Or a space engineering textbook read aloud. I really can not say anything good about this. As others have pointed out, no plot, endless filler of space jargon, boring. Skip it. I wish I had.

Disappointment

What would have made Exo better?

Give it plot and drama and believable dialog.

What was most disappointing about Steven Gould’s story?

No plot.Written for 10 to 12 year olds.

What character would you cut from Exo?

Jade and her friend. They don't seem to add anything to the story. But, I forgot, there is no story.

Any additional comments?

If you want to listen to 12 1/2 hours of science data from a supposed 17 year old before any drama materializes, then this could be your cup of tea. Really, in a 16 hour book there is no plot whatsoever until some drama unfolds at about 12 1/2 hours. The dialog is so unreal. It's as if everyone is a computer spitting back data from a database. These are not the kind of thoughts or words real people say to one another. I really liked Jumper and Griffin's Story, but this book is just trite. Now if I was 12, I think I would really like this book because it has all this cool space stuff and teleporting. Wow! But I'm not. Then again, if I was 12 I would not understand any of the science talk and there is a ton of that here.If it is the author's intention to introduce science to young readers, then this is a huge fail. Any teen would be forever put off science by this book because obviously -- from the story -- it requires a genius intellect to understand all this talk about space and medicine. Amazingly everyone seems to know so much nomenclature about medical procedures and pathologies, and space and military and guns and etc. Our 17 yr old Cent can calculate trajectories and positions in space from a headful of numbers. Really! How dry and uninteresting. I would think Jumpers had more of a feel -- an intuition -- associated with their skill. But Cent is like a computer: You punch in the numbers and she can jump. I FEEL Gould took the essence from his series and jettisoned it from his writing.

Great young adult read.

What made the experience of listening to Exo the most enjoyable?

Okay, I wasn't that fond of Steven's last Jumper novel for the reasons I've already stated, but EXO is another thing entirely. This novel is great for the 12-18 crowd and reminds me a lot of the young adult SF novels of my own youth. The most recent novel that I felt was this good (and of the same ilk) was The Martian, but it was an adult book and not a young adult book. While the previous novel of Cent and her family had far too much teenage angst for me to enjoy and the subject matter didn't appeal, this novel has less angst and more Low Earth Orbit. Steven has obviously researched the International Space Station and the problems associated with micro-gravity and he handles it well. The narration by Ms Rankin was once again dead on for the voice of Cent.

Which character – as performed by Emily Rankin – was your favorite?

Obviously Cent was the best character, although several others were nearly as enjoyable.

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

I normally only listen to audio books while driving, but that's only about an hour per day. I finished this book in three days by spending a good share of my home time listening to it also.

Any additional comments?

Give it to your adolescent and pre-adolescent friends, they'll love you for it.

A tragic end

I began this series from watching the movie. I LOVED the idea of it and it had really inspired me, so I sought out the books. 1 was amazing, loved it. 2 started to feel like the author was just showing us how much he knew about random art and science. 3 was a teenage love story with an over the top amount of factual knowledge in it.

This final book was a huge disappointment, 90% of the book felt like the author was bragging about his knowledge of science. 10% jumping and fighting the power.

Every time someone says “manned” craft, the author had his new overly sensitive character correct then by saying “personed.” This really bothered me, who cares if we call it a manned craft, it implies both genders. Ridiculous and annoying.

One thing that makes an audio book terrible is the reader saying lists of numbers. Lists and lists and lists of numbers. Kilometers being the main offender.


What a slog it was to get through that.

However, the reader is very talented I believe.

not really necessary

certain parts of the story were done really well, but a large portion of exo was ridiculously way too descriptive. There are several times throughout this book that are described in so much unnecessary detail that it almost kills the entire book. anyone that reads or listens to this book isn't reading it for the science or the math. I'd say it's a safe bet that honestly half this book is pointless because I don't need to know the force that firing a rifle in a vacuum creates on a balloon filled with water or the exact amount of sodium chloride necessary to clear out the carbon dioxide in a spherical habitat. just like I said, a few parts of the story are very entertaining but they are greatly overpowered by the unnecessary explanations.

Least favorite of the four Jumper books

Loved the first two and liked the third but this one jumped the shark!

To contrived a story.

The reader of the book needs to look up how to pronounce a few basic terms.

Less conflict is ok sometimes!

I read so many book where every few pages the people are in life or dead situation. Or something from the past comes back to show you that person can't be happy. This book is light in that aspect. For the most part everyone is happy and moving forward in life. Is there conflict. Yes! But most of it I don't have to worry about everyone's death. Next book I worry will be more conflict.

Love it

So happy this series has continued. Cannot wait for the next book. Where will they jump to next? Keep listening!

10 hours of filler, 5 hours of actual story.

Would you try another book from Steven Gould and/or Emily Rankin?

Yes, I enjoy ALL of the previous Jumper series books.

What was most disappointing about Steven Gould’s story?

This particular book has 10 hours of filler, if not more. It has some good bits at the beginning, and some at the end, but all in all, this book could have been scaled down by several hours, and it would be better for it. the story also raises a few intrigues that never really go anywhere

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

This was on par with her previous Jumper book, I really enjoyed her performance

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

It has a semi-strong beginning, and the end is ok, but a bit tacky. it would probably do better as a heavily abridged audiobook.

Any additional comments?

Jumper series as a whole is good, this is just the weakest book. I suggest trying one of the others.

Great story

I have enjoyed this series but did feel like this installment more than the others was overly technical in explaining the science without moving the plot along. It did make the final plot crescendo feel somewhat rushed but overall 4 stars. Hopefully the first book appears oj audible at some point.

We need more

Loved the story line, saw the film, as a launch point but only 3 books are available on uk audible and would love more of them, and a BIG hell yes to a sequel to EXO

Enjoyable

I have listened to all the books in the series and enjoyed them all.
Book is finished nicely, and narration is good.
Looking forward to hearing more from the author

Excellent true sci-fi geeks dream

What did you like most about Exo?

In-depth scientific mumbo-jumbo that sounds interesting enough to make you think it's all real, all possible.

What other book might you compare Exo to, and why?

Fourth in series of Steven Gould's 'Jumper' series, so any before.

What about Emily Rankin’s performance did you like?

Good. She has a clear voice definition for each character, nicely played. Interesting tone to match storyline. Enjoyed listen.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Overwhelmed to begin with as this goes straight into scientific jargon, but really got into it when the plotline became clear towards the first third of the book.

Any additional comments?

If you are not sure to begin with, give it a go as it really gets going from the second half and by the end you don't want the story to stop. Excellent read.

Awsome

absolutely fabulous story I am a big fan of the jumper series. can not recommend this strongly enough

Confused writing damages a reasonable story

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I have very mixed feelings about this, there are parts that I've reviewed a second or third time, but there were sooooo many parts that if I was reading this I would have skimmed whole chapters, and skipped pages. There were many parts that left me numb with boredom and there were parts that were well written.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

After some reflection the most interesting part of this story was that it was primarily from the point of view of a 2nd generation jumper. David and Millie grew up knowing that teleporting was impossible, while Cent grew up knowing that it was possible. David and Millie did the same sorts of things they might have done if they couldn't teleport, while Cent came up with the things she could do because she could teleport.

The least interesting was the amount of technical detail and what felt like multiple references to the same previous event in an earlier book, perhaps with one small extra piece of detail. These two makes me wonder if Gould had enough story for the demanded word count.

Finally like book three this is Cent's story, and each time the chapter was about Cent it was first person perspective, while when ever it was from David or Millie it was third person perspective. I would have found it easier to read if it was either just first person Cent or everybody was third person.

Oh one other thing, because this was Cent's story it was filled with soooo much - I'm going to say guessed - teenage girl emotion about boyfriend and girlfriends, that it clashed horribly with the technical detail. So much so that I was confused about the target audience.

Have you listened to any of Emily Rankin’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I have only listed to the Impulse (book 3) and this one. She's not the best performer, nor is she the worst. It was possible to tell who was speaking based on her change of tone.

Could you see Exo being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

Ignoring the disconnect from the Jumper film, and the question about how to cover previous story elements - when space based films for teenagers are in vogue, possibly.

Any additional comments?

Of the Jumper series book two was, IMO, the best, while book three was the worst. This book has some way to go to catch up to the quality of story and story telling of the first two books. The limited appearance of the 'bad' guys in the third book was terrible while this book handled them much better, but not as good as the 2nd book. No spoilers.