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Far from the Light of Heaven  By  cover art

Far from the Light of Heaven

By: Tade Thompson
Narrated by: Clifford Samuel
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Publisher's summary

“Simultaneously brutally grounded and wildly imaginative.” (Adrian Tchaikovsky, Arthur C. Clarke Award winner)

A tense and thrilling vision of humanity’s future in the chilling emptiness of space from rising giant in science fiction, Arthur C. Clarke Award winner Tade Thompson

The colony ship Ragtime docks in the Lagos system, having traveled light-years to bring one thousand sleeping souls to a new home among the stars. But when first mate Michelle Campion rouses, she discovers some of the sleepers will never wake.

Answering Campion’s distress call, investigator Rasheed Fin is tasked with finding out who is responsible for these deaths. Soon a sinister mystery unfolds aboard the gigantic vessel, one that will have repercussions for the entire system - from the scheming politicians of Lagos station, to the colony planet Bloodroot, to other far-flung systems, and indeed to Earth itself.

Praise for Far from the Light of Heaven

"Gripping and skillfully told, with an economy and freshness of approach that is all Tade Thompson''s own. The setting is interstellar, but it feels as real, immediate, and lethal as today's headlines." (Alastair Reynolds)

"A gripping space opera with characters fighting for their lives aboard a dying starship. I enjoyed it so much and can't wait to see what he does next." (Martha Wells, New York Times best-selling author)

For more from Tade Thompson, check out:

The Wormwood Trilogy

  • Rosewater
  • Rosewater: Insurrection
  • Rosewater: Redemption
©2021 Tade Thompson (P)2021 Orbit

Critic reviews

"Inventive. Thompson’s appealing take on long-distance space travel, subversion of typical AI tropes, tender characterization, and cleverly constructed suspense makes this worthwhile fare. Readers looking for a smart sci-fi mystery should snap this up." (Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Far from the Light of Heaven

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Better to Read The Physical Book Than to Listen

The story is interesting but the narration ruins it with slow, slogging pacing, weird pauses where there should be none and an unrealistic, monotonal conversational style between characters. People simply don't speak that way in real life.
I could only get a third of the way through before giving up with frustration and returning.
Disappointing because I like Tade Thompson.
You're better off reading a physical copy.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Another Mind-blowing Work of Speculative Fiction

Since the Rosewater trilogy, I have been eager for more of Thompson's thoughtful, wide-ranging novels. Though the pacing plodded in a few places, I appreciated how this wild reality could be the logical extrapolation of our own. From the discipline of professionals to the shockingly negligent crimes of the extremely wealthy, the plot emerged inevitably from the characters, each of whom pulled at my heart. In fact, I cried more than once. A beautiful novel!

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8 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A locked room murder set in space

This is delightful and very tightly written.
I quite enjoyed every aspect of this story.

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6 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Slow and narration is painful.

I was anticipating a nice space Sci-Fi murder mystery, but all I received was dismally uninspired narration and a dull storyline. Don’t waste your time.

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5 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Narration was terrible and the story was OK

I like Tade Thompson and I love his version of Afrofuturism. The story was interesting but definitely lost steam near the end. And I usually don’t have a problem with narrators but this guy mumbled so much that I could barely understand him in places .

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    5 out of 5 stars
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If you like complex murder/mystery

See review title lol. A good listen of so. 6 more words just for you😉

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5 people found this helpful

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Tade takes locked room mystery into space!

This is not your average jaunt Into space opera, neither is it anything close to a typical locked room murder mystery. It most definitely IS a great story that combines the two in a most audacious way.

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4 people found this helpful

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  • WS
  • 05-23-22

Great but...

Imaginative and complex and well worth listening to, though, as with Tade Thompson's other writings, it can be confusing to follow at times.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Disjointed

I love Tade Thompson's work normally. Really enjoyed the wormwood trilogy but perhaps this wasn't the best book for audio. The story rythym was weird. Very staccato and it seemed like maybe the storyline wasn't fully fleshed out. Still enjoyed it but wasn't on par with what I expected from his work

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Better read than listened to

This is a book that is better read and listen to. The plot is somewhat byzantine and there are a lot of characters. I listened to it small chunks during drives to and from work and I lost track of the plot quickly. It’s not a bad story, it just requires focused attention to keep up with the action. I didn’t actually finish listening to the book; by the time I got to last hour I was lost.

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2 people found this helpful