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Gnomon
- Narrated by: Ben Onwukwe
- Length: 29 hrs and 4 mins
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The tales of The Silmarillion are set in an age when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-earth, and the High Elves made war upon him for the recovery of the Silmarils, the jewels containing the pure light of Valinor. Included on the recording are several shorter works. The Ainulindalë is a myth of the Creation and in the Valaquenta the nature and powers of each of the gods is described. The Akallabêth recounts the downfall of the great island kingdom of Númenor at the end of the Second Age, and Of the Rings of Power tells of the great events at the end of the Third Age.
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Publisher's Summary
A Best Science Fiction Book of 2017 - The Guardian
From the widely acclaimed author of The Gone-Away World and Tigerman, comes a virtuosic new novel set in a near-future, high-tech surveillance state that is equal parts dark comedy, gripping detective story, and mind-bending philosophical puzzle.
In the world of Gnomon, citizens are constantly observed and democracy has reached a pinnacle of "transparency". Every action is seen, every word is recorded, and the System has access to its citizens' thoughts and memories - all in the name of providing the safest society in history.
When suspected dissident Diana Hunter dies in government custody, it marks the first time a citizen has been killed during an interrogation. The System doesn't make mistakes, but something isn't right about the circumstances surrounding Hunter's death. Mielikki Neith, a trusted state inspector and a true believer in the System, is assigned to find out what went wrong.
Immersing herself in neural recordings of the interrogation, what she finds isn't Hunter but rather a panorama of characters within Hunter's psyche: a lovelorn financier in Athens who has a mystical experience with a shark; a brilliant alchemist in ancient Carthage confronting the unexpected outcome of her invention; an expat Ethiopian painter in London designing a controversial new video game, and a sociopathic disembodied intelligence from the distant future. Embedded in the memories of these impossible lives lies a code which Neith must decipher to find out what Hunter is hiding. In the static between these stories, Neith begins to catch glimpses of the real Diana Hunter - and, alarmingly, of herself. The staggering consequences of what she finds will reverberate throughout the world.
A dazzling, panoramic achievement, and Nick Harkaway's most brilliant work to date, Gnomon is peerless and profound, captivating and irreverent, as it pierces through strata of reality and consciousness and illuminates how to set a mind free. It is a truly accomplished novel from a mind possessing a matchless wit infused with a deep humanity.
Critic Reviews
“Gnomon is an extraordinary novel, and one I can’t stop thinking about some weeks after I read it. It is deeply troubling, magnificently strange, and an exhilarating read.” (Emily St. John Mandel, author of Station Eleven)
“Opening a novel by Nick Harkaway feels like stepping into a theme park for the mind - every page you turn brings new delights for the mind and the senses. Gnomon is brilliant and terrifying, full of pleasures big and small. Basically, everything I want in a book.” (Charles Yu, author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe)
“Beguiling, multilayered, sprawling novel that blends elements of Philip K. Dick-tinged sci-fi, mystery, politics, and literary fiction in a most satisfying brew.... Fans of Pynchon and William Gibson alike will devour this smart, expertly written bit of literary subversion.” (Kirkus, starred review)
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What listeners say about Gnomon
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Mark Hancock
- 12-09-18
Excellent, challenging, not a “beach read”
This book was everything I’ve grown to expect from Mr Harkaway, and far more. Gnomon is his most challenging novel yet, & well worth it if you’re willing to give it your full attention and stick with it. I say it that way because there are times when I just want lighter fare; something I can absorb while editing or doing chores around the house.
With Gnomon, I still did those tasks, and dog walking, etc - but I also often found myself scrolling back to fully take on board story information. Even so, I know a second read/ listen is going to divulge items I’ve probably missed in this go ‘round.
It’s a great multi-genre novel & one I’d highly recommend.
Major praise is also due to Mr Onwukwe for his performance which had to be difficult at times (must listen to fully understand). He has a rich, complex & often soothing vocal range which served the story & listener well. If I were to complain for a small reason, it would be his occasional lack of distinction between characters or story arcs. There are so many different arcs and time/scene “flashbacks” (for lack of a better term), and without those vocal cues, there were a few times when I didn’t realize we were in a different scene or moment.
That said, it is a quite long, very dense & substantial book & it’s a small complaint- the performance was still a five star affair.
19 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-04-20
Nick Harkaway is my favorite author.
Nick Harkaway has the privilege of being the ONLY author I'll listen to twice. His language is rich, powerful, and poetic. His story is imaginative and mind-blowing.
Having said that, this book is a CHORE. Speculation, followed by explanation followed by speculation, ad nauseam. Furthermore, he has failed on a basic level: making me care about the characters. Nope. Just don't care. Some may think that I'm not cerebral enough to truly appreciate it. That's not the case. There's story-telling, then there's showing off how many allusions and references one can jam in without actually adding value.
About 3/4 of the way through, I started listening at 1.5 speed just to get it over with. Then I started fast forwarding, then I began skipping whole chapters. I didn't miss anything.
Granted, I haven't finished the book yet, but I fail to see how, after slugging through all of that, the ending could be worth anything other than, "I'm glad that's over." I don't know if I will ever finish it. I'D RATHER DO SOMETHING FUN.
There is some really good philosophical discussion in there, but it's like a few berries among an acre of mundane high weeds.
You let me down, Nick. Bigtime. From now on, I'll be saying, Nick Harkaway is my favorite author, except for that one book . . .
6 people found this helpful
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- Zach
- 04-19-19
It’s excellent.
It’s so refreshing. It’s smart and exciting. The characters are robust. What more could one want.
I’m starting another of Nick Harkaway’s books in 5 minutes.
P.S. the narrator is fantastic.
5 people found this helpful
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- J. OBrennan
- 01-28-19
Intense and atmospheric
Not exactly a light, quick read, but Nick Harkaway doesn't really write that way to begin with. Gnomon is intense. I found myself having to go back and re-listen to passages that played while I was distracted or just not fully focused. Each chapter and each character bleeds into and builds onto someone or something else, and not always in the same direction. I really loved the mood it created and the feeling of something important hidden just beneath the surface.
I have to admit that I was a little put off by Ben Onwukwe's narration at first. It seemed a little dramatic and heavy-handed. But he did a brilliant job of creating distinctions between the characters and plausible female voices. As I got deeper into the story I appreciated his narration more and more. By the end I couldn't imagine hearing the story from anyone else.
If you're up for something with a little bit of heft and a palpable atmosphere, I definitely recommend Gnomon. Well worth the time and credit.
5 people found this helpful
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- randall
- 02-13-20
A 2.5 Hour That Went On and On and On...
OMF'nG! Getting past the 2 hour and 40 minute chapter 2 is EXCRUCIATING! Are you F'n kidding me!? What the hell!?
Don't get this book.. It is a great and interesting story sprinkled in between these 2.5hour mythological fantasy and dream sequences that really seem rambling and meaningless--unless you are a scholar of myth, sybolism, and dream in literature, then you will love trying to figure out what the hell all this symbolism, imagery, historical referrences and myth mean to the story that I so wanted to hear!!
Chapter 1 was so amazing and interesting that I held out hope that I would be literally (and literarily) rewarded after suffering (this is not hyperbole!) through Chpt 2... The reward was only 40 minutes or so, and then on to another excruciating 2.5hour chapter about nothing...
Narrator needed some work on avoiding droning and differentiating character voices.
I will return this book with a significantly worse rating than I suppose it should deserve--if I were a scholar of this kind of mystical fantasy anyway.
4 people found this helpful
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- Dagnabbit
- 12-07-19
A bit overwrought
I like Harkaway, and hoped I'd like this one. I really liked Angelmaker and liked Tigerman. But between the endless basso profundo of the reader and the constantly astonished, I've-discovered-something-new tone, i got tired of Gnomon. Its just not that sinister in EVERY paragraph to warrant that tone. Essentially, there is a bad ghost, and a bad government that tricks us, using all that new internet stuff, and the internet comes alive like HAL 9000. I actually believe that is true, too - the government will inevitably turn bad as they all do, except that we have invented and handed them the most effective tool for oppression ever imagined. We'll regret that, or the next generation will. It'll be hard to undo.
But as a novel, its been done before. He has a lovely vocabulary, and turns of phrase are often engaging and a little funny. that's as far as i can recommend it. Also 300 pages too long. Where was the editor?
4 people found this helpful
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- preston
- 03-19-21
It's okay
I wonder if this novel would be better read than listened to. It seems the author is intentionally keeping the reader disoriented throughout. Perhaps being able to easily go back and reorient ( with a physical book) might have helped. Also, the audiobook kept needing to be redownload every few days. I have no idea if that's the book's fault or the Audible app to blame.
3 people found this helpful
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- Eric J. Tower
- 02-10-19
Maltise Falcon in Christopher Nolan's Inception
This spectacular book cannot be contained here, but for the patient listener it can be acquired in you. A noir fiction of sorts, that is akin to the Maltise Falcon meeting Christopher Nolan's Inception.
2 people found this helpful
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- K. Saunders
- 08-05-21
Really fun.
Nick Harkaway is high on the list of my favorite authors. He manages to be incredibly erudite without being pretentious, and his stories are so much fun. I loved this one.
Ben Onwukwe’s performance is also stellar. What an amazing voice and expression he lends to this narration.
1 person found this helpful
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- Jason
- 02-27-19
Amazing and relevant with a killer ending.
Weaving five stories would be a kiss of death or clunky for many books but this does it and makes it look like magic.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
There couldn't be a fire along the Jorgmund Pipe. It was the last thing the world needed. The Pipe was what kept the Livable Zone safe from the bandits, monsters, and nightmares the Go-Away War had left in its wake. Enter Gonzo Lubitsch and the Haulage & HazMat Emergency Civil Freebooting Company, a team of troubleshooters who roll into action when things get hot.
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Exhaustively witty, but unsatisfying
- By Ryan on 09-01-12
By: Nick Harkaway
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Tigerman
- By: Nick Harkaway
- Narrated by: Matt Bates
- Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Lester Ferris needs a rest. He's spent his life being shot at, and Afghanistan was the last stop on his road to exhaustion. Mancreu is the ideal place for Lester to relax. A former British colony, soon to be destroyed because of its very special version of toxic pollution. But Lester Ferris makes a friend: a street kid with a comicbook fixation who will need a home - who might, Lester hopes, become an adopted son. But in a place like Mancreu, just what sort of hero will the boy need?
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Slow start - but very touching
- By Cath on 08-25-14
By: Nick Harkaway
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Angelmaker
- By: Nick Harkaway
- Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Joe Spork repairs clocks, a far cry from his late father, a flashy London gangster. But when Joe fixes one particularly unusual device, his life is suddenly upended. Joe's client, Edie Banister, is more than just a kindly old lady - she's a former superspy. And the device? It's a 1950s doomsday machine. And having triggered it, Joe now faces the wrath of both the government and a diabolical South Asian dictator, Edie's old arch-nemesis.
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A cure for the modern cynic
- By Maine Colonial 🌲 on 08-28-12
By: Nick Harkaway
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Titanium Noir
- A Novel
- By: Nick Harkaway
- Narrated by: Davis Brooks
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Cal Sounder is a detective working for the police on certain very sensitive cases. So when he’s called in to investigate a homicide at a local apartment, he is surprised at first to see that the victim appears to be a rather typical, milquetoast techie. But on closer inspection, he finds the victim is over seven feet tall. And even though he doesn’t look a day over thirty, he is actually ninety years old. Clearly, he is a Titan—one of this dystopian, near-future society’s genetically-altered elites. There are only a few thousand Titans worldwide.
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Always love Nick Harkaway
- By nicholas gasper on 05-18-23
By: Nick Harkaway
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Gnomon 2
- By: Nick Harkaway
- Narrated by: Julien Chatelet
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Grande-Bretagne. Futur proche. La monarchie constitutionnelle parlementaire qu'on croyait éternelle a laissé place au Système, un mode de démocratie directe où le citoyen est fortement incité à participer et voter. La population est surveillée en permanence par le Témoin : la somme de toutes les caméras de surveillance et de tout le suivi numérique que permettent les smartphones et autres objets connectés. Alors qu'elle est soumise à une lecture mentale, la dissidente Diana Hunter décède.
By: Nick Harkaway
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Gnomon 1
- By: Nick Harkaway
- Narrated by: Julien Chatelet
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Grande-Bretagne. Futur proche. La monarchie constitutionnelle parlementaire qu'on croyait éternelle a laissé place au Système, un mode de démocratie directe où le citoyen est fortement incité à participer et voter. La population est surveillée en permanence par le Témoin : la somme de toutes les caméras de surveillance et de tout le suivi numérique que permettent les objets connectés.
By: Nick Harkaway
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The Gone-Away World
- By: Nick Harkaway
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 24 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
There couldn't be a fire along the Jorgmund Pipe. It was the last thing the world needed. The Pipe was what kept the Livable Zone safe from the bandits, monsters, and nightmares the Go-Away War had left in its wake. Enter Gonzo Lubitsch and the Haulage & HazMat Emergency Civil Freebooting Company, a team of troubleshooters who roll into action when things get hot.
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Exhaustively witty, but unsatisfying
- By Ryan on 09-01-12
By: Nick Harkaway
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Tigerman
- By: Nick Harkaway
- Narrated by: Matt Bates
- Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lester Ferris needs a rest. He's spent his life being shot at, and Afghanistan was the last stop on his road to exhaustion. Mancreu is the ideal place for Lester to relax. A former British colony, soon to be destroyed because of its very special version of toxic pollution. But Lester Ferris makes a friend: a street kid with a comicbook fixation who will need a home - who might, Lester hopes, become an adopted son. But in a place like Mancreu, just what sort of hero will the boy need?
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Slow start - but very touching
- By Cath on 08-25-14
By: Nick Harkaway
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Angelmaker
- By: Nick Harkaway
- Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joe Spork repairs clocks, a far cry from his late father, a flashy London gangster. But when Joe fixes one particularly unusual device, his life is suddenly upended. Joe's client, Edie Banister, is more than just a kindly old lady - she's a former superspy. And the device? It's a 1950s doomsday machine. And having triggered it, Joe now faces the wrath of both the government and a diabolical South Asian dictator, Edie's old arch-nemesis.
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A cure for the modern cynic
- By Maine Colonial 🌲 on 08-28-12
By: Nick Harkaway
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Titanium Noir
- A Novel
- By: Nick Harkaway
- Narrated by: Davis Brooks
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cal Sounder is a detective working for the police on certain very sensitive cases. So when he’s called in to investigate a homicide at a local apartment, he is surprised at first to see that the victim appears to be a rather typical, milquetoast techie. But on closer inspection, he finds the victim is over seven feet tall. And even though he doesn’t look a day over thirty, he is actually ninety years old. Clearly, he is a Titan—one of this dystopian, near-future society’s genetically-altered elites. There are only a few thousand Titans worldwide.
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Always love Nick Harkaway
- By nicholas gasper on 05-18-23
By: Nick Harkaway
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Gnomon 2
- By: Nick Harkaway
- Narrated by: Julien Chatelet
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Grande-Bretagne. Futur proche. La monarchie constitutionnelle parlementaire qu'on croyait éternelle a laissé place au Système, un mode de démocratie directe où le citoyen est fortement incité à participer et voter. La population est surveillée en permanence par le Témoin : la somme de toutes les caméras de surveillance et de tout le suivi numérique que permettent les smartphones et autres objets connectés. Alors qu'elle est soumise à une lecture mentale, la dissidente Diana Hunter décède.
By: Nick Harkaway
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Gnomon 1
- By: Nick Harkaway
- Narrated by: Julien Chatelet
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
Grande-Bretagne. Futur proche. La monarchie constitutionnelle parlementaire qu'on croyait éternelle a laissé place au Système, un mode de démocratie directe où le citoyen est fortement incité à participer et voter. La population est surveillée en permanence par le Témoin : la somme de toutes les caméras de surveillance et de tout le suivi numérique que permettent les objets connectés.
By: Nick Harkaway
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Seven Demons
- By: Aidan Truhen
- Narrated by: Christian Coulson
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Meet Jack Price and the Seven Demons: Doc, the evil mad scientist presently using Jack for sex; Rex, an explosives expert who doesn’t ask too many questions so long as something goes boom; Volodya, a Ukrainian assassin who may or may not be a cannibal; Charlie, a comic book artist with computer skills and an anarchist bent; Lucille, whose specialty is razor-edged hugs; and Jack’s predecessor, Fred, who doesn’t contribute a whole lot owing to being a severed head on a stick. Finally there’s Jack himself, former coffee magnate turned cocaine dealer turned First Demon.
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Where's the first one??
- By Cory Plowman on 09-26-22
By: Aidan Truhen
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Permutation City
- By: Greg Egan
- Narrated by: Adam Epstein
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The good news is that you have just awakened into Eternal Life. You are going to live forever. Immortality is a reality. A medical miracle? Not exactly. The bad news is that you are a scrap of electronic code. The world you see around you, the you that is seeing it, has been digitized, scanned, and downloaded into a virtual reality program. You are a Copy that knows it is a copy. The good news is that there is a way out.
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Amazing book. Amazingly bad narrator.
- By Treasure on 01-28-15
By: Greg Egan
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Arcadia
- A Novel
- By: Iain Pears
- Narrated by: John Lee, Jayne Entwistle
- Length: 20 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In 1960s Oxford, Professor Henry Lytten is attempting to write a fantasy novel that forgoes the magic of his predecessors, J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. He finds an unlikely confidante in his quick-witted, inquisitive young neighbor, Rosie. One day, while chasing Lytten's cat, Rosie encounters a doorway in his cellar. She steps through and finds herself in an idyllic, pastoral land where storytellers are revered above all others.
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Delightful genre fiction mash-up
- By Maine Colonial 🌲 on 03-22-16
By: Iain Pears
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Paradise-1
- By: David Wellington
- Narrated by: Laurel Lefkow
- Length: 21 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Paradise-1. Earth’s first deep space colony. For thousands of people, it was an opportunity for a new life. Until it went dark. No communication has been received from the colony for months. And it falls to Firewatch inspector Alexandra Petrova and the crew of the Artemis to investigate. What they find is more horrifying than anything they could have imagined.
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Frustrating....
- By Anonymous User on 05-04-23
By: David Wellington
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Harold
- By: Steven Wright
- Narrated by: Steven Wright
- Length: 5 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
From the outside, Harold is an average seven-year-old third grader growing up in the 1960s. Bored by school. Crushing on a girl. Likes movies and baseball—especially the hometown Boston Red Sox. Enjoys spending time with his grandfather. But inside Harold’s mind, things are a lot more complex and unusual. His thoughts come to him as birds flying through a small rectangle in the middle of his brain. He visits an outdoor cafe on the moon and is invited aboard a spaceship by famed astronomer Carl Sagan.
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Super imaginative, funny and bizarrely profound.
- By Scott Paul Graham on 06-10-23
By: Steven Wright
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Cage of Souls
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 23 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The sun is bloated, diseased, dying perhaps. Beneath its baneful light, Shadrapar, last of all cities, harbours fewer than 100,000 human souls. Built on the ruins of countless civilisations, Shadrapar is a museum, a midden, an asylum, a prison on a world that is ever more alien to humanity. Bearing witness to the desperate struggle for existence between life old and new is Stefan Advani: rebel, outlaw, prisoner, survivor.
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masterful inversion in style
- By Anonymous User on 02-08-23
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Diaspora
- By: Greg Egan
- Narrated by: Adam Epstein
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Behold the orphan. Born into a world that is not a world. A digital being grown from a mind seed, a genderless cybernetic citizen in a vast network of probes, satellites, and servers knitting the Solar System into one scape, from the outer planets to the fiery surface of the Sun. Since the Introdus in the 21st century, humanity has reconfigured itself drastically. Most chose immortality, joining the polises to become conscious software.
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Fabulous Story, Disappointing Performance
- By Ben on 12-08-13
By: Greg Egan
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Dhalgren
- By: Samuel R. Delany
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 34 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Bellona is a city at the dead center of the United States. Something has happened there...the population has fled. Madmen and criminals wander the streets. Strange portents appear in the cloud-covered sky. And into this disaster zone comes a young man - a poet, a lover, and an adventurer - known only as the Kid.
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A classic I return to every few years
- By kwdayboise (Kim Day) on 04-08-17
By: Samuel R. Delany