Immortal

The Immortal Series, Book 1

By: Gene Doucette

Narrated by: Steve Carlson

Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

Surviving 60,000 years takes cunning and more than a little luck. But in the 21st century, Adam confronts new dangers - someone has found out what he is, a demon is after him, and he has run out of places to hide. Worst of all, he has had entirely too much to drink.

Immortal is a first person confessional penned by a man who is immortal, but not invincible. In an artful blending of sci-fi, adventure, fantasy, and humor, Immortal introduces us to a world with vampires, demons and other magical creatures, yet a world without actual magic.

At the center of the book is Adam.

Adam is a 60,000 year old man. He doesn't age or get sick, but is otherwise entirely capable of being killed. His survival has hinged on an innate ability to adapt, his wits, and a fairly large dollop of luck. He makes an excellent guide through history, when he's sober.

©2010 Gene Doucette (P)2016 Gene Doucette

Didn't want to stop, not desparate to continue

I'm not quite sure what inspired 4-5 star reviews for this one. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't terrible, but neither was it great. The concept of immortality is certainly nothing new in the sci-fi world, and this is largely done without any invocations of gods or the supernatural, even if the science has a few holes in it. I somehow feel that the reason the main character didn't understand much of that 'sciency' stuff was more as a cover for the author's lack of knowledge than any inherent need the character had for this trait. The story has a bit of mystery, but nothing so overwhelming as to drive me immediately to the next book. I read this one to the end, but I wasn't shy about putting it down for long breaks either. It seems the series continues for many more books, but I haven't decided whether to continue or not yet...

Enchanting Entanglement

This was a enchanting entanglement of history, science, humor and nuance in a masterfully spun tale.

DECENT STORY. Yet author uses many long-winded

and boring conversations as 'filler' to push his world view. Poses main character as reluctant yet credible becsuse "he was there". Then begins long monologue about religion. ugh... unecessary.

Needed better narration

This story could have been better had the narrator been better. I’ve liked Steve Carlson in other instances but he didn’t seem like the right choice for this audiobook. Adam is supposed to be an immortal man who appears to be about 35 years old but Steve Carlson sounds elderly to me. Also, he doesn’t do accents well at all. His female voices are all exactly the same and while I could over look that, it’s harder to over look that he has a particular way of making all his female voices sound slightly mentally challenged. He simply does not do this story justice. Otherwise I liked the story and the characters. What I didn’t like so much was the bonus story at the end which seemed unnecessary and gratuitous, as if it was just an excuse to write an additional sex scene. I’m disappointed to see that Steve Carlson narrates the entire series. Not sure if I’ll continue on with the series or not. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Not bad just ok

Could have been better. Not as good as his other book. the narrator was great.

immortal

I'm fairly happy with this book actually hated to see it in two very good story he may be a mortal disease and time but you can take him out with a headshot so yes to be careful about something. overall I liked the book very well.

Great story!

Loads of fun. The narrator really brought it to life. I loved the short stories within the story. They are told as asides but are always important to the current situation.

Good performance of a dull story

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

The author plays with the aspect of a thousands years old immortal, and starts fine. But after about 2/3 of the book, it begins to wear thin. You'll get 2 paragraphs of the in media res story line, then he will flash back to the 'normal' time line for 10 pages, only to do a throwaway, unrelated, side story for 20 pages, back to the current for 10 pages, repeat.

It's interesting at first, but the gimmick wears thin when the character starts to know every single historical famous person to have ever existed, and had brunch (or sex) with them. It's also frustrating because the story goes nowhere, and it does so at an infuriatingly slow pace.

There is a good amount of very interesting world building going on in the novel, but it's hampered by the authors incessant need for navel gazing. It's like having your dotage age grandparents explain the great depression; the core story is compelling but they won't stop spitting out meaningless asides and side stories long enough to tell it.

Would you ever listen to anything by Gene Doucette again?

Possibly; the writing style is good and technically competent, if a bit dull.

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

I've never listened to his performances before, but he was quite good.

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

This is the single most idiotic question I've ever been asked.

WOW!

I love this book. Gene Doucette has written a totally different take on the topic of immortality. Steve Carlton added to the pleasure of listening to this book. I highly recommend this audiobook. I was given this book for free, and I will be listening to the other books in this series.

Great Read

Wonderful read. Can't wait to dig in to book 2. Very entertaining concept. Narrator was excellent.