In the House of Aryaman, a Lonely Signal Burns

Sub-Inspector Ferron Mysteries, Book 1

By: Elizabeth Bear

Narrated by: Zehra Jane Naqvi

Length: 2 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's Summary

A science fiction mystery set in the India of the future by two-time Hugo Award winner Elizabeth Bear.

A man has been turned inside-out. Literally.

Fifty years hence, in the sleek modern city of Bangalore, a scientist working on revolutionary bioengineering techniques has been discovered inside his own locked home, his body converted into a neat toroidal package of meat. It's up to Police Sub-Inspector Ferron to unearth the victim's complicated past and solve the crime, despite the best efforts of the mastermind behind the murder, aliens beaming signals from the Andromeda Galaxy, her overbearing mother, and the intricacies of dealing with the only witness - an adorable parrot-cat.

©2012 Sarah Wishnevsky-Lynch (P)2020 Audible Originals, LLC.

Entertaining with a good narrator

The futuristic plot line had you really guessing what was going on. The narrator’s knowledge of Hindi made it an enjoyable listen. The end was rather abrupt, however.

Good

Interesting world, I suspect it's in the same universe as Ancestral Night but so far removed in space/time to not make any difference to the reader.

I like the reader, it's good to have a range of accents and voices. And no I did not find her difficult to understand at all, I hear thicker accents every day just going about my business. Maybe people should get out more, go have a curry, it's good for the soul.

Can't even listen to this!

I wanted to listen to this and I've tried several times. But honestly, I can't stand the narrator. Her voice is so irritating I can only stand a few minutes at a time until I can't take it anymore and need to turn it off. I tried really hard to ignore how much her voice bothers me, but it's almost like nails on a chalkboard--not quite as bad, but a similar feeling.
With so many options of things to listen to these days, I'm not going to waste my time on something that bothers me. I really only listen to audio productions while I'm driving, and my long commute is stressful enough that I don't need to add an annoying narrator to the mix. 😆
I'm sure plenty of people will listen to this without being bothered. I guess it's just personal preference. Don't pass over this story just because the narrator bothered me, because you might actually enjoy it. So I'd recommend giving it a try yourself.

Light mystery with hidden depths and cute cats

"In the House of Aryaman..." develops like a series of nested snow globes, mixing wildly disparate sci-fi tropes in a single story. Bear crafts VR, genetic mods, & dying alien civilizations into a layered construction with sociological observations floating effortlessly through the main murder mystery plotline. Addiction, filial responsibility, & the desperation of the elderly almost upstage the main mystery.

To switch metaphors, this book is a patchwork quilt of interesting characters, ethnicity, human relationships, mystery, and sci Fi concepts expertly combined by Bear as she so often does, letting us peer into her protagonist's angst to let us wrap ourselves in her story. And of course, I always love the critters.

I thoroughly enjoyed the narrator's authentic reading. It made me feel a connection to the protagonist. However, I may need to acquire a printed version to familiarize myself with some of the words of places and things that were foreign to me that my brain could not absorb by hearing.

Overall, an enjoyable read, and I look forward to more in the series.

loved it. loved the narrator.

this is a fun romp through a really engaging world. if you're put off by the narrator, you're doing yourself a disservice. I mean, blue kitties that talk! it's a good mystery with likeable characters.

Entertaining Police Procedural In 21st Cent India

I found myself engrossed in a future India which is a combination of current society and a future society that came ino being after an apocalyptic event. i admit I want a parrotcat like Chairman Meow.

I'm here for the parrot-cats

This one was included in my Audible subscription, and I appear to have given it a spin out of order – I listened to book 2 not so long ago. This is book 1. In the House of Aryaman, a Lonely Signal Burns by Elizabeth Bear is part of the Sub-Inspector Ferron Mysteries and offers listeners a somewhat quirky dive into an India of the future, where virtual and augmented reality blend seamlessly with real life, and humanity deals with the challenges of climate change in a technologically driven society.

Genetic manipulation is par for the course in this setting, and designer pets are de rigueur – so if you want to meet a talkative parrot-cat called Chairman Meow, who is the only witness to what at face value appears to be an utterly bizarre murder, then step right this way. Actually, I was sold by the fact that this story has a talking cat.

Narrated by Zehra Jane Naqvi, this is a short escapade of two hours (unlike the 20+ hour beasts I tend to download) which I admit took me ten or so minutes to get used to Zehra's voice. I don't know why, but I seem to inadvertently mostly listen to audiobooks narrated by British men, so hitting a woman-narrated work was a bit of an adjustment – especially with her accent being on point in terms of the setting. But once I was used to her voice, I was fine, and Zehra oozes quirk in abundance.

There's much to be unpacked in this setting, and my only real complaint is that it's too short! I'm definitely going to keep a lookout for further titles, should these be rolled out. It's great to have a story that's not the usual western-centric fare. If fun, light mysteries, with unexpected twists are your jam, then this one is the cat's whiskers. Oh dog, I shouldn't mix so many metaphors.

In the house of aryaman

I really do not know what to say in this review. I believe that this audio book was entertaining and that it is different from what I usually pick.

Delightful, imaginative, & charmingly told

Lots of neg comments about the narrator, so let's start there.

Firstly, India has many languages, and it's normal to grow up speaking more than one - one of which is often English, thanks to the long & insistent period of English rule. The accent is different, as English-speaking Australian, Welsh, American, and West Indian accents are, with all their regional variations on top of that. English is still a first language for many people in these nations; it just doesn't sound like it's from-England English.

So, if you're not comfortable with hearing English as it's spoken in India, that won't suddenly change. This narrator speaks English as it's spoken in a particular part of India, which is appropriate for the setting of this story.

I slowed it down a little, as I often do. This probably aided my comprehension, because I'm not used to her accent, although I'm happy to pay closer attention in order to understand better.

The narrator's voice is medium-high in pitch, resonant in timbre, musical in tone, and smooth in quality. I find her narration absolutely charming. She distinguishes gently between speakers, clearly enjoys what she's reading, and does a voice for the chatty cat that's charming without being too cutesy.

"Charming" comes to mind often as I look back on the story, the characters, and especially the narration. It's altogether charming.

Interesting - love a good mystery

I hadn't realized it was a Science Fiction mystery.

I enjoyed it. will be reading the sequel, too.

One of my favorite parts is Chairman Meow. Love that name.

Comfortable, optimistic and entertaining

Thoroughly enjoyed this new world creation from Elizabeth Bear. The story was engaging and fun. Loved the Parrot Cat!