Oceanworlds

De: J.P. Landau

Narrado por: Andrew Dennis, Caitlin Campbell

If you were in awe of books like The Martian and 2001: A Space Odyssey or movies like Interstellar and Apollo 13, get ready for a story destined to become a sci-fi classic - one with the potential to leap from fiction into reality and become the greatest adventure on which humankind has ever embarked.

September 7 2030. Mission Day 1179. Late at night inside the two-person Dragon spacecraft resting on the frozen surface of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, Derya Terzi put on headphones and became the first Earthling to hear the sloshing of the enormous subsurface ocean beneath his feet. Intoxicated with the promise of discovery, he could have sworn it was whispers between inscrutable creatures of the deep. He was convinced they were days away from settling the most profound and existential mystery known to humanity: are we alone in the universe?

But that was 10 days ago, before disaster stroke. Now, marooned a billion miles from home, what the surviving crew is about to go through will shatter the limits of friendship, courage, and the human spirit.

“In addition to telling a truly immersive story - and one so realistic that the stakes always feel sky high - J.P. Landau continues the tradition of sci-fi meant to spur not just the imagination, but action toward a better future as well. He asks readers not simply to seriously consider the utility of space exploration, but to also remember how dangerous the journey will be - and how essential it is to the human condition.” (Kirkus Reviews)

©2018 J. P. Landau (P)2019 J.P. Landau

Top shelf Science Fiction

I'm an avid freeway audiobook listener. this story made me not want to take my exit !!
the science is solid. it's a very far reach but I would expect not too far from the realistic expectations it produces.

Expansive Hard Science Fiction

Trips to the ends of the universe can go from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in very little time, ad that's how this one is. A crew of two has landed on a frozen moon of Saturn to investigate if there's life there and if it's intelligent life meaning we're not alone in the universe. Well then stuff starts to hit the fan in epic fashion as the two crewmates go from the high of making discoveries to a fight for their lives billions of miles from home where there's no one else to help. It's tense and exciting with a lot of scientific facts interspersed throughout but still not interrupting the story. And it has the same feel you get from watching the videos we have of people going to space, all those moments where the world is watching for the triumph of the human spirit over our terrestrial home. It's those feelings of up and down with the crewmates that make this more than a thought experiment, and brings it into a story of humanity among the stars.

I received the review code for this audiobook at my request and have voluntarliy left this honest review.

An excellent soup, with a fly or two in it

This is a hard sci-fi adventure novel which tells a big impressive story, and has a lot going for it. However there were a couple problems that really bothered me and dramatically lessened my enjoyment of it.

As far as highlights go, I have to start with the narrators and the production quality. The readers had a tough job here as they had to give the cast distinctive voices and tackle multiple accents from all over the world. It was a huge task and they nailed it. The second highlight is Landau's prose. While there are some problems I'll mention later, by volume most of the writing is great, specifically the hard sci-fi writing. Descriptions of weather systems on different planets, the scale and scope of the universe, and other big ideas are all described beautifully and in a way that is easy and entertaining to follow.

Somewhere between highlights and lowlights is that there is a section of the book that delves into my favorite type of hard SF story: Survival. Clarke mastered this type of story with "A Fall of Moondust". Weir's "The Martian" is probably the most famous example of this type of story. The key to telling this kind of story is managing believabiliy, and in my opinion this section was a fun adventure but the believability was just not there for me, the odds were just stacked too high.

I did have some bigger problems with the novel though. First, the story takes the stance that funding it's mission to space can only be done through privatization and not government. That's fine, I don't think it's realistic but, what we get in the novel is just silly: a mission funded by Elon Musk and Kickstarter. Worse, Elon Musk shows up as a character in this, mercifully he's only in 2 or 3 scenes, but when he does it feels a bit like fan fiction and really got under my skin. These might sound like small complaints but they came up often enough to spoil my experience.

I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for my unbiased review

Not bad, not worth a re-listen though

Everything felt really one-dimensional. The characters were introduced with a little explanation and then left to "grow" with the story. Elements of the story were unbelievable, as were some of the character elements (why does such an important mission get crewed by people who don't get along seamlessly?). Major plot points felt barely addressed (gotta emergency refuel, .... ok.., done) ...

I felt the book was well researched but the story was really thin in much of the book.

Classic sci-fi blended with a purpose.

I loved this book, relatable characters, and plausible science make this one of the books I recommend to anyone. A purpose filled call to the stars for anyone who looks at the sky and wonders. This book just took over my top spot for near-sci-fi, previously occupied by Seveneves. I did request this book from the publisher, but don't let that detour you as this book is really good.