Parallax Rising

Infinita, Book 2

By: Christopher Hopper

Narrated by: Rebecca Woods, Daniel Wisniewski

Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

You've got your life back.

The future looks bright.

But how long will it last?

Restored to his prestigious position within NUESSA, Jericho Fox takes command of the Marquis-class ship’s test program on a mission that promises to move humanity to a habitable exoplanet. But not everyone believes he’s fit for the job. As launch hour nears, can Jericho keep his crew from following the doomed fate of his last mission?

Meanwhile, Dr. Evelyn Park leads her team of scientists in decoding the now legendary alien transmission that survived the Astraea Station catastrophe. However, the deeper they get, the more she places their lives in danger. Will Evelyn’s team find the key to unlocking the alien transmission before it’s too late?

From the mind of best-selling novelist Christopher Hopper and with the voice talents of Rebecca Woods and Daniel Wisniewski comes the second installment in the thrilling Infinita series. Listen to Parallax Rising today!

©2022 Hopper Creative Group, LLC (P)2022 Hopper Creative Group, LLC

Not gonna do it

I'm not going to be forced into leaving a review. My star rating is going to continue.

S Kaye

This was so engrossing! Truly on edge of seat several times. Heart felt and thought provoking! Thank you Christopher! Not in favor of bad language, but am in favor of creative writing. Rebecca and Daniel absolutely rock!!!

Unbelievable

This was yet another amazing combination of some of the most talented voice actors and writing combined!!

Lots of promise

There is a lot to like in this story but please get a new male narrator. He sounds like he over dramatized everything. Also if Kit got on a space ship and never returns I’ll be good with it.

What a great addition to the series

This is a great addition to this series. Talk about suspense, Drama and humor. This has it all. It is a beautifully constructed world with wonderfully thought out characters the jump out of the recording and fill your life with joy, laughter and even hatred. Christopher Hopper does a wonderful job of being this story to page and Rebecca Woods and Daniel Wisniewski bring these characters to life. Just a masterful work all around. Thank you so much for some of the most enjoyable listening I have had the pleasure of doing in quite some time. I am amazed by these three. If you haven’t read or listened to this yet and are on the fence get down here and experience a masterful story being told by two masterful actors I promise you will not be disappointed.

Thank you!

Easily One of the best Sci-Fi Books of the year!!

The second in the Infinita series is a multifaceted psychological thriller with political intrigue, wrapped in hard sci-fi and with a good amount of humour (Kit has you in hysterics). The story starts with a chilling, yet fascinating insight into young Magnolia Birdwhistle, who later becomes known as Neon. This gives us a really great perspective and terrible understanding for the motivations of Neon, and makes you look at her in a whole new light.
The story then unfolds into a combination of intriguing politics regarding the state of power for Earth, we get to meet new characters such as Mary Allbrook of the Preservationists, and see the disgraced Sir Nigel Sallsworth, who is working to regain his power.
Meanwhile, Dr Evelyn Parks and her team continue to research their new findings. They are supported by the newly promoted Capt Jericho Fox, who is charge of getting the new Kogarashi X-10 ship ready for its test flight. There is obvious concerns about not blowing up the ship and killing everyone like last time, and whilst most are careful about this, Fox has to face the not so delicate input of the old project manager (the one her replaced) Eddie Carr.
Carr is one of the best characters in this book, he has a ‘colourful’ vocabulary (one that is most definitely NOT safe for any environment that is work related or where children are!!), but you will be on the floor in tears, you will be laughing so hard. Without spoilers, I have so mention Willow Shade at this point to – an obnoxious ‘Caster’ (Think live Podcaster), who is probably one of the funniest characters in the book, and if you get the chance to listen to the Audio by Rebecca Woods of this character, it is probably one of the best performances of the year!!
There are so many aspects to this story, covering the complex interplay that is happening between the different Politicast’s, but especially the now disgraced ‘Tantum Terrae’, led by Neon, and the Solum Terram, led by Sir Nigel Sallsworth. These two via for power, whilst the Sentia Aus, and Viatoribus, spend more time seeking funding, and trying to get the Parallax project (and the gate), up and running. In the middle are the Preservationists, trying to maintain a balance. It is an intriguing system of government, and makes for a really wonderful read, especially with each of the major characters and their stories intertwined as well.
Added to this is the deeper story of Evelyn and Sam (and their team), trying to decipher the message they received at the end of book 1. There is this wonderful set of characters, all bouncing off each other, providing a brilliant story here, and in amongst this, is the deception and subterfuge of Sam, unbeknownst to anyone, which just adds this captivating element to the story as well. Evelyn’s part of the story is also great as Hopper has gone to extreme efforts to include so spectacular ‘Hard Sci-Fi’ that just adds this compelling aspect to the story, giving it a realistic, gritty edge, an authenticity that is just awesome!!
The interplay between Jericho and Kit is perhaps some of the best dialogue in a sci-fi series I have read this year. Kit leaves you on the floor in tears at points, he is so good. I can’t really say much without spoilers, but there are SO many great Kit Bits in this book, that it is worth getting just for these. But it isn’t just that, the intense story surrounding Jericho and his return to the limelight, after his fall from grace, and now, getting a second chance with the Kogarashi, it is such an exceptional part of this book. As stated earlier, Jericho has a new team, with great characters, Nairobi, Alic, Adrian, Torrence, and the one and only Eddie Carr.
There are so many outstanding characters in this book, it would take several pages to list them all in detail, and go through them all. Sam is so incredibly intense, gritty, and real, providing these moments that will absolutely rip your heart out, but at the same time, you feel conflicted because of who she is. The character writing around Sam, Neon, Sir Nigel, is absolutely brilliant, and shows the Christopher Hopper is easily one of the best character authors on the market today. From these powerful, raw characters, to those that leave you in tears, (the other sort from laughing), to those that stretch the imagination through science, he covers every aspect of extraordinary writing!!
I have to give shout out as well to Willow Shade, who comes to interview Evelyn. I am not going to give any spoilers, but this sequence is one of the funniest things I have read (listened to), all year, and was beyond brilliant – an absolute must listen!!
The world building in this book is exceptional, Hopper brings every little detail to life, and has spent a lot of time and effort researching elements to make sure that the ‘Hard Sci-Fi’ aspects of the story are not only compelling, but are gritty and authentic. The descriptive work has so much depth, the station, characters, science, all of it is remarkable, and really brings the story to life.
Parallax Rising has so many extraordinary elements, it is a story full of amazing science, exceptional characters, and world-building that is just spectacular. This is a true masterclass in Sci-Fi, and is an absolute must read!!!
Daniel Wisniewski and Rebecca woods are two of the best Narrators on the market today. They are the definition of what ‘Voice Actor’ means, bringing this story, with such powerful portrayal of the characters, bringing the world of Infinita to life. Daniel Wisniewski has such an outstanding array of character voices, performing each of the male roles, and providing a different voice for every character. He is easy to understand, and has such a lovely speaking voice, he is so easy to listen to as a performer, you can listen to him for ages. His performance of Eddie Carr is one of the funniest performances of the year, and will have you in tears. I don’t want to give away any spoilers but Daniel’s narration of Eddie and Kit is so good, it should come with a warning about not operating heavy machinery as you will be laughing so hard. He is just brilliant!!
Rebecca Woods has perhaps one of the most beautiful voices of any narrator I have listened to and you can listen to her for, well for days on end!! She has a very clear and concise voice, very easy to understand. She can do an exceptional range of voices, with a different, distinctive voice for every character, so you know exactly who is talking. She has the best New Zealand accent I have ever heard of any voice actress or narrator who doesn’t come from NZ or Aus (and I’m Australian, so I should know). It is incredible how she switches between voices. Rebecca’s performance in this book is extraordinary, there are a couple of points (I won’t give spoilers), in which she provides these powerful, gritty, gut-wrenching performances, that are so incredibly real, you find yourself tearing up with the characters. On the flip side, her performance of Willow Shade, interviewing Evelyn, is easily the funniest segment I have listened to in an audiobook this year, and was just stunning, I was in tears I was laughing so hard.
Rebecca Woods is just brilliant.
These two make this an absolute MUST listen, it would be an absolute shame not to!!

Narrators are next level. Story is a slow burn.

The characters are great but the plot does feel like it is stretched a bit thin. I'm all for a little mystery but hopefully the plot picks up a bit in the next book.

Boring

Everything is boring about this book and the first book. Jericho’s accent is ridiculous. Super disappointing.

Holy biscuits mother*****r!

This is going to be the first book by my favorite author that I haven't rated a 5 star book...its truly a mixed bag. Here's why...

First for the good. Perhaps the most real & intense of all of his books and series I've read thus far, complex characters and real-world, believable character and environment interactions...plus some of the best voice acting I've ever heard and experienced...puts this into 5 star territory. The story line is unique and world built is fabulous. Some of Hopper's best work on all of this plus did I mention the voice acting? I think someone mentioned voice acting. yeah pretty sure! Wisnewski and Woods are flat out amazing...really took this story that was a 5 star story and carried it into rarefied air. I would give it 6 or 7 stars for that if possible!

Now the bad or lets say troubling. One thing I've always liked about Hopper's books to date are that I dont have to cringe over the use of curse words and some really difficult and graphic scenes. Some may say thats a negative. I viewed that as a positive. Does star wars or even star trek (not the new woketard trek we've been treated with in discovery and Picard...whereby dropping f bombs or trying to be "hip" with some salty language plagues all of modern trek work now) suffer because of their lack of language or lack of graphic scenes playing out like rape or wanton violence? No they do not. They stand head and tails as the best of the sci-fi genre because the content of the stories and characters are so good. sometimes there is a theme of good vs. evil (particularly star wars....though latest star wars have muddied that somewhat). But even with star trek where its a bit more nuanced, it didn't need the f***ing f bombs to make it legit and believable. I personally dislike the use of language like this partially because I've listened with my kids to some of Hopper's and some other books like galaxy's edge. I KNEW this book series was specifically stated that it was meant to be 16 or 17+. But wouldn't ya know it, hopped into my car and turned it on, taking my kids out, and BOOM, Eddie effin carr started dropping f bombs. Maybe you can say thats my fault. It autoplayed. But you know what? Its a shame that one of the best sci fi books I've enjoyed is marred with not just 1 f bomb like book 1....but somewhere around 100. I didnt stop to count them all. but it was more than almost any other book I've heard. It traumatized my kids when I didnt even try to play it for them, just turned on. And honestly its a bit of a mind rape too to be inundated with 100 f bombs thru a book. garbage in garbage out. I expected better out of Christian author. No doesn't mean a Christian can't or doesn't swear. But putting thought into a book means you INTENTIONALLY put those in and now subject your listeners to that less than creative way of expression. I have less trouble with language when war themes are going on. Life and death are a completely different narrative. yes there were spots in the book of life and death but NOWHERE in those scenes were f bombs dropped. Yes, we all know people who swear every other word. so what? to make it believable you have to subjec listeners to that crap? don't we get enough of that in the real world? I listen to books to get an escape from that. yes I appreciate building a believable world. but once again even in sci-fi genre, that was never required with star trek TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT...nor with star wars. so gimme an effin break about that garbage. and yes I'm intentionally dropping bleeped f bombs bc doesn't it just fit?

so due to gratuitous and UNNECESSARY use of language peppered through the book, I docking 2 full stars. Book 3 i know is already written. Probably going to be 200+ f bombs in that one. as such I am not planning to continue the series and even though I like Hopper greatly, anyone else who finds such writing problematic I encourage you to abstain too. consider it feedback that at least some of his fans who really like him personally and love his books (mostly now, no longer universally) will not pay to be mind f***Ed. not cool.

It ends in the middle of a chapter, basically.

Liked the first book, which felt complete as a book and yet a great series start, had to keep going.
This one ends in such an awkward way. Irritating to have to get another book, but also, that other book isn’t published! The author could have done a much better job at least finishing the thought.
But then the whole book felt rushed. So.
I get the expanse comparisons - but this is nowhere near the quality of writing - world ir character development, language, relationships, clever.
That said, it’s easy and not irritating, until this book ended without an end.