Proxima Rising

Proxima, Book 1

By: Brandon Q. Morris

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Late in the 21st century, Earth receives what looks like an urgent plea for help from planet Proxima Centauri b in the closest star system to the Sun.

Astrophysicists suspect a massive solar flare is about to destroy this heretofore-unknown civilization. Earth's space programs are unequipped to help, but an unscrupulous Russian billionaire launches a secret and highly-specialized spaceship to Proxima b, over four light-years away.

The unusual crew faces a Herculean task - should they survive the journey. No one knows what to expect from this alien planet.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Brandon Q. Morris (P)2020 Podium Publishing

Story is great, format is not

These three books are one story and cannot possibly stand on their own as in a regular series. In fact, they may as well have each finished mid-sentence for as much sense it made to split them where they did. They also clearly weren't split solely due to length either, since many Sci-Fi books are much longer. So this is another example of a publisher splitting a book up purely for profits which I think is shameful. It may seem unfair for me to "punish" the book/author with 3 stars solely for this reason, but it's my opinion that the author was either part of the decision or holds some responsibility for working with an unscrupulous publisher.
The story itself, however, when considered as a whole is pretty darn good!! It starts strong, the middle section is the weakest and the book really starts to shine in it's last third. It's a great combination of science, exploration, mystery and "first contact" and certainly entertains.

Agree with format issue

The story is fantastic, but it feels pretty dicey that the length of the audiobook INCLUDES over 40 minutes of book two preview. That feels extremely misleading. Those 40 minutes ARE NOT BOOK LENGTH

Uh...

Great beginning and narrative and slowly petered out into boring nothingness. Idiotic AI story so common these days. I'm not a fan of AI stories. They're just an excuse for authors to not develop real characters. No credible sci fi here. Stopped short of finishing book near the end.

Not surprised about the reviews but disagree

I found this story quite brilliant. I understand how people might not like the monotone AI voice BUT, hear me out here, there's still a great deal of emotion and that's the unique aspect of the story. It's not an AI that was spontaneously generated by humans, this is an AI that was once a human. It's not typical nor was it boring. Humans that have never known Earth makes their progression from children to adults so fascinating. All terrestrial aspects of life are foreign to these cosmos born humans and being along as they learn to navigate a world that is totally foreign is so interesting. It took a lot of imagination to write this story. The actions are always predictable but the encounters are so strange to imagine.
I've never heard of this author but I enjoyed the first book and will be listening to the next. I do agree the end is abrupt but I'm willing to go along with it because it was free. Had I paid, that would be irritating because I've listened to a single novel that was over 20hours. That doesn't deter people from listening, at least avid listeners wouldn't mind :)

Children Are Trouble

These children are trouble. Either that or they just have bad karma hanging around them saying I'm gonna have some fun. Every time you turn the page it is catastrophe after another. Maybe naming them Adam and Eve was a bad idea.
Eduardo Ballerini does an ok job narrating but he just could not make it happen.

Great Hard Science Fiction

I loved this book. After two duds during the Shelter in Place this was a real reward. I've got to get the second one as soon as possible. Kind of like I Robot meets We Are Legion!! Wonderful. Every thing was excellent about it.

Great! I could not put it down.

Real science fiction. Although it streches science, it was believable. I looked the story and the characters.

Need to sleep? This is for you

If you need something to help you sleep this book is for you. Honestly it’s probably half the content and the actor. It really can’t be more boring. This will probably be the first book I can’t get through. It’s really terrible. I gave the story two stars but it’s an interesting concept just really not worth getting.

Moves like pond water

I would say more but the stupid app requires 15 words and you can not submit without them.

Dodgy Practices from Audible

First book is in the subscription and two following books need to be bought.

Really dodgy audible. As the book stops almost mid sentence.

interesting story with occasional howlers.

A proof read by someone scientifically literate would have helped.
Also did the text really say " conversation of momentum " instead of "conservation of momentum " or did the reader slip up ?
still I enjoyed the story.

For the SiFi experts

If this is one of your first forays into SiFi, it's going to be too much. It was a struggle to say with the story only because (to me) it was just a step too far into the realm of unbelievable. I am sure for the SiFi buffs it's going to be another Brandon Q Morris hit. Narration was great and that's the only reason I stayed with the story. Good luck....enjoy.

great book

A great classic story quality narration good hard sci-fi novel the character development was thorough

Generally excellent Sci-Fi adventure

A very well structured and engrossing Sci-Fi adventure tale that is split (somewhat abruptly) across three books.

Most of the 'Hard Science Fiction' is weighted in this first instalment which is often superb, particularly the Arthur C Clarke style beginning. As the tale progresses things become somewhat more formulaic, but barring a few minor plot holes, it's a captivating story that generally delivers.

Edoardo Ballerini's narration is extremely atmospheric and definitely lifts an already decent product.

Solid sci-fi story

Some really neat ideas, I personally quite enjoyed the ideas of wildlife described on the planet Proxima B. My biggest and possibly only gripe is that the amount of time spent on the actual journey to Proxima B is too long (although even here I did enjoy a lot of the imagined solutions to some serious issues biological life would have to endure in Interstellar travel).

POTENTIAL SPOILER
If you do not care for the science part of sci-fi, maybe give a miss as there is a lot of talking about how to deal with the flares from the star Proxima Centauri(the star is known to be a flare star) and also the science of how life would have to have evolved to adapt to the high amount of UV radiation that hits Proxima B.

The narrator gave a solid performance, so no qualms there. Overall I would recommend giving this a go if you, like me, love all things sci-fi.

Excellent and totally unexpected!

When I read the description of this title I didn’t think much of it. But I gave it a go because I was up for something new and wow, I was completely blown away by this title.

It feels like Rendezvous with Rama in some respects and I love that. It’s totally original and it kept me gripped from beginning to end! I don’t want to say too much in case I spoil it but I recommend this to anyone with a love of hard-science fiction!

The first lap of a very long run

No wormholes, no teleportation devices or inventive technologies to manipulate the fabric of space time, and certainly no alien invasion to fend off, at least not yet. No, this is the vast bleak distance of space travel done the hard way. It is hard science constructed from credible technology a few short steps ahead of what is currently available.

The basic premise includes a nuanced reworking of Old Testament Genesis. It is a creation story without the attendant organised religion, and with a seemingly altruistic creator that remains absent yet omnipotent throughout.

Unquestionably, the truly colossal distances involved in space travel will be monotonous. It does not lend itself to the short span of human lifetimes or readers that require quick entertainment and conclusions. But the story cleverly distracts us by alluding to a developing mystery, leading us to believe that our patience will be rewarded if we stay the course.

The book is well written, and the narration is good. However, the foreboding menace that felt promised is never adequately rewarded in this first volume, and the reader must plan for the long haul. This is not necessarily a criticism, but I feel the author might have been a tad more generous with this first instalment to encourage me to follow.

glad I didn't pay for this

it's poor very poor, boring just bla, everything wrong with a si Fi book

Great Storyline

Really well narrated - very slow burner that lights up so you need to stick with it - very wothwhile

Very good concept

I thought this was a decent book overall. The author came up with some really great ideas and concepts. However I feel there are some small plot holes but I can easily overlook those. Overall an enjoyable listen for your average science-fiction fan