Mother Go

By: James Patrick Kelly

Narrated by: January LaVoy

Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's Summary

She is the clone of a famed space explorer, but Mariska Volochkova rejects her mother and her heritage and wants no part of interstellar adventure. Although she is genetically engineered to hibernate through the interminable decades of space travel, Mariska's home is a habitat on the moon, and there she intends to stay.

But the sweep of interplanetary politics and an affair with a Martian catches Mariska up in a conspiracy to commit a bold theft that will alter the future of space colonization. Mariska must put her life on the line again and again if she is to discover who she is and what her true destiny must be.

In his first new novel in more than 20 years, Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Award winner James Patrick Kelly has crafted a hard science techno-thriller that never loses its focus on the conflicted emotional life of Mariska, a true citizen of the posthuman 22nd century.

©2017 James Patrick Kelly (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"The novel is notable for the economy and clarity of its prose and for the assuredness with which it treats and critiques some familiar SF conventions....what sets Mother Go apart is Mariska herself, not always sympathetic but continually compelling, as she tries to find a way to inhabit the worlds she inherits." (Locus)

"A wonderfully exuberant space opera....January LaVoy... imparts Mariska with a level of dynamism, urgency, and emotion.... a well-rounded and fun trip that harkens back to the optimistic era of golden-age sci-fi." (The Verge)

Hard Science Fiction with Heart!

Here is a heartfelt coming-of-age story about a teenage girl navigating relationships; complicated would-be boyfriends, her payroll father, and her distant "mother" (who she happens to be a clone of). It's a wonderful journey of finding both independence and loyalty among a pretty thrilling conspiracy. Kelly's technologies (including sharing-brain-feeds, deep space travel, print-anything-on-demand) were fully realized, believable, and never got in the way of the story. Not to mention the ending... agh! Highly recommended.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Teen love drama

I really wanted to like this, but it primarily focuses on a young girl's obstinate rejection of familial love due to feelings of abandonment, her wishy-washy sense of ambition and purpose, and on her need to have a boyfriend.

I'm sure these issues will resolve at some point, but I'm more than halfway through and have lost patience with it.

Performance is decent, if there are a few intentional quirks that can either be a benefit to the narration or an annoyance, depending on how you're enjoying the story. An echo reverb for effect and a strange speech impediment for Martians were the latter for me, but probably a big element of that is my disappointment in the story and character development.

22 of 26 people found this review helpful

There better be a sequel.

The quality of the narrative caught me off guard, as did January's flawless storytelling. Mother Go is unique and traditional at the same time, and once it had me hooked it didn't let me go until I had finished it.

There's something nostalgic about this production, as though it harkens back to the golden age of radio sci-fi - something i sadly never experienced.
I absolutely recommend this, unless scifi isn't your thing. If it is, this is a MUST OWN.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Jim Kelly Trapped Me in My Car With This Story.

If you could sum up Mother Go in three words, what would they be?

Fun, heart-wrenching, addictive.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Mother Go?

Without giving too much away, the scene between Mariska and Nathalia on Mars, when they decide to wait and eat breakfast.

Which scene was your favorite?

It's hard to pick a favorite, but I enjoyed the humor in the cleaning the crud from the ship scenes.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, hence the headline. I ended up sitting in my car in the parking lot at work - I had to know what happened during the final action sequence. I couldn't leave my car!

Any additional comments?

This book has something for everyone. It's a coming of age story, a love story, a caper story, and a sci-fi story.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

A Dream of the future

I loved the exploration of many futuristic issues like cloned vs. clone psychological issues, genetic modifications of humans to live on Mars and on Space Voyages. Well done, a good "read" nicely performed.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Great sci-fi

My first audible book in many years and I've enjoyed morning and afternoon commutes and even looked forward too it. Only downside is that it's over. Highly recommended if you're into sci-fi or just want a great story!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Story is excellent; narrator makes it astounding

Narrator turns what could be just another coming-of-age story into a heartbreaking, addictive new series.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Fantastic read!

What made the experience of listening to Mother Go the most enjoyable?

If you like complicated parental relationships, plans with limited survival odds, extreme body modification, life on the moon and on mars, and strong female characters, then this is the book for you.

6 of 8 people found this review helpful

Starts out slow, hang in there!

What did you love best about Mother Go?

It felt like a very authentic experience. Many have said the protagonist is winy and such but I don't agree. I think she behaves like a teenager and makes some mistakes. Eventually she comes around and realizes what she did and she comes to understand that her actions have gravity. I love it.

What does January LaVoy bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She sounds like a real teenage girl.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Haha, maybe, Growing up in space is hard.

Any additional comments?

It's worth your time.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

great world building and characters

Highly believable future with well drawn characters, both male and female. Great narration adds to the realism.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

not what I was expecting but pleasantly surprised

like many audible titles there's not much to go on with the sample track it only took about 5 minutes into the story to realise it's actually a teen girls coming of age story ( set in space ) will all the Romance Love Lost and relationship building one might expect. As a 27 year old male this isn't exactly my forte with that said I still found myself pulled into this world the author has wrote a very imaginative but well constructed story with characters you want to route for. the narration was performed beautifully you can hear she put a lot of herself into reading this story overall it's definitely worth the buy

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Too empty to enjoy; just grippy enough to finish.

Absolutely fantastic narration by January LaVoy; unfortunately that's about it.

There are 55 chapters in this book and yet nothing happens until chapter 50.

For a deep space action novel not alot happens; however because of that you guess something must happen at any minute so you keep listening only to be proved wrong.

Once you listen it seems a shame to not see it though to the end so it is slightly grippy.

Too empty to enjoy too good not to finish.

Teenage angst under the guise of Sci fi. Will have a fan base but not me.