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Tau Zero
- Narrated by: Neil Hellegers
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
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Publisher's summary
This science fiction novel describes the epic voyage of the spacecraft Leonora Christine, which will take a 40-strong crew to a planet some 30 light years distant.
From practically the very first minute, Tau Zero sets scientific realities in dramatic tension with the very real emotional and psychological states of the travelers, exploring the effect of time contraction due to traveling at near-light speed on the human psyche. This tension is a dynamic that Anderson explores with great success over the course of the novel, as 50 crewmembers settle in for the long journey together. While they are a highly trained team of scientists and researchers and therefore professionals, they are also a community of individuals, each of them trying to create for him or herself a life in a whole new space - or, literally, in space.
It isn't long, however, before the voyage takes a turn for the worse. The ship passes through a small, uncharted nebula that makes it impossible to decelerate the ship. Their only hope is to do the opposite and speed up. But acceleration towards and within the speed of light means that time outside the spaceship passes even more rapidly, sending the crew deeper into space and further into an unknown future.
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More Than Honor
- Worlds of Honor #1
- By: David Weber, David Drake, S. M. Stirling
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine, L. J. Ganser, Khristine Hvam
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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New York Times best-selling author David Weber invites David Drake and S.M. Stirling, two of today's top writers of military science fiction, to join him in an exploration of Honor Harrington's universe.
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Honor Harrington Universe Book 8
- By Professor on 10-17-12
By: David Weber, and others
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Star Trek Prometheus - Fire with Fire
- By: Bernd Perpies, Christian Humberg
- Narrated by: Alec Newman
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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A mysterious terrorist organisation has carried out several attacks against the Federation and Klingon Empire. Tensions are running high in a region already crippled by conflict. The perpetrators are tracked to the Lembatta Cluster, a mysterious region of space whose inhabitants, the Renao, regard the Alpha Quadrant s powers as little more than conquering tyrants. The Federation are desperate to prevent more bloodshed, and have sent their most powerful warship, the USS Prometheus, into the Cluster to investigate the threat before all-consuming war breaks out.
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Please pronounce things correctly
- By C. A. Aranzazu on 12-22-18
By: Bernd Perpies, and others
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Queen of Angels
- By: Greg Bear
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 19 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Emanuel Goldsmith, a famous poet, murdered eight people, then disappeared. Three people want to find him: an aspiring writer, an embittered scientist who wants to use him, and a policewoman who needs to put him in custody before the Selectors, a vigilante organization, get to him first.
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fantastic, a whole new experience on audio
- By Tungsten on 04-02-16
By: Greg Bear
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The Engines of God
- By: Jack McDevitt
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Humans call them Monument-Makers. An unknown race, they left stunning alien statues scattered on distant planets throughout the galaxy, encoded with strange inscriptions that defy translation. Searching for clues about the Monument-Makers, teams of 23rd century linguists, historians, engineers and archaeologists have been excavating the enigmatic alien ruins on a number of planets, uncovering strange, massive false cities made of solid rock. But their time is running out.
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Conceptually intriguing, but uneven writing style
- By Michael G Kurilla on 05-12-11
By: Jack McDevitt
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The Medusa Chronicles
- By: Stephen Baxter, Alastair Reynolds
- Narrated by: Peter Kenny
- Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Howard Falcon almost lost his life in an accident as the first human astronaut to explore the atmosphere of Jupiter - and a combination of human ingenuity and technical expertise brought him back. But he is no longer himself. Instead he has been changed into an augmented human: part man, part machine, and exceptionally capable.
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Almost stopped listening. Glad I didn't.
- By cek on 08-21-16
By: Stephen Baxter, and others
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Crystal Singer
- By: Anne McCaffrey
- Narrated by: Adrienne Barbeau
- Length: 2 hrs and 37 mins
- Abridged
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Experience the first Killashandra Ree adventure, in which the indomitable Killa overcomes disappointment in one career by diving into a much more exciting one. Filled with suspense, anguish, romance, and intrigue, this distinctive adventure is one of Anne McCaffrey's best.
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Horrible audio quality
- By Danielle on 10-18-07
By: Anne McCaffrey
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The Course of Empire
- By: Eric Flint, K. D. Wentworth
- Narrated by: Chris Patton
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Conquered by the Jao twenty years ago, the Earth is shackled under alien tyranny - and threatened by the even more dangerous Ekhat, one of whose genocidal extermination fleets is coming to the solar system. The only chance for human survival is in the hands of an unusual pair of allies: a young Jao prince, newly arrived to Terra to assume his duties, and a young human woman brought up amongst the Jao occupiers. But, as their tentative alliance takes shape, they are under pressure from all sides.
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ERIC FLINT'S VENTURE INTO FULL SCI-FI MODE
- By Professor on 11-01-12
By: Eric Flint, and others
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Man Plus
- By: Frederik Pohl
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris, Robert J. Sawyer
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Roger Torraway watched in horror as the monster lurched, toppled over and died. Project Man Plus had gone suddenly and drastically wrong. The race to colonize Mars was too important, too costly, and America was already too committed, for plans to be scrapped. They would have to make a new Martian. And Roger Torraway was it, candidate for the endless surgery, operation after painful operation, that would enable him to survive on that faraway planet.
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More timely now than ever
- By Sandy R on 06-28-10
By: Frederik Pohl
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Refugee
- By: Piers Anthony
- Narrated by: Basil Sands
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Though he was later accused of every crime and sexual perversion in the galaxy, Hope Hubris began as an innocent. Because he defended his older sister against the violent lusts of a wealthy scion, Hope and his peasant family were forced to flee Callisto, one of the moons of Jupiter. Pursued by the bloodthirsty scions across the airless desert, they barely escaped with their lives. The illegal space bubble was overcrowded with refugees, all hoping to reach Jupiter for asylum.
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I fell in love with reading
- By Jeremy Neish on 09-28-17
By: Piers Anthony
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Terrible narration
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For millions of years, the part of the galaxy containing our solar system has been moving through a vast force field that has been inhibiting certain electromagnetic and electrochemical processes and, thus, certain neurotic functions. When Earth escapes the inhibiting field, synapse speed immediately increases, causing a rise in intelligence, which results in a transfigured humanity reaching for the stars, leaving behind our earth to the less intelligent humans and animal life-forms.
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Time Patrol
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Forget minor hazards like nuclear bombs. The discovery of time travel means that everything we know, anyone we know, might not only vanish, but never even have existed. Against that possibility stand the men and women of the Time Patrol, dedicated to preserving the history they know and protecting the future from fanatics, terrorists, and would-be dictators who would remold the shape of reality to suit their own purposes.
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I can not listen to this Horrible Narrator
- By S.E.Anderson on 09-05-20
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Dragon's Egg
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In a moving story of sacrifice and triumph, human scientists establish a relationship with intelligent lifeforms - the cheela-living on Dragon's Egg, a neutron star where one Earth hour is equivalent to hundreds of their years. The cheela culturally evolve from savagery to the discovery of science, and for a brief time, men are their diligent teachers.
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Classic Hard Science Fiction
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Diaspora
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Behold the orphan. Born into a world that is not a world. A digital being grown from a mind seed, a genderless cybernetic citizen in a vast network of probes, satellites, and servers knitting the Solar System into one scape, from the outer planets to the fiery surface of the Sun. Since the Introdus in the 21st century, humanity has reconfigured itself drastically. Most chose immortality, joining the polises to become conscious software.
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Fabulous Story, Disappointing Performance
- By Ben on 12-08-13
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Schild's Ladder
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The Age of Death ended countless millennia ago. No longer burdened by limited lifespans, the immortal humans who populate inhabited space now have the luxury to travel vast distances effortlessly and to tinker with the intricate mechanics of space time. But one such experiment in quantum physics has had a catastrophic and unanticipated result, creating an enormous, rapidly expanding vacuum - a region of new physics - with the frightening potential to devour countless inhabited solar systems.
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Hard science fiction - no kiddin'
- By Michael Linehan on 01-06-14
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Terrible narration
- By Genevieve on 12-03-11
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For millions of years, the part of the galaxy containing our solar system has been moving through a vast force field that has been inhibiting certain electromagnetic and electrochemical processes and, thus, certain neurotic functions. When Earth escapes the inhibiting field, synapse speed immediately increases, causing a rise in intelligence, which results in a transfigured humanity reaching for the stars, leaving behind our earth to the less intelligent humans and animal life-forms.
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I can not listen to this Horrible Narrator
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Classic Hard Science Fiction
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Behold the orphan. Born into a world that is not a world. A digital being grown from a mind seed, a genderless cybernetic citizen in a vast network of probes, satellites, and servers knitting the Solar System into one scape, from the outer planets to the fiery surface of the Sun. Since the Introdus in the 21st century, humanity has reconfigured itself drastically. Most chose immortality, joining the polises to become conscious software.
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Fabulous Story, Disappointing Performance
- By Ben on 12-08-13
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Ringworld
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Welcome to Ringworld, an intermediate step between Dyson Spheres and planets. The gravitational force created by a rotation on its axis of 770 miles per second means no need for a roof. Walls 1,000 miles high at each rim will let in the sun and prevent much air from escaping. Larry Niven's novel, Ringworld, is the winner of the 1970 Hugo Award for Best Novel, the 1970 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and the 1972 Ditmars, an Australian award for Best International Science Fiction.
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Genuinely Creative
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A spirited homage to old myths
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It is 2019. NASA astronaut Nigel Walmsley is sent on a mission to intercept a rogue asteroid on a collision course with Earth. Ordered to destroy it, he instead discovers that it is actually the shell of a derelict space probe - a wreck with just enough power to emit a single electronic signal….
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Like some Space with your Soaps?
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The Mote in God's Eye
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The Mote In God's Eye is their acknowledged masterpiece, an epic novel of mankind's first encounter with alien life that transcends the genre. No lesser an authority than Robert A. Heinlein called it "possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read".
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A great read!
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By: Larry Niven, and others
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Three Hearts and Three Lions
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The gathering forces of the Dark Powers threaten the world of man. The legions of Faery, aided by trolls, demons, and the Wild Hunt itself, are poised to overthrow the Realms of Light. Holger Carlsen, a bemused and puzzled twentieth-century man mysteriously snatched out of time, finds himself the key figure in the conflict. Arrayed against him are the dragons, giants, and elfin warriors of the armies of Chaos and the beautiful sorceress Morgan le Fay.
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I FEEL ALL AT SEA
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By: Poul Anderson
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Downward to the Earth
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Gundersen returns to Holman’s World seeking atonement for his harsh years as colonial governor. But now this lush, exotic planet of mystery is called by its ancient name of Belzagor, and it belongs once again to its native alien races, the nildoror and the sulidoror. Drawn by its spell, Gundersen begins a harrowing pilgrimage to its mist-shrouded north to witness a strange ritual rebirth that will alter him forever.
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A fantastic adaptation of Heart of darkness
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The City and the Stars
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Diaspar is Earth's last city - surrounded by deserts, on a world where the oceans have long since dried up. It is a domed, isolated, technological marvel, run by the Central Computer. Diaspar has conquered death. People are called forth; they live for a thousand years and then are recalled, to be born thousands of years later, over and over again. No child has been born for at least 10 million years. Until Alvin....
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A Classic
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The Boat of a Million Years
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The immortals are 10 individuals born in antiquity from various cultures. Immune to disease, able to heal themselves from injuries, they will never die of old age - although they can fall victim to catastrophic wounds. They have walked among mortals for millennia, traveling across the world, trying to understand their special gifts while searching for one another in the hope of finding some meaning in a life that may go on forever.
By: Poul Anderson
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Permutation City
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The good news is that you have just awakened into Eternal Life. You are going to live forever. Immortality is a reality. A medical miracle? Not exactly. The bad news is that you are a scrap of electronic code. The world you see around you, the you that is seeing it, has been digitized, scanned, and downloaded into a virtual reality program. You are a Copy that knows it is a copy. The good news is that there is a way out.
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Amazing book. Amazingly bad narrator.
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Great Sci-Fi Stories, Volume 1
- By: R. A. Lafferty, Randell Garret, Sam Merwin Jr., and others
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This volume contains a variety of imaginative stories from both famous and not-so-famous science fiction writers.
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read by a computer
- By Austin Smith on 01-23-22
By: R. A. Lafferty, and others
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A Case of Conscience
- By: James Blish
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Father Ruiz-Sanchez is a dedicated man - a priest who is also a scientist, and a scientist who is also a human being. He has found no insoluble conflicts in his beliefs or his ethics...until he is sent to Lithia. There he comes upon a race of aliens who are admirable in every way except for their total reliance on cold reason; they are incapable of faith or belief. Confronted with a profound scientific riddle and ethical quandary, Father Ruiz-Sanchez soon finds himself torn.
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Moldy Oldie still gets it done
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What listeners say about Tau Zero
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Audio Audits
- 12-22-16
Not What I Hoped For
I had to take some time and let my mind digest this audiobook, I felt kinda blah about it in general and wanted to hone in on exactly why because it’s a well-written story. I really enjoy science fiction and especially the space opera genre, but for me there just wasn’t enough action to keep me engaged and it’s disappointing to me because the synopsis gave me high hopes.
This book is really a study in relationships among the crew of spaceship Leonora Christine, which is fine, but not what I’m looking for in my SciFi, I kept thinking, okay let’s get to the action and the more I listened the more I realized it wasn’t going to happen at least not to the degree I wanted or expected.
The audiobook is narrated by Neil Hellegers, and I thought he did a great job narrating! He fully voiced a wide variety characters in this book, no small feat and how can you not love a narrator who can carry a tune? The sound quality of this audiobook was average, there’s something clarity wise in the production that’s just a tad off, and makes the narrator sound winded. I listened to other samples of the narrator's work and this was not an issue. It’s specific to this audiobook and I look forward to hearing more from this narrator.
This audiobook was gifted to me exchange for an unbiased review!
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16 people found this helpful
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- Prsxl5
- 02-02-18
worst narration ever
good story destroyed by the worst narration imaginable. buy the book and avoid this narrator.
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15 people found this helpful
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- Ryan
- 05-13-18
Narration as torture?
I'm ~30 minutes in (only the second chapter) and I'm not sure I can go on, solely due to the narration. I find it really bizarre. Someone else put it well: it sounds like he's out of breath with every sentence. To me, it sounds like he's stuck on 11 all the time. Every single sentence is spoken with all the gravity and urgency of being the last thing ever said before the world ends. I find it very distracting/annoying. I can't imagine anyone speaking this way intentionally, except to portray comedically hyperbolic overacting. I haven't heard any other narrations by Neil Hellegers, so I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe his audio engineer or director for this performance just kept telling him to make everything sound as severe/grave as possible.
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14 people found this helpful
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- R.Dell
- 07-24-17
Interesting story spoiled by the reader
The halting and pressured cadence of the reader was a constant distraction, making it difficult to become immersed in the story. I'm struggling but determined to finish. No disrespect intended to the reader, but just a suggestion to read in a less frenetic manner.
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13 people found this helpful
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- J Nathanson
- 10-25-16
Enjoyed book but not narrator
The narrator speaks in an odd tone, jumpy, and too fast to catch story details. While I somewhat became used to it, I found myself concentrating on understanding the narrators words instead of the underlying story.
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10 people found this helpful
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- Abby
- 06-02-17
Hard Sci Fi at an epic scale
This book blew my mind a bit. At first the humans were not the most interesting characters, it was instead the ship that caught my interest. As the story progressed I began to care about the people while the ship remained the star of the book. Very rich in details and epic in scale, extremely scientific feeling read. The performance was wonderful as well.
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9 people found this helpful
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- sanwizard
- 11-12-16
Great story idea, but could have been much better
The narration ruined it for me. Neil sound like he was out of breath after every sentence. it was painful to listen through, but the premise of the story made me listen to the end. Way to much interpersonal crap that added nothing to what was going on. it was like a bunch of Swedish high school kids traveling through time and the Universe while bickering and getting high.
Poul Anderson is no Robert Heinlein. I was hoping for more. Hoping a new John Ringo book comes out soon.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Mike
- 06-09-17
Like the Martian? You'll love this!
Wish the Martian was of universal scale? This is the book for you. There is no harder sci-fi.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Dan Curtis Fan
- 09-25-18
Terrible narration
The narration is so bad I couldn’t get past the first half-hour. This is one of my favorite books too.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Anna E. Reid
- 12-22-16
Excellent Performance
Who was your favorite character and why?
My favorite character was Charles Reymont. He's tough as nails and by the book; but can still show compassion and tact in the most dire of circumstances.
Which character – as performed by Neil Hellegers – was your favorite?
The inflection in Mr. Hellegers' voice really brought the character of Charles Reymont to life and made me feel engaged with the character in every scene he was in.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
I listened to half the book in one sitting while on a trip, and listened to the rest in chapter increments during my work day. It was a nice escape to the far reaches of the galaxy on my lunch breaks.
Any additional comments?
I would categorize this book as Hard Sci-Fi. There were many time when there would be long explanations of the math/science that while essential to the people in the story, it isn't really needed for the reader. Mr. Hellegers' performance was outstanding! The ease in which he switches between different character voices, especially in fast paced arguments, makes you forget that it's only one man reading the book.
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5 people found this helpful