The Immortals

By: Tracy Hickman

Narrated by: Tracy Hickman, Laura Hickman

Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

The future story of United States Internment Camps...of the dreams of the pre-deceased...and of triumph over oblivion.

It's 2020, and an attempted cure for AIDS has mutated into a deadlier disease, V-CIDS. The United States, under martial law, has set up "quarantine centers" in the Southwest. Searching for his gay son, Jon, media mogul Michael Barris smuggles himself into one of the centers, only to discover that it and the other centers are actually extermination camps. With a strange assortment of allies, including the leader of the camp's gay barracks, an Army officer, and a local cowboy, Barris precipitates an inmates' rebellion that promises the unraveling of the death-camp system and the overthrow of the government that established it.

©1996, 2007 Tracy Hickman (P)1996, 2007 Tracy Hickman

Critic reviews

"Excellent and exciting...depicts a future far too many Americans think they'd like to see...an important book." (Robin Wayne Bailey)
"Powerful, disturbing, with its vision of a future that is all too possible, the true message of Hickman's The Immortals is ultimately a message of hope." (Margaret Weis)
"Boasts some considerable virtues, including superior characterization, a carefully built setting and excellent pacing....[Hickman's] to be commended for his daring and vision." ( Publishers Weekly)

The Immortals

Much to my chagrin I did not read the reviews before purchasing this book. I have other audio books by the author and am pleased with them so was not prepared for the disturbing sound affects to be found on this recording. Most disturbing in my opinion is the alternating high and low buzz similar to a cell phone ringing, in the background that has nothing to do with the story but is just THERE.

Unfortunately because of vision problems I don't have the option of reading the book from the library so I am just stuck with an extremely disappointing recorded book that is probably a pretty good book.

Not a "vampire" story

It's not a light summer read I was expecting. A great story, interesting & serious, a "what would you do" story. Author creates the picture of near & very possible future, the measures government could take, and the society would go along with, for the greater good and protection of "majority".
ABSOLUTELY HORRENDOUS NARRATION & RECORDING!!! What makes it even worse, the author is the narrator. How could he do it to his own book?!!!! OK, the narration itself is not that bad, only the parts where he puts on the accents. They are so strong, it's impossible to understand what is being said. And it is especially irritating, since characters' accents don't affect the story line in any way.
THE SOUND EFFECTS ARE UNBEARABLE!!! First of all, their volume is a lot louder than the voice. Come on! I want to hear the story, not the noise that is supposedly happening in it, AND IT NEVER STOPPED - FORM THE VERY BEGINNING TO THE VERY END! The setting is in a windy place - the wind never stopped howling, thousands of people live in that place - the background noise of the crowd is always there. Every single action was audible - the creaking of the door, breaking glass, crumpling paper, explosions, motors, coughing crying, you name it - you heard it, even vomiting, for god's sake!
Almost forgot -- LOUD "PATRIOTIC" MUSIC AT THE BEGINNIG OF EVERY CHAPTER. And he is reading through it!!! There's no way to hear what he is saying! I couldn't make out 90% of the chapter names. If you really have to play it, just wait till it's over, and than start the reading!
Bottom line, this one must be read, not listened to.

Take a pass

The narration and audio on this book is almost unbearable. The story is a very good one and extremely original. Unfortunately, its difficult to listen to audiobook. The dramatization was amateurish at best and the background sound effects were entirely too loud.

Unfortunate "rendition"....

I have to agree, less than half way through about the 'rendition' of it - it could have done a lot better without all the background noise; music at the beginning of each "section" (part of a download") is one thing, but the same music at each chapter gets old quickly, and the background noise and attempts to "perform/act out" the book are simple detractions from the story.

I'm hoping to be able to put those detractions aside to finish it, but I'm not 100% sure I can.

Hard to listen to.

There were so many parts that I had trouble listening to because of the "background noise" . often times it was distracting as I tried to figure out what the random noises were and then would miss an important story part. There were even a few chapters that I had to skip completely as the "echo/static" that was added to soundtrack made it actually painful to listen to through my headphones. Would love to listen to a version without all the NOISE

A good caution.

This book was great fun. I'm glad I read it. I would love to read more non-fantasy by Tracy Hickman. I also liked his narration.

Great Story

I really Like this story, However the female voice really needs to work on her reading skills. She was so bad at times, I became angry lol screaming and my player. However we all have to start somewhere i guess, and her parts are small and few. Worth the listen, I feel.

bad writing and bad reading

After dozens of audiobooks, this is clearly the absolute worst for audio. A professional reader would have helped, but the annoying sound effects and musical interludes are nearly unbearable. One whole chapter has a phone ringing constantly.

As far as the plot goes, some listeners may find it interesting, but the whole concept is quite implausible. After 30 years of AIDS as a slow, contagious disease, it's hard to imagine, why a more virulent form that kills in a matter of weeks to months would create the desire to lock them all up as well as feel the need to intentionally kill them before they succumb to a natural death. In fact, if AIDS were in fact more virulent, the epidemic would likely run itself out in a matter of several decades anyway.

The author writes with an axe to grind against everything that is non-gay. Gays are unjustly villified in the novel and society has been transported 100 years back in time, rather than forward. The character of the internment camp is also completely unrealistic since the "prisoners" behave as if they have lived there for years rather than a few weeks. The "make work" activities and structured play would be more at home in a North Korean re-education camp, rather than what should be middle class educated Americans.

The implausibility of this scenario simply serves to make the characters actions either meaningless or unrealistic.

Professional Reader needed

The premise of this book looked interesting prompting me to purchase it. It's the only audio book I could not finish because of the unskilled handling of the reading. I think it's the authors brother. Good intentions are not enough - skill is required. The story too is over told and didactic in nature. Not recommended.

worse than bad

Hickman is good, character development and flow of the story are fine, but the production is the worst I have heard ever!!!!! The musical interludes are long and distracting.