Seveneves

A Novel

By: Neal Stephenson

Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal, Will Damron

Length: 31 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Anathem, Reamde, and Cryptonomicon comes an exciting and thought-provoking science fiction epic - a grand story of annihilation and survival spanning five thousand years.

What would happen if the world were ending?

A catastrophic event renders the earth a ticking time bomb. In a feverish race against the inevitable, nations around the globe band together to devise an ambitious plan to ensure the survival of humanity far beyond our atmosphere, in outer space.

But the complexities and unpredictability of human nature coupled with unforeseen challenges and dangers threaten the intrepid pioneers, until only a handful of survivors remain....

Five thousand years later, their progeny - seven distinct races now three billion strong - embark on yet another audacious journey into the unknown...to an alien world utterly transformed by cataclysm and time: Earth.

A writer of dazzling genius and imaginative vision, Neal Stephenson combines science, philosophy, technology, psychology, and literature in a magnificent work of speculative fiction that offers a portrait of a future that is both extraordinary and eerily recognizable. As he did in Anathem, Cryptonomicon, the Baroque Cycle, and Reamde, Stephenson explores some of our biggest ideas and perplexing challenges in a breathtaking saga that is daring, engrossing, and altogether brilliant.

©2015 Neal Stephenson (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

So Much Potential

Let me start by saying that up until Part 3, Seveneves was pegging my Top 10 books of all-time. While I first thought the premise was implausible, Stephenson starting working the technology and I gradually became entranced. He has a no holds barred writing style, and the storyline was filled with a continuous “Science the shit out of this” attitude made famous by “The Martian”. As the implausible became plausible, the main characters came to life as they struggled to make this happen. By the time Part 2 ended, I was at the edge of my seat simply amazed by what had taken place. But then it all went wrong.

The jump from Part 2 to Part 3 was simply too big. The emotional connections made to the main characters were lost. The eager anticipation as to what happens next was lost. And ultimately, the storyline was lost. Stephenson tried to tie everything back together, but the gap-filling backstory was too minimal to be satisfying, and a new level of fantastical science fiction reenergized the implausibility meter. The result was a less than compelling storyline filled with characters you cared nothing about.

The detailed application of advanced technology is what I love best about Stephenson’s books. In this regard “Seveneves” does this well at first, but then goes off the deep end. He’s a tremendous writer who is fearless at exploring new boundaries. But Part 3 should be a separate book, and its replacement needs to continue the excellent storyline developed in the first two sections. That is the story that I wanted to hear.

In summary, this book was totally worth one credit and I thought the first 2/3s was brilliant. I will definitely continue to buy and read Stephenson's books. I'm just sad for what this book could have been. And for those who criticize the narration, the only I can say is get over it. My experience is that woman have a tougher time doing men's voices. But it's mind over matter - if you don't mind, it doesn't matter. It was correct to have the first two sections narrated by a woman.

Not to liveblog or anything...

Where does Seveneves rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I get the impression that Neal Stephenson wrote this akin to how William Gibson goes about it; the first line is "The moon blew up without warning and without apparent reason"... this is the kind of start that can get a book to 31 hrs. So far, performance wise, it isn't up to Baroque Cycle standards, but nothing can... I'm really digging it, though

Who was your favorite character and why?

I'm asymtoting towards each new character; will edit after 5000 years. [/joke]

What does Mary Robinette Kowal and Will Damron bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I think that, without their presence, this wouldn't be a book I'd like. There's a lot of mathy/dry-ish narrative that I think I'd get glass-eyed without them. It's difficult to articulate, but I'm of the DFW (and almost all authors, really) school where I need fiction to feel less alone. This book would make me feel almost desolate without their help

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

First laugh happened at the very beginning. Only two books have ever made me cry, but I think there's been a few tears from the said out loud laughs that occcur almost arbitrary parts within the narrative.

Any additional comments?

You are going to get this book if you're a Neal Stephenson book, so go ahead and do that. If you are new to his work, as in some lady/fellow recommended him to you, this isn't really what I'd say is the book to start with. That said, it's also just a great book.

I say that having not finished it, but I've also been spoiled re: what happens 3/4ths of the way into the story, both by the blurb (it mentions it goes 5000 years into the future) and a random reviewer who pointed out that all the characters I'm really really digging are going to be gone. Said reviewer gave negative points and called that part the Epilogue. I can see that viewpoint, but I also hesitantly posit that this narrative will be Demonstrating The Mo'freakin Thesis.

a 30 hour novel that should have been less that 10

Endless minutia......weathering this 30 hour book was pretty much a waste of time. The concept was ok, if you are interested, find a condensed version.

The Parts I Understood Were Worthwhile

Now I understand the comment “this isn’t rocket science”. This book was rocket science and I could not hide in the back of the class and pretend I understood the material. I did enjoy the story and the parts of the scientific discussions that I could follow. But, in the back of my mind, a fear kept building that I was going to be discovered as a fraud, fail the course and be escorted by campus police off University property. Once there, the officers would proclaim in a loud and scornful tone “this dumb bastard thought he could keep up”.

Decisions needed to be made, and people made them

I hesitated reading this book due to the reviews from other readers. I have been burnt out on dystopian futures and bleak space travel. From the reviews I read, this is what I was expecting.

With an opening sentence "The Moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason." I wasn't sure what type of Space Opera I was in for.

Neal Stephenson's style of storytelling really meshes with me.

I enjoyed this book, as it played on big ideas that I enjoy thinking about. Leadership, Ethics, Conflict Resolution, Space Travel, and Humanity. This book had so much hope and optimism. I'd like to imagine that we'd be able to cohesively work together to build something so grand in vision.

A large part of the reason why I liked this story, is that there isn't a truly established "Big Bad" that must be defeated. There are differences in view points and differences in beliefs. The characters fall to a side based on what they believe to be the best course of action to ensure survival. Bad stuff happened, because of the side people ended up supporting; but it didn't make anyone "bad" just a different shade of human.

Decisions needed to be made, and people made them the best way they could.

I recommend reading this book.

Narrator almost makes it not worth the purchase.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Probably not unless you were just looking so a slow, slow, slow, slow book to keep you occupied on a drive across country.

Would you be willing to try another book from Neal Stephenson? Why or why not?

Yup. I've read most of his other stuff which is better than this.

How could the performance have been better?

Stop doing the male voices. They are terrible. Her regular voice is just fine. Just use that. I don't need the awful awful awful voices.

Could you see Seveneves being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Probably. It is just boring/not inventive enough to happen. I don't care who.

Any additional comments?

Read his other stuff and skip this. SO MANY EXPLANATIONS. Essentially people do things in this book so they can be explained.

Why don’t narrators chill out on the accents?

This is a great story... but Kowal has straight up zero grasp on South African, New Jersey, British or Russian accents. Any accents.

Kind of ruins the story. Just read the damn thing.

Excellent book! Mixed feelings on the narrator

It's filled with the kinds of technical details that geeks crave, with enough characterization, and tension to bring it all together into a narrative. As great as some of Stephenson's other great work.
As many have mentioned, Ms Kowal doesn't handle different accents very well. Also, the fact that she sometimes pronounces "moon" as "mewwwnnnah" was very distracting!
Still, other than those idiosyncrasies, she seems to be one of the most skilled narrators working today. She rarely gets that stress point of a sentence wrong, which is something that even the most popular Audible readers seem to struggle with.

Not quite up to some of Stephenson's other work

Would you listen to Seveneves again? Why?

Probably not, I don't usually re-listen to audiobooks. However, if I did I would be more inclined to re-listen to Anathem or Cryptonomicon than this one. The plot of Seveneves, while interesting, did not seem overly surprising, and initially at least was very slow going. The ending in particular seemed highly predictable, and there was at least one totally unresolved story thread (sequel?).

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the "post-Seveneves" section of the story. It had a lot of interesting "alien" character interactions, as well as a lot of action. I was surprised by how long the "pre-Seveneves" portion of the story went on. I had imagined it as something like a prologue, based on synopsis of the book, but you go 2/3 the way into the book before you even realize why it is named what it is!

What about Mary Robinette Kowal and Will Damron ’s performance did you like?

Mary Robinette Kowal's performance was outstanding! She really brought the characters to life. Will Damron's was good as well, but I thought Mary's was a true standout performance.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The moment you realize why the book is named "Seveneves" is very moving. The choices made by the characters at that point seem horribly selfish and disrespectful of the gravity (no pun intended) of their situation, but I guess individuals will always make self-serving choices, so was perhaps not unrealistic.

Any additional comments?

I love Neal Stephenson and have read all his work. This book, while entertaining and serving as the typical vehicle for whatever topics happen to be intriguing him at the moment (orbital mechanics and chains in this case) just didn't seem to be as compelling as his other work. Maybe it was the long drawn out timescales that were described. The story also had a more streamlined simplistic nature to it, with skips of literally thousands of years during which you're left to imagine nothing significant has happened other than "things slowly built up."

Way too slow and nauseating detail

I really like world building e.g. Peter F. Hamilton but the agonizing detail provided in this novel is beyond the pale. It detracts from the story which is solid. Good characters and and interesting premise. This book could have been half as long making it twice as good.