Solitude

By: Dean M. Cole

Narrated by: R.C. Bray, Julia Whelan

Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's Summary

Winner 2018 ABR Listeners Choice Award for best science-fiction audiobook!

A mysterious wave of light wipes humanity from the planet, leaving only one person in its wake. After months of desperate isolation, Earth’s last man discovers he’s not alone. The last woman is stranded alone aboard the International Space Station. If you like action-packed novels, you'll love the electrifying action in this apocalyptic thriller. 

Can humanity's last two unite? 

Separated by the gulf of space, the last man and woman of the human race struggle against astronomical odds to survive and unite. 

Army aviator Vaughn Singleton is a highly intelligent, lazy man. After a last-ditch effort to reignite his failing military career ends horribly, Vaughn becomes the only human left on Earth. 

Stranded alone on the International Space Station, Commander Angela Brown watches an odd wave of light sweep across the planet. Over the next weeks and then months, Angela struggles to contact someone on the surface as she fights to survive aboard a deteriorating space station. 

Then, from orbit above Central Europe, Angela glimpses the dark underpinnings of humanity's demise. It appears something went horribly wrong with a physics experiment at the supercollider in Geneva, Switzerland. As a theoretical physicist, Angela might be able to unravel and maybe even reverse the events that led to the apocalypse...if she could only get there. 

After months alone, Vaughn discovers there is another. Racing against time, he must cross a land ravaged by the consequences of humankind's sudden departure. 

Can Vaughn find a path to space and back? Can Angela - the only person with clues to the mystery behind humanity's disappearance - survive until he does? 

©2017 Dean M. Cole (P)2017 Dean M. Cole

What. A. Story.

I honestly didn't even see the comparison to The Martian and I Am Legend (I try to not read the synopsis of a book that I'm pretty sure I'm going to love) -- but that is a great combination of exactly what this story was.  I hate copying exactly what is written in the description on Amazon, but when it's right, it's right.

Dean M. Cole can write! Every time I thought "okay, this is it, he's got it!" or "she's got it!" he continued to throw everything at the two main characters.  It got to the point where I was pretty sure that both of them were going to give up numerous times.

A story about what could potentially be the last two people in the world and one of them is stuck on the International Space Station is already a story that I would read in a heartbeat.  Then you throw in that R.C. Bray and Julia Whelan are going to dual narrate it? Okay, now I'm salivating. Oh, and it's funny and heartbreaking at the same time like The Martian? Jesus, okay, I bought the book, let's go!

We're almost at the half-way point of the year and I believe that I may have found my audiobook of the year already.  Ironically it follows a similar type story as last years -- but this one has even fewer people in it.

There was a part of the book where I was a little worried around R.C. Bray narrating it -- not because of him or his narration at all (he's seriously one of the best in the world and is the sole reason you're reading this blog today).  It was because there was a character named Mark.  And I couldn't get "Whatney" out of my head every time he would say his name.  I was seriously concerned, but my concern didn't last as long as I'd expected.  There was even a line that made me pause the audiobook:  "...duck tape... Oh right, you're Mark Whatney and this is The Martian".

I honestly don't even have to go into Bray and Whelan's narration of this because it was spot on and perfect.  One of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to.  Definitely up there with The Martian as Bray's best performance.

Overall, Solitude is easily one of the best books I've read in 2017 and will be in my memory for years to come.  I will gladly be recommending this to all of my friends and family -- especially those who loved The Martian (or enjoyed I Am Legend).  Dean M. Cole has shot himself up to the top of my 'to-read' list and I will be eagerly awaiting the next book in this series.

I was given a free copy of this which has not affected my review at all.

If you enjoyed my review, please vote for it! If you'd like to see more like this you can check out BriansBookBlog DOT com.

41 of 45 people found this review helpful

best I've read since The Martian

I'm a huge fan of sci-fi that isn't always about Aliens or at least takes a bit for them to show up. I loved the humanity of the characters. they had ups and downs and in betweens. the pacing of the story was wonderful and had me hugging my seat and breathing in relief at the proper moments. the way everything happened you almost hope that humanity isn't gone as there are no bodies to be seen. I can't wait to see where Dean m. Cole goes next with this story.

17 of 19 people found this review helpful

What can 'Brown' do for you?! : - )

I wish this book was longer! The characters had some good banter, which is something I enjoy in a book. The story was interesting and different enough from some loosely similar books that it felt fresh enough.

The narration by both narrators was superb. The male voice, R.C. Bray, is the best and does science fiction especially well. The female voice, Julie Whelan, is also one of my favorites. They were a great team.

I am anxiously waiting the next installment in this series. ~JTC~

19 of 22 people found this review helpful

Repetitive and annoyingly unbelievable

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

People who don't care for character or plot realism

Would you ever listen to anything by Dean M. Cole again?

Yes

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Yes

What character would you cut from Solitude?

Not cut, just add some realism

Any additional comments?

The story, isn't actually much in depth. But, it has the benefit of wondering where it is going and what the end will be. What makes it difficult to enjoy is:
1: The author seems to think it is clever to use the phrase "a pregnant pause". So clever that it is used on every page.
2: The author turns a female astronaut, highly intelligent, strong woman...into a crying weak damsel in distress.
3: A simple Google search would fix many of the NASA, military, and science blunders that is written here, into something more believable.

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

Compelling and intelligent science fiction

Intelligent, captivating storytelling with all developed characters. Recently tried listening to Eternal Frontier and nearly screamed with every tortured line of dialogue and each hyperbolic adjective. Solitude was economical and entertaining in its language. Eternal Frontier left me feeling dirty and Solitude made me clean again. WHEWWW!

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Amateur writing. Lazy editing. Cheesy science.

People compare this to The Martian because Cole was clearly ripping it off. If you liked the science and engineering and ingenuity of The Martian, Solitude will simply annoy you.

Where The Martian applies science and thought to solving real, unforced problems, Solitude just makes stuff up. Most of the problems to be solved are caused by the protagonists and even so are so stupid that you cannot suspend disbelief enough not to be interrupted (just falls out of the..., turns off the essential..., just stupid).

I actually don't blame Cole. I blame his editor. I mean, regulate the carbon *monoxide* in a space suit? And that's just a typo. No decent editor would have allowed the number of times we had to hear him just dropping beer bottles, etc.

I didn't finish listening. You shouldn't start.

10 of 12 people found this review helpful

Great book and performance!

Great apocalyptic story! Very original idea! I loved it! Action packed right from the start. The last man alive on Earth has to find a way to reach the international space station to save Earth's last woman. Unfortunately Vaughn doesn't realize Commander Brown is in the ISS until 2 months after the rest of humanity has vanished. Each of them on the verge of losing hope and their sanity.

I was almost disappointed toward the end. I'm wondering the whole time about what happened to all the people and animals. I thought this would go unanswered. It did, but the issue was addressed and I guess the answers are in book 2 when Vaughn and Angela head to CERN, where it all started, to get some answers.

Great performance by R. C. Bray and Julia Whelan. Bray is one of my favorite narrators. Whelan is new to me, but I definitely enjoyed her performance! Looking forward to book 2!

10 of 12 people found this review helpful

just buy the book...

Don't bother reading the cover flap just give Amazon and Audible your money. you must buy both.
Dean Cole has woven a story with emotion anguish, love, laughter, and suspense. R.C. Bray and Julia Whelan brings this story to life like no others. They just owned this story.
I haven't been this emotionally involved in a story since Andy Weirs" The Martian" or Ryk Browns "Frontiers Saga"

Oh and Dean... write faster dammit, write faster.

10 of 12 people found this review helpful

Eh...

Until this book, I haven't heard anything by R.C. Bray that I didn't absolutely love. And while Julia Whelan is also a talented narrator, there was really no need for both of them in the way it was put together. Either could have done it alone and the final product would probably have been better for it.

The characters themselves weren't particularly likeable. They weren't necessarily 'unlikeable' , but I found nothing in either of them to engage my interest or make me care about them or what they were going through.

The general plot device presented throughout the entire book was, "This'll be easy. Oh no! Something horrible just went wrong!" ..and while it has been used to great effect by other authors, for some reason it just felt tired and poorly implemented in this story.

Then there's "coincidence." Most stories rely on coincidence to some extent and it's usually easy enough to gloss over. If I actually cared about either character I may have been able to ignore all of the stars that had to align for the story to even be able to take place...but when the characters' good luck (when they actually have some) is every bit convenient and necessary for the story to continue as their bad luck... It's hard to be invested in what the CHARACTERS are doing because it so rarely matters.

There's no intertwined reading between the two narrators. R.C. reads the chapters mostly focusing on the man, Julia reads the chapters about the woman, and while that conceptually makes sense, it kind of breaks down every time both characters actually get to interact. Each narrator reads for both characters and each reads them differently so there's no continuity in how personalities are presented. Some of that could be artistically explained away as each character perceiving the other differently (though I didn't much care for it), and I understand how much work it would be to actually record and edit together all of the respective lines. Overall though, I felt that the way it was done took away from the total experience and made the collaboration feel kind of pointless.

By the time I reached the end, I'd pretty much become so disengaged that I was more just glad that it was over.

6 of 7 people found this review helpful

Fantastic story!

The marketing for the book said it was a mix of I Am Legend, The Martian, and Gravity and I worried it was being a bit overhyped. But it wasn't! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Can't wait for the sequel to be released!

6 of 7 people found this review helpful

Going to be left hanging.

An awesome book narrated by the very best.
Shame Audible haven't made it clear this is book 1 of a series that's yet to be completed. It'll be a long wait to conclude this gripping story.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

looking forward to the next in the series .

loved it . quality book very well read . felt like I was the characters involved . great stuff

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Great story interested to listen to next book

Both readers were great and I liked the dialogue switching between the two although I thought they might talk together rather then mimicking each others voices. looking forward to the next book.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Don't Leave Solitude Alone!

In Solitude Dean Cole delivers a fast-paced episode of apocalyptic fiction. Two characters left completely alone and isolated must cross the planet and even space itself to save each other. It's a genuine roller-coaster ride and the action just keeps coming as our rather accident-prone pair crash and bump their way across the planet and the space near it. At times I wasn't sure I'd give odds on either of them managing to navigate their way across an empty room while at others they achieved amazing things. Although at times there is plenty of scientific and technical detail in here expect your credulity to get a severe workout as things progress. There are definitely parallels with books like The Martian but I doubt anyone will want to make a case for this being built on solid scientific ground. The author does however do very well in terms of explaining why these two, and only these two survive.

The narration, well RC Bray is of course a maestro and gives his usual masterful performance. Here though he shares the stage with Julia Whelan. It works brilliantly at first emphasising the separation between the characters and their very different situations. Maybe it's less effective later on but not wanting to do spoilers I won't say why. I'll settle for saying that both narrators do fine jobs with their parts.

Although the book does complete the advertised part of the story there is clearly more to come and you won't get all the answers you might want about why things happened. There are lots of thrills and spills though and the tension continues right up until the ending which sets up the next book's opening intrigue.

12 of 16 people found this review helpful

Repetitive and thoroughly predictable

After the first few chapters you realise just what a crock of shite this book is... Get in a plane.. It crashes, get in a car, guess what is crashes, get in a space plane.... You've got it, it crashes..! This is total drivel devoid of all worth. How they got RC Bray to narrate is beyond me and why he'd want to be associated with this train wreck of a project is even more perplexing.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

good listen

good story, look forward to the next installment.
RC Bray is great ad always though the girls voice is a little tiresome after a while. should have given it all to Bray.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Top notch

what a great story. Can't wait for book 2 . I hope I don't have long to wait.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Gripping

A real page turner. Want to know more.. Can't wait to see the movie! Next book please

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Frustratingly formulaic...

An intriguing idea of a plot spoiled by an amateurish approach. Somebody must once have told the author that drama is the winning formula for holding audience attention. And boy did he play that card. Any and every opportunity to create a dramatic moment is stuffed into this tale - no matter how unbelievable or superfluous to the plot. The result is a slow moving story written, it seems, with the aim of dragging things out for that sequel after money-making sequel. The only saving grace is the great narration, particularly R C Bray. Overall - this is one to miss.

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

Love,love, loved it!!!

Thoroughly enjoyed this book and looking forward to the next keeps you on the edge of your seat! Great narration.