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The Black Star Passes  By  cover art

The Black Star Passes

By: John W. Campbell
Narrated by: Gary Dikeos
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Editorial reviews

Author Campbell was a science fiction pioneer. He wrote and published the stuff. Modern sci-fi provides future examples of current issues, the presentation and resolution of which makes apt social commentary. The science seems viable and the environments are copiously drawn; verisimilitude is key. The sci-fi of yesteryear will seem flimsy and naïve to modern readers. But these early works, with their famous recurring theme of good versus evil, set the template for the sophisticated fiction of the future. Narrator Gary Dikeos gives a very casual performance in his deep and drawling voice. His tone channels the masculinity of this trio of smart and rugged space cowboys. The sincerity of his performance does help to substantiate this vintage extraterrestrial realm.

Publisher's summary

Three against the stars! A sky pirate armed with superior weapons of his own invention....

First contact with an alien race dangerous enough to threaten the safety of two planets.... The arrival of an unseen dark sun whose attendant marauders aimed at the very end of civilization in this Solar System.... These were the three challenges that tested the skill and minds of the brilliant team of scientist-astronauts Arcot, Wade, and Morey. Their initial adventures are a classic of science fiction that first brought the name of their author, John W. Campbell, Jr., into prominence as a master of the inventive imagination -- long before he became the editor of Astounding/Analog and changed the field of science fiction forever!

Public Domain (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about The Black Star Passes

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Shades of E. E. "Doc" Smith

Fun, but old fashioned, space opera; probably more appealing to older listeners, rather than youngsters without any experience in the roots of the SF genre.

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7 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Love the Classics!

Some might be amused or even offended at the quaint, perhaps unsophisticated nature of this story, but it comes from the Golden Age of Science Fiction, reflecting all of the stereotypes, gender bias, racism, and other flaws of its era. Taking all that into account, it's quite entertaining and no less flawed than any other lit from earlier times. Fun and instructive! We have come far in a relatively short time, but we have "miles to go before" we sleep.

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4 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Bk
  • 01-08-21

Classic

One of the first sf stories I read many cosmic cycles ago. It helped fuel a lifetime of reading enjoyment. It’s still a classic worth reading. Campbell defined and founded the genre.

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4 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Need a sleep aid?

I really hate to give up on a book but I only made it about 3/4 the way through this one. Writing is wonderful I love John Campbell‘s work, it’s definitely an older genre of science fiction what is storytelling is very good. The reader of this book it’s terrible. Absolutely no emotion. You might as well have Alexa read you a book.

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4 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Very pulpy weak story even for its time

John W Campbell's The Black Star Passes is a 50's era sci-fi tale that is poor even by the standards of traditional pulp fiction. Basically, this consists of three novellas involving the same crew stitched together. There's a superhero-esque quality about the team consisting of a physicist (regarded as the greatest in the world), a mathematician, an engineer, and after the first tale, a jack of all trades pirate. Each plot revolves around stumbling onto a mystery and solving it. The physicist develops a theory, spends time with equations that the mathematician checks out, then there is an all-nighter in the lab, followed by the engineer scaling up to either thwart skyjackings, stopping planetary war and genocide on Venus, and finally saving the Earth from invasion, all in the span of a few years.

Campbell checks all the boxes for pulp fiction targeted towards a juvenile audience. All the characters are dedicated to their craft. There doesn't seem to be any other scientist of worth alive. They also always land in the middle of the action and always make the right decision. At the same time each discovery always occurs just in time for the next impending disaster. The selfless professional dedication is saccharine to the point of inducing diabetes.

The narration is sadly deficient and is less a narration and more a simply flat reading with little character distinction without any tone or mood aligned to the plot.

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Performer is awful

Droning on and on in a never ending monotone. I often use audio books to fall asleep but this guy will do the job while your jogging.

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1 person found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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This book is a sleeper

This book is a sleeper as in it will put you to sleep. The Narrator is monotonous, boring, With no voice inflection. The book is styled as an Robert heinland adventure and misses all the marks I'm sorry this book was not for me and save your money.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Flat and too wordy

"Science fiction is no more written for scientists than ghost stories are written for ghosts." - Brian Aldiss

I do enjoy a story with a bit of technobabble or at least tries to have some sort of justifiable or plausible explaination for the technology. This story is just information dump after information dump going over scientific theories of the time with spatterings of plot occasionally scattered throughout. It is akin to what Tom Clancy might write if he were an astrophysicist. The flat monotone of the narrator doesn't help with absorbing the knowledge or the plot.

I was entertained, I just wasn't engaged or broadly invested in the plot or characters. This story is a bit dated and storytelling techniques have fortunately improved since its writing.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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  • KC
  • 11-23-22

Loved It

found these books out of sequence and started with book 2. Easy to follow travel story for drivers.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Split story, sleepy narrator

I like the beginning story, but at some point, it merges into a completely different one. Sort of a Stephen King type plot switch, which I'm not a fan of. Maybe this story is where King got the idea?

Anyways, the narrator sounds sedated. It's a snoozer after a few chapters.

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