The Boat of a Million Years

By: Poul Anderson

Narrated by: Tom Weiner

Length: 20 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's Summary

Others have written science fiction on the theme of immortality, but in The Boat of a Million Years, Poul Anderson made it his own. Early in human history, certain individuals were born who live on—unaging, undying—through the centuries and millennia. This story follows them over two thousand years, up to our time and beyond—to the promise of utopia, and to the challenge of the stars.

A milestone in modern science fiction and a New York Times Notable Book when first published in 1989, this is one of a great writer’s finest works.

©1989 Poul Anderson (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic Reviews

“Succeeds admirably!” ( New York Times)

Terrible narration

Was The Boat of a Million Years worth the listening time?

I read this book when it first came out in the late 80's, and it has been in my thoughts ever since. So for maybe 25 years I have, with some regularity, thought back to it. Very few books affect me in this way.I was delighted when it came out in audio form, and spent a whole credit on it.

I still have not finished it. The narration is the most uninspired and monotonous I have ever experienced in a audio fiction book. Akin to a bad lecturer in a subject I'm not really interested in.

Don't waste your credits for this terrible rendition of a wonderful book.

Long winded and boring...

It took me several hours of overly detailed descriptions and background information before anything happened of interest and by then it was too late. I was extremely happy to quite this one and move on to other more interesting titles. Not for fans of action oriented works, found it long winded and boring...

20 hours of really dumb science ficition

What disappointed you about The Boat of a Million Years?

I can't start to tell you how bad this book is. Immortals eventually deciding to leave Earth for another star system. It was just as bad as Highlander 2 except the Immortals were not out to kill each other.

A wonderful idea, but hard to follow

Poul Anderson has a wonderful imagination and doesn't hesitate to go into accurate detail of historical periods. The overall concept of the book is sound but the story does drag on at times.

Although I've enjoyed the narrators work before, this is not Tom Weiners' best work and unfortunately it does detract from the overall experience.

If you've liked Anderson's previous work I can still recommend this, but it'll be hard going for those not already a fan.

An agonizing read.

What would have made The Boat of a Million Years better?

Less prehistory

Has The Boat of a Million Years turned you off from other books in this genre?

No.

How could the performance have been better?

Characterization of voices confusing and acents too similar.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not really

Any additional comments?

The author is great but this is his most disappointing work.

The book feels... Unfinished.

What did you like best about The Boat of a Million Years? What did you like least?

The concept was fantastic, but because it was shoehorned into one book, I feel that an opportunity to paint a more vivid landscape with each era was missed. The character development came up short as well. i found it hard to empathize with any of the main characters; they were not as deep as they should have been to make this a successful book in my opinion.

What do you think your next listen will be?

1635

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

I would. A movie, with awesome CGI would make this story amazing. Film can set up eras with something as simple as an aireo shot.

Any additional comments?

Now that I have read this, i will take down my copy in my library and trade it for something that will fit better.

a worthwhile listen

Quite a decent book, I especially enjoyed the portion that dealt with the future (which I hadn't expected to get into)

classic

great book, loved it when I read it back when, really enjoyed the nostalgia! It's not as intricate as some more modern contemporary books, but it holds up well!

Good book, pretty long.

I liked this book. It progressed through history and into the future. Very descriptive. Rich settings.

CONFUSING

What disappointed you about The Boat of a Million Years?

Kept jump around to much hard to follow

What will your next listen be?

Alastiar Reynods

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Narrtar Did his best but the book was too confusing

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Nothing

Any additional comments?

None

a long book. Do not like the reader

I like the idea of the book. But it has its lengths and the reader is terrible.