The Original

By: Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal

Narrated by: Julia Whelan

Length: 3 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

Hugo Award-winning authors Brandon Sanderson and Mary Robinette Kowal team up in this exclusive audio-first production of The Original, a sci-fi thriller set in a world where one woman fights to know her true identity and survive the forces that threaten her very existence. 

In the near future, humans choose life - for a price. Injectable nanite technology is the lifeblood that flows through every individual wishing to experience the world through the lens of their own theme. While death from mortal wounds is still possible, life is made easier in a socially liberated society where automation and income equality allow passion pursuits to flourish over traditional work. Renewal stations are provided to every law-abiding citizen for weekly check-ins, which issue life-sustaining repairs in exchange for personal privacy. But what becomes of those who check out, of those who dare to resist immortality and risk being edited under the gaze of an identity-extracting government surveillance system? 

When Holly Winseed wakes up in a hospital room, her memory compromised and a new identity imposed on her, a team of government agents wastes no time stating their objective. With intent to infiltrate and defeat the terrorist group ICON, the agents tell Holly that she is now a Provisional Replica and has one week to hunt down and kill her Original for the murder of her husband, Jonathan. If she succeeds, she’ll assume her Original’s place in society. If she fails, her life will end. Holly’s progress is monitored by an assigned contact that feeds her information as she confronts the blank, robotic world around her, discovering that others view life through the theme of their own choosing. 

With her newly implanted combat and deduction skills, Holly fends off both attacks by terrorists and doubts about her own trustworthiness as clues lead her to her Original - and to the truth about Jonathan. In the end, one body remains and one walks away. Although questions persist, one thing is certain: Life will never be the same. 

©2020 Dragonsteel Entertainment and Mary Robinette Kowal (P)2020 Mainframe, LLC

Lives up to admittedly high expectations

if you are a loyal Sanderson fan as I am, you will not be disappointed by the psychological complexity of this story. not to mention his ability to surprise you with his endings! The collaboration has paid off as it seems to incorporate the skills of both accomplished authors. The audiobook format is intriguing, but for those of us who listen to audiobooks frequently and usually turn the speed up, the background music actually ends up being distracting. I tried to slow it down to enjoy the music, but found the dialogue and narration to be too slow to enjoy. That is probably a personal taste that others would see differently. All in all, this is a storyline that is ripe for many installments to come, and hopefully one that gets picked up for a Netflix or Amazon original mini-series.

it was good until it wasn't

Love Sanderson, mostly. He's a true artist. And I enjoyed this one, until the ending, which made the entire book feel like a waste of time. Also I kept wondering why I was hearing stuff music in some other room of the house. Finally I realized it was part of the audiobook. Not a fan of that, but at least it was quiet and didn't have cheesy sound effects like gun shots or foot steps. I have to return those. Imagine drifting off to sleep with a good story and BANG! Gunshots in your earbuds....

Great story as usual, but...

Loved the story. Lots of imaginative, yet believable world building going on. However, I didn’t like the music. It felt like it was forcing my emotions, like a movie does. Not that the writing didn’t lead into those same emotions, but it was distracting. The ending, while satisfying on most levels still left enough holes for me to be wishing there was just a bit more to wrap it up better. Either way, it’s well worth the listen.

One F-Bomb, really?

I was not happy with the single unnecessary F-Bomb and several GD. The profanity added nothing and became a distraction. Story has some fantastic concepts which are amazing to consider and make for some great scenarios. However I found myself unhappy with the ending as it seemed incongruent with the characters to that point and I was left feeling like something was lacking.

A great short story!

Catches your attention right from the beginning and keeps it throughout. Asks some great questions about what is real and what makes us people.

I enjoyed this book despite the weird anti science stuff about gender. I hope that Brandon doesn’t make more books like this with the modern anti science crap. Oddly enough, I found that less realistic than cloning a person.

Excellent story

it really made me think about privacy and how technology plays with our perception of reality.

A Well-Written Story with a Great Premise

Please note that I'm reviewing this as a fan of Brandon Sanderson, as I have never read works by Kowal; I've enjoyed reading/listening to Brandon Sanderson's books for a good number of years, and this one does not disappoint. The premise is great, the story is strong, and I loved the ambiguous ending. Make of it what you will - it really is up to your own perception. And as someone once said, "There's always another secret."

The narration was pretty good with different inflections for different characters - I've heard better, and I've heard worse. I think this book could have benefitted from being done as a Graphic Audio, but then it probably would have cost 3 times as much to be split up into several parts. I wouldn't mind reading it as a regular book, either, as Sanderson's writing style just seems to lend itself to the written word on a page.

I found The Original to be on par with much of Sanderson's "short" fiction, which would mean an entire novel for any normal writer (I've wondered at times if there is an entire team of writers typing away under the pseudonym, "Brandon Sanderson"). If you liked the novella "Snapshot," you most likely will enjoy this one, as it has a similar vibe, with a great new storyline. I've listened to "Snapshot" multiple times and shared it with my children.

And this is where I find my only real issues with this story - the language just isn't appropriate for my younger children, although the content of the book is fine. Compared with some of the Mistborn stories, The Original is pretty tame (at least from a violence standpoint), but the strong language mirrors that of a Stephen King story at times. On my second listen (and yes, the story is certainly worth it), I was amused that the main character falls on her "rump" at the beginning as if the word "butt" is too strong, but then we are bombarded with multiple GD's, JC's, A-hole, and the F-Bomb amongst others throughout the rest of the story. This really was the only disappointing aspect of this book, as I've always considered Sanderson's writings to be pretty family-friendly. And knowing his faith, I was most disappointed at the GD's and JC's - I consider those to be at least as vulgar as the F-word, and to blatantly steal from another writer's character, "It has no nobility!"

So to sum this up, the writing, story, secrets, and ending are exactly what I have come to expect from Brandon Sanderson and make this purchase well worth the credit. If strong language bothers you, then I'd suggest listening to Snapshot for a similar feel, or any of his other works.

Interesting exploration in augmented reality

Exploration of a world with augmented reality and the ethical issues that it can present. Well done.

Excellent story and narration

Great story and narration. The story is set in a future where folks have nanites and use "theming" to make the world what they want - an interesting premise.
even using Default theming, much of the world can be edited out.
When our protagonist explores the world with theming turned off, she is aghast to find it is nothing like what she remembers. She encounters a place with white everywhere (the better to project theming into/onto).
In one particularly well written scene, she goes to the forest, where she had been before and enjoyed the privacy, only to find it crowded with people, every one of which has their theming showing them a secluded wood.

Excellent story, and leaves me wanting more

Interesting, will read again 🤔 👍 😀

I liked the story overall. Will gladly re-listen.
one thing that you can use