The Salvage Crew

By: Yudhanjaya Wijeratne

Narrated by: Nathan Fillion

Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Award-winning actor Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Castle, The Rookie) brings to life a snarky artificial intelligence you won't soon forget. Don't miss his hilarious performance in a story perfectly crafted for sci-fi fans of The Martian, Red Dwarf, and We Are Legion (We Are Bob).

They thought this was just another salvage job. They thought wrong.

An AI overseer and a human crew arrive on a distant planet to salvage an ancient UN starship. The overseer is unhappy. The crew, well, they're certainly no A-team. Not even a C-team on the best of days. And worse? Urmahon Beta, the planet, is at the ass-end of nowhere. Everybody expects this to be a long, ugly, and thankless job.

Then it all goes disastrously wrong. What they thought was an uninhabited backwater turns out to be anything but empty. Megafauna roam the land, a rival crew with some terrifyingly high-powered gear haunts the dig site, and a secret that will change humanity forever is waiting in the darkness.

Stuck on this unmapped, hostile planet, lacking resources, and with tech built by the cheapest bidder, the salvage crew must engineer their way to payday...and beat Urmahon Beta before it kills them all.

©2020 Yudhanjaya Wijeratne (P)2020 Podium Audio

Critic reviews

"Yudhanjaya Wijeratne's ingeniously crafted The Salvage Crew starts with a comforting science-fictional familiarity, before using its A.I.-co-authored idiosyncrasies to hurtle headlong into the gravity well of its considerable ambition. A novel of meteoric energy, flaring brighter and brighter as it falls further into its world." (Indrapamit Das, Lambda Award-winning author of The Devourers)

"A classic sci-fi adventure wrapped around a deeply philosophical core. With skillful plotting, interesting details, and a motley crew of humans and A.I., it's a story that embraces its meta-origins...with an ending worth waiting for." (S.B. Divya, Hugo and Nebula Award-nominated author of Runtime and Machinehood)

"With animation and wry humor, Fillion introduces listeners to OC, an artificially intelligent yet poetic overseer...with tenderness and sorrow [he] conveys OC's dawning realization that their mission has turned into a nightmare. Fillion's talents are undeniable...." (Audiofile Magazine)

Nathan Fillion IS the cosmos-weary AI

This was really entertaining and original - I loved the episodes of AI poetry wonderfully performed by the salvage master himself - Nathan Fillion. A perfect karmic mashup of voice and story. Exactly what makes an audiobook great.

Ok story but Nathan's range of voices is limited.

Worth listening to if you are a nathan fillion fan but im not. It's good enough to keep. A re-listen on a sunny day with a glass of tea makes it worth keeping.

Awesome!

I loved this story. It was unexpected and the reading was phenomenal! You have to read...well listen you won't be disappointed.

Follow this path to greater things

This book will take you deep into a future, you may not be ready for. Unless you are into the idea of being downloaded into a little black box. I am. So I guess what I am saying is I liked it a lot!

hell of a twist

I have listened to this book 3 times now. it opens up slowly but then slams you time and time again with twists and turns. The do a wonderful job building the people and who they really are.

Wonderful narration

Nathan Fillion has a wonderful voice, could listen to it for days. while his voice separation between characters isn't great, he more than makes up for it in his performance. Interesting story, not bad.

Great read

As compared to the Bobiverse series, it was well worth the credit! Similar in tone but wholly itself. You will enjoy it!

first half was fine

Nathan Fillion was great - which is what kept me listening to this story. The first half was fine; the second just dragged with description and philosophy.

Wow

I was really not sure what to expect, I was not disappointed! This is strange, lyrical, high concept sci-fi. i cannot recommend this listen enough! As with most cerebral science fiction it has that third act drag but, the ending felt complete with no need to tease a second book (unless, you know...please).

Interesting story with a massive left turn at end

2/3 of this book I thought it was just going to be a sci-fi survival story about an AI and its human crew of salvagers. then it takes a massive left turn into something very different, but in a good way. Definitely worth the listen. also, Nathan Fillion does amazing as the narrator! couldn't think of a better choice.