To the Center of the Earth

By: Greig Beck

Narrated by: Sean Mangan

Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Down there, beyond the deepest caves, below the crust and the mantle, there is another world. An old woman locked away in a Russian asylum has a secret - knowledge of a 500-year-old manuscript written by a long-dead alchemist that will show a passage to the mythical centre of the Earth.

She knows it’s real because 50 years ago, she and a team travelled there. And only she made it back.

Today, caving specialist Mike Monroe leads a crew into the world’s deepest cave in the former Soviet Union. He’s following the path of a mad woman and the words of an ancient Russian alchemist that were the basis of the fantastical tale by Jules Verne. But what horrifying things he finds will tear at his sanity and change everything we know about evolution and the world, forever.

©2020 Greig Beck (P)2020 Bolinda Publishing

Great Listen

This was a good twist on an old classic. Great story telling and narrator keeps you wanting to listen to more.

Excellent Retelling of a Classic Adventure

Sean Mangan did a wonderful performance bringing to life the many characters and personalities developed in To the Center of the Earth.

Creepy Lovecraftian Horror

I absolutely love books like this with (SPOILERS) lost civilizations and ancient races. Its a great book, and a great intro to GB's writing. If you enjoy this book give his others a try.

To many things interfering with my read!

I was 3/4 of the way through To The Center Of The Earth when I lost a fight with a bathroom floor and wall.

A Field Guide to the Center of the Earth

Hmmm. This book is weird. It’s more of a field guide to the center of the Earth than a compelling narrative. It focuses on a group of cavers as they explore, and try to escape from, a lost land at the center of the Earth. The plot is extreme weak as there isn’t really any antagonist and nothing much happens beyond them walking around, seeing weird animals and natural features, and trying to get home. There a few brief moments of action as they try to avoid one danger or obstacle or another, but beyond that it was sort of dull. The characters also weren’t very believable or relatable, so that was annoying. That said, the writing was good and the locations and creatures were interesting, so if you like exploration and considering what weird things might exist in the depths of the Earth, you might like this. I’d be interested to see what happens in the sequels, but a synopsis will suffice. I won’t be reading them. Overall this was a decent effort, but not for me.

Great 1st title in a trilogy - increase speed 1.25

Purchased this on sale, and while it was a little dull at times, liked it enough to get the rest of the trilogy with Credits. HOWever, the narration could have been better since it is delivered in a slooooooow, monotone style. Used the Audible Player Magic Speed Control to increase playback to 1.25x normal, and the slightly faster narration made all the difference.

Center of the Earth Series

Three novels - To the...Return to the...Escape from the...This review addresses the entire series.

All novels portend a solid reason for going on the perilous journey - one book because of a woman's memories of being there before, one because the Russians are going and America needs to stop them, and one to rescue someone who is still there. Ghouls and deadly creatures of all descriptions live down there, in everything - from the caves to flora to fauna to a blood-red sea. Dozens of creepy descriptions of one grizzly thing after another...after another...after another....after ....... well, you get it, right?

Found myself pushing fast-forward quite a bit - because, well, if you've seen one creature the size of a house with fangs and slime dripping from eyeballs who is ready to eat you - you've seen 'em all, right?

Fan of Jules Verne? Go for it; he is quoted many times. Otherwise, you'll be rolling your eyes.

Enjoyed the story.

I struggled at first with the narrator's voice but soon became accustomed to it and enjoyed the rest of his performance. it is a very engaging story.

Incredible!

Best investment ever made driving from California to Tennessee!!!!! this book was filled with excitement, fear, joy, and horror. Wow what an incredible journey!

Shout Out to Jules Verne

A modernized version of the Jules Verne tale, it's more like a sequel with current scientific theories thrown in to bring some validity to the classic tale. The story dragged at times and the narrator was bland. I found the book interesting overall, but not enthralling and feel that this book could have been a LOT better. One thing that annoyed me was the fact NO ONE in the book thought to bring a camera! I don't know any "caver" that doesn't have a camera as part of their kit bag.