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Vortex
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
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Publisher's summary
Vortex tells the story of Turk Findley, the protagonist introduced in Axis, who is transported 10,000 years into the future by the mysterious entities called “the Hypotheticals”. In this future, humanity exists on a chain of planets connected by Hypothetical gateways; but Earth itself is a dying world, effectively quarantined. Turk and his young friend Isaac Dvali are taken up by a community of fanatics who use them to enable a passage to the dying Earth, where they believe a prophecy of human/Hypothetical contact will be fulfilled. The prophecy is only partly true, however, and Turk must unravel the truth about the nature and purpose of the Hypotheticals before they carry him on a journey through warped time to the end of the universe itself.
Vortex is thrilling and complex science-fiction novel from Hugo Award-winning author Robert Charles Wilson.
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The music of Rush, one of the most successful bands in music history, is filled with fantastic stories, evocative images, thought-provoking futures and pasts. In this anthology, notable, best-selling, and award-winning writers each chose a Rush song as the spark for a new story, drawing inspiration from the visionary trio Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart.
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I'm a RUSH fan, but ...no..not this book
- By NBP on 07-15-17
By: John McFetridge - editor, and others
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Beyond the Aquila Rift
- By: Alastair Reynolds
- Narrated by: Tom Dheere
- Length: 1 hr and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Beyond the Aquila Rift: It's shorthand for the trip no one ever hopes to make by accident. The one that will screw up the rest of your life, the one that creates the ghosts you see haunting the shadows of company bars across the whole Bubble. Men and women ripped out of time, cut adrift from families and lovers by an accident of an alien technology we use but rarely comprehend.
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Great story, mediocre audio book.
- By Amazon Customer on 04-17-12
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The Hercules Text
- By: Jack McDevitt
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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From a remote corner of the galaxy, a message is being sent. The continuous beats of a pulsar have become odd, irregular, and artificial. It can only be a code. Frantically, a research team struggles to decipher the alien communication. And what the scientists discover is destined to shake the foundations of empires around this world - from Wall Street to the Vatican.
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Lots to recommend here!
- By Matthew on 10-19-18
By: Jack McDevitt
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Robot Uprisings
- By: Daniel H. Wilson, John Joseph Adams - editor
- Narrated by: Emily Beresford, Tamara Marston, A.T. Chandler, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Humans beware. As the robotic revolution continues to creep into our lives, it brings with it an impending sense of doom. What horrifying scenarios might unfold if our technology were to go awry? From self-aware robotic toys to intelligent machines violently malfunctioning, this anthology brings to life the half-formed questions and fears we all have about the increasing presence of robots in our lives.
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Has some bright spots
- By ChrisM. on 10-22-15
By: Daniel H. Wilson, and others
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White Noise
- By: Don DeLillo
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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When an industrial accident unleashes an "airborne toxic event", a lethal black chemical cloud floats over the Gladneys' lives. The menacing cloud is a more urgent and visible version of the "white noise" engulfing the Gladneys - radio transmissions, sirens, microwaves, ultrasonic appliances, and TV murmurings - pulsing with life yet suggesting something ominous.
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Designed to be analyzed by an English class
- By RI in Canada on 10-15-16
By: Don DeLillo
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Zendegi
- By: Greg Egan
- Narrated by: Parisa Johnston
- Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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As tragedy strikes his multicultural family, Martin struggles to maintain his place in his adapted culture, and to provide for his child. Zendigi explores what it means to be human, and the lengths one will go to in order to provide for ones children. This emotional roller coaster explores a non-Western-European near future that both challenges ideas of global monoculture and emphasizes the humanity we all share.
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realistic, human, but uneventful
- By ptb33 on 06-28-18
By: Greg Egan
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The Forge of God
- By: Greg Bear
- Narrated by: Stephen Bel Davies
- Length: 16 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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On September 28th, a geologist working in Death Valley finds a mysterious new cinder cone in very well-mapped area. On October 1, the government of Australia announces the discovery of an enormous granite mountain. Like the cinder cone, it wasn't there six months ago.
Something is happening to planet Earth, and the truth is too terrifying to contemplate
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Great Story, Wonderful Listening, But the Editor?
- By George Knight on 07-14-13
By: Greg Bear
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Great & Secret Show
- By: Clive Barker
- Narrated by: Chet Williamson
- Length: 22 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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In the little town of Palomo Grove, two great armies are amassing; forces shaped from the hearts and souls of America. In this New York Times best-seller, Barker unveils one of the most ambitious imaginative landscapes in modern fiction, creating a new vocabulary for the age-old battle between good and evil. Carrying its readers from the first stirring of consciousness to a vision of the end of the world, The Great and Secret Show is a breathtaking journey in the company of a master storyteller.
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Horrific Dark Fantasy
- By Michael on 09-05-16
By: Clive Barker
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What listeners say about Vortex
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- R. Baker
- 07-12-11
well-written, well-narrated, but...
When I first listened to Spin, the first book in this trilogy, I thought I might very well be onto the best scifi experience of my life. A few years later, this concluding volume has left me a bit unsatisfied. The core mystery that underlies all three volumes, and is so captivating in Spin, gets "solved" in an almost off-handed way at the end of Vortex. And the solution won't exactly makes you shiver with delight. Or even interest.
But here's the thing: the books are so well-written that it almost doesn't matter. The stories themselves are engaging, the characters are generally worth investing in, the prose is weighty and never silly. (Silly is a concern for me when it comes to time-bending science fiction.) And the narration is, well, Scott Brick. You know exactly what you'll get before you start listening, and it'll be good.
So I'm giving it a decent rating and a big warning: if the middle book felt like a miss to you, this one probably will too. But if you enjoyed it anyway, this is worth a listen. Maybe you can make up a better ending for yourself after it's all done.
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21 people found this helpful
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- Troy
- 07-23-11
A riveting conclusion to Spin.
Spin was awesome. Axis was passable for a second book; I was not impressed. Vortex, however, was absolutely riveting. a wonderful conclusion to the trilogy.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Shellbin
- 07-30-11
I like to think of it as an "alternative ending"
Three books: Spin, Axis and Vortex.
If Spin is viewed as a standalone novel, the Hypotheticals (aka the aliens) are a vast Mystery, so vast and complex that mere mortal humans cannot even conceive of what they are.
In Axis/Vortex - especially by the end of Vortex - the Hypos are pretty much explained.
This works, certainly. Vortex is a very good read. RCW delivers once again with good character development (yay!) and a clear, taut narrative. He gets around the problem of creating believeable characters 10,000 years into the future in a clever way. The Big Concept approach of Spin is continued, with a lovely balance struck between the "human interest" element (characters we can relate to and care about) and the sci-fi stuff. Both elements are well described and compelling. The ending is satisfying and not only beautifully written (one gets the sense that a LOT of care went into this) but also moving.
Still, there is something about the Hypotheticals being so far beyond us that they are intrinsically, utterly Unknowable (as they were in Spin) that really appeals to me, so I prefer to think of Axis/Vortex as a POSSIBLE ending to the saga, rather than THE ending.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Edward
- 09-15-11
Better than Axis more like Spin
If you were turned off by Axis don't worry this is better. Spend the credit and find out how it all ends.
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5 people found this helpful
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- susan
- 04-10-12
Spins the trilogy to an unsatisfactory end
This is a book which brings the trilogy to an end, but is full of coincidences which are just too hard to swallow. I would have prefered to have been kept guessing rather than take a trip through this twisted tale. I would not recommend this.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Michael G Kurilla
- 08-07-11
A respectable ending for the Spin trilogy
Vortex has the main element of a satisfying ending to a quite respectable trilogy series. At the very end, RCW finally reveals the true nature of the hypotheticals and goes beyond even their quantum leap of control over time and space. The only ding to this otherwise excellent series is that this final denouement is brought in with the sense that the author was tiring of sustaining the plot. It's as if he reached a stopping point and decided to "wrap it all up" and move on.
Most of the book jumps between what appears to be 2 plots separated by 10,000 years with two characters having different connections to both. The near future earth of the post-Spin era has a "Bladerunner" feel with a future with all the bad stuff amplified. The 10k+ storyline suggests a resolution to the mystery of the hypotheticals, but the almost religious like fervor of the Vox populace belies the eventual turn of events for the worse.
At its heart, Vortex exhibits a nihilist perspective on the universe. Activity merely serves to ensure continued activity without goals or purpose beyond its own sustainment. Finally, beyond our own universe lies the limitless potential for alternate universes where a minor change can be initiated merely to impact a single life regardless of the billions of lives that will experience a repetition of the same horrors over and over again.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Thomas
- 05-17-12
Can't finish it
Slow and boring. I finished part 1 of 2 and I think I can't finish it. Once again to much environmental lecture most of the time at today in good old earth and too little science fiction in foreign worlds with foreign technology.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Michael
- 04-17-12
Better than Spin
I liked Spin quite a bit, and Axis somewhat less so. I was prepared for Vortex to follow the common downward spiral of most sequels. I was pleasantly surprised to find Vortex was significantly better than Spin. The characterization was deeper and more touching, the story more compelling, and the ideas more thought provoking. I am a real stickler for good science and as wild as the story becomes it remains grounded in (equally wild) current theories of cosmology. This is not a feel-good romp, the story is dark, thoughtful and intense. The conclusion may not satisfy every reader, but it was consistent, unexpected, and interesting. The twists were inventive and fascinating. The Spin was good, but I suspect I will be thinking about Vortex for some time to come.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Karen
- 10-25-11
Ick.
This trilogy started out so very strong. I was excited to move onto the second book after the first was done. The story itself, let alone the plot of the trilogy, is so hard to keep up with. By the second chapter of Vortex, I had no clue what I was listening to, what the point was, what was going on. I gave up. So while I cannot say I read the entire book, I can say I gave it a go, and just could not bring myself to waste my listening hours on this book.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Lebowitz
- 09-10-11
Great end to the series
Spin was one of my favorite audiobook experiences. I was disappointed in the second book and almost didn't download Vortex. I'm really glad I gave it a chance. The story is not as unique as Spin (how could it be?), but the story is very enjoyable, narration incredible, and I found the book to have a very satisfying ending for the series.
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2 people found this helpful