Pale Blue Dot(s)

By: Erin Mallon

Narrated by: Thérèse Plummer, Megan Tusing, Andrew Eiden, Gabra Zackman, Inés del Castillo, Sarah Mollo-Christensen, Adenrele Ojo, Julia Whelan, Natalie Naudus

Length: 1 hr and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

Several years in the future, an all-female astronaut team circumnavigates the globe once every 90 minutes aboard the International Space Station, prepared to be a powerful presence in space. When a surprise set of "everyday citizens" tags along for the ride, all protocol flies right out the proverbial...airlock.

After a lifetime of being kept down on the ground, what happens when these women finally rise up and see their lives - and their planet - from high above it all?

©2019 Erin Mallon (P)2021 Erin Mallon

not funny

Not much of a story here, not funny, and incredibly difficult to figure out who was talking - some of the voices sounded way too similar

Not good

After listening to this, I am increasingly convinced most Audible originals are free because they are so bad that even Audible recognizes that it would be unfair to charge someone for them.

Great performance, story ok

I loved the cast and the narration of this short story/play. There were definitely some funny parts, but the story didn’t grab me.

Some laughs here and there, but...

This story needed better editing and direction. I can't tell you what the actual story was because I don't think those in control knew what the story was. Sure, I laughed some, but I kept wondering where it was going. Too bad the title Lost in Space was used already. That's where I felt this story left me. Lost.

I listened to the whole thing—not my proudest moment.

I wanted to like it, I increasingly hated it, now that it’s over I want to hate it but there’s a little something worthwhile here overall. The characters are vacuous yet human, annoying yet endearing.

Story is straightforward (read: not much to see here), 2020s cliches are pretty unbearable most of the time.

Voice actors clearly had a good time and their spirits carried the thing

There’s a decent Uranus joke. That’s the highlight.

Fun

This was just a super fun amazingly performed short story. It was fun & silly and entertaining

Annoying-pointless

Couldn't finish it- Didn't like the characters- I gave the performance a higher rating because I have been in meetings that sounded just like this- so the performance was somewhat realistic. I didn't enjoy them, and I didn't enjoy this.

Needs more Uranus jokes

“I like food that isn’t afraid to be mush.”
A perfect Dollar Store purchase, this is like a sitcom episode, with scripted audio, random sound effects, and jokes that occasionally make a serious point. It’s less about a storyline and more about comedic riffs. There’s a smattering of F 💣, but most of the language is of the “mother effin shi brick on a dk” variety.

“I love boy’s names for girls.”
This is feminist, but in a fun, light-hearted way that also pokes fun at being politically correct.

“Stop with all the You People-ing!”
Ditto for riffs on religion, airheads, and NASA. I’d say safe for teens and up, as long as you can
dig juvenile jokes about Uranus.

What was this?

I did not understand this novella at all. The professional astronauts were not in the least professional. They bickered constantly. Then, the Commander of the mission had a heart to heart talk with David Bowie's ghost. Why? I have no idea. Then Elon Musk's rocket comes to pick up a visiting tourist for no reason I could fathom. One of the professional astronauts decides to accompany her, and they both end up on Mars were there isn't as yet a settlement, so, of course, they are going to die. Again, why? What was the point of this nonsense?

Great Performances but Challenging Plot to Follow

There was cast of several characters who played their parts well. I also liked the basic plot. However it felt like I was hearing an abridged version and sometimes we were taken back and forth so much I wanted it to show down to allow for more time for character development leading to a better understanding of why each character behaved as they did. When that did happen I was better able to have empathy with the crew & ground control.1