Get Most Popular Full Audiobooks in Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary Best Sellers

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Title: I, Robot

Subtitle: To Protect

Author: Mickey Zucker Reichert

Narrator: Alma Cuervo

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-10-12

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 51 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The best-selling author of the popular Renshai series, Mickey Zucker Reichert pens I, Robot: To Protect - the first in a trilogy inspired by the Isaac Asimov classic I, Robot. Its the year 2035, and robot psychologist Dr. Susan Calvin is beginning her residency at a teaching hospital where patients are being injected with diagnostic nanobots. Before long, Susan realizes that the injections portend dire consequences - and that the nanobots are being used to facilitate a deadly scheme.

Members Reviews:

Also an intimate look at a MD first year residency

What did you love best about I, Robot?

I was expecting a typical Asimov robot story but instead experienced what it was like for Dr Calvin's first year residency. The book is a teaching experience in psychology.

What does Alma Cuervo bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book?

Alma Cuervo put you into the life of Susan Calvin even better than what one would do in reading words on pages.

Not so much about i Robots or it's subject

Very little about the i Robot series and subject matter. But will probably continue listening to the series

Not much scifi content

Much more "romance" and "medical drama" genre than "SciFi". Set a few decades from present day but otherwise very little scifi content. The description was misleading. It had almost nothing in common with Azimof's "I, Robot". It took 8hrs of audio before the protagonist made it to the USR office! I won't be buying the the rest of this trilogy.

An old friend

What did you love best about I, Robot?

The author brings back to life an old friend, the legendary Dr. Susan Calvin. This book definitely feels like it could have been written by Isaac Asimov. In fact, I think this author is better at writing for female characters than Asimov was. Susan Calvin's character is full of warmth and a depth that it hasn't seen before. It is a must-read for Asimov fans.

What did you like best about this story?

Getting to know Dr. Susan Calvin better.

What does Alma Cuervo bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book?

She sounds like Dr Calvin always sounded in my head.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, but I had to force myself to take breaks.

Any additional comments?

I really miss Isaac Asimov. Its great that someone can add more to the Asimov experience and, in some ways, exceed it.

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Title: Mindstar Rising

Subtitle: The Greg Mandel Trilogy, Book 1

Author: Peter F. Hamilton

Narrator: Toby Longworth

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 52 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-01-11

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1473 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

It's the 21st century, and global warming is here to stay, so forget the way your country used to look. And get used to the free market, too the companies possess all the best hardware, and they're calling the shots now. In a world like this, a man open to any offers can make out just fine.

A man like Greg Mandel for instance, who's psi-boosted, wired into the latest sensory equipment, carrying state-of-the-art weaponry and late of the English Army's Mindstar Battalion. As the cartels battle for control of a revolutionary new power source, and corporate greed outstrips national security, tension is mounting to boiling point and Greg Mandel is about to face the ultimate test.

Members Reviews:

Portrait of a SciFi master as a novice

Relative to Hamilton's more recent work (the Commonwealth Saga), Mindstar Rising is clearly not in the same league. That said, this 1st book of the Greg Mandel trilogy demonstrates the talent that has emerged as one of preeminent contemporary scifi authors. Mindstar is simply not as ambitious, nor as sweeping in scope as his later work, but the story is masterfully done and a thoroughly enjoyable listen.

We are presented with the limits of a near future tale (still near future due to the identifiability with the characters' daily routines), set late in the 21st century. Both environmental (in the form of global warming) and political (in the form of economic upheaval leading to vicious UK socialism) changes have occurred. Greg Mandel is a former UK soldier, discharged by the new, anti-military government. The Mindstar unit was a special ops group that received early experimental bioimplants. Mandel has an "esp" sense to detect mental states in others close by. He does not "read" minds, but can sense emotional reactions.

Greg is hired by a wealthy, elderly businessman and his granddaughter to track down what is thought to be sabotage within their manufacturing facilities (some of which are space based). What appears as straightforward corporate espionage and hardball takeover tactics gradually evolves into a life or death struggle with national political ramifications. For the major scifi elements, biology and cyber dominate along the lines of a William Gibson / Richard K Morgan love child.

The characters are wonderfully developed with vile villains and endearing supporting characters. The narrator performs an admirable rendition for the range of characters.

Like Drinking From a Sci-Firehose

Peter F. Hamilton has more sci-fi imagination in his little typing finger than most authors have in their whole body! At times, it was all I could do to keep up with all the ideas and jargon he was throwing at me. Listening to the audio version makes it even more difficult to digest everything, so you'd better not try to listen to this book while operating heavy machinery.

Just listen to the first chapter and you will know that Mr. Hamilton is a certified sci-fi genius. He brings along some of the "inventions" from his previous books, but just enough to make you recognize his fingerprint. In this book, the scope is more narrowly contained to a single planet, which must have been like trying to keep Robin Williams on a single topic, but he does cover much of the planet (and the space above it, and below the surface of the water).

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Title: The First Days

Subtitle: As the World Dies, Book 1

Author: Rhiannon Frater

Narrator: Cassandra Campbell

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-08-11

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 846 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Rhiannon Frater's As the World Dies trilogy is an Internet sensation. The first two books, The First Days and Fighting to Survive, have won the Dead Letter Award for Best Novel from Mail Order Zombie. The First Days was named one of the Best Zombie Books of the Decade by the Harrisburg Book Examiner. And AmericanHorrorBlog calls Rhiannon Frater "a writer to watch".

The morning that the world ends, Katie is getting ready for court and housewife Jenni is taking care of her family. Less than two hours later, they are fleeing for their lives from a zombie horde. Thrown together by circumstance, Jenni and Katie become a powerful zombie-killing partnership, mowing down zombies as they rescue Jenni's stepson, Jason, from an infected campground. They find sanctuary in a tiny, roughly fortified Texas town. There Jenni and Katie find they are both attracted to Travis, leader of the survivors; and the refugees must slaughter people they know, who have returned in zombie form.

Fast-paced and exciting, filled with characters who grab your heart, The First Days: As the World Dies is the beginning of a frightening trilogy.

Critic Reviews:

"One of the few zombie novels fueled by the power of feminine protagonists in an apocalyptic world gone wrong." (Harrisburg Book Examiner)

Members Reviews:

I'd pick another series...

The names of the first two characters starts the story off confusingly - Katie and Jenny - and it went downhill from there. And I'm not convinced the author kept the characters straight either: it felt like sometimes Jenny was the hysterical useless twit, and at others it was Katie. Unless both women were supposed to be hysterical twits?? perhaps...

Jenny is an abused wife, but this felt like a feminism 101 version of spousal abuse. Jenny recollects how she was planning to leave her hubby, then a few pages later, she goes on about what a terrible wife and mother she was, and how much she needed a "strong" person (aka Katie) to follow. It's like the author read a book about how abused women behaved, and tried to incorporate this into the book. Including a moment where Jenny was going to "pay back" Katie by offering her sex. It didn't feel real - especially since I'm pretty sure women don't turn lesbian in a matter of a few hours.

And Katie says when offered the opportunity to join an armed group: "I think we're better off on our own"??? are you nuts? Yeah, sure... a couple of people against the world - it's even irrelevant that they are both women... nobody wants to face a zombie apocalypse with just one other person at their back. (Of course, the next day, they're all gung-ho to join a group...the reader is not told what stimulated this sudden change of mind.)

Then when they finally find a place where they think they'll settle down to stay (the author - I mean Katie - tells us directly that they want to stay here)... all of a sudden Katie (a lesbian) realizes that she has felt a connection and "feeling that they have a future together" with a man she met 30 seconds ago. Err...

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Title: Raising Stony Mayhall

Author: Daryl Gregory

Narrator: David Marantz

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-18-11

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1391 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

From award-winning author Daryl Gregory, whom Library Journal called "[a] bright new voice of the 21st century", comes a new breed of zombie novel - a surprisingly funny, vividly frightening, and ultimately deeply moving story of self-discovery and family love.

In 1968, after the first zombie outbreak, Wanda Mayhall and her three young daughters discover the body of a teenage mother during a snowstorm. Wrapped in the woman's arms is a baby - stone-cold, not breathing, and without a pulse. But then his eyes open and look up at Wanda, and he begins to move.The family hides the child - whom they name Stony - rather than turn him over to authorities who would destroy him.

Against all scientific reason, the undead boy begins to grow. For years, his adoptive mother and sisters manage to keep his existence a secret - until one terrifying night when Stony is forced to run, and he learns that he is not the only living dead boy left in the world.

Critic Reviews:

"Stony [is] the best zombie character ever....More than many novelists, Gregory's work not only withstands but grows richer with re-readings and sustained attention." (SF Signal)

"Raising Stony Mayhall should add to Daryl Gregory's reputation as a dazzling innovator....a fast-paced, exciting narrative laced with both humor and moments of pathos." (Locus)

"Part superhero fiction, part zombie horror story, and part supernatural thriller, this luminous and compelling tale deserves a wide readership beyond genre fans. Highly recommended." (Library Journal)

Members Reviews:

A Pacifist Zombie Tries to Keep It Together

Daryl Gregory???s Raising Stony Mayhall (2011) read by David Marantz is an absorbing audiobook: moving, humorous, and, amidst the legion of undead books and movies out there, original.

In Part One, in 1968 on a snowy night in Easterly, Iowa, a zombie baby is found by the Mayhall family, mother Wanda and her three daughters. They must raise him in secrecy, because the boy, nicknamed Stony, is a ???Living Dead??? or ???LD,??? and earlier in 1968 (the year of George Romero???s ???documentary??? Night of the Living Dead) an outbreak of a mysterious disease that turned people undead hit the eastern USA. Though the contagion was seemingly stopped by the rapid and rabid reactions of civilians and authorities, if Stony were discovered he would be exterminated. The rest of the novel depicts his attempts to understand himself and the undead and living human condition.

Gregory dryly revels in the ramifications of the zombie premise: an undead physiology by which LDs do not eat, sleep, breathe, bleed, heal, decay, or stink; an undead philosophy focused around the conundrums of life and death and of how the undead may make prosthetic wooden limbs move; a resistance LDA (Living Dead Army) working through cells and safe houses; an undead representative government comprised of factions like one that wants to spread the disease all over the world and one that wants to avoid violence no matter what; and so on. He also works out the personal ramifications for Stony.

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Title: The Divine Invasion

Subtitle: VALIS, Book 2

Author: Philip K. Dick

Narrator: Dick Hill

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-18-11

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 130 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

God is not dead. He has merely been exiled to an extraterrestrial planet. And it is on this planet that God meets Herb Asher and persuades him to help retake Earth from the demonic Belial.

Featuring virtual reality, parallel worlds, and interstellar travel, The Divine Invasion blends philosophy and adventure in a way few authors can achieve. As the middle novel of Dicks VALIS trilogy, The Divine Invasion plays a pivotal role in answering the questions raised by the first novel, expanding that world while exploring just how much anyone can really know - even God himself.

Members Reviews:

Trippy, gnostic exploration of good/evil & God/man

Book 2 of Philip K Dick's VALIS Trilogy (Gnostic Trilogy [God Trilogy]), 'The Divine Invasion' is a funky PKDesque exploration of good and evil, God and Belial, gnostic truth, etc. In this short novel, Emmanuel (God) is smuggled back to Earth via the womb of a Jewish woman with MS. She is accompanied by Herb Asher, a DJ protagonist of sorts (Jesus as a DJ's son) who marries Rybys (read Mary) to assist getting her and her unborn God-baby smuggled safely to Earth, and Elias (Elijah) the one who prepares the way. They have to get past Cardinal Fulton Statler Harms, Chief Prelate of the Christian Islamic Church (C.I.C.) and their counterpoint - the Scientific Legate (S.L.) and all the rest of Satan's bureaucracy.

As science fiction, the Divine Invasion is so far left of funky that it isn't on the map. It is definitely NOT what your typical teenage, pimply reader would expect from pulp Sci Fi. But in many ways it is messy genius. Well, maybe genius after a psychic break, and way too much religious exploration and hit after hit after hit of LSD. IT is weird, off beat and leaves you the reader in a trippy religious, dream-like, loop.

so wierd

Dick is one of my favorite writers, but the divine trilogy books are so strange. The plot seems secondary to the sense of the profound. If you are a P.K. Dick fan go for it, if not, well... good luck.

wow

Tjis book is great and I can't wait to listen to it again. The changes in time threw me off sometimes but that is also what made it a fun book

Dick is insanely brilliant. Amazing religio-sci-fi

Great continuation of Valis. Book two ties in some additional information with brand new characters, set in a whole new future. Fantastic read. Wish the series had been finished before Dick's death. Guess I'll have to settle for Timothy Archer as the third and final installment, though I'm skeptical. If you enjoyed Valis, I think you'll enjoy this, Book 2, The Divine Invasion.

Worst PKD book ever.

This book wasnt for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

People who don't like earlier PKD stories. If you thought Horse Lover Fat should have just sucked it up and prayed harder so everything would turn out OK, then this book is for you.

What could Philip K. Dick have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

He should have left this one unpublished.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

The narrator was OK. No complaints there.

You didnt love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not really. Which is a little sad.

Any additional comments?

I don't expect en entirely coherent plot from PKD stories. This had an easy to follow plot, so that's a big red flag right there. Too bad really.

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Title: Homeward Bound

Author: Harry Turtledove

Narrator: Patrick Lawlor

Format: Unabridged

Length: 28 hrs and 9 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-18-11

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 264 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

With his epic novels of alternate history, Harry Turtledove shares a stunning vision of what might have been - and what might still be - if one moment in history were changed. In the Worldwar and Colonization series, an ancient, highly advanced alien species found itself locked in a bitter struggle with a distant, rebellious planet: Earth. For those defending the Earth, this all-out war for survival supercharged human technology, made friends of foes, and turned allies into bitter enemies.

For the aliens known as the Race, the conflict has yielded dire consequences. Mankind has developed nuclear technology years ahead of schedule, forcing the invaders to accept an uneasy truce with nations that possess the technology to defend themselves. But it is the Americans, with their primitive inventiveness, who discover a way to launch themselves through distant space - and reach the Race's home planet itself. Now - in the 21st century - a few daring men and women embark upon a journey no human has made before. Warriors, diplomats, traitors, and exiles - the humans who arrive in the place called Home find themselves genuine strangers on a strange world and at the center of a flash point with terrifying potential. For their arrival on the alien home world may drive the enemy to make the ultimate decision - to annihilate an entire planet, rather than allow the human contagion to spread. It may be that nothing can deter them from this course.

With its extraordinary cast of characters - human, nonhuman, and some in-between - Homeward Bound is a fascinating contemplation of cultures, armies, and individuals in collision. From the man whom USA Today has called "the leading author of alternate history", this is a novel of vision, adventure, and constant, astounding surprise.

Critic Reviews:

"A grand spectacle of alternate history that depends as much on its individual moments as on its large-scale encounters." (

Library Journal)

Members Reviews:

Harry you should have stayed on earth.

Let me start by saying I loved the series. However, I was seriously disappointed by Homeward Bound. Why does it take 28 hrs and 9 mins to not say nothing? I mean really, nothing happened throughout the book. Nothing was resolved, We don't really know what happened on earth, many of the characters from the series are briefly mentioned but what happened to them?Worst of all we're left hanging at the end. I wont say more as I don't want to give away the story for those who wish to listen to this book. But I feel like after 6 other books we should have gotten a BIG finish and what we get is a well, nada, zilch zero, the big goose egg. The details of Home are interesting though, and you get some very interesting thoughts about different systems of government and you even wonder of the "races" form of government has some merit, This is why I didn't give the story 2 stars.

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Title: Century Rain

Author: Alastair Reynolds

Narrator: John Lee

Format: Unabridged

Length: 19 hrs and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-13-10

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 840 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Three hundred years from now, Earth has been rendered uninhabitable due to the technological catastrophe known as the Nanocaust. Archaeologist Verity Auger specializes in the exploration of its surviving landscape. Now, her expertise is required for a far greater purpose. Something astonishing has been discovered at the far end of a wormhole: mid-20th-century Earth, preserved like a fly in amber.

Somewhere on this alternate planet is a device capable of destroying both worlds at either end of the wormhole. And Verity must find the device, and the man who plans to activate it, before it's too late - for the past and the future of two worlds.

Critic Reviews:

Century Rain fuses time travel, hard SF, alternate history, interstellar adventure, and noir romance to create a novel of blistering powers and style. (SFRevu)

Members Reviews:

One of John Lee's best performances

I'm an Alistair Reynolds fan, got this the same day it became available. The story is good, but not one of his best. I realy liked the steampunky 'Terminal World' much more. If Mr. Reynolds is going to veer from his standard hard SciFi space operas, he should continue in that direction, in my humble opinion. However, John Lee really nailed this one!. His voice for the American private eye was spot on. The only other review so far was negative due to the "1920 detective noir" style. The main character is a detective from 1959...go figure. I thought it was perfect for the character and story. Bravo Mr. Lee!

We'll always have Paris - but which one?

Paris in the 1950's, Wendell Floyd is an ex-pat American jazz musician forced to actually make a living as a private detective, although he and his partner, Andre Custin, still play occasionally. The pragmatic Floyd thinks he may solve his money troubles with the investigation of an apparent suicide. While in Paris of the distant future, Verity Auger, an archeologist, is digging into a ice-locked dead city searching for relics of the past. The listener understands early on that while Auger's Paris could be in our future, Floyd's Paris is definitely not in our past and Auger is tasked to understand what that means. Clearly these disparate tales must be linked and they do merge fairly early in the narrative and Auger and Floyd ultimately realize they are each the key for the other's mystery.

There are some flaws in this overall good story:

1. While I like the characters of Floyd and Auger, I just never "felt" the chemistry between them so the love story is a bit flat.

2. Erratic pacing. The setup is very good, with a gradual build up that generates a great deal of suspense, but the long and repetitive chase scenes and the muddled political conflict break the tension frequently in the later sections of the book.

Century Rain has some good things going for it as well:

1. Wonderful prose - I would argue that there is no Science Fiction writer who writes more elegantly than Alistair Reynolds. As always, he uses beautiful metaphors, sets vivid scenes, and employs such a wide vocabulary that my ears stay tuned even when the story slows.

2. Grand provocative ideas. We all know about The Law of the Unintended Consequences, but Century Rain takes that idea to the grandest scale and shows us a planet that has been made uninhabitable as a result of good intentions gone VERY bad and people who don't know how to quit digging when they get in a hole.

3.

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Title: Galileos Dream

Author: Kim Stanley Robinson

Narrator: George Guidall

Format: Unabridged

Length: 20 hrs and 27 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-24-10

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 169 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Kim Stanley Robinsons illustrious SF career has earned him every major award in the businessincluding the Nebula and Hugo Awards.

With Galileos Dream, Robinson crafts an instant masterpiece that blends epic adventure and thoughtful alternate history. Ganymede, a rebellious Jovian, attempts to bring famed scientific mind Galileo forward in time to alter the course of history with astonishing results.

Members Reviews:

Quit listening about a third of the way in.

If I didn't even finish this book, why am I giving it 3 stars? I think much of the problem is in me rather than in the book. I have read other books by Robinson and think he is a good writer, and this book is also well written. So what was the problem? There is not any sympathetic character. Galileo is celebrated in this book as "the first scientist", and I would not disagree. When I was a science teacher, I portrayed him so to my students.... However, he was also a fairly unpleasant person. I had known about many of his less admirable traits before reading this book, but I had not realized that he came from what is now called a dysfunctional home. He had a horrible father and a horrible mother. Unfortunately, he was one of those people who continued the cycle of horribleness rather than breaking free of it. Apparently when he was in a bad mood or drunk (a frequent occurrence), servants and children had to hide from his fists. I already knew about the shameful way he treated his daughters, but I had forgotten some of the details. When I got to the part where he has the servants tie his 12-year-old daughter hand and foot and cart her screaming and crying to the place where she would be imprisoned for the rest of her life, I just couldn't go on any further.

I also had not realized the extent of his terrible health. I have come away from this book with increased sympathy for how much he accomplished in spite of it.

I was further infuriated by pretty much every single Roman Catholic bigwig in the book. The evils of the Inquisition and the corruption in the Catholic Church in those times is widely known, but as one "holy" man after another adds to the torment of Galileo's life, it just got to be too much of a bad thing. I felt myself slipping from my normal laid back atheist position to a strong desire to run out and find a Catholic priest that I could punch in the belly for old times' sake.

So, if you can tolerate a LOT of misery and horribleness inflicted on and by the main character and still enjoy the book, then you may very well find much in this book to recommend it. But if, like me, you need a main character who is simpatico, and a few rays of sunshine to leaven the shadows, you may not like this one. Consider carefully.

p.s. George Guidall, the narrator, does his usual excellent job.

Historical Novel?

More a historical novel than science fiction, Galileo's Dream covers the latter half of Galileo's life. While there are some action scenes this is not an action novel. And while there is time travel and alien intelligence, it is more a novel of about Galileo, his scientific ideas, and Vatican politics. If you make it through the twenty hours you will gain a understanding and an affection for this flawed genius. It does go on for too long. It could stand being about a third shorter.

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Title: Cobra

Subtitle: Cobra Trilogy, Book 1

Author: Timothy Zahn

Narrator: Stefan Rudnicki

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-05-10

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 248 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The colony world Adirondack and Silvern fell to the Troft forces almost without a struggle. Outnumbered and on the defensive, Earth made a desperate decision. It would attack the aliens not from space, but on the ground - with forces the Trofts did not even suspect. Thus were created the cobras, a guerrilla force whose weapons were surgically implanted, invisible to the unsuspecting eye, yet undeniably deadly. But power brings temptation...and not all the Cobras could be trusted to fight for Earth alone. Only Moreau would learn the uses - and abuses - of his special abilities, and what it truly meant to be a Cobra.

Members Reviews:

A Pleasant Surprise

I really didn't expect that the focus of the novel would be a study of human nature. But, that is what it was. The combat segments were fast and furious (that somehow made it more believable), which is much better than those stories that seek to fill 90% of the plot with combat. I'll defintely buy book 2.

Better every time.

Genuinely one of my favourite books ever. Every time read (or now listen) to it I like it more! Cannot recommend it enough!

A solid thoughtful military scifi story

Would you consider the audio edition of Cobra to be better than the print version?

The Narrator has a deep resonant voice, and a slight accent. For me, this was excellent, and made the story feel more multicultural than maybe it would appear in print.

What did you like best about this story?

It is the standard formula for military science fiction, an ernest young man joins the military for the best of reasons and gets made over into a soldier,but with a thoughtful constraint to it. It is not a book about how soldiers are somehow better than everyone else, or how they are more terrible, but it deals with the effect of war on a man. It is oddly like a commentary on PTSD, and the difficulties soldiers have in returning to a normal world.

Have you listened to any of Stefan Rudnickis other performances before? How does this one compare?

I listened to one of the later books in this series and he had the same qualities in it.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Science can make better equipped and trained soldiers, but it can not change the nature of people who fight.

Any additional comments?

I read the book when I was a kid. I recently picked up one of the later books and realized I wanted to go back through the first series again, so I can be better grounded for the later books.

Not Bad!

This book isn't bad to listen to. It held my atension, but it always seemed to be leading up to something action packed that never happened. It had some action but not what the name Cobra implies. The narration is very good, thats is what kept me listening. I'm just starting to listen to book 2 Cobra Strike. I hope it has more then the first book. Now don't get me wrong about this book. It's not a bad book, not by a long shot. I was just hoping for some nail biting action!

Little action and Lots of talk

This was not what I thought it was. I purchased this because I read the Star Wars Thrawn Trilogy years ago and really enjoyed it, and I thought that this would be an action packed Military Science Fiction story which it was not. It started out OK and it did have some action around the start of the book but most of it was just talking and politics.

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Title: The Engines of God

Author: Jack McDevitt

Narrator: Tom Weiner

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-04-09

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 403 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Earth's ravaged environment is quickly making it unlivable, and colonizers want to begin terraforming these abandoned worlds for human habitation. Only interstellar archaeologist Richard Wald and starship pilot Priscilla Hutchins are convinced that uncovering the secrets of the monuments may hold the key to survival for the entire human race.

Critic Reviews:

"Splendid. Not since Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama has the discovery of artifacts of alien intelligence been treated so skillfully." (

Baltimore Sun)"McDevitt is at his best award-winning style in this intelligent and wide-ranging novel." (

Kirkus Reviews)"With plenty of startling plot twists, a heavy dose of intrigue, and an unusual amount of character development for science fiction, McDevitt holds us fast right through to a thrilling finish." (

Booklist)

Members Reviews:

Conceptually intriguing, but uneven writing style

The basis premise concerns 200 years in the future where faster than light drives have allowed some exploration of our galaxy. The startling discoveries have all been related to a mysterious alien race referred to as the Monument Makers (MM) from their habit of leaving gigantic sculptures scattered around including our solar system. At the same time evidenced is found of alien civilizations past and present, although none even at our technological level.

The major thrust is to understand what happened to the MM. This leads to archeological investigations that form the bulk of the action which in turn leads to solar system hopping. The plot twists are fascinating and unexpected.

Unfortunately there are several aspects that really detract from the overall story. The characters are largely forgettable. Most of their actions come off as a high school theatrical production. At the same time, the injected elements creating drama are forced, seem arbitrary, and aren't necessary to drive the plot forward. Finally, the authors drags out certain sections with too much detail that becomes dull and boring. The ending is satisfying up to a point, but leaves open much of the opening questions.

Narration not so good

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Better narration. I really struggled to identify the different characters in this audible book. It was quite frustrating to the extent that I needed to stop and replay several times to determine who was who. In the end I have given up finishing this audible story. I have nearly all the other Jack McDevitt books and have not had this problem before. So definitely down to the narrator.

Big idea, Clarke-like SF

The Earth is facing environmental catastrophe in the 23rd century. Humans have spread to other star systems, but generally not found a lot of Earth-like planets, and those they have found are already inhabited. A handful of intelligent alien races have been discovered, but all are primitive compared to humanity. Most alien races discovered, however, are long dead, and the most prominent is one that apparently traveled to other stars, as their monuments have been found across the galaxy.

Earth has generally taken a "hands off" approach to living natives, but as pressure mounts to begin terraforming habitable worlds as an escape plan, this "Prime Directive" morality begins to seem less desirable.