How To Listen to Full Audiobook in Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary Popular Authors

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Title: By Heresies Distressed

Subtitle: Safehold Series, Book 3

Author: David Weber

Narrator: Jason Culp

Format: Unabridged

Length: 24 hrs and 30 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-07-09

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 1484 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

Now the battle for the soul of the planet Safehold has begun.The Kingdom of Charis and the Kingdom of Chisholm have joined together, pledged to stand against the tyranny of a corrupt Church. The youthful Queen Sharleyan of Chisholm has wed King Cayleb of Charis, forging a single dynasty, a single empire, dedicated to the defense of human freedom. Crowned Empress of that empire, Sharleyan has found in Cayleb's arms the love she never dared hope for in a "marriage of state."

In Cayleb's cause, his defiance of the ruthless Group of Four who govern mother Church, she has found the task to which she can commit her mind and her courage. It is a cause for which she was born. Yet there are things Sharleyan still does not know. Secrets Cayleb has not been permitted to share, even with her. Secrets like the true story of humanity on Safehold. Like the intricate web of lies, deception, and fabricated "religion" which have chained humanity for almost a thousand years. Like the existence of the genocidal alien Gbaba, waiting to complete mankind's destruction should humans ever attract their attention once more. Like the existence of a young woman, Nimue Alban, nine hundred years dead, whose heart, mind, and memories live on within the android body of the warrior-monk she knows as Merlin. And so Empress Sharleyan faces the the great challenge of her life unaware of all that task truly entails...or of how the secrets the man who loves her cannot share may threaten all they have achieved between them... and her own life.

Critic Reviews:

"The personalities and motivations of the numerous characters are particularly well drawn and credible, and Weber makes grand strategies and political machinations easily accessible to casual readers." (

Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

I want Oliver Wyman back

the book was really good but I really didn't like the fact that they replace the narrator. plz bring Oliver Wyman back for the next one

I miss Oliver Wyman

Not having Oliver Wyman narrate was a big surprise. He established the personality and voices of the characters. With Jason Culp, the personality of Merlin, especially, recedes to the background, IMO.

Bad Choice in Narator

The change from Oliver Wyman to Jason Culp as narrator is disastrous. Culp's reading is dull and boring. I have given up listening and instead bought the book to read! I will not purchase the forth audio-book either as Culp is the narrator.

Narrator Down Spiral

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the narrator for this book is not the same one as the narrator for the first two in the series. The change is very jarring, and this narrator is not up to the task. The first narrator changed his voice and accent for various characters. This new narrator didn't really, nor did he even attempt any kind of voice continuation from earlier in the series. Good book ruined by bad narration. Read it, don't listen to it.

More of the same

By Heresies Distressed continues much as By Schism Rent Asunder. Glacial and deliberate.

Character development and plot are consistent and make sense, but the narration move too slow for my taste.

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Title: Gears of War

Subtitle: Aspho Fields

Author: Karen Traviss

Narrator: David Colacci

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-08-09

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 548 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

For Marcus - decorated war hero and convicted traitor - the return of an old comrade threatens to dredge up an agonizing secret he has sworn to keep. As the beleaguered Gears of the Coalition of Ordered Governments take a last stand to save mankind from extermination, the harrowing decisions made at Aspho Fields have to be relived and made again. Marcus and Dom can take anything the Locust Horde throws at them, but will their friendship survive the truth about Carlos Santiago?

Members Reviews:

LOTS OF DEPTH FOR GEARHEADS

obviously this book advances the story. but what it does even better is gives much needed background for the characters. finding out about dom's brother and the bond that marcus had/has with the brothers, seeing dom is as loyal as can possibly be.. hoffman, baird and cole! cole is a beast! good stuff all over this book. the only drawback is the reader doesn't capture is as well as he could've. a lil too monotone sometimes, not enough emphasis.......

Be a careful listener complex storylines

This is the first book in the gears of war story line therefore it is covering a lot of ground. The story telling is not linear it is building background and current state situations for the characters as found in the game. Be Prepared to listen to some sections over again as the author intertwines historical situations. ( expository dialogue )fashion to build the familiar characters for the main story. It's a very good story. I have enjoyed this authors other books I look forward to the next chapter of the gears of war story line.

Excellent Novelation Bridging the first 2 games

You can get a pretty good sense of the kind of people these characters are in the game, but this book shows exactly why theyre the way they are. This exploration of their lives and character made me wish that I couldve given this a higher rating than I did, but there were a few issues that I had with it. As a gamer who loves gaming lore, I really enjoyed the meat this story added, but as a reviewer, I have to think about other things aside from how much I love Dominic.

For people who are reading this book and havent played the games, this will be sorely lacking in some respects in regards to detail. The book assumes that readers already know what things, such as a Boomer or a Grub, look like and gives very little to go on as far as description. I only really saw a problem with her describing the Locust Horde. Well, I take that back. She was a vague with people as well. You might get some identifying details like knowing Baird is blonde or Marcus has blue eyes or Taliso has tribal tattoos on his scalp, but mostly, if youre not familiar with the games, youre left to your own imagination or Googling these people.

The author seems to assume that all her readers are people whoat the very leastknow of the games, which is a fair assumption and Im sure a large portion of her readers are familiar with the series. Still, a little description wouldve been nice, just to see how shed describe some of these things with words, even if I can already picture them in my head. Also, there are some people who like to read about video games, even if they dont actually play them, and some people just happen to pick these books up randomly without being aware theyre based on games.

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Title: Watch on the Rhine

Subtitle: Legacy of the Aldenata

Author: John Ringo, Tom Kratman

Narrator: Marc Vietor

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-23-09

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 484 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

In the dark days after the initial Posleen attack, but before the primary invasion, the Chancellor of Germany faces a critical decision. Over the years, with military cutbacks, the store of experienced German military personnel had simply dwindled. After the destruction of Northern Virginia, he realized that it was necessary to tap the one group he had sworn never, ever, to recall: the few remaining survivors of the Waffen SS. Has he made a devil¿s bargain, or is this a chance for the reviled SS at last to fight the good fight? And, perhaps, gain redemption?

Watch On the Rhine, a new chapter in the New York Times best-selling Posleen War saga, is perhaps the most unbiased, and brutal, look at the inner workings of the Waffen SS in history. Meticulously researched, it explores all that was good, and evil, about the most infamous military force in history using the backdrop of the Posleen invasion as a canvas.

Members Reviews:

The German Perspective

Another very intertaining Legacy of the Aldenata tale. The change in location to the European continent and the perspective of Germany and its past sins was a great backdrop to this continuation of the story.

Unexpectedly a Very Good

The idea of getting very bad people to take on even worse people is always a good story line to me. Not using all the Gal Tech was a great twist. Not every bad person is all bad, and not every good person is all good. John Ringo's politics don't shine through as they do in other of the series. Survival cancels out programming.

John, write Back to Baton.

Good, Just not on a par with the rest

I had listened to the entire "Legacy Of The Aldenata" series EXCEPT for "Yellow Eyes" (The Panamanian Perspective) and this book ("Watch On The Rhine", The German Perspective).. I skipped these two books initially because many reviewers said that they didn't add a lot to the Series as a whole, and it seemed to me that a lot of people were just skipping over these two books, so I skipped them also to get straight back to the Main Story Lines in the later books in the series ... I know, I know, Like your Mom used to say, "If everyone else jumped off a Bridge, would you jump off too"? WELL OF COURSE I WOULD (and HAVE.. Bridge Day in West Virginia.. uhhh on second thought, let's not discuss that)...

Anyway, When you listen to as many books a month as I do, for as many years as I have, you tend to run out of books that seem to interest you pretty quickly... It also seems to me that once GOOD authors start making money, they seem to just quit writing as much (until they need money again), so I find I go through long periods of "Book Slumps" where I can't find anything that interests me.... During one such Book Slump, I went back and picked up "Yellow Eyes" and found that I enjoyed it A LOT... Since I enjoyed Yellow Eyes, I figured maybe I'd enjoy Watch on the Rhine also (Hey, "It's Ringo", how far wrong can you go?)

It's a decent book. Not nearly as good as the rest of the books in the series, and it seems to wander in places, but it did hold my attention pretty well...

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Title: Earthborn

Subtitle: Homecoming: Volume 5

Author: Orson Scott Card

Narrator: Stefan Rudnicki

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-11-09

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 666 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

She now wears the Cloak of the Starmaster, and the Oversoul wakes her sometimes to watch over her descendants on the planet below. The population has grown rapidly - there are cities and nations now, whole peoples descended from those who followed Nafai or Elemak.

But in all the long years of watching and searching, the Oversoul has not found the thing it sought. It has not found the Keeper of Earth, the central intelligence that alone can repair the Oversoul's damaged programming.

Critic Reviews:

"Card's far-future religious saga manages, brilliantly, to be at once entertaining, unobjectionable, and edifying." (

Kirkus Reviews)"[The] complex situation, abetted by Card's superior characterization, offers more than enough conflict and questing to keep the yarn moving. The grand saga of human evolution is a demanding category of sf and fantasy, but Card has met its demands quite successfully." (

Booklist)"The conclusion of the story...is vintage Card and a joy to read." (

Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

The Last Chapter

Much is made in other reviews of how this title drifts from the preceding ones and starts a new story. That's true, but it is also one of its strengths. This is less a "concluding" story (though it is somewhat) than a spinoff. If the first 4 books were All in the Family, this would be The Jeffersons (or is that The Jettersons?). There is just enough reference (and a character or two) from the other saga to bind the two together. Unlike the Ender saga, which sadly went on at least one book too long, this is the way to do it. Skip all the centuries after the main action and take a look at what the world might be like 500 years out. An interesting premise and one that authors don't often get to explore. (If you say, that's what Speaker for the Dead did, I can't disagree, but not as noticeably; there the backstory was less direct than this one.) I happened to like these characters very much--more so than the "Heroes" during the first book. (That one was a slow start, but worth it in the end.) Much is made of the religious themes in the book, but what is there so interesting about religion if not the conflict it engenders among people. The thinly veiled "bias" issues added a basis for conflict (and the oh-so-classic epithet "Digger Lover" was my favorite tongue in cheek line, just in case anyone had missed the point). Was the book about the Mormons? Probably not. Too many dissimilarities to the historical events of those times, though only Card knows for sure (golden plates was a cute touch). No, this book is nearly a standalone work showcasing Card's ability to create character studies with people and creatures out of the readers' normal ambit. The plot? Secondary. That it sort of tracks the first books? Convenient. It's all about the writing. Anyone who is disappointed that this book doesn't take up where #4 left off misses the point--it wasn't supposed to. I applaud Card for this imaginative approach and recommend this story to any of his fans.

Thinly veiled Mormon recruitment

Any additional comments?

This book was a thoroughly disappointing end to a promising series.

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Title: Dirk Gently

Subtitle: The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (Dramatised)

Author: Douglas Adams

Narrator: Harry Enfield

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 17 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-15-08

Publisher: BBC Worldwide Limited

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 365 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

Harry Enfield exuberantly returns as Dirk Gently, who, fallen on hard times and dressed as a gypsy woman, is using his irritatingly accurate clairvoyant powers to read palms. He is saved when a frantic client turns up with a ludicrous story about being stalked by a goblin waving a contract accompanied by a hairy, green-eyed, scythe-wielding monster. When Detective Superintendent Gilks decides a headless body found in a sealed room is the result of a particularly irritating suicide, Dirk is plunged into a mystery where the interconnectedness of all things is tested to the limit...

This is the second of three series adapted from the Dirk Gently books, directed by Dirk Maggs (chosen by Douglas Adams to conclude the award-winning Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy). Guest stars include Peter Davison (Doctor Who), Jan Ravens (Dead Ringers), Philip Jackson (Poirot), John Fortune (Bremner, Bird & Fortune), Morwenna Banks (Absolutely), Stephen Moore (The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy) and returning cast members Olivia Colman (Peep Show), Jim Carter (The Golden Compass) and Billy Boyd (The Lord Of The Rings). This release contains over 30 minutes of additional unbroadcast material.

Members Reviews:

Holistic update

This performance of Long dark .... is better than expected. The updated version is how I believe Doug Adams would have done it. The actors flow was well paced and the sound effects were great at creating a visual for me as I did chores. I get a kick out of Adams work, he had a knee slapping humor. Bless his fun loving legacy. The goblin is a great added touch. They did a fantastic job of this. It helped me get the through the mid west winter blues.

A laugh a minute.

I was glad to hear of the BBC's adaptations of the Dirk Gently novels. After listening to and being thoroughly impressed with their handling of holistic Detective Agency I took a listen to the sequel, Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul. Again I found myself laughing so hard I was surprised when I didn't pee my pants. They made some changes to the story to bring it into the modern age, and while I generally hate it when people make such changes, it worked surprisingly well here. It helped that they picked an excellent cast for these whacky characters.

It all started while Kate Schechter was waiting to catch a plane to Norway. Already running late as it was, she's delayed even more by a big, angry Nordic man who also wants to catch the flight but is prevented from doing so by is lack of a credt card, bank account, passport or any kind of identification. Any chance of either of them making the flight is irrevocably lost when the check-in desk suddenly shoots up through the ceiling engulfed in a ball of orange flame.

Meanwhile, holistic investigator Dirk Gently is forced by poverty to make ends meet by putting his frustratingly accurate powers of clairvoyance to use as a cross dressing fortune teller. Things get hectic when Dirk is retained by a rich record company executive who claims to be pursued by a gobblin waiving a contract signed in blood and a giant, hairy green-eyed monster with a sythe.

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Title: The Last Centurion

Author: John Ringo

Narrator: Dan John Miller

Format: Unabridged

Length: 16 hrs and 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-05-08

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 660 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

The Last Centurion is a memoir of one possible future, a world that is a darkling mirror of our own. Written "blog-style", it pulls no punches in its descriptions of junk science, bad strategy, and organic farming.

Critic Reviews:

"Ringo excels in the depiction of combat, managing to capture the carnage and horror while maintaining a sense of the absurd....with the unexpected twists that Ringo has made his hallmark." (Publishers Weekly)

"Miller becomes Bandit Six, patriotic, no-nonsense, and extra rough around the edges." (AudioFile)

Members Reviews:

Enjoy the story and forget the politics

I see a lot of reviews complaining about Ringo's politics. And yes, this book has an obvious right wing point of view. If you cannot enjoy a good story without that yarn also being liberal friendly, I suggest you look to SM Stirling for your post-apocalyptic fiction fix. This is a very engaging tale, but if you can't stand a book that says Climate Change is not real, get something else.

Usual for this author, but not bad.

Okay so you've read the other reviews that say its a terrible book full of xenophobia, hate, and just an ignorant rant. Its not. This book certainly has a right wing slant yes. However, many thing said are quite accurate about the topics in question. It is a well researched piece of work. Also there is no xenophobia and America is not presented as perfect. He never once preaches hate, and if anything encourages tolerance. If you don't like the book do not count this author out. This is an usual work for him and an excellent addition to any fan's collection.

Its A Love it or Hate it book

this is one of those books that you either love this book and agree with its view of life or hate it and disagree with it and think the author is nuts. Its a preach to the choir style blog. And I love it. But I do see where people will be upset by it. If you believe in global warming or think that the government can solve everything (or anything) you'll hate this book.

The book as written blog style and tends to get sidetracked every couple of seconds. The background story is almost a side note of the hero's ranting on subjects that tick him off. I have no Idea if the science is factually correct or just made up for the story. although it holds together well and at least to me seems ok. But its a very politically one sided.

If you enjoy Fox News or some of the more bombastic politically right wing commentators like Ann Culture or Glenn Beck you'll like this one... if you don't then you won't.

Love this book!

I read the novel before I got the audiobook and I have to say...that I love both of them. I enjoy John Ringo's military thrillers, perhaps too much, but I must say that the novel, paired with the narrator's voice and performance takes this to a whole new level. An excellent listen and totally worth it!

Excellent

This is a very well researched, very well thought out, and very well written book. Ok, it does drag at times...but the main character even acknowledges and apologizes for it and turns it into sort of a joke. Scary real stuff. Excellent book.

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Title: Axis

Author: Robert Charles Wilson

Narrator: Scott Brick

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-17-08

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 1025 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

Now, in Spin's direct sequel, Wilson takes us to the "world next door" - the planet engineered by the mysterious Hypotheticals to support human life, and connected to Earth by way of the Arch that towers hundreds of miles over the Indian Ocean. Humans are colonizing this new world - and, predictably, fiercely exploiting its resources, chiefly large deposits of oil in the western deserts of the continent of Equatoria.

Lise Adams is a young woman attempting to uncover the mystery of her father's disappearance 10 years earlier. Turk Findley is an ex-sailor and sometimes-drifter. They come together when an infall of cometary dust seeds the planet with tiny remnant Hypothetical machines. Soon, this seemingly hospitable world will become very alien indeed - as the nature of time is once again twisted, by entities unknown.

Critic Reviews:

"Outstanding....Turk and Lise, who might well be played by Bogart and Bacall, are powerfully drawn protagonists, and their strong presence in the novel makes the wonders provided all the more satisfying." (

Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Spin off Axis

What was happening when the author wrote this sequel? I listened intently to every word and tried to imagine the characters as they were introduced but they were not as fully developed as the first set of characters in "Spin". The unresolved issue of the Hypothetical s was, to say the very least, disappointing. I had in my mind's eye foresaw the ending a different way and felt cheated with the ultimate outcome. Why leave the readers with no loose ends tied up? The explanation was like the name suggests...hypothetical. No-one knew, no-one was willing to fully explain and no-one seemed to care after 2 books and a dozen or so characters were possessed with finding an answer. It seemed like a least one would have been given the answer to all the mysteries and held on to the info maybe for another sequel.

I did enjoy listening to Scott Brick read this novel and at times I was on the edge of my seat in anticipation, but not often enough.

Note to writers: please don't ask readers to invest in novels that even you don't know how it should end.

No Spin

I read Spin and I listened to Axis and Axis is no Spin. I was excited about this book as the three books of RCW that I had previously read where good to real good and Spin was the best. We go to an alternate world, where other authors would have had a field day exploring the new world. RCW tells us this world is a desert and it is boring. Wow, that didn't stop Frank Herbert. Silverberg could have done wonders with this world.

There is no character development at all, which is also different for RCW. We start out with this character named Isaac who seems would make a great leading character and he meets Sulean Moi who could also be a great character. Then comes chapter two and we meet Lise and Turk. It is several chapters before we get back to Isaac and then it is pretty much in passing until the end of the book. Turk is one of RCW's usual flawed characters, but even he is not developed and Lise is just a girl thrown in for a love interest, she has no character. RCW usually puts his Sci Fi in the background and in this book it is way in the back until the very end. Like so many other authors have done this second book is just filler to get us to the third book, Vortex.

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Title: Hominids

Subtitle: The Neanderthal Parallax, Book 1

Author: Robert J. Sawyer

Narrator: Jonathan Davis, Robert J. Sawyer

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-21-08

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1666 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

BONUS AUDIO: Author Robert J. Sawyer explains why Ponter Boddit is his favorite among all the characters he's created.

Critic Reviews:

"Sawyer is a writer of boundless confidence and bold scientific extrapolation." (The New York Times)

Members Reviews:

Good Science Fiction

I am a fan of Robert J. Sawyer and this is another great read. This is Science Fiction in it's purest form. We are talking Neanderthals, parallel universes and a little physics thrown in. Character development not the best. Mainly it has neat stuff in it that leads to a lot of deep thought.

Scicen Fiction Can Be Literature

I found the book fast paced, well narrated and well edited. Some complain of the politics and religion but this is literature. Since we can't discuss these things at "polite gatherings" literature is appropriate except for those who wish pure escapism (While concise, entertaining and compelling certainly this is not a 'light' read).

It won the Hugo award (Science Fiction Writer's "Oscar" as most likely know), and only rarely are such prizes awarded to art without any merit.

Much fuss is made by some about the graphic sexual assault which is brief but absolutely key to distinguishing two cultures and a woman's feelings about a more sensitive being.

My only critique, is I found the verisimilitude lacking in the other culture regarding their belief system. I would think any being that could contemplate its death might have different views. A line or two more explaining their reasons would have helped. That is my only critique.

Finally, remember this is fiction. If one finds FICTION so offensive why bother reading? I can understand political or religious NON-fiction being offensive but isn't the joy of fiction that it's just "make believe?"

The price is right considering its length.

Great idea, execution a bit flat

The first in a series; great concept and a fun vision of what a "modern" neanderthal culture might be like. Even so the plot speed, complexity, and execution are a bit slow and even at times predictable. A fun read overall and worth the time.

Without Good and Evil

I'm very glad I listened to this Hominids Book 1 without regard to the numerous member reviews that clearly were blinded by their own hidebound perspectives.

The beauty of this book is that it shows us two entirely different civilizations each of which is in many ways blind to its own flaws and yet each of which has its own strengths and humanity.

It's clearly not by accident that the Neanderthals call themselves human and that the Homo Sapiens call themselves human and that as a whole each civilization is short sighted.

The flaws of the Neanderthals really are both potential and present flaws of our society, too. And the flaws of the Homosapiens are parallel flaws of our own.

It's a book without good or evil. Each society is both compassionate and prejudiced, and each side is worthy of existing and interacting with the other.

Finally, the main characters are for good reason benevolent and often wise. Thus individuals redeem their societies.

Some reviewers are caught up on one side or another, on one character or another, on trivia that misses the whole point.

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Title: Sundiver

Subtitle: The Uplift Saga, Book 1

Author: David Brin

Narrator: George Wilson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-31-08

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 714 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

For nearly a billion years, every known sentient species in the universe has been the result of genetic and cultural guidance - or "uplifting" - by a previously uplifted patron race. Then humans are discovered. Having already uplifted chimps and dolphins, humanity clearly qualifies as an intelligent species, but did they actually evolve their own intelligence, or did some mysterious patron race begin the process, then suddenly abandon Earth? The answer to this mystery might be as close as our own sun, but it will take a daring dive into its fiery interior to know for sure.

Sundiver begins David Brin's thoughtful, exhilarating exploration of a future filled with an imaginative array of strange alien races, dazzling scientific achievements, and age-old enigmas.

Members Reviews:

Very engrossing and well read

I downloaded this book on the recommendation of someone who had read the printed version and did so noting some of the earlier criticisms of this particular reading and the narrator.

I very much enjoyed the book. Brin's universe is one filled with political intrigue and trans-species rivalry. His inventiveness and descriptive powers of an environment as unlikely as the surface of the sun were excellent.

Like many, many sci-fi novels, I think it could have done with a slightly firmer editor's pen but, given the genre, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I also must respectfully disagree with the criticisms of the narrator's reading. Personally, I found it very well executed. I found the voices - which didn't seem silly to me at all - very helpful for keeping the panoply of aliens straight in my head.

All in all, I was very happy I'd bought and listened to it, and I have bought the other two in the series on the strength of my impressions of the first.

good, but flawed

The first 4 hours of this book are pretty bad. Nothing much happens beyond finding out what "uplift" means. The main character, Jacob, goes from one place to another and talks to people and that's about it. To make matters worse Jacob is grief-stricken, making him detatched from humans, and has a kind of splintered personality; so there isn't any character development either. Dull.

After that things pick up a lot. Aside from the hard S.F. elements, and the world-building, there is a mystery- a pretty good whodunit- and the questions about what the aliens are up to, what's going on with the Solarians, and the revelations about Jacob's character. And some action too.

The narrator is terrific- especially considering he has to do 3 alien species, a dolphin, and a chimp. Talk about earning your pay!

That said, the first 4 hours are a real obsticle. Unless you are a Brin fan I'd advise getting "The Uplift War" instead. The "trilogy" is really 3 unconnected books set in the same universe. Execpt that "Startide Rising" is continued in the next "trilogy".

A True Classic

This is one of Brin's ealierier novels and the story telling is a bit stilted. Part of that is the process of Universe building. The concept of a universe based on Uplift is easy to grasp but hard to explain. The other part is that it was Brin's first published novel. Even a great first novel is a first novel. The story is a good mystery based on scientific possiblilities.

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Title: Pastwatch

Subtitle: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus

Author: Orson Scott Card

Narrator: Scott Brick, Christopher Cazenove, Gabrielle de Cuir, Arte Johnson, Moira Quirk, Stefan Rudnicki, Orson Scott Card

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-31-07

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 911 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

In one of the most powerful and thought-provoking novels of his remarkable career, Orson Scott Card interweaves a compelling portrait of Christopher Columbus with the story of a future scientist who believes she can alter human history from a tragedy of bloodshed and brutality to a world filled with hope and healing.

Critic Reviews:

"A bold and compassionate alternative history filled with believable historical and fictional characters." (Library Journal)

Members Reviews:

Fascinating

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have read a few of the other reviews for this novel and was surprised to find a lot of negativity with respect to the historical and philosophical content. I enjoyed listening to the lives of people of whom I'd only briefly heard in history text books. It reminded me in that way of the Ken Follet book, Pillars. The characters from 500 years ago seemed more real, believable, and far less boring then I'd originally thought. The philosophical dialogues about time travel and reality, while a bit difficult, were just a small part of the novel. And I believe it's good to think about difficult and strange things sometimes.

I have read and listened to many of OSC's books and have enjoyed all that I've come across. This book, while perhaps not as Sci-Fi as some might expect, was very entertaining. The characters were moving, and the narrators were great - You'll recognize the narrators from the Ender's Game series. Several times I found myself stalling whatever errand I had to get to so that I could find out what would happen next - a sure sign of a good thing.

I thought this book was wonderful, and would definitely recommend it.

Thanks Uncle Orson

I read this book originally when I was in Afghanistan in 2003. I remember that I got a brand new copy out of a sack of books that some good citizen sent over as a care package. What a treat. I remember at the time that I was rereading old John Grisham novels; audiobooks were something that I was barely into at the time, In Germany I had bought some Left Behind audiobooks at the PX, that's probably what really got me hooked, but I had long since listened to those and this book was fresh material. Anywho, I couldn't put this book down once I got into it back then, and likewise I couldn't stop listening to this audiobook once I got into it recently. I had forgotten some things about the book in the past five years. It's amazing to go back and listen to books that you've read and pick up on things you'd missed.

The book is a really great concept and it kind of makes you think real hard about the influences that shape history, and how a handful of motivated people really push things in the world, and between my two readings it made me think of how my impressions have been influenced by recent history and how I have changed in the past five years. Only great books have that power.

Also I would like to thank Orson Scott Card for his new Sci-Fi review page on audible.com. I had wondered out loud in a previous review what Mr. Card thought of audible.com. I suppose that he has given his endorsement and this is good. For me audible is the most valuable service on the internet aside from iTunes.