Kevin

Pleasantly surprised by this one

Revisado: 12-01-21

I enjoy Heinlein occasionally, but was surprised when reading this that it really felt like a Philip K Dick story.

I recommend going in with as little foreknowledge as possible and just enjoy the ride. The payoff at the end is exceptional

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An excellent soup, with a fly or two in it

Revisado: 09-28-19

This is a hard sci-fi adventure novel which tells a big impressive story, and has a lot going for it. However there were a couple problems that really bothered me and dramatically lessened my enjoyment of it.

As far as highlights go, I have to start with the narrators and the production quality. The readers had a tough job here as they had to give the cast distinctive voices and tackle multiple accents from all over the world. It was a huge task and they nailed it. The second highlight is Landau's prose. While there are some problems I'll mention later, by volume most of the writing is great, specifically the hard sci-fi writing. Descriptions of weather systems on different planets, the scale and scope of the universe, and other big ideas are all described beautifully and in a way that is easy and entertaining to follow.

Somewhere between highlights and lowlights is that there is a section of the book that delves into my favorite type of hard SF story: Survival. Clarke mastered this type of story with "A Fall of Moondust". Weir's "The Martian" is probably the most famous example of this type of story. The key to telling this kind of story is managing believabiliy, and in my opinion this section was a fun adventure but the believability was just not there for me, the odds were just stacked too high.

I did have some bigger problems with the novel though. First, the story takes the stance that funding it's mission to space can only be done through privatization and not government. That's fine, I don't think it's realistic but, what we get in the novel is just silly: a mission funded by Elon Musk and Kickstarter. Worse, Elon Musk shows up as a character in this, mercifully he's only in 2 or 3 scenes, but when he does it feels a bit like fan fiction and really got under my skin. These might sound like small complaints but they came up often enough to spoil my experience.

I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for my unbiased review

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Don't take substance D

Revisado: 11-11-18

#MindBending #Cynical #Dark Philip K Dick's drug based novel based loosely on himself and 'people he knew' the novel bounces between a kind of funny take on drug induced paranoia, and a sad realization that although this drug is fictional the horror stories associated with it are not. #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

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my favorite science fiction story

Revisado: 11-11-18

#FirstContact Clarke's best story, this novel features a team of explorers boarding an interstellar vehicle which passes through our solar system, they have a limited amount of time to learn as much as possible. This is the type of story which asks a million interesting questions, and leaves you to answer them for yourself. #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

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Fast, fun, adventure

Revisado: 11-11-18

#satire #military Heinlein's take on military service and citizenship is a bit more philosophical then the movie which I had experienced first, but makes for a really entertaining action story and a quick read. #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

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An extensive, sometimes hard to follow 'Making Of'

Revisado: 11-11-18

#celebrity #film #london A 'making of' focusing mainly on Arthur C Clarke (roughly 20%) and Stanley Kubrick (~80%). Some of the lengthy technical descriptions about how shots were achieved did not translate well to audio as it was too difficult to picture in my mind, I expect this will be different for different readers. Despite this problem there was enough fascinating insight into both of these men to keep the story interesting. #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

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Very different from Conan Doyle

Revisado: 11-11-18

#clever #depressing #WorldWarII This is not a traditional Holmes pastiche, instead it uses the well known character as a vehicle to explore much more serious topics such as mental health, aging, suicide and more. Not an easy listen, and not a particularly good mystery, but very worth your time. #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

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A painful journey

Revisado: 11-11-18

#apocalypse #dark #depressing Cormac McCarthy's take on an apocalyptic novel, it's unclear what brought this disaster about. What's important isn't what caused the event, but a father and his son's journey to try to come out on the other side of it as whole as possible. #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

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Snapshot of one of F1's most turbulent seasons

Revisado: 11-11-18

#funny #clever Read by the author, Steve Matchett, this book is adapted from a diary he kept during the 1994 F1 season. The season was one of the most notable in F1 history as the sport gained a new World champion and lost its greatest driver of all time. #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

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The history of F1

Revisado: 11-11-18

#disaster #depressing this novel is a historical view of a handful of Grand Prix racing drivers in the 1960's. It features incredible heroics and painful loss. I've listened to it several times now and always pick up something new each time #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

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