A Voyage to Arcturus Audiobook By David Lindsay cover art

A Voyage to Arcturus

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

A Voyage to Arcturus

By: David Lindsay
Narrated by: Gordon Greenhill
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.95

Buy for $19.95

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

A stunning achievement in speculative fiction, which critic Colin Wilson called the "greatest novel of the 20th century".

A Voyage to Arcturus has inspired, enchanted, and unsettled audiences for decades. It is simultaneously an epic quest across one of the most unusual and brilliantly depicted alien worlds ever conceived, a profoundly moving journey of discovery into the metaphysical heart of the universe, and a shockingly intimate excursion into what makes us human and unique.

After a strange interstellar journey, Maskull, a man from Earth, awakens alone in a desert on the planet Tormance, seared by the suns of the binary star Arcturus. In a sort of agnostic's Pilgrim's Progress, he journeys northward, guided by a drumbeat, encountering a world and its inhabitants like no other, where gender is a victory won at dear cost; where landscape and emotion are drawn into an accursed dance; where heroes are killed, reborn, and renamed; and where the cosmological lures of Shaping, who may be God, torment Maskull in his astonishing pilgrimage.

At the end of his arduous and increasingly mystical quest waits a dark secret and an unforgettable revelation.

Influential on such fantasy notables as C. S. Lewis and Philip Pullman, A Voyage to Arcturus was the first novel by writer David Lindsay (1878–1945), and it remains one of the most revered cornerstones of science fiction.

Public Domain (P)2020 Gordon Greenhill Book and Audio
Fiction Science Fiction Space Exploration Space Interstellar
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about A Voyage to Arcturus

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    14
  • 4 Stars
    10
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    17
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    14
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

One of the weirdest things I've ever read.

I am a big fan of early gothic horror, scifi and psychedelia, and still , this was a very difficult read. It's such a disjointed, absurd tableau-like story, though it does somewhat -feel- like art deco to me, despite no obvious references. I would be very surprised if this wasn't Jodorowsky's primary influence. Definitely lots of transcendentalist influence, and it irks me to recognize some stylistic genes shared with Rand. Not sure if I liked it or not, but it at least got me thinking. I would sort of call it horror, but it's a pretty nontraditional form of that. But it's far too dark to call fantasy. And though it probably gets classified as sci-fi, there was barely a handful of references to science or technology. I would almost call it religious in nature. And weird cults were in their heyday at the time, so I'm not sure if this was more an allegory, a documentation of a rambling fever dream, or an earnest attempt to start another sect.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A must listen classic

I stimulating and thoughtfully entertaining adventure. That opens your mind to dazzling scenes and expanded ideas of reality. This story is the bridge between science fiction and mysticism.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Finally in audio!

This is not Victorian Science Fiction. It's an allegorical journey through the mind of an insane and spiteful god. This is the Pilgrim's Progress of Gnosticism. Everyone Maskull meets dies, usually due to Maskull's ignorance. And when Maskull meets himself, he too ceases to exist. But that's not the end of the story...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

So Weird

I can see how this book was interesting in 1920. In 2020, it is just absurd. It is less SciFi than someone's weird dream through 1920s philosophical modes.

Gordon Greenhill did well reading it; he employed a number of character voices that matched well the narrative descriptions.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

What a treat!

Loved it. I cannot believe that was written in 1920. I will forever have beautiful mental images of other words burnt in my mind.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Weird. Good weird, but yeah.

Dripping with allegory and such. It’s from 1920 so some sexism shines through pretty bright. Worth a listen. I doubt I could have read it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!