Blood Music Audiobook By Greg Bear cover art

Blood Music

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Blood Music

By: Greg Bear
Narrated by: George Guidall
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About this listen

Vergil's innovative experiment restructuring the cells of a common virus becomes a nightmare when, in order to save his research, Vergil injects the entire culture into his bloodstream.©1985 Greg Bear (P)1991 RECORDED BOOKS Classics Fiction Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Scary
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What listeners say about Blood Music

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Careful with that blood transfusion!

Where does Blood Music rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Certainly in the top 3rd. A very unusual book, that takes some fascinating turns and twists that are unexpected, to say the least. A good combination of Greg Bear and George Guidall.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Mostt...the communication between the nanocells, and humans, without a doubt. A highly original concept.

Least...nothing immediately comes to mind, to be honest. Few flaws.

What about George Guidall’s performance did you like?

Goodness, where do I start? George G gives a brilliant performance. The Neocytes, the female characters, the accents. Classic GG. He is an artist, and truly brings this very nuanced novel to life in an approachable, genuine way.
Other reviewers note some timing/editing issues, but this appears to be have been done intentionally.

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

They' re here!

Any additional comments?

The other reviews of this fascinating Bear offering don't give it justice, IMHO. Granted, the book moves forward with scientific concepts, and suspensions of disbelief, that otherwise would require a great deal of committment.
I tend to disagree. This book blends nano-end of times concepts, with real characters and concepts that are at once a stretch, and believable.
I am very impressed by this effort, and highly recommend it to all.

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9 people found this helpful

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

Half full/Half empty

The first half of this book was very engrossing and captivating. The second half - not so much. The story works well when its about the main character: Vergil. You're interested in his plight and his fate. Once that is determined, the story meanders about to various other characters that I just couldn't really care about.

The narrator also does not speak clearly into the microphone at a few points in the book making you have to turn up the audio very high just to hear him. In his defense, this was recorded many, many years ago when audiobook recording was not at the best. The narrator does not have a vast range of voices either: alternating from gruff, gravely to a high-pitched attempt at female voices which just doesn't work.

An interesting premise and great first half of the book, but not one that I could recommend.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Start is great, ending is confusing

So I started this book not knowing what it was about. I have to say, the beginning was great. I listened intently and I give the author props for not letting the reader/ listener feel like they were dumb. Then came the middle and end, and you lost me. I kept thinking I would catch on or understand, like the beginning, but it was hopeless. Maybe if I read, instead of listened to the end it may have been different. However if you like sci-fi books, this will definitely not disappoint.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing concept

I think this is such a wonderful adaptation of an idea we've probably all toyed with at one point or another, what if the cells could think?

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

Amazing read with Audio issues

This book… wow it sticks in your head. Written in the 80’s before all the science-fi tropes of today were established. Equal parts Mad Scientist horror, plague apocalypse, and speculative fiction of the natures of our memories and universe. This feels either before it’s time, or forgotten in the noise.

The recording had significant issues bouncing between stereo and mono which made sections difficult to listen to.

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

Audio quality isn't great for the first half

It sounds like this recording was digitized from a cassette tape using a player that badly needed it's playback head to be cleaned and aligned. After the first half or so of the recording, the sound quality improves. I guess they noticed. Too bad they didn't go back and re-digitize the first half of the performance.

The book itself is still amazingly interesting and fresh even though it was written way back in the mid 1980s. I'm glad I stuck with it even though I had a hard time ignoring the audio problems at first.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

AMAZING!

I don't know what to say except that you should definitely check this one out!

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

Highly original piece of sci-fi art

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrator, and the decision to narrate a specific major character in an overdramatic and incredibly annoying whisper. Almost ruined a good book.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Blood Music?

Fast paced beginning evokes "The Fly" type of horror, then moves into gripping hard si-fi and quickly accelerates toward a visually bizarre and tactile almost hallucinatory post apocalyptic setting.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Again, the affected and tiresome whisper was really hard to bear, I actually resorted to fast forwarding this specific character's dialogue, and it's a main character and that totally defeats the purpose of listening to a book.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes, awesome visuals would make for great film effects.

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

great sci fi!

Fantastic story. Reader performance is great, but a bit slow for my taste, I sped it up a little and preferred that. Audio does have some problems, it sounds like it was copied from an old analog tape that had some bad sections, but these problems are only occasional and for short bursts. Overall, really enjoyed the story and the reader's acting.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

New and interesting premise. Good narration!

I had no idea what this book was about when I started listening, and it didn't take long for me to get sucked in. I've read lots of science fiction (and a fair amount of Greg Bear), and I don't recall encountering this particular premise before. That made it even more of a pleasant surprise, though Bear's other work has been pretty mind-blowing, so perhaps I shouldn't have been. The narrator was good in that he ADDED to the overall experience (some narrators are a net minus in my experience).

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