Camouflage
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $20.72
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Eric Michael Summerer
-
By:
-
Joe Haldeman
About this listen
Denser than any substance known to man, it has broken every drill bit they've tried on it and will not budge an inch. It resists every effort to breach it - or communicate with it. So the government turns to marine biologist Russell Sutton for help.
Meanwhile, unknown to any of them, two creatures have wandered the earth for generations. The aliens have no knowledge of each other, but possess a residual memory of the artifact - and an affinity for deep water. One, which calls itself the changeling, has survived by adaptation, by taking on many different forms: man, woman, snake, shark. The other, which calls itself the chameleon, has survived solely by destroying anything or anyone that threatens it.
Now, finally brought up from the bottom of the sea, the artifact calls to them both...to come home. For all these generations there have been two invincible creatures on Earth. But the chameleon has decided there's only room for one.
A novel of human and inhuman nature, Camouflage will take you to the depths of the sea, to the limit of man's imagination - and beyond.
©2005 Joe Haldeman (P)2008 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Buying Time
- By: Joe Haldeman
- Narrated by: Eric Vale
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
More even than space travel, the Stileman Process has altered 21st-century life. The most complex of medical miracles, it ensures that every 10 years or so, the ailing aging body can be restored to youthful vigour and health. There's a catch, of course: the cost. Every 10 years or so, you have to come up with £1,000,000 minimum to repeat the procedure or die. For Dallas Barr, one of the oldest men on earth, it's that time again. While casting around desperately for his next essential £1,000,000, he meets Maria, a woman from a previous life, and makes two major discoveries.
-
-
Highly Recommend
- By Katelyn on 04-06-17
By: Joe Haldeman
-
The Forever War
- By: Joe Haldeman
- Narrated by: George Wilson
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
William Mandella is a soldier in Earth's elite brigade. As the war against the Taurans sends him from galaxy to galaxy, he learns to use protective body shells and sophisticated weapons. He adapts to the cultures and terrains of distant outposts. But with each month in space, years are passing on Earth. Where will he call home when (and if) the Forever War ends?
-
-
A classic.
- By John on 09-24-08
By: Joe Haldeman
-
The Accidental Time Machine
- By: Joe Haldeman
- Narrated by: Kevin Free
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joe Haldeman is the esteemed Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of The Forever War. Things are going nowhere for lowly MIT research assistant Matt Fuller - especially not after his girlfriend drops him for another man. But then while working late one night, he inadvertently stumbles upon what may be the greatest scientific breakthrough ever. His luck, however, runs out when he finds himself wanted for murder - in the future.
-
-
Cool idea. Tediously told.
- By Ted on 12-02-16
By: Joe Haldeman
-
Starter Villain
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.
-
-
Volcanic Lairs, Death Rays & Cats… Oh My! 😼
- By C. White on 09-19-23
By: John Scalzi
-
Doomsday Book
- By: Connie Willis
- Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin
- Length: 26 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Oxford student Kivrin, traveling back to the 14th century is more than the culmination of her studies - it's the chance for a wonderful adventure. For Dunworthy, her mentor, it is cause for intense worry about the thousands of things that could go wrong.
-
-
Timely, beautiful, terrible and haunting
- By mudcelt on 11-02-09
By: Connie Willis
-
Roadkill
- By: Dennis E. Taylor
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jack Kernigan is having a bad day...a bad year...a bad life. After being booted out of MIT, he’s back in his Ohio hometown, working for the family business, facing a life of mediocrity. Then one day, out on a delivery, his truck hits...something. Something big...something furry...something invisible. And, it turns out, something not of this Earth. Fate can play funny tricks. Which is why Jack suddenly finds himself the planet’s best hope to unravel a conspiracy of galactic proportions that could spell the end of the human race.
-
-
The least helpful review of Roadkill
- By Joshua Kring on 08-05-22
By: Dennis E. Taylor
-
Buying Time
- By: Joe Haldeman
- Narrated by: Eric Vale
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
More even than space travel, the Stileman Process has altered 21st-century life. The most complex of medical miracles, it ensures that every 10 years or so, the ailing aging body can be restored to youthful vigour and health. There's a catch, of course: the cost. Every 10 years or so, you have to come up with £1,000,000 minimum to repeat the procedure or die. For Dallas Barr, one of the oldest men on earth, it's that time again. While casting around desperately for his next essential £1,000,000, he meets Maria, a woman from a previous life, and makes two major discoveries.
-
-
Highly Recommend
- By Katelyn on 04-06-17
By: Joe Haldeman
-
The Forever War
- By: Joe Haldeman
- Narrated by: George Wilson
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
William Mandella is a soldier in Earth's elite brigade. As the war against the Taurans sends him from galaxy to galaxy, he learns to use protective body shells and sophisticated weapons. He adapts to the cultures and terrains of distant outposts. But with each month in space, years are passing on Earth. Where will he call home when (and if) the Forever War ends?
-
-
A classic.
- By John on 09-24-08
By: Joe Haldeman
-
The Accidental Time Machine
- By: Joe Haldeman
- Narrated by: Kevin Free
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joe Haldeman is the esteemed Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of The Forever War. Things are going nowhere for lowly MIT research assistant Matt Fuller - especially not after his girlfriend drops him for another man. But then while working late one night, he inadvertently stumbles upon what may be the greatest scientific breakthrough ever. His luck, however, runs out when he finds himself wanted for murder - in the future.
-
-
Cool idea. Tediously told.
- By Ted on 12-02-16
By: Joe Haldeman
-
Starter Villain
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.
-
-
Volcanic Lairs, Death Rays & Cats… Oh My! 😼
- By C. White on 09-19-23
By: John Scalzi
-
Doomsday Book
- By: Connie Willis
- Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin
- Length: 26 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Oxford student Kivrin, traveling back to the 14th century is more than the culmination of her studies - it's the chance for a wonderful adventure. For Dunworthy, her mentor, it is cause for intense worry about the thousands of things that could go wrong.
-
-
Timely, beautiful, terrible and haunting
- By mudcelt on 11-02-09
By: Connie Willis
-
Roadkill
- By: Dennis E. Taylor
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jack Kernigan is having a bad day...a bad year...a bad life. After being booted out of MIT, he’s back in his Ohio hometown, working for the family business, facing a life of mediocrity. Then one day, out on a delivery, his truck hits...something. Something big...something furry...something invisible. And, it turns out, something not of this Earth. Fate can play funny tricks. Which is why Jack suddenly finds himself the planet’s best hope to unravel a conspiracy of galactic proportions that could spell the end of the human race.
-
-
The least helpful review of Roadkill
- By Joshua Kring on 08-05-22
By: Dennis E. Taylor
-
Seveneves
- A Novel
- By: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal, Will Damron
- Length: 31 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A catastrophic event renders the earth a ticking time bomb. In a feverish race against the inevitable, nations around the globe band together to devise an ambitious plan to ensure the survival of humanity far beyond our atmosphere, in outer space.
-
-
Odd narrator choice
- By Josh Mitchell on 05-30-15
By: Neal Stephenson
-
The Speed of Dark
- By: Elizabeth Moon
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the near future, disease will be a condition of the past. Most genetic defects will be removed at birth; the remaining during infancy. Unfortunately, there will be a generation left behind. For members of that missed generation, small advances will be made. Through various programs, they will be taught to get along in the world despite their differences. They will be made active and contributing members of society. But they will never be normal.
-
-
Unexpected Interest
- By Holly Helscher on 12-22-08
By: Elizabeth Moon
-
Gateway
- By: Frederik Pohl
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman, Robert J. Sawyer
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When prospector Bob Broadhead went out to Gateway on the Heechee spacecraft, he decided he would know which was the right mission to make him his fortune. Three missions later, now famous and permanently rich, Robinette Broadhead has to face what happened to him and what he is...in a journey into himself as perilous and even more horrifying than the nightmare trip through the interstellar void that he drove himself to take!
-
-
A human-focused SF classic
- By Ryan on 12-05-13
By: Frederik Pohl
-
Cryptonomicon
- By: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 42 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1942, Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse - mathematical genius and young Captain in the US Navy - is assigned to detachment 2702. It is an outfit so secret that only a handful of people know it exists, and some of those people have names like Churchill and Roosevelt. The mission of Watrehouse and Detachment 2702 - commanded by Marine Raider Bobby Shaftoe - is to keep the Nazis ignorant of the fact that Allied Intelligence has cracked the enemy's fabled Enigma code. In the present, Waterhouse's crypto-hacker grandson, Randy, is attempting to create a "data haven" in Southeast Asia....
-
-
Two thirds through and quit
- By Joshua on 06-20-16
By: Neal Stephenson
-
The Spare Man
- By: Mary Robinette Kowal
- Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tesla Crane, one of the richest women in the world, is on her honeymoon on an interplanetary space liner, cruising between Earth and Mars. She’s traveling incognito and is reveling in her anonymity. Then someone is murdered and her husband is named as the prime suspect. To save him from the frame-up, Tesla will risk exposure and face demons from her past. Even though doing so might make her the next victim.
-
-
Classic mystery, forward worldbuilding
- By Deana on 10-16-22
-
The Stars My Destination
- By: Alfred Bester
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marooned in outer space after an attack on his ship, Nomad, Gulliver Foyle lives to obsessively pursue the crew of a rescue vessel that had intended to leave him to die.
-
-
STILL AMAZINGLY GOOD AFTER 62 YEARS
- By charles watkins on 02-19-18
By: Alfred Bester
-
We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
- Bobiverse, Book 1
- By: Dennis E. Taylor
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There's a reason We Are Legion was named Audible's Best Science Fiction Book of 2016: Its irresistibly irreverent wit! Bob Johansson has just sold his software company for a small fortune and is looking forward to a life of leisure. The first item on his to-do list: Spending his newfound windfall. On an urge to splurge, he signs up to have his head cryogenically preserved in case of death. Then he gets himself killed crossing the street. Waking up 117 years later, Bob discovers his mind has been uploaded into a sentient space probe with the ability to replicate itself.
-
-
Ignore the Publisher's Summary! This is Amazing!
- By PW on 04-12-17
By: Dennis E. Taylor
-
Hominids
- The Neanderthal Parallax, Book 1
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Robert J. Sawyer
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Neanderthals have developed a radically different civilization on a parallel Earth. A Neanderthal physicist, Ponter Boddit, accidentally passes from his universe into a Canadian underground research facility. Fortunately, a team of human scientists, including expert paleo-anthropologist Mary Vaughan, promptly identifies and warmly receives Ponter. Solving the language problem and much else is a mini-computer, called a Companion, implanted in the brain of every Neanderthal. But it can't help his fellow scientist back in his world, Adikor Huld, when the authorities charge Adikor with his murder.
-
-
Scicen Fiction Can Be Literature
- By Scott on 08-10-09
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
14
- By: Peter Clines
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There are some odd things about Nate’s new apartment. Of course, he has other things on his mind. He hates his job. He has no money in the bank. No girlfriend. No plans for the future. So while his new home isn’t perfect, it’s livable. The rent is low, the property managers are friendly, and the odd little mysteries don’t nag at him too much. At least, not until he meets Mandy, his neighbor across the hall, and notices something unusual about her apartment. And Xela’s apartment. And Tim’s. And Veek’s.
-
-
Super solid listen!!
- By Magpie on 06-24-12
By: Peter Clines
-
Angels and Demons
- By: Dan Brown
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 18 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
World-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a cryptic symbol seared into the chest of a murdered physicist. What he discovers is unimaginable: a deadly vendetta against the Catholic Church by a centuries-old underground organization, the Illuminati. Desperate to save the Vatican from a powerful time bomb, Langdon joins forces in Rome with the beautiful and mysterious scientist Vittoria Vetra.
-
-
A must for fans of The Da Vinci Code
- By Geoffrey on 04-14-04
By: Dan Brown
-
Changeling
- A Novel of Sorcery and Society
- By: Molly Harper
- Narrated by: Amanda Ronconi
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If 14-year-old Cassandra Reed makes it through her first day at Miss Castwell’s Institute for the Magical Instruction of Young Ladies without anyone discovering her secret, maybe, just maybe, she’ll let herself believe that she really does belong at Miss Castwell’s. Except Cassandra Reed’s real name is Sarah Smith and up until now, she lived her whole life in the Warren, serving a magical family, the Winters, as all non-magical “Snipes” are bound by magical Guardian law to do. That is, until one day, Sarah accidentally levitates Mrs. Winter’s favorite vase in the parlor....
-
-
Wonderful!
- By Amazon Customer on 08-23-18
By: Molly Harper
-
Contact
- By: Carl Sagan
- Narrated by: Laurel Lefkow
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The future is here...in an adventure of cosmic dimension. In December, 1999, a multinational team journeys out to the stars, to the most awesome encounter in human history. Who - or what - is out there? In Cosmos, Carl Sagan explained the universe. In Contact, he predicts its future - and our own.
-
-
Technical problems with this recording - skips...
- By Matt on 11-28-12
By: Carl Sagan
Critic reviews
"Haldeman trips through history wearing alien goggles but his message is all about human nature." (Entertainment Weekly)
An extremely intelligent thriller." (Washington Post)
Related to this topic
-
The Year's Top Short SF Novels 5
- By: Cory Doctorow, Ken Liu, John P Murphy, and others
- Narrated by: Tom Dheere, Nancy Linari
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Short novels are movie-length narratives that may well be the perfect length for science fiction stories. This audio collection presents the best-of-the-best short science fiction novels published in 2014 by current and emerging masters of this vibrant form of storytelling.
-
-
Narrator sounds like Tony Danza
- By Sean on 03-05-16
By: Cory Doctorow, and others
-
Children of the Deterrent
- Halfhero, Book 1
- By: Ian W. Sainsbury
- Narrated by: Sam Phillips, Jaimi Barbakoff
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The new novel by the author of the best-selling The World Walker series. 'My name is Daniel Harbin, and I'm a child of The Deterrent.' What if a superhuman turned out not to be so super...or even human? Britain's superhero, The Deterrent, was unveiled to the world in 1979 and disappeared two years later. The truth about his origins has never been revealed. The rumours about his children - those that survived - and their mysterious abilities have never been confirmed. Until now....
-
-
Everything Backstory Until Last Few Chapters
- By Sailfish on 06-30-20
By: Ian W. Sainsbury
-
Marsbound
- By: Joe Haldeman
- Narrated by: Liza Kaplan
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Young Carmen Dula and her family are about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime - they're going to Mars. Once on the Red Planet, however, Carmen realizes things are not so different from Earth. There are chores to do, lessons to learn, and oppressive authority figures to rebel against.
-
-
Meh.
- By Wes Parker on 03-19-09
By: Joe Haldeman
-
Gateways
- Original New Stories Inspired by Frederik Pohl
- By: Greg Bear, Gregory Benford, Ben Bova, and others
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It isn’t easy to get a group of bestselling SF authors to write new stories for an anthology, but that’s what Elizabeth Anne Hull has done in this powerhouse book. With original, captivating tales by Greg Bear, Gregory Benford, Ben Bova, David Brin, Cory Doctorow, Neil Gaiman, Joe Haldeman, Harry Harrison, Larry Niven, Vernor Vinge, Gene Wolfe, and others, Gateways is a SF event that will be a must-buy for SF readers of all tastes, from the traditional to the cutting edge; from the darkly serious to the laugh-out-loud funny.
-
-
Spectacular.
- By Steve Reid on 08-21-15
By: Greg Bear, and others
-
Fluke
- Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings
- By: Christopher Moore
- Narrated by: Bill Irwin
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Just why do humpback whales sing? That's the question that has marine behavioral biologist Nate Quinn and his crew poking, charting, recording, and photographing very big, wet, gray marine mammals - until the extraordinary day when a whale lifts its tail into the air to display a cryptic message spelled out in foot-high letters: Bite Me.
-
-
Best way to ruin a good book.
- By colleen on 02-18-08
-
Black Fridays
- By: Michael Sears
- Narrated by: Erik Bergmann
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sometimes a man can be redeemed. But not in the way he expects. Jason Stafford is a former Wall Street hotshot who made some bad moves, paid the price with two years in prison, and is now trying to put his life back together. He’s unemployable, until an investment firm asks him to look into possible problems left by a junior trader who died recently in an accident. What he discovers is big - there are problems, all right, the kind that get you killed. But it’s not his only concern. Stafford has another quest as well: to reclaim his five-year-old son, "the Kid", from his unstable ex-wife, and then learn just what it means to make a life with him.
-
-
I enjoyed it. I loved the end!
- By John on 05-16-14
By: Michael Sears
-
The Year's Top Short SF Novels 5
- By: Cory Doctorow, Ken Liu, John P Murphy, and others
- Narrated by: Tom Dheere, Nancy Linari
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Short novels are movie-length narratives that may well be the perfect length for science fiction stories. This audio collection presents the best-of-the-best short science fiction novels published in 2014 by current and emerging masters of this vibrant form of storytelling.
-
-
Narrator sounds like Tony Danza
- By Sean on 03-05-16
By: Cory Doctorow, and others
-
Children of the Deterrent
- Halfhero, Book 1
- By: Ian W. Sainsbury
- Narrated by: Sam Phillips, Jaimi Barbakoff
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The new novel by the author of the best-selling The World Walker series. 'My name is Daniel Harbin, and I'm a child of The Deterrent.' What if a superhuman turned out not to be so super...or even human? Britain's superhero, The Deterrent, was unveiled to the world in 1979 and disappeared two years later. The truth about his origins has never been revealed. The rumours about his children - those that survived - and their mysterious abilities have never been confirmed. Until now....
-
-
Everything Backstory Until Last Few Chapters
- By Sailfish on 06-30-20
By: Ian W. Sainsbury
-
Marsbound
- By: Joe Haldeman
- Narrated by: Liza Kaplan
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Young Carmen Dula and her family are about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime - they're going to Mars. Once on the Red Planet, however, Carmen realizes things are not so different from Earth. There are chores to do, lessons to learn, and oppressive authority figures to rebel against.
-
-
Meh.
- By Wes Parker on 03-19-09
By: Joe Haldeman
-
Gateways
- Original New Stories Inspired by Frederik Pohl
- By: Greg Bear, Gregory Benford, Ben Bova, and others
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It isn’t easy to get a group of bestselling SF authors to write new stories for an anthology, but that’s what Elizabeth Anne Hull has done in this powerhouse book. With original, captivating tales by Greg Bear, Gregory Benford, Ben Bova, David Brin, Cory Doctorow, Neil Gaiman, Joe Haldeman, Harry Harrison, Larry Niven, Vernor Vinge, Gene Wolfe, and others, Gateways is a SF event that will be a must-buy for SF readers of all tastes, from the traditional to the cutting edge; from the darkly serious to the laugh-out-loud funny.
-
-
Spectacular.
- By Steve Reid on 08-21-15
By: Greg Bear, and others
-
Fluke
- Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings
- By: Christopher Moore
- Narrated by: Bill Irwin
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Just why do humpback whales sing? That's the question that has marine behavioral biologist Nate Quinn and his crew poking, charting, recording, and photographing very big, wet, gray marine mammals - until the extraordinary day when a whale lifts its tail into the air to display a cryptic message spelled out in foot-high letters: Bite Me.
-
-
Best way to ruin a good book.
- By colleen on 02-18-08
-
Black Fridays
- By: Michael Sears
- Narrated by: Erik Bergmann
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sometimes a man can be redeemed. But not in the way he expects. Jason Stafford is a former Wall Street hotshot who made some bad moves, paid the price with two years in prison, and is now trying to put his life back together. He’s unemployable, until an investment firm asks him to look into possible problems left by a junior trader who died recently in an accident. What he discovers is big - there are problems, all right, the kind that get you killed. But it’s not his only concern. Stafford has another quest as well: to reclaim his five-year-old son, "the Kid", from his unstable ex-wife, and then learn just what it means to make a life with him.
-
-
I enjoyed it. I loved the end!
- By John on 05-16-14
By: Michael Sears
-
The Forge of God
- By: Greg Bear
- Narrated by: Stephen Bel Davies
- Length: 16 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On September 28th, a geologist working in Death Valley finds a mysterious new cinder cone in very well-mapped area. On October 1, the government of Australia announces the discovery of an enormous granite mountain. Like the cinder cone, it wasn't there six months ago.
Something is happening to planet Earth, and the truth is too terrifying to contemplate
-
-
Great Story, Wonderful Listening, But the Editor?
- By George Knight on 07-14-13
By: Greg Bear
-
Robot Uprisings
- By: Daniel H. Wilson, John Joseph Adams - editor
- Narrated by: Emily Beresford, Tamara Marston, A.T. Chandler, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Humans beware. As the robotic revolution continues to creep into our lives, it brings with it an impending sense of doom. What horrifying scenarios might unfold if our technology were to go awry? From self-aware robotic toys to intelligent machines violently malfunctioning, this anthology brings to life the half-formed questions and fears we all have about the increasing presence of robots in our lives.
-
-
Has some bright spots
- By ChrisM. on 10-22-15
By: Daniel H. Wilson, and others
-
Immortality
- By: Kevin Bohacz
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 26 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Without warning, something has gone terribly awry. In the remote and unnoticed places of the world, small pockets of death begin occurring. As the initially isolated extinctions spread, the world's eyes focus on this unimaginable horror and chaos. Out of the ecological imbalance, something new and extraordinary is evolving and surviving to fill the voids left by these extinctions. Evolution is operating in ways no one could have expected, and environmental damage may be the catalyst.
-
-
Good End of World Thriller
- By John S on 11-04-14
By: Kevin Bohacz
-
Stand on Zanzibar
- By: John Brunner, Bruce Sterling - foreword
- Narrated by: Erik Bergmann
- Length: 21 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Niblock House is a rising executive at General Technics, one of a few all-powerful corporations. His work is leading General Technics to the forefront of global domination, both in the marketplace and politically - it's about to take over a country in Africa. Donald Hogan is his roommate, a seemingly sheepish bookworm. But Hogan is a spy, and he's about to discover a breakthrough in genetic engineering that will change the world...and kill him. Society is squeezed into hive-living madness by god-like mega computers and mass-marketed psychedelic drugs.
-
-
perfect audio experience
- By Darryl on 03-24-14
By: John Brunner, and others
-
The Curiosity
- A Novel
- By: Stephen Kiernan
- Narrated by: Kate Udall, Erik Bergmann, George Guidall
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dr. Kate Philo makes a breathtaking discovery in the Arctic: the body of a man buried deep in the ice. Heedless of the potential consequences, Kate's boss orders that the frozen man be reanimated. As the man begins to regain his memories, the team learns that he was - is - a judge, Jeremiah Rice. Thrown together by fate, Kate and Jeremiah grow closer. But the clock is ticking and Jeremiah's new life is slipping away. Kate must decide how far she is willing to go to protect the man she has come to love.
-
-
Almost perfect
- By ellegreenland on 04-14-14
By: Stephen Kiernan
-
The World Walker
- The World Walker Series, Book 1
- By: Ian W. Sainsbury
- Narrated by: Todd Boyce
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Just outside Los Angeles, a prisoner hidden away for 70 years sits up, gets off the bed and disappears through a solid wall. In Australia, a magician impresses audiences by producing real elephants. Nobody realizes it's not an illusion. Across the world, individuals and organizations with supernatural power suddenly detect the presence of something even they can't understand. At the center of it all, Seb Varden, a 32-year old musician with a secret in his past, slits his wrists, is shot dead and run over on the freeway.
-
-
Good Stuff
- By DobieChuck on 01-15-17
By: Ian W. Sainsbury
-
The Flicker Men
- A Novel
- By: Ted Kosmatka
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A quantum physicist shocks the world with a startling experiment, igniting a struggle between science and theology, free will and fate, and antagonizing forces not known to exist. Eric Argus is a washout. His prodigious early work clouded his reputation and strained his sanity. But an old friend gives him another chance, an opportunity to step back into the light.
-
-
Started out good but fell flat
- By Ed A on 08-04-15
By: Ted Kosmatka
-
Cut to the Bone
- A Body Farm Novel, Book 0.5
- By: Jefferson Bass
- Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this long-awaited prequel to his New York Times bestselling series, Jefferson Bass turns the clock back to reveal the Body Farm's creation - and Dr. Bill Brockton's deadly duel with a serial killer. In the summer of 1992, Arkansas governor Bill Clinton and Tennessee senator Al Gore begin their long-shot campaign to win the White House. On a sweltering hillside in Knoxville, Dr. Bill Brockton, the bright, ambitious young head of the University of Tennessee's Anthropology Department, launches an unusual - some would call it macabre - research facility, unlike any other in existence.
-
-
Just Amazingly Thrilling!
- By Paula on 07-26-15
By: Jefferson Bass
-
Footfall
- By: Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle
- Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews
- Length: 24 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They first appear as a series of dots on astronomical plates, heading from Saturn directly toward Earth. Since the ringed planet carries no life, scientists deduce the mysterious ship to be a visitor from another star. The world's frantic efforts to signal the aliens go unanswered. The first contact is hostile: the invaders blast a Soviet space station, seize the survivors, and then destroy every dam and installation on Earth with a hail of asteriods.
-
-
Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle at Their Best
- By Flatlander on 06-24-10
By: Larry Niven, and others
-
2113
- Stories Inspired by the Music of Rush
- By: John McFetridge - editor, Kevin J. Anderson - editor
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The music of Rush, one of the most successful bands in music history, is filled with fantastic stories, evocative images, thought-provoking futures and pasts. In this anthology, notable, best-selling, and award-winning writers each chose a Rush song as the spark for a new story, drawing inspiration from the visionary trio Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart.
-
-
I'm a RUSH fan, but ...no..not this book
- By NBP on 07-15-17
By: John McFetridge - editor, and others
-
The Deep Blue Good-By
- A Travis McGee Novel, Book 1
- By: John D. MacDonald
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He's a self-described beach bum who won his houseboat in a card game. He's also a knight errant who's wary of credit cards, retirement benefits, political parties, mortgages, and television. He only works when his cash runs out, and his rule is simple: he'll help you find whatever was taken from you, as long as he can keep half.
-
-
Before the A-Team, there was Travis McGee
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 11-12-16
-
A Hymn Before Battle
- Legacy of the Aldenata
- By: John Ringo
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 14 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With Earth in the path of the rapacious Posleen, the Galactic Federation offers help to the backward humans - for a price. You can protect yourself from your enemies, but God save you from your allies!
-
-
Another heads up!
- By Dr. Daniel Chapman on 06-12-14
By: John Ringo
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Forever War
- By: Joe Haldeman
- Narrated by: George Wilson
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
William Mandella is a soldier in Earth's elite brigade. As the war against the Taurans sends him from galaxy to galaxy, he learns to use protective body shells and sophisticated weapons. He adapts to the cultures and terrains of distant outposts. But with each month in space, years are passing on Earth. Where will he call home when (and if) the Forever War ends?
-
-
A classic.
- By John on 09-24-08
By: Joe Haldeman
-
Marsbound
- By: Joe Haldeman
- Narrated by: Liza Kaplan
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Young Carmen Dula and her family are about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime - they're going to Mars. Once on the Red Planet, however, Carmen realizes things are not so different from Earth. There are chores to do, lessons to learn, and oppressive authority figures to rebel against.
-
-
Meh.
- By Wes Parker on 03-19-09
By: Joe Haldeman
-
A Talent for War
- An Alex Benedict Novel
- By: Jack McDevitt
- Narrated by: Gregory Abbey, Jack McDevitt
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everyone knew the legend of Christopher Sim. Fighter. Leader. An interstellar hero with a rare talent for war, Sim changed mankind's history forever when he forged a ragtag group of misfits into the weapon that broke the back of the alien Ashiyyur. But now, Alex Benedict has found a startling bit of information, long buried in an ancient computer file. If it is true, then Christopher Sim was a fraud.
-
-
Very good - but the cover and title are deceptive
- By Brian on 09-25-10
By: Jack McDevitt
-
The Speed of Dark
- By: Elizabeth Moon
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the near future, disease will be a condition of the past. Most genetic defects will be removed at birth; the remaining during infancy. Unfortunately, there will be a generation left behind. For members of that missed generation, small advances will be made. Through various programs, they will be taught to get along in the world despite their differences. They will be made active and contributing members of society. But they will never be normal.
-
-
Unexpected Interest
- By Holly Helscher on 12-22-08
By: Elizabeth Moon
-
Buying Time
- By: Joe Haldeman
- Narrated by: Eric Vale
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
More even than space travel, the Stileman Process has altered 21st-century life. The most complex of medical miracles, it ensures that every 10 years or so, the ailing aging body can be restored to youthful vigour and health. There's a catch, of course: the cost. Every 10 years or so, you have to come up with £1,000,000 minimum to repeat the procedure or die. For Dallas Barr, one of the oldest men on earth, it's that time again. While casting around desperately for his next essential £1,000,000, he meets Maria, a woman from a previous life, and makes two major discoveries.
-
-
Highly Recommend
- By Katelyn on 04-06-17
By: Joe Haldeman
-
None So Blind
- A Short Story Collection
- By: Joe Haldeman
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the spine-tingling account of an intergalactic poacher’s rite of passage to an erotic and ultimately uplifting modern fable of inner scars and otherworldly transformation, here are 15 remarkable tales, including the classic novella The Hemingway Hoax. These are stories that sing with a unique and haunting voice—stories of war's monsters, of brutal art and lost stars, and a brief, miraculous moment called childhood, when a young girl can actually fly.
By: Joe Haldeman
-
The Forever War
- By: Joe Haldeman
- Narrated by: George Wilson
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
William Mandella is a soldier in Earth's elite brigade. As the war against the Taurans sends him from galaxy to galaxy, he learns to use protective body shells and sophisticated weapons. He adapts to the cultures and terrains of distant outposts. But with each month in space, years are passing on Earth. Where will he call home when (and if) the Forever War ends?
-
-
A classic.
- By John on 09-24-08
By: Joe Haldeman
-
Marsbound
- By: Joe Haldeman
- Narrated by: Liza Kaplan
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Young Carmen Dula and her family are about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime - they're going to Mars. Once on the Red Planet, however, Carmen realizes things are not so different from Earth. There are chores to do, lessons to learn, and oppressive authority figures to rebel against.
-
-
Meh.
- By Wes Parker on 03-19-09
By: Joe Haldeman
-
A Talent for War
- An Alex Benedict Novel
- By: Jack McDevitt
- Narrated by: Gregory Abbey, Jack McDevitt
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everyone knew the legend of Christopher Sim. Fighter. Leader. An interstellar hero with a rare talent for war, Sim changed mankind's history forever when he forged a ragtag group of misfits into the weapon that broke the back of the alien Ashiyyur. But now, Alex Benedict has found a startling bit of information, long buried in an ancient computer file. If it is true, then Christopher Sim was a fraud.
-
-
Very good - but the cover and title are deceptive
- By Brian on 09-25-10
By: Jack McDevitt
-
The Speed of Dark
- By: Elizabeth Moon
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the near future, disease will be a condition of the past. Most genetic defects will be removed at birth; the remaining during infancy. Unfortunately, there will be a generation left behind. For members of that missed generation, small advances will be made. Through various programs, they will be taught to get along in the world despite their differences. They will be made active and contributing members of society. But they will never be normal.
-
-
Unexpected Interest
- By Holly Helscher on 12-22-08
By: Elizabeth Moon
-
Buying Time
- By: Joe Haldeman
- Narrated by: Eric Vale
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
More even than space travel, the Stileman Process has altered 21st-century life. The most complex of medical miracles, it ensures that every 10 years or so, the ailing aging body can be restored to youthful vigour and health. There's a catch, of course: the cost. Every 10 years or so, you have to come up with £1,000,000 minimum to repeat the procedure or die. For Dallas Barr, one of the oldest men on earth, it's that time again. While casting around desperately for his next essential £1,000,000, he meets Maria, a woman from a previous life, and makes two major discoveries.
-
-
Highly Recommend
- By Katelyn on 04-06-17
By: Joe Haldeman
-
None So Blind
- A Short Story Collection
- By: Joe Haldeman
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the spine-tingling account of an intergalactic poacher’s rite of passage to an erotic and ultimately uplifting modern fable of inner scars and otherworldly transformation, here are 15 remarkable tales, including the classic novella The Hemingway Hoax. These are stories that sing with a unique and haunting voice—stories of war's monsters, of brutal art and lost stars, and a brief, miraculous moment called childhood, when a young girl can actually fly.
By: Joe Haldeman
-
All the Birds in the Sky
- By: Charlie Jane Anders
- Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Childhood friends Patricia Delfine and Laurence Armstead didn't expect to see each other again after parting ways under mysterious circumstances during high school. After all, the development of magical powers and the invention of a two-second time machine could hardly fail to alarm one's peers and families. But now they're both adults, living in the hipster mecca San Francisco, and the planet is falling apart around them.
-
-
Too twee for me.
- By Amy on 03-13-17
-
Sundiver
- The Uplift Saga, Book 1
- By: David Brin
- Narrated by: George Wilson
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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?
-
-
good, but flawed
- By J Michael on 04-16-08
By: David Brin
-
Darwin's Radio
- By: Greg Bear
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 17 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a cave high in the Alps, a renegade anthropologist discovers a frozen Neanderthal couple with a Homo sapiens baby. Meanwhile, in southern Russia, the U.N. investigation of a mysterious mass grave is cut short. One of the investigators, molecular biologist Kaye Lang, returns home to the U.S. to learn that her theory on human retroviruses has been verified with the discovery of SHEVA, a virus that has slept in our DNA for millions of years and is now waking up.
-
-
A huge let-down
- By Chris on 05-14-12
By: Greg Bear
-
Among Others
- By: Jo Walton
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Startling, unusual, and yet irresistably readable, Among Others is at once the compelling story of a young woman struggling to escape a troubled childhood, a brilliant diary of first encounters with the great novels of modern fantasy and SF, and a spellbinding tale of escape from ancient enchantment.
-
-
Subtle Character Piece
- By Eoin on 09-15-11
By: Jo Walton
-
The Windup Girl
- By: Paolo Bacigalupi
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 19 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anderson Lake is a company man, AgriGen's Calorie Man in Thailand. Under cover as a factory manager, Anderson combs Bangkok's street markets in search of foodstuffs thought to be extinct, hoping to reap the bounty of history's lost calories. There, he encounters Emiko...Emiko is the Windup Girl, a strange and beautiful creature. One of the New People, Emiko is not human; instead, she is an engineered being, creche-grown and programmed to satisfy the decadent whims of a Kyoto businessman.
-
-
Good and also Frustrating
- By txkimmers on 11-16-09
By: Paolo Bacigalupi
-
The Mote in God's Eye
- By: Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle
- Narrated by: L J Ganser
- Length: 20 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Mote In God's Eye is their acknowledged masterpiece, an epic novel of mankind's first encounter with alien life that transcends the genre. No lesser an authority than Robert A. Heinlein called it "possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read".
-
-
A great read!
- By J. Rhoderick on 02-12-10
By: Larry Niven, and others
What listeners say about Camouflage
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
- Andrew McIntosh
- 05-26-10
Fast paced...intriguing story
I tried this book as an "audible recommends" suggestion. What a pleasant surprise. I like the way the author was able to comment on the last century of history using the aliens as his impartial observers. I'm eager to listen to more from this author.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Hans
- 04-20-19
I never really got into the story.
This is a decent book, worth listening to but seems contrived and a little too unrealistic For me there was too much "real people wouldn't do that" and "things don't happen that way". I never really got into 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
- Nathan Caroland
- 09-21-08
Loved it!
This is one that I picked up on a whim as frankly I had a ton of credits and none of my norms was grabbing my interest.
This is very well written and narrated and simply a lot of fun to listen to. From the beginning to a little more than halfway into the book they jump back and forth in time from chapter to chapter which really adds a lot of fun to this booth.
First chapter will be about them finding the object at the bottom of the Ocean in 2019 and setting the plot for the current time line of the book. Next chapter is about the Changeling out of the Ocean in 1932 and becoming human. It jumps back and forth like that giving you a glimpse of what 'made' the Changeling what it is 'today' and also introducing the protagonist the Chameleon in this manner as well. Makes for some fun listening.
Take a chance like I did, I think you'll very much enjoy it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
40 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jim "The Impatient"
- 07-27-14
PUT AN EGG IN YOUR SHOE AND BEAT IT
This is enjoyable in parts, it is not great and not one of Hadleman's best. I felt it could have been better had it not been so disjointed. Joe has some good concepts about aliens and how they may differ from us and why. The lack of flow and the parts of the story that go off on weird boring tangents, keeps me form recommending the book. It is also one of those books where a week after you read it, you will have trouble remembering it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
16 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Barna
- 01-01-10
Another Joe Haldeman winner
This was a great listen that I saved until I was making a long car trip. Kept bouncing back between the past and the present, which was a bit offputting at first, until both stories converge in a great climax. I won't give anything away, but if you have enjoyed other books by this author like Forever War, this is for you. There is no war in this one, however. Get it!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kevin
- 10-19-13
Fun idea, good performance
This book is one of those where you will have to suspend your beliefs to enjoy it. The idea of two immortals that end up on earth a very long time ago and as humanity evolves decides to partake in society (one brutal, one less so) and how the two entities find each other....an engaging story. Its sort of disturbing that you know that the humans can do nothing about the situation - only the two entities. It leaves you feeling a bit helpless.
But I liked the story. It is a quick read will keep you entertained.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Andrew E. Cox
- 05-19-18
A view from the outside
The story is simple: An alien shapeshifter encounters humanity and learns what it means to be fully human. Haldeman's story moves along at a nice clip keeping the reader engaged and occasionally deconstructing sexuality and gender along the way. Ultimately the story is comes down to love which may not be original but it is timeless. The excellent narration boosts and otherwise average experience to good one.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Matthew Crofoot
- 07-20-14
Interesting story - narrator needs a Samoan lesson
What did you love best about Camouflage?
I love sci-fi, especially stories about aliens among us. This book did not disappoint on that front.
What did you like best about this story?
The main character was well developed, and I was intrigued by its progression through different 20th century situations.
What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?
The narrator had a pleasant voice, but clearly needed a Samoan language lesson. I've spent time in both Samoas, and am sorry to say almost every word and phrase was mispronounced. It became annoying to the point of distraction.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
No, no extreme reactions to the book. In places, the writing seemed forced and some scenes were predictable. There were also some racy scenes that I just couldn't engage with.
Any additional comments?
The story took some very interesting turns, but overall fell kind of flat. My guess, without looking at the details, is that this is an early book for a new author - it has that rough-around-the-edges feeling.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- E. Risk
- 12-01-08
Good book but...
This was a good story although I wasn't sure if I was reading an erotic novel or a sci-fi book at times. This book isn't for the young readers it deals with some adult situations that wasn't mentioned. But in the end the story was very good I highly recommend.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
20 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- S. Yates
- 07-25-16
Good premise ruined by ending
Would you try another book from Joe Haldeman and/or Eric Michael Summerer?
This isn't my first Haldeman; if it had been I probably would not do another. However, his Forever War is amazing and I hope that this book is just an outlier.
How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?
The love story toward the end was entirely unconvincing. I don't think it fit, but if Haldeman really wanted to have it he should have spent more time showing an evolution to make it possible and more time giving it grounding in true emotion.
Any additional comments?
Haldeman starts with an intriguing premise and, for a large portion of the book, delivers on it. The idea is that there are two extraterrestrials on the planet, though we spend a lot more time with one called "The Changeling" than we do with the other, called "The Chameleon." As a third line of plot, meant to take place in the near future just as the two alien storylines are followed in flashback to the past, we have humans discovering an artifact buried in the ocean. The artifact quickly reveals itself to be a technological feat outside of current human understanding.
From this premise, we get brief vignettes from each alien as they move through time, as well as a near future storyline as scientists try to divine the nature of the artifact. The Changeling spends millenia in the sea as various sea creatures before discovering humans and taking human form. The Chameleon appears to have always been some form of human, but capable of changing appearnce in an instance. The book is most interesting when it follows the Changeling and lets us see humanity through its eyes. The book remains engaging when it shows the Chameleon, clearly an apex predator with what humans would identify as psychopathy, maneuvering through human wars and atrocities, drawn to them for their violence. The book is least interesting in the near future storyline, but still passable. However, the book jumps the shark (a pun I most definitely intend, given that the Changeling used that form for thousands of years) toward the end and takes a promising SF tale of first contact and human nature seen from another perspective and turns it into a lackluster love story. The love story feels alien (pun also intended) and Haldeman makes this worse by not giving the reader any reason to believe in it - it is rushed and pat and unconvincing. The eventual climactic scene feels sudden and the final resolution cliched. In the end, I found the book disappointing, its promise consumed by a tacked on and out of place ending.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!