Jake

Not at the level of earlier Dan Brown novels.

Revisado: 10-12-17

This was pretty standard Robert Langdon adventure, but with much less of the captivating mystery and history that made the earlier novels so compelling. Langdon was much more of a bystander, and much less of the main driving force, which made this book a little less interesting for me. The big reveal at the end wasn't really mind blowing, and I never had a "WOW" moment like I had with all the prior Dan Brown novels I have read.

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Don't be fooled, this book isn't about aliens.

Revisado: 08-28-17

For me listening to this book was a lesson on the perils of not reading enough Audible reviews. I got caught in that trap of reading the synopsis and a couple of the top 5 star reviews and thinking that was enough to download and listen to the book. I was quite wrong.

As a few other of the lower ranked reviews have already stated, this book IS NOT about aliens, the part of the book that contains aliens is perhaps the last 2 hours.

The bulk of the 22 hours of the book was about the press, mass media, spinning stories and politics. It was about truth, deception, conspiracies, and coverups. As far as the nature of the content of the government cover up... well it could've been anything. Nuclear weapons, secret gay lovers, racketeering, murder, or pretty much anything. 18 out of the 22 hours of this book could've stayed the same the nature of the coverup could've changed. Because all the characters do is talk to media personalities, watch TV programs other media personalities commenting on the leak and the coverup, or preparing their next press conference.

Nearly all the major events in the plot happen not as actual events experienced in person by the main characters, more that the main characters are giving press releases or issuing statements about those events.

You'd expect a book about an alien coverup to have lots of intrigue and action and adventure, but it actually has none of that. Just endless press releases and carefully coordinated and worded media appearances. Also theres a live TV hypnotism!

The author has some sort of fetish with the media, he both thinks that the media is a negative, unfair propaganda machine, and that the entire global population is captivated and motivated by every syllable uttered on TV or in print. It was one of the strangest, most unrealistic takes on a topic I have ever read.

This book could've been 7 hours long and still done the job. The last 15% of the book is the only part outside the first chapter where thinks actually occur to the main characters, and they do something other than watch TV. Speaking of the characters watching TV, it felt like 50% of their dialogue with each other was telling everyone they were with to "Shut up" so they could hear the TV more clearly.

This happened so often and was so bizarre I feel the need to comment here, who tells other people to shut up in real life outside of children? Yet these adults were non stop with it. The language and diction of the characters was so poor, full of endless cliched statements and unintelligible emoting.

The main character had some bizarre social/developmental issues which were kind of a plot point, but I was never sure.

Overall it was a hugely disappointing book and I only barely stayed with it. I mostly did it to feel validated in writing this review, which I don't often do.
The narration was fine, Cronin did as well he could with the terrible dialogue he was given, but even good narration couldn't make the main characters any more likable.

If you're looking for a book about alien encounters, or science fiction, stay away!!
If you want a book with adult themes like emotions, relationships, and psychology, stay away!!
If you want a book with any sort of action, adventure, sex, intimacy, or intrigue, stay away!!
If you want a weird take on the media, government coverups, and some truly bizarre geopolitical theoreticals then this is sort of your book?

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Brilliant narration enhances an already great tale

Revisado: 04-03-16

First of a five book series. It's hard to write a spoiler free review, I am almost done the final book in the series. It's excellent, and worth pushing through a bit of a slow start, and lots of different types of characters. The narration is so very excellent. Some of the key characters throughout the story are incredibly rich due to the quality of the narration though. This book and the series at large deal very closely with the power of the spoken word. It would have only been able to flourish as an audiobook with a keen and capable narrator, and luckily for us it did. Pete Bradbury was brilliant for all 5 books, and only enhanced what was already a very compelling story.

My take: push through the sluggish start, as the majority of the tale is worth the effort to get into.

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Very slow and ultimately unrewarding.

Revisado: 01-23-15

This novel moves very slowly. VERY slowly. Usually I am prepared to endure slow character and plot development for the greater reward later, and with a long book and long series ahead I didn't mind the aching slowness of Firestar. That was until I realized that it wasn't getting any faster and things weren't getting any better. I couldn't bring myself to go on to the next book in the series because I can only assume it would be the same as Firestar, and I can't endure it again. Things never got going in Firestar. Sure there was plot advancement and character development but it all felt like it was building towards a climax that never came.

Minor spoiler warning

The premise itself was unimaginative and a tad implausible. The entire story is based on a girlhood experience of seeing a comet burn up in the sky, inspiring the main character to develop paranoia about asteroid strikes and start a great corporate effort to develop a defense system against asteroid strikes.

The story plods along the long and complicated path towards manned spaceflight missions as part of the grand scheme of developing orbital defenses. What drew me to this story was the space aspect and the science of it was well developed and detailed, however after 30 hours the entire aim of the book is barely reached and I can't abide by an entire book's worth of buildup.

Aside from the space aspect the book carries a detailed and opinionated social commentary on education among other things. At points it sounds more propaganda then a novel, which I suppose is the author's right.

The other big stumbling block for me were the characters who were almost universally unlikable. I don't know whether the author was trying to show the humanity of the characters, or just has no room for a hero or something to identify with. Each character is complex, but retains almost no redeeming qualities.

Once I got the end I just felt like I was left hanging, with no resolution to the plot at all, which typically makes me eager for the next book, but there was nothing in Firestar that made me want to experience more of the same.

The narration was fantastic, but it wasn't enough to redeem the unrelenting boredom of the plot. Usually its the the misfortune of the audiobook listener to endure the the poor narration for the sake of the excellent story, this time it was the other way around and good narration couldn't save this book.

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A very, very strange book. Not for everyone

Revisado: 01-23-15

What got me to read this is the generation ship/ big ship angle. I am a total sucker for novels in this vein, and that's the only reason I got through this and the second book in the series, Chill.

As strange and otherworldly as the characters are none of them are really likable or well developed. They hang on the strength of their unusualness, aided by a fairly well developed set of technological enhancements that provide enough interesting aspects to keep you going to a point. To the author's credit the setting and various technologies are interesting and mysterious, yet they aren't enough to hide the sheer strangeness of the interactions between characters. There is a sheen of ill-defined sexuality that is hinted at but never well developed enough. The two main characters have a depth and connection that is unwarranted and inexplicable given the background provided.

If, like me, generation ships and arks are your thing, then the draw of this setting and the mysteries the ship holds will be enough to gloss over the unconventional aspects of the rest of the novel.

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Better Military Sci-Fi out there.

Revisado: 01-23-15

When you get past the slightly confusing timeline established in the beginning chapters, Aurora: CV-01 operates on a fairly basic premise. Earth's first exploratory spaceship/testing vehicle for interstellar travel. There are hints of compelling characters dropped lightly throughout but nothing really develops into something that makes you care about the characters. They felt mostly like caricatures and props for the science and overall story. However, most books or series in this narrow genre get by just fine on the strength of the plot and science. For me though the story got a little carried away too fast without giving anything away, I felt things just advanced too quickly on a shaky foundation.

One is better served checking out the Lost Fleet by Jack Campbell, which has many of the same elements yet presented far better.

The narration was fine barring the atrocious Russian accent of one character. I always cringe when narrators are forced to attempt accents due to the characters they've been given. Nine times out of 10 those accents are terrible and detract from the story and listening experience. On the rare occasion when the narrator has the ability to pull off an accent well, it exponentially enhances the experience, this sadly is not one of those instances.

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A good introduction to the Pendergast universe.

Revisado: 01-23-15

Relic as a standalone novel is gripping and very good at keeping one's attention. As others have mentioned, what would normally be an implausible monster story is bolstered by the evidently careful and detailed research by Lincoln and Child. The best thing about it though is that it serves as a great opening into the world of Pendergast. Aside from the man himself a couple characters who feature heavily in later books are introduced here as well. If you intend to dive into the rest of the series you'll recall Relic with fondness during later listens.

The narration isn't anything special but by no means detracts from the story. There're actually some interesting effects thrown in there that I found added to the suspense and realism of the plot.

I had Relic sitting in my WishList for very long time and I'm glad I finally took the plunge. I am now well into the world of Pendergast, and haven't looked back.

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A word or two on the narration situation

Revisado: 04-27-14

So the story itself was great, but as we know as audiobook consumers, narration is key.
First off: Michael Page is a big adjustment from Ralph Lister. Since Lister's unique style took some getting used to for me in the first place, this was even more jarring. There are some distinct differences in pronunciation, but Erikson steps in and makes his desires known for how they "should" sound in future books in the series. Once you get to Midnight Tides, you will notice some changes in pronunciation. Honestly, Page is not a bad narrator by any stretch, there are much worse, he retains a good voice diversity, and is the narrator for the rest of the series which Brilliance has already recorded and is just staggering releases.

You do wish that Fiddler could continue being the wry joke cracker off beat sapper, but Page's rendition of him is just different. Just how it is, personally I like the voice change for some characters like Karsa Orlong.

Since Page is our man for the next 6 books, I am still completely excited for when they are finally all out. Even with the pronunciation changes, I really didn't notice the difference about 20 hours in. You will get used to it, this story is too good to be ruined by a different narration in my opinion.

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Fantastic!

Revisado: 07-22-13

Deadhouse gates was much more fun to listen to, thanks to the grounding in the universe lent by Gardens of the Moon. Then characters and plot lines continue right on, and the scope of the series really becomes clear. I loved every second!

Ralph Lister's narration was great, it takes some getting used to, the first book was hard to get adjusted to his narration style. But once you do, it's a pleasure to listen to.

I really hope audible adds the remaining books quickly!

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Entertaining, and wonderfully read

Revisado: 02-25-13

The narrator was superb, she really brought the story alive. The premise is interesting, and I would love to see how the rest of the tale goes. Unfortunately audible doesn't have the rest of the books.

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