Ben Drexl
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The Confusion
- Books Four & Five of The Baroque Cycle
- De: Neal Stephenson
- Narrado por: Simon Prebble, Katherine Kellgren, Kevin Pariseau, y otros
- Duración: 34 h y 25 m
- Versión completa
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In the year 1689, a cabal of Barbary galley slaves, including one “Half-Cocked Jack” Shaftoe, devises a daring plan to win freedom and fortune. A great adventure ensues that will place the intrepid band at odds with the mighty and the mad, with alchemists, Jesuits, great navies, pirate queens, and vengeful despots across vast oceans and around the globe.
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The Confusion
- De Mr en 11-07-10
- The Confusion
- Books Four & Five of The Baroque Cycle
- De: Neal Stephenson
- Narrado por: Simon Prebble, Katherine Kellgren, Kevin Pariseau, Neal Stephenson (introduction)
The best “Cycle” installment so far!
Revisado: 04-07-25
I am assuming if you made it this far, that you’re already familiar with this series, and Mr. Stephenson’s work as an author in general. My five-star rating here is relative to those assumptions — if you’re jumping into this book without context because it was on sale or something, PLEASE start with one of his more accessible books or at least start with Quicksilver — you’ll be glad you did.
This is two “books” that have been combined into a single narrative, and I’m very glad Neal decided to confuse the two, as it were. The Shaftoe legacy continues to shape world events in truly jaw-dropping fashion, and I was surprised and relieved to be given an ending that actually felt like one 😅
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Service Model
- De: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrado por: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Duración: 12 h y 21 m
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Humanity is a dying breed, utterly reliant on artificial labor and service. When a domesticated robot gets a nasty little idea downloaded into its core programming, they murder their owner. The robot discovers they can also do something else they never did before: They can run away. Fleeing the household they enter a wider world they never knew existed, where the age-old hierarchy of humans at the top is disintegrating into ruins and an entire robot ecosystem devoted to human wellbeing is having to find a new purpose.
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Another banger from Tchaikovsky
- De J. C. Amos en 06-09-24
- Service Model
- De: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrado por: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Incredibly relevant, incisive, and engaging
Revisado: 10-28-24
Reads like a parable, a mythical tale of chillingly near-future events. From my own perspective, this tale leaves the reader with plenty of food for thought concerning some major societal issues humanity is facing currently, but don’t let that scare you off. It’s witty, entertaining, and consistently rewards the close attention paid to its unreliable narrator format. A modern bard’s tale worthy of study.
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Into the Black
- Odyssey One, Book 1
- De: Evan Currie
- Narrado por: David de Vries
- Duración: 14 h y 59 m
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Beyond the confines of our small world, far from the glow of our star, lies a galaxy and universe much larger and more varied than anyone on Earth can possibly imagine. For the new NAC spacecraft Odyssey and her crew, the unimaginable facets of this untouched world are about to become reality. The Odyssey’s maiden voyage is an epic adventure destined to make history. Captain Eric Weston and his crew, pushing past the boundaries of security, encounter horrors, wonders, monsters, and people, all of which will test their resolve.
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I’ve listened to this book a lot over several years; The new performer is great!
- De Amazon Customer en 09-15-19
- Into the Black
- Odyssey One, Book 1
- De: Evan Currie
- Narrado por: David de Vries
A sci-fi line letter for geeky high-tech warfare afficiandos
Revisado: 10-11-24
Not breaking any literary records or writing the next classic, this is a fun action-packed romp through a ton of self-acknowledged sci-fi tropes in a near-future first contact tale that doesn't waste any time. And by putting just enough of an original spin on the required FTL tech and the one bit of physics-breaking "magic" tech, the author gives our crew of diverse but decidedly familiar characters the means to jump head first into a David-vs-Goliath struggle to uphold the most noble values any military can have. His space battles are told with a great sense of timing, leveraging the "hurry up and wait" aspect of system-scale battles to turn a tension filled chess game into fast and fierce dogfight.
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Age of Empyre
- De: Michael J. Sullivan
- Narrado por: Tim Gerard Reynolds
- Duración: 16 h y 42 m
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After obtaining the secret to creating dragons, the leader of the Fhrey has turned the tide of war once more - but gaining the advantage has come at a terrible price. While Imaly plots to overthrow the fane for transgressions against his people, a mystic and a keeper are the only hope for the Rhunes. Time is short, and the future of both races hangs in the balance. In this exciting conclusion to the Legends of the First Empire series, the Great War finally comes to a climactic end, and with it dawns a new era in the Age of Empyre.
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This entire series is a failure
- De Aaron en 05-08-20
- Age of Empyre
- De: Michael J. Sullivan
- Narrado por: Tim Gerard Reynolds
See, GoT? THIS is how you wrap up an epic tale.
Revisado: 10-07-24
I'm going to have to revise my one 4-star review for an earlier book to a perfect 5, because this book made all my earlier critiques completely invalid. I've read his Revelations series quite a while ago, and just recently caught up on the Chronicles, so even though the Legends series needs no intro or support of any kind, reading this and making connections (and having my own bad assumptions delightfully corrected in several twists) was a ton of fun. I heartily recommend everything in Revelations, Chronicles, and Legends to anyone who enjoys fantasy, mythology, or just plain inspiring stories.
There is so much good stuff here, and unlike another popular fantasy book series, this one knows where it starts, where it's going, and exactly where it's going to end. It does this dramatically, elegantly, and without ever using cheap tricks to keep readers engaged. Can't recommend highly enough!
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Age of War
- The Legends of the First Empire, Book 3
- De: Michael J. Sullivan
- Narrado por: Tim Gerard Reynolds
- Duración: 16 h y 47 m
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The alliance of humans and renegade Fhrey is fragile - and about to be tested as never before. Persephone keeps the human clans from turning on one another through her iron will and a compassionate heart. The arrogant Fhrey are barely held in check by their leader, Nyphron, who seeks to advance his own nefarious agenda through a loveless marriage that will result in the betrayal of the person Persephone loves most: Raithe, the God Killer.
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Raithe the ruined
- De Daniel en 08-03-18
- Age of War
- The Legends of the First Empire, Book 3
- De: Michael J. Sullivan
- Narrado por: Tim Gerard Reynolds
Stellar performance, as always. A worthy chapter
Revisado: 09-20-24
It’s not really fair to review books in this saga individually, since it really could be a single volume with how tightly they’re joined together. That said, this was a change of pace from the previous; slower, and while the evolution of the story is interesting, this chapter was maybe a bit too easy to predict.
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Calamity
- The Reckoners, Book 3
- De: Brandon Sanderson
- Narrado por: MacLeod Andrews
- Duración: 12 h y 18 m
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When Calamity lit up the sky, the Epics were born. David's fate has been tied to their villainy ever since that historic night. Steelheart killed his father. Firefight stole his heart. And now Regalia has turned his closest ally into a dangerous enemy. David knew Prof's secret and kept it even when Prof struggled to control the effects of his Epic powers. But facing Obliteration in Babilar was too much. Once the Reckoners' leader, Prof has now embraced his Epic destiny.
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Climactic Battles Second Chances? as Calamity Ends
- De Don Gilbert en 02-18-16
- Calamity
- The Reckoners, Book 3
- De: Brandon Sanderson
- Narrado por: MacLeod Andrews
5-stars for being consistent
Revisado: 12-23-23
While I’m not blown away by the Reckoners, I’m hard pressed to actually deduct a star for any specific thing. Sanderson continues to be Sanderson, and I found more than enough pulpy action enjoyment and surprise twists and yes - depth - that he brought to what might have otherwise been merely a derivative spin on the superhero craze. The whole is greater than the sum, IMO.
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The Dark Forest
- De: Cixin Liu, Joel Martinsen - translator
- Narrado por: P. J. Ochlan
- Duración: 22 h y 36 m
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This near-future trilogy is the first chance for English-speaking listeners to experience this multiple-award-winning phenomenon from Cixin Liu, China's most beloved science fiction author. In The Dark Forest, Earth is reeling from the revelation of a coming alien invasion - in just four centuries' time. The aliens' human collaborators may have been defeated, but the presence of the sophons, the subatomic particles that allow Trisolaris instant access to all human information, means that Earth's defense plans are totally exposed to the enemy.
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A New Favorite
- De averageconsumer en 08-14-15
- The Dark Forest
- De: Cixin Liu, Joel Martinsen - translator
- Narrado por: P. J. Ochlan
A worthy and rewarding sequel
Revisado: 10-19-23
Like others, I was initially disappointed by the plot and pacing of this entry in the continuing Three-Body saga, but in the end I had nothing to worry about. The story ramped up steadily and without mercy - for every perhaps overly-indulgent rabbit trail, there were at least two mind-bending revelations. I was absolutely stunned by the time the credits rolled, and I may listen to the opening acts with more patience the next time I replay this epic.
The narrator is changed from the first book, but it seems to my ear to be more authentic. The voices were clear and easy to understand, and usually very easy to differentiate.
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Salvation
- Salvation Sequence, Book 1
- De: Peter F. Hamilton
- Narrado por: John Lee
- Duración: 19 h y 2 m
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In 2204, humanity is expanding into the wider galaxy in leaps and bounds. Cutting-edge technology of linked jump gates has rendered most forms of transportation - including starships - virtually obsolete. Every place on Earth, every distant planet humankind has settled, is now a step away from any other. And all seems wonderful - until a crashed alien spaceship of unknown origin is found on a newly located world 89 light-years from Earth, carrying a cargo as strange as it is horrifying. To assess the potential of the threat a high-powered team is dispatched to investigate. But one of them may not be all they seem....
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Wait For Book 2
- De StrikitRich en 09-26-18
- Salvation
- Salvation Sequence, Book 1
- De: Peter F. Hamilton
- Narrado por: John Lee
A fresh angle on the hard sci-fi
Revisado: 09-07-23
Somehow, Hamilton has come up with a fresh angle on the near future but somehow still hard sci-fi that he so excels at. Told from a fresh perspective, in a varied style that never left me even tempted to skip the rich world craft he’s known for. While this outing is shorter than I’m used to, it’s packed with diverse first-person narratives that weave deftly around the central thread laid out at the beginning. It also manages to feel strangely familiar throughout, but in my reading any references to current trends only served to reinforce the relatability of this near future galaxy-spanning but undeniably human adventure. My only complaint is that it’s over before I’m ready to stop listening - John Lee is absolutely superb as always.
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Recovery
- Freedom from Our Addictions
- De: Russell Brand
- Narrado por: Russell Brand
- Duración: 7 h y 50 m
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With a rare mix of honesty, humor, and compassion, comedian and movie star Russell Brand mines his own wild story and shares the advice and wisdom he has gained through his 14 years of recovery. Brand speaks to those suffering along the full spectrum of addiction - from drugs, alcohol, caffeine, and sugar addictions to addictions to work, stress, bad relationships, digital media, and fame. Brand understands that addiction can take many shapes and sizes and how the process of staying clean, sane, and unhooked is a daily activity.
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Not just for hardcore alcohol & drug addicts...
- De Magen en 10-06-17
- Recovery
- Freedom from Our Addictions
- De: Russell Brand
- Narrado por: Russell Brand
Well, that’s done it. The final word in 12-step.
Revisado: 12-05-22
The only objection I can find with this is the honest-but-often-vulgar word choices. Other than that, it’s perfect.
While I’m sure I don’t agree with the author in many respects, this book is by far the best modern treatment of the 12-step method. Mr. Brand – by laying his own life experience bare – will accept no excuses. Not even his own.
This is “tough love” in the absolute best possible sense, “brutal honestly” in its highest form.
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Apocalypse Machine
- De: Jeremy Robinson
- Narrado por: Jeffrey Kafer
- Duración: 10 h y 18 m
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A chain of subglacial volcanoes erupt in Iceland. The melting ice floods the countryside. Poisonous gas descends on Scotland. A tsunami devastates the Norwegian coastline. An ash cloud rises into the atmosphere, blotting out the sun across Europe, ushering in a new Ice Age. Dozens of nuclear power plants, flooded by ocean water, experience meltdowns. Millions perish. Many more are displaced. All on the first day.
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Not his best work unfortunately.
- De David L Woodruff II en 07-21-16
- Apocalypse Machine
- De: Jeremy Robinson
- Narrado por: Jeffrey Kafer
Might be Robinson’s best yet!
Revisado: 12-24-21
First off, if you’re new to the author, this would be a good intro to his style and themes 👍
If you’re already a fan, you’ll recognize the tone and themes, and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Even though he’s written that span the galaxy — even the universe — the scope here feels more ambitious, more coherent, more alive than previous works. He borrows inspiration from quality source material, and manages to tell a very personal story that convincingly spans the globe. Apocalyptic, bordering on super natural, but still relevant and intriguing to current times.
Some plot points could seem painfully obvious (depending on your background), but the author sticks the landing by bringing a satisfying conclusion to this
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