Influx Audiobook By Daniel Suarez cover art

Influx

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Influx

By: Daniel Suarez
Narrated by: Jeff Gurner
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About this listen

What if our civilization is more advanced than we know?

The New York Times best-selling author of Daemon - "the cyberthriller against which all others will be measured" (Publishers Weekly) - imagines a world in which decades of technological advances have been suppressed in an effort to prevent disruptive change.

Are smartphones really humanity's most significant innovation since the moon landings? Or can something else explain why the bold visions of the 20th century - fusion power, genetic enhancements, artificial intelligence, cures for common diseases, extended human life, and a host of other world-changing advances - have remained beyond our grasp? Why has the high-tech future that seemed imminent in the 1960s failed to arrive?

Perhaps it did arrive…but only for a select few.

Particle physicist Jon Grady is ecstatic when his team achieves what they've been working toward for years: A device that can reflect gravity. Their research will revolutionize the field of physics - the crowning achievement of a career. Grady expects widespread acclaim for his entire team. The Nobel Prize. Instead, his lab is locked down by a shadowy organization whose mission is to prevent at all costs the social upheaval sudden technological advances bring. This Bureau of Technology Control uses the advanced technologies they have harvested over the decades to fulfill their mission.

They are living in our future.

Presented with the opportunity to join the BTC and improve his own technology in secret, Grady balks, and is instead thrown into a nightmarish high-tech prison built to hold rebellious geniuses like himself. With so many great intellects confined together, can Grady and his fellow prisoners conceive of a way to usher humanity out of its artificial dark age?

And when they do, is it possible to defeat an enemy that wields a technological advantage half a century in the making?

©2014 Daniel Suarez (P)2014 Penguin Audio
Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Technothrillers Thriller & Suspense Fiction Thriller

Critic reviews

"You'll hear a lot of reviewers compare Suarez to [Michael] Crichton, including me for his previous book Kill Decision. And Suarez deserved the honor in the truest sense...he had achieved a truly Crichton-level of storytelling. But with Influx, Suarez becomes the master, and Crichton is the one who is honored by the comparison." (Stephen L. Macknik, Scientific American)

"[Influx is] done with the dazzling sophistication, the play of ideas, the hints of a new understanding almost within our grasp that characterize sci-fi in the cybertronic age." (The Wall Street Journal)

“With this terrifying thriller, Suarez provides further support for the proposition that he’s a worthy successor to the late Michael Crichton… Suarez once again mixes science and fiction perfectly.”(Publishers Weekly, starred review)

What listeners say about Influx

Highly rated for:

Imaginative Premise Plausible World-building Excellent Narration Fast-paced Thriller Thought-provoking Ideas
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Daniel Suarez never fails to disappoint

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is one of those reads where I found myself not wanting to stop listening. This didn't go over well at dinner time. :)

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3 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great Fun But Hard to Believe

First of all the book is a lot of fun and it went quick. The premise was a bit too hard to believe (for science fiction that is saying a lot) and therefore not as hard hitting as his earlier books... which are even more fun. However if you like a science fiction thrill ride, lots of action, fun characters, and a "page turner" then get it. Great Reader.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Get past the first chapter

Would you listen to Influx again? Why?

I don't re-listen to books, so no

What did you like best about this story?

The concept

What does Jeff Gurner bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Very good narration, good pacing

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The first part of the book was terrible. Was like the author was just randomly throwing out words to sound technical (which was funny, because a character in the book actually accuses another of the same). Almost made me turn it off. By chapter 3 it was a lot better, and the concept of the book took off.

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1 person found this helpful

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

It's okay

Daniel Suarez is a decent author. This is an average conspiracy theory scifi, made enjoyable by Jeff Gurner's excellent narration.
Here's the thing though, story only gets 3*. The idea has so much potential, but it's wasted on a primitive Hollywood plot. The main characters are so one-dimensional, there's no suspense or thrill - you know what they're gonna do in each and every scene. Dialogues suffer greatly because of it as well. There are two interesting characters, but they're on the sidelines, and greatly underdeveloped.
Had this story revolved around Cotton (on of the better written characters), this could have been a magnificent multi-volume epic. But as it is, we're dealing with a flawless idealistic, surprisingly shortsighted (even though he's supposed to be the most brilliant mind of our time), boring dogooder in his quest to overthrow the tyrannical evil organization with the help of (I'm shocked!) its second in command who has seen the light, a friendly computer, and a well-meaning criminal. Somewhat dull.
Still, it's action-packed, compactly-packaged, and very well performed. I enjoyed it as I would enjoy an mediocre JJ Abrams movie.

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

Good premise, but half-baked execution

I've been watching a lot of Top Chef lately and one thing that often happens is that a chef will attempt to make a dish that takes hours (or days) in a much shorter timeframe. Occasionally it's disastrous, but more often it ends up mediocre. Complex flavors take time to build. Things that are nearly inedible at thirty minutes might be delightful at eight hours. Influx is one of those dishes. All of the right ingredients are there, but instead of letting it simmer and work itself into perfect complexity, Chef Suarez took it off the burner and served it too soon. The texture of this sauce is off and the flavors are undeveloped, but it's still edible.

For example, the validity of the mission of the Beureau of Technology Control is never addressed. Formed during the Cold War, the BTC was tasked with containing technology that would cause social disruption. The only way to stay ahead of the highly innovative and extraordinarily intelligent creators of such technology was to make use of that technology to capture and detain them. At some point, pressure from splinter organizations caused the BTC to pursue the development and mastery of an AI capable of intuitive thinking in order to continue escalating the arms race. This is justified in terms of the initial mandate through AI-modelled predictions of the collapse of humanity (mostly due to population explosion) should certain technologies become widely available.

I'm having a hard time believing that they would not consider, especially given the scientific advances they have available, humanity's expansion to space as a viable option. I can insert justifications -- the AI are biased by the limited perspective and distorted purpose of the people who created them and therefore are incapable of these considerations -- but even that falls apart. We know at least one of the AIs is fully sentient and resists the control of the BTC.

Additionally, about halfway through the bad guy goes from being evil with a reason to being eeeeevil wanting to take over the world with his ray gun (well, not exactly, but I won't spoil it for you). Once that happened, I stopped caring.

It is the story it is, and I accept that. But I can't help but with it had been a duology or a trilogy, with the first book being a smaller story in scope and with the saving of the world (and take-down of the eeeeevil organization) for the second book, once we care about the characters.

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

Intriguing

It was a bit slow to start, then got quite dark, but about a third of the way in the story really took off. Engaging concepts.

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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

I love this author

The stories are always so imaginative and feel as though they could be a world we live in right now.

I feel as though I’m watching a movie when I listen to these stories.

Really great storytelling. The narrators are likewise brilliant.

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

Daemon And Freedom are much better

Suarez has a few lessons and ideas he tries to convey, but the story is unbelievable at times.

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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

Oh boy!

Best I've heard in a while! Great pace, plot, characters. Going to start on Daemon right now.

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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

Best Performance Yet - Story is Okay/Good

If you could sum up Influx in three words, what would they be?

Entertaining. Big leaps of logic however. Intelligent but a little far out (not together retaining coherency at times) even for a Nerdy Sci-Fi lover.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Explain the tech more.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

A couple sittings, it is addicting yet not totally memorable, not in my top list, just in my OKAY/GOOD list.

Any additional comments?

This performer is AWESOME!!! He deserves an award. I will follow this narrator. I also have to say Audible as a whole did a great job on this presentation. It was worth the money just for the new effects. Audible is getting even better, and it was always excellent! GREAT JOB AUDIBLE AND GURNER!!!!

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