Starfish Audiobook By Peter Watts cover art

Starfish

Rifters Trilogy Series, Book 1

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Starfish

By: Peter Watts
Narrated by: Gabriel Vaughan
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About this listen

A huge international corporation has developed a facility along the Juan de Fuca Ridge at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to exploit geothermal power. They send a bio-engineered crew - people who have been altered to withstand the pressure and breathe the seawater - down to live and work in this weird, fertile undersea darkness.

Unfortunately, the only people suitable for longterm employment in these experimental power stations are crazy, some of them in unpleasant ways. How many of them can survive, or will be allowed to survive, while worldwide disaster approaches from below?

©1999 Peter Watts (P)2019 Tantor
Cyberpunk Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction

What listeners say about Starfish

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Imaginative Story Thought-provoking Concepts Solid Speaking Voice Wonderful Character Depth Complex Worldbuilding
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Didn’t care about anyone

The was DNF for me. I think there was supposed to be some psychological tension? But it just wasn’t working. There was also some domestic violence and discussion of childhood harm and it really was not expected and became to much a theme.

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slow-building, well-crafted hard sci-fi

exceptionally well-researched, the author scientific background comes through. By embracing the most alien landscapes that are on our own planet and near-term technologies that will be realities in The xext century, an alien horrorscape that is far too real emerges. Through world-building and character development we come to sympathize with the radical weirdos and the criminals and see unchecked technological development as the enemy even though radial technological change is necessary for science-fiction to exist as a genre.

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Difficult to describe…

I didn’t want to like this story for multiple reasons. But I somehow liked it. The narration was awful, don’t wish to hear Gabriel Vaughan ever again, even in nightmares. I ended up reading it myself and let this play in the background of an empty drawer at work.

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars

interesting story, not so much on the performance.

the story is compelling but it's like listening to a teacher at story time who's not really that into it.

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3 people found this helpful

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What a ride…

As usual Watts delivers a winding tale that forces one way out of their comfort zone. In contrast to Blindsight the character development in Starfish, with its wonderful depth and at times distributing intimacy, would be my pick if I had to choose a stand out strength. Story arc, and pure originality being close second and third respectively. Looking forward to Echopraxia.

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1 person found this helpful

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guy needs help

i lost track of this and will relisten,, asap,, just need to get these images out of my head ,, gee thanks for that. what is going on with Peter Watts,, echopraxia , scarred me.. this is an intentional mind job. close my eyes i can see things resting in mud pitch black like there never was any light..are they breeding morphing,, and who is? there were moments i did not want. likem hearing of a brutally bizarre disaster,, and now everyone looks different,, even you/

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The Book Cover is a Lie; This is Amazing

As always, Peter Watts leaves me battered and bruised with my brain standing on the edge of some cliff to how everything could end around me at any moment.

As usual, the author has a very cold and uncaring way of telling a story. If you're getting into this book, just assume there's a trigger warning for literally everything. So far, his books often focus on a team of neurodivergents and the trauma that brought them to their current state, right before explaining another way all life as we know it can easily end using realistic concepts and science. The theme is "Normies not allowed and life is excruciating".

The narrator, meanwhile, is perfectly mediocre. He has enough stamina to narrate the whole book for recording without sounding tired, but he has maybe 3 voices he can do for different characters, so of there's 4+ characters in a scene, then you need to really buckle down and catch any and all context that comes your way.

Additionally, some characters have written screams for dialogue, and the narrator represents this with a soft pronunciation of "aaaaaah" at a quiet speaking level. The other narrators I've heard so far would actually back up from the mic and give it their all. I feel like the narrator has a lot more potential that he can work on, because he absolutely shows that he has the endurance and the skills to continue growing. Maybe he's exceptional later in his career.

Now, for the book cover. It's a lie.

The ocean is the primary setting for this, and Peter Watts realistically depicts it as black and murky with no visibility at all. The book cover, conversely, takes a more Subnautica approach. Additionally, intelligent machines are a main idea in the story, but they apparently look like cubes of gel, but the book cover has an android for some reason. I understand that cover artists don't always have all the context, and many in this genre are fashioned from stock images, but let's be clear: This book is not shiny, and it's not wondrous. It is darker than night, it is cold, and it leaves you a little shaken sometimes. It is art designed to challenge certain readers.

Overall, absolutely fantastically-done, and I am reminded again why some people can't read too many Peter Watts books in a row.

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11 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The Greatest SF Writer in the World

Bordering on nihilistically Grim, unexpectedly amusing, brilliantly insightful, narrative control deft as a concert pianist, original use of old SF tropes, scientifically and culturally literate...and one monster storyteller...all told, Peter Watts is the world’s best SF writer.

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5 people found this helpful

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Fantastic Story. Where’s the Rest?!?!

Audible,
Please get it together and release the next two books in this series, they should’ve been available 2 years ago. This is an amazing story and I’d really like to spend more money and finish it. Make it happen!

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4 people found this helpful

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Fantastic book, sequels not on Audible! :(

AUDIBLE GET THE SEQUELS RECORDED!! This is to good to not have the sequels here!

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1 person found this helpful