Facing Space

De: Nicolai Ordahl

Narrado por: Josh Hurley

More than 700 years into its journey, a massive generation starship carries thousands of passengers to a new home that only their descendants - hundreds more years into the future - will live to see.

Life aboard the ship is a daily struggle. One young welder copes by writing a series of letters to an Earth he never knew. The experiences he describes are not as exciting as the ancient works of science fiction made it out to be - but that is about to change. An eccentric old man has offered to train him for an unprotected spacewalk - a dangerous ritual known as “facing space”.

As the day of the spacewalk nears, a quantum radar system warns of an inexplicable threat on the horizon. As the starship races toward calamity, its inhabitants are locked in a struggle between truth and illusion. It falls to the young welder to unravel the secrets of the people around him - and a deeper mystery within the structure of the ship itself - with nothing less than the fate of the human race lying in the balance.

©2020 Nicolai Ordahl (P)2020 Audible Originals, LLC.

A masterful weaving of the human struggle with the vivid image of cosmic travel

By the end I was fully invested in the characters, the incredible social dilemma, and the technicalities of interstellar space travel - all depicted with a relatable prose. The book’s second to last and completely epic chapter was worth the build up and had me on the edge of my seat, late into the night. Wonderful book. Would love to read a sequel.

Why is a review required instead of just star ratings?

Not sure what I did to require a 15+ word review since I usually just do the star ratings.

this contains SPOILERS

the story is surprisingly well written and very imaginative take on the coming of age type novel about a boy on the periphery of larger things he doesn't understand. so why did I give a well written and imaginative story a 3? because while I appreciate good writing and imagination and even liked all the philosophy, the story triggered my depression.

the start is fairly standard and even fluffy at times but it's not long before the bleakness starts seeping in. it's not Game of Thrones bleak (at least the main character lives) but it's certainly not a happy novel. I did find the various themes the author explored to be interesting and think I was supposed to be left with a sense of hope at the end, but all I felt was the endless futility of it all.

also, don't bother getting attached to any side characters because other than the best friend and the gardener, they will more than likely be dead by the end of the story. it was the last death that really tipped it for me and I finished the story feeling depressed as hell for days.

Excellent story!

Loved it. Original story and great performance by the narrator. Only wished it was longer!

Excuse me while i go eat a bullet....

I was on the edge of giving this a 3 but i felt like that wouldnt be fair... Starting off this was a very well written book with fleshed out, 3 dimensional characters that you couldn't help but commiserate with and feel for and the author created a very believable and semi realistic (if maybe a bit philosophically metaphorical at times) atmosphere and environment for a society living on a generation spaceship on a 1500 year journey. I really liked the form of the book being written like a letter to 'the people back on Earth' and how the MC keeps teling us his funny little imaginings of what we're going through (usually always coming back to being stuck in an abandoned missle silo lol). The story kept me intrigued and was enjoyable up until the end... Which brings me to my main issue with this book. Its dark and depressing AF! Im down for a story thats not all butterflys and rainbows but i also dont enjoy being beat over the head with a fatalistic stick when trying to escape into a fictional fantasy. The entire book was very introspective and philosophical and i really dig that kina stuff but the authors main theme in the story was leaning toward fatalism pretty hard. The whole story was pretty gloomy but wouldnt have been so bad if he ended it with a little ray of sunshine but he stuck to the theme all the way to the end havin me over here wantin to jump off a cliff. Definitely needed a palette cleanser after this one. Its disappointing cus if he eased off the doom an gloom a little bit i would've really enjoyed it and would be lookin forward to checking out some more of his work if he decides to put out anything else. I still might, just to see if he dials things down a bit because like i said it was very well done but i just cant handle too much of that darkness. I have my own demons i try and keep at bay and i listen to fantasy to try and escape them not add to the load.

excellent narration

Josh Hurley is gifted narrator. The story is excellent on technical details, weak on smart plot.

For si fi this was a refreshing non military story - excellent

This story took me a few chapters to synch with but then I was hooked and listened constantly. Great character development throughout. The underlying concept for the act of “facing space” is a little hard to accept but really it’s awesome. The narration was excellent. I highly recommend this great story.

Interesting story, well done.

I must say I really liked the way the story is told, as a journal written buy a young boy . He is writing to us, and holds nothing back. As a story it is a good one, full of intrigue, and suspense. You have a hard time figuring out who the bad guys are, because everyone is doing what they are doing for good reasons. This is at the top of my favorite books, well worth the credit. I only wish it would continue with another book. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this reviewp

What a horrible experience.

There are so many things wrong with this book. Plot holes to bad science being the very least of the problems. don’t worry though, PC inclusiveness of sexuality and race are shoe horned in and then quickly forgotten (so that our CIS male protagonist can have sex with his “Goddess” PoC woman) , so you quickly lose track of what to be annoyed by.

I forced myself to finish this book by reading small chunks each day until I couldn’t stomachs anymore. Everyday was worse than the last.

The narration was the only positive experience.

And…?

If the plot doesn’t offer a physical destination within the story, then it needs some philosophical weight to it for sci-fi and this is juvenile writing.