Wildside

By: Steven Gould

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

Forget the lottery. Teenager Charlie Newell has just discovered something that will make him and his friends billionaires. What if a world existed in which no humans ever evolved? No cities. No pollution. No laws. A fantastic world filled with unimaginable riches in which everything - everything - was yours just for the taking?

Charlie has found that world. And he plans to use it to make him and his friends rich.There is a problem: How do you keep something this big a secret?

©1996 Steven Gould (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Not bad-Not terrrific

The idea for this story was really good. The execution was good. The characters fell short on believability. It goes like this; 18 year old kid finds a gate to a alternate earth, one without humans, recruits his friends to harvest animals and minerals from the other earth, the one with sabre toothed tigers, to this earth for profit. Military/CIA spoils the party, things get messy, bad guys lose. fairly hypocritical good guy; protect other earth while using it's resources and polluting it for his personal gain. Worth a listen nothing to rave about.

Alternate worlds, no humans, what could go wrong?

Since I read this book almost the year it came out in print, it has been one of my favorite sci-fi stories. The best part is that this is not a sprawling, bloated trilogy, puffed up by editors to get more sales - nope! neat and tidy, one book and done. I'm perfectly happy relistening to this book, because of the comfort-memories I have.

Charlie and his friends go through the back of his barn into a world without humans. The summer project is a little different than a regular internship, but just when things are going well, several helicopters bring in quite a different situation.

And welcome to it...

What made the experience of listening to Wildside the most enjoyable?

The characters really came to life over the the arc of the story.

What other book might you compare Wildside to and why?

Somewhat thematically similar to Stephen King's 1963. Both are compelling in their own ways.

Which scene was your favorite?

The scenes of the new world are powerful

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The growing maturity of the relationships between everyone was moving.

Any additional comments?

This book jumps around alot, and occassionally doesnt make logical sense. It seems like certain details were edited out, or something was missin at times. That said, I got pulled in and eventually really took to this outing. I recommend it, notwithstanding the issues noted.

Interesting Idea

I found this to be a fairly intriguing story. I could see this being made into a pretty good movie. It's actually quite similar to a new series on Amazon called Night Sky.

Listen to, or read, this gem...

Best damn listen in a long time. Riveting.
can't say enough great things about this book.