Kyrathaba Rising

Kyrathaba Chronicles, Book 1

By: William Bryan Miller

Narrated by: Christine Padovan

One hundred and seventy years from now, aliens decimate Earth. A relative handful of humans survive, hidden in deep subterranean enclaves that offer some protection from surface radiation. Although the main attack is now seven years in the past, one alien ship remains in orbit, and the conquerors are not content merely to let humanity lick its wounds...

©2013 William Bryan Miller (P)2014 William Bryan Miller

An Entertaining Blend of Scifi and Fantasy

Miller created a setting that should, by all accounts, be completely bleak and oppressive. Humanity's numbers are dwindling, there's an alien threat looming, and A-3, the small pocket of environment that the humans are sheltering in is becoming increasingly unstable.

Kyrathaba Rising is a hard book to summarize so readers will know what to expect. Be prepared for the story and setting to change drastically as chapters unfold, and if you think you know where the plot is going, you may find yourself surprised.

The characters are, for the most part, distinctive and likable and I'm looking forward to seeing how their stories turn out. I plan on continuing with this series and recommend to it anyone who enjoys both scifi and fantasy stories.

I'm a little wary to criticize Christine Padovan's reading performance, because I could never do what she does. She does multiple voices just fine, and I think her voice is professional and clear. However, she tends to draw out the ending of all of her sentences in an odd and incredibly distracting way, like she was reading sing-songish poetry. I saw a couple other readers/listeners complain about this and their reviews were mercilessly voted as unhelpful, but I feel like their complaints were valid. Putting the setting at 1.5x speed did seem to help a little, but I feel like it took away from the listening experience overall.

--I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.--

Original story

I really found Kyrathaba Rising an original story with some interesting concepts. On the one hand it is a scifi with an alien invasion, androids and lots of tech talk. On the other hand its a dystopia because earth has been destroyed and the remaining humans are trying to survive. But... there is also a fantasy element where some characters find themselves immersed in a World of Warcraft type game.

Unfortunately, the narration let the story down. The narrator tended to draw the last word of a sentence out to the point where it was such an annoyance I had to increase the speed to 1.5 so it wasn't quite as noticeable. This reduced my enjoyment of the book as it is quite dense with a lot of different plot lines happening at once and the higher speed meant it was difficult to follow. My recommendation is to try the sample before purchase to make sure the narration doesn't bother you. If it does bother you, consider buying it in print because it is a good story.

Great sci-fi writing for a debut novel

I don't normally write reviews but wanted to say this was a refreshing change, seeing a newbie author with a great story and concept, coupled with excellent narration throughout. I enjoyed Ms. Padovan's tone of voice - it made the story very enjoyable to listen to.

Looking forward to more from the author - looks like there will be a continuation of this series. If you like stories about aliens, and human survival (with a twist), you'll enjoy Kyrathaba Rising.

Very well written and crafted.

Usually attempts at fantasy and sci fi mixed don't mesh well. This book manages a very difficult task and intention, while also entertaining. Well worth the listen.

Sci-fi story with a small slash of fantasy.

Where does Kyrathaba Rising rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of the best stories I've read. If you are are a sci-fi fan and enjoy a little fantasy this is the book to read.

What did you like best about this story?

I was surprised by all of it. Mostly, I was impressed with the writing. This was edited well. I really enjoyed the parts that they Tolkien parts.

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

This was the first time listening to Charistine Padovan. She did well with the story.

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

For some reason I was reminded of Anathem by Neal Stephenson. I'm not sure why but I felt a connection with this story and Anathem. Perhaps its the style.

Any additional comments?

This book really blew me away. One of the best sci-fi books I've read for the year.