Hollow World

De: Michael J. Sullivan

Narrado por: Jonathan Davis

The future is coming...for some more than others.

Ellis Rogers is an ordinary man who is about to embark on an extraordinary journey. All his life he has played it safe and done the right thing. But when he is faced with a terminal illness, Ellis is willing to take an insane gamble. He's built a time machine in his garage, and if it works, he'll face a world that challenges his understanding of what it means to be human, what it takes to love, and the cost of paradise. Ellis could find more than a cure for his disease; he might find what everyone has been searching for since time has begun - but only if he can survive the Hollow World.

©2014 Michael J. Sullivan (P)2014 Recorded Books

what is real? what is love?

3 times or more I've listened to this. I love it every time. The story of a man with birthing to lose. His wife doesn't care about him. His son is dead and now he is dying. Who wouldn't go to see if the future has something to offer? but does he really go there? A world where everyone is so alike that people are killing to be different.

Could have been so much more

I am a huge Michael Sullivan fan but this story just did not work for me. It was interesting enough, but lacked the depth and character development that Sullivan's other works generally display. The story of a dying man who is smart enough to build a one way time machine and travel thousands of years into the future is a fascinating concept to me. I love H. G. Wells Time Machine. But the story line after our hero makes the time jump falls flat. The idea that a world that has in essence conquered illness and for the most part, death, but longs for individuality and uniqueness was difficult to swallow. I found it weird, or maybe disjointed.

The end was interesting enough that I don't regret spending the credit on the story. The reader was okay, not great. Perhaps if Tim Reynolds had read it...

Excellent Sci Fi Listen

I had no interest in this book but listened out of obligation since Michael J. Sullivan had not yet written a book I didn’t love. After reading, his perfect record with me remains unblemished. A change in reader from Tim Gerard Reynolds also had me unenthusiastic about this book, but Jonathan Davis is a pro and I have no complaints.

Makes you think

At first it's so so but wait for the end. The story just builds and builds and builds. It gives a very thought provoking lgbq ending kinda because one person is a man .... And the other is kinda sexless. Really makes you think.

Sullivan is great but this book… ….meh

The story took too many gigantic leaps just to keep the story from unravelling. The characters are one dimensional, not relatable , and cellophane wrapping paper provides more suspense/mystery than the backstories. Ive made it out to be worse than it really is…. Or have I?

Not what I had hoped

I really liked Sullivan's Riyria books - so much so that they are a new top-shelf favorite for me. So, I had high hopes for this book - I missed the kickstarter but would have been a backer. But overall I did not enjoy the book. The story was somewhat interesting and the narration was good. I liked how the story began - but it didn't really go anywhere special after that. And, it just wasn't that "awesome story" like every one of the Riyria books had been. Plus - *SPOILER AHEAD* - the weird relationship that came about at the end was awkward and made it feel that the book was less about what could happen to a society in the future and more about a hidden agenda and message on Sullivan's part - which I really don't think he had intended. I really like Riyria and Sullivan! I even emailed with him some (he's a SUPER nice guy and seems to work hard to communicate with his readers - plus how generous he is with his ebooks). I'll go back and listen to the Riyria books again and again. But, unfortunately, for me Hollow World is forgettable.

A great book in the spirit of The Time Machine

A great look at both the future and the evolution of humanity. And sometimes we have to let go of the past.

Eh

It’s just kinda dull. Definitely not what you expect from MJS. I made it to 4 hours left and just stopped. Narrator is just okay and adds nothing to the book.

Only Good

If you overlook the fact that this is written by Michael J Sullivan, it is a really good story. I almost rated it much slower just because, it is Sullivan, I expected much more. This one was good, just good. His other books are so much more entertaining.

Fantastic!

I'm trying to think of an example of an antagonist that I have disliked more than I have disliked this one and I'm having trouble. Michael Sullivan is so good at writing antagonists that I can hate with the passion of a thousand suns. I believe I actually uttered the word 'comeuppance' unironically at one point.

(Update after 15 minutes of quiet reflection: Dolores Umbridge. Seriously, that's all I can think of.)

The fact that there are people alive in this world right now who, while they might not take zealotry to quite that level, nonetheless have very similar ideas to this antagonist is actually pretty terrifying. But then, the idea that we'd survive that long without blowing ourselves up is almost far fetched to begin with. I will hold on to hope that we somehow make it to world peace. I just can't imagine what sort of horrible worldwide disaster is going to be its catalyst.

This book got me right in the feels in the end, albeit different feels than the middle. My epic look of disapproval softened into an epic look of mushy wuv (with an earth w), and all was right with the (hollow) world.

This audiobook had an awesome narrator and was very well done, just as Riyria was.

I'm looking forward to more. Fantasy, Science Fiction, bit of both, something entirely different... whatever. :)