Out of Time

By: Mikhail Gladkikh

Narrated by: Michael Carnell

Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

"It left me breathless...if you only read one hard sci-fi novel this year, this should be it." Jim Arrowood, Jim's Sci-Fi Blog

What if the mysteries of space-time and the human mind were connected?

The year 2057AD. Mankind is exploring the outer planets, but something goes terribly wrong. A probe is destroyed by the extreme gravitational force on the satellite of Uranus. Then, another anomaly sets the Moon on a collision course with Earth.

To address the threat, Olivia Murphy, a Science Advisor to the President of the USA, orchestrates the creation of the UN Task Force consisting of the most prominent scientists.

Meanwhile, Jim Steel, a college student, discovers he can foresee the future and thinks he might be insane. The visions set him on a dangerous path he does not want to take.

As Olivia attempts to shield the Task Force from the geopolitical intrigues and Jim learns how to handle his ability, a web of seemingly unrelated events entangles them. While the governments and corporations fight for the mastery of space-time, a college student must carry the weight of the Universe on his shoulders.

©2022 Mikhail Gladkikh (P)2023 Mikhail Gladkikh

Sci-Fi Thriller

This was my first experience with Mikhail Gladkikh's work, and it was an exciting debut novel. Once I started the audiobook, I had to listen until the end as I was so captivated by the story. Because of an anomaly, the moon was on a collision course with Earth. A group of scientists were gathered together to try and stop the event from happening. Jim Steel started to have dreams about future events which caused some surprising consequences. I liked the twists and turns and how everything was woven together into a cohesive whole. I enjoyed the political intrigue. Michael Carnell's narration was great, and his performance enhanced the story's entertainment. I was given a free copy of the audiobook, and I have voluntarily posted this review.

Humanity fighting to control its future

Received as an audio review copy from Story Origin, this is an honest review. This was an intense and intriguing work of an adventure with humanity in deep and desperate trouble with the moon heading to wipe out our fragile planet and of course as the kind of species we are both brilliant in coming together so we don't die but at the same time all of the politics between countries and powerful corporations fighting to be the savior at the same time have ultimate control of the future. The reason for the three stars has to do with the narrator, Michael Carnell at times felt his performance was over doing it, especially at the Part sections that divide the book with different quotes; beyond that the narrator kept me listening.

Wow.

This was a story I couldn’t quite follow the hard science math but no matter. Music is interspersed throughout the novel in an evocative manner.

Great narration! And there’s no way the villain here isn’t based on Elon Musk. 😖😠

FANTASTIC SUSPENCE/THRILLER. ENJOYED IT

FANTASTIC SUSPENCE/THRILLER. ENJOYED IT ESPECIALLY THE AMOUNT A MATH AND SCIENCE THEORY THAT WENT INTO MAKING STORY LINE D O REALISTIC, RIVETING AND BELIEVABLE.

ACCEPTABLE FOR TEENS AND UP. MOSTLY CLESN.

NAREATOR WAS GREAT, WELL SPOKEN AND EASY TO FOLLOW.

Trying to be too much

Let me start by saying I was so excited to read this ‘hard sci-fi’ book that promised an intriguing space exploration and time travel experience. But… what I got was an info dump on the characters and settings, with none of the ‘hard science’. The audiobook quality was superb, yet it couldn’t save the poorly written story.

Every time we meet a new character, especially a woman, the author ensures we get a detailed account of their appearance, drink choices, what they do, and how skilled they are, without allowing us to learn about them through character development. Because of this, I cannot form any attachment to the characters at all.

After a while, to cope with the lack of interest while trying to continue listening to this book, I told myself to pretend it was a comic (not in a good way), and it became bearable enough to finish. Hear me out: we’re talking about interplanetary exploration and mind-bending time travel, yet when a character thinks they’ve gone ‘insane’, they conclude they have ‘split personality disorder’. Yep, you read that right. Okay, maybe that’s just the character speaking and not the author. But then we get a Bonnie & Clyde scenario out of nowhere, and we’re supposed to be shocked by this twist, especially since it involves a character we know nothing about and have zero buildup for.

What really upset me is that most of the book focuses on politics and barely any science. We were told a lot of scientific concepts without the author showing us the science itself. Honestly, I think the idea and concept were great, but this book tried to do too much (and what’s with all the Shakespeare and philosophy quotes?) and without good writing, it became something I couldn’t take seriously.

Lastly, I have no comments about the narrator or the audio quality because it was great and the only thing that got me through the whole book.