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Pandora's Star
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 37 hrs and 21 mins
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Publisher's summary
Now, with Pandora's Star, he begins a new multi-volume adventure, one that promises to be his most mind-blowing yet. The year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars some 400 light-years in diameter, contains more than 600 worlds, interconnected by a web of transport "tunnels" known as wormholes. At the farthest edge of the Commonwealth, astronomer Dudley Bose observes the impossible: Over 1,000 light-years away, a star...vanishes. It does not go supernova. It does not collapse into a black hole. It simply disappears.
Since the location is too distant to reach by wormhole, a faster-than-light starship, the Second Chance, is dispatched to learn what has occurred and whether it represents a threat. In command is Wilson Kime, a five-time rejuvenated ex-NASA pilot whose glory days are centuries behind him. Opposed to the mission are the Guardians of Selfhood, a cult that believes the human race is being manipulated by an alien entity they call the Starflyer.
Bradley Johansson, leader of the Guardians, warns of sabotage, fearing the Starflyer means to use the starship's mission for its own ends. Pursued by a Commonwealth special agent convinced the Guardians are crazy but dangerous, Johansson flees. But the danger is not averted. Aboard the Second Chance, Kime wonders if his crew has been infiltrated.
Soon enough, he will have other worries. A thousand light-years away, something truly incredible is waiting: a deadly discovery, the unleashing of which will threaten to destroy t...
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- Unabridged
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The music of Rush, one of the most successful bands in music history, is filled with fantastic stories, evocative images, thought-provoking futures and pasts. In this anthology, notable, best-selling, and award-winning writers each chose a Rush song as the spark for a new story, drawing inspiration from the visionary trio Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart.
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I'm a RUSH fan, but ...no..not this book
- By NBP on 07-15-17
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Starfire
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On June 30, 1908, an object fell from the sky, releasing more energy than a thousand Hiroshima bombs. A Siberian forest was flattened, but the strike left no significant crater. The anomaly came to be known as the Tunguska Event, and scientists have never agreed whether it was the largest meteor strike in recorded history - or something else. Alien artifacts have been uncovered since the 1908 event, and a new star drive is discovered.
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Het
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METAtropolis
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Armed camps of eco-survivalists battle purveyors of technology in this exclusive, original production featuring five sci-fi masters and five all-star narrators.
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Not a wasted credit
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Blue Remembered Earth
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Critically acclaimed author Alastair Reynolds holds a well-deserved place “among the leaders of the hard-science space opera renaissance." ( Publishers Weekly). In Blue Remembered Earth, Geoffrey Akinya wants nothing more than to study the elephants of the Amboseli basin. But when his space-explorer grandmother dies, secrets come to light and Geoffrey is dispatched to the Moon to protect the family name - and prevent an impending catastrophe.
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A surprising and staisfying departure for Reynolds
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Beyond the Aquila Rift
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Beyond the Aquila Rift: It's shorthand for the trip no one ever hopes to make by accident. The one that will screw up the rest of your life, the one that creates the ghosts you see haunting the shadows of company bars across the whole Bubble. Men and women ripped out of time, cut adrift from families and lovers by an accident of an alien technology we use but rarely comprehend.
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Great story, mediocre audio book.
- By Amazon Customer on 04-17-12
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Ringworld
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Welcome to Ringworld, an intermediate step between Dyson Spheres and planets. The gravitational force created by a rotation on its axis of 770 miles per second means no need for a roof. Walls 1,000 miles high at each rim will let in the sun and prevent much air from escaping. Larry Niven's novel, Ringworld, is the winner of the 1970 Hugo Award for Best Novel, the 1970 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and the 1972 Ditmars, an Australian award for Best International Science Fiction.
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Genuinely Creative
- By Kennet on 05-25-03
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Lockstep
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When 17-year-old Toby McGonigal finds himself lost in space, separated from his family, he expects his next drift into cold sleep to be his last. After all, the planet he' s orbiting is frozen and sunless, and the cities are dead. But when Toby wakes again, he' s surprised to discover a thriving planet, a strange and prosperous galaxy, and something stranger still - that he' s been asleep for 14,000 years. Welcome to the Lockstep Empire, where civilization is kept alive by careful hibernation. Here cold sleeps can last decades and waking moments mere weeks.
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A Great Idea, Poorly Served
- By D. M. ROBISON on 04-01-14
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One Jump Ahead
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Jon Moore wanted only to relax on the pristine planet of Macken - but Macken was the secret battleground of two megacorporations, both determined to control the local jump gate and the riches of an undeveloped world. Moore was too valuable a tool not to be used, whether or not he was willing. What the corporations didn't realize was that Moore had a mind of his own and a conscience that wouldn't let him quit until he'd righted their wrong. And Moore had Lobo - or just possibly, Lobo had Jon Moore, because this Assault Vehicle had a mind of its own,
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It's all just a beginning.
- By Professor on 09-17-12
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The Atlantis Ship
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Carson Mach, a former war hero turned freelancer, seeks the biggest payday of his life when he's tasked to hunt down a ghost ship that has echoed through the centuries. The legendary Atlantis ship has become a reality, appearing at the Commonwealth frontier and obliterating an orbital station.
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Very Good Story, Looking Forward to the Next Book
- By Striker on 09-13-15
By: A. C. Hadfield
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What listeners say about Pandora's Star
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Contaminator
- 07-21-17
It has it all
Need massive space battles, alien conspiracies, artificial intelligence, fascinating future tech, and confusingly lofty space elves? This has it all.
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- Mike W
- 02-20-15
Great story sometimes bogs down in details
I liked the story a lot. All of the different plot lines woven together made for an exciting galactic-wide story. I did have some trouble following for the first couple of chapters. There didn't seem to be a lot of warning that the story had changed to another thread or viewpoint, but once I started following the different threads it got much easier.
The writer put a tremendous amount of detail into this book and it added a lot of value given the nature of the story and the technologies introduced, but it did also at times bog down the overall flow. I listened to this at 2x and, while I was never really bored, I did find my mind wandering to other things because the level of excitement and intrigue was lacking during some portions. This is the only reason I rate it a 4 star.
The narrator was great. He kept the story moving and had some interesting voices for some of the characters. I quite enjoyed listening to the story.
I already have the next book in the series, but will have to take a break and listen to something else before I dive into it... even though this book ended on a tremendous cliff-hanger. Looking forward to it in a few weeks or so though.
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- Spirit Wandering
- 07-17-16
Hamilton has created an intricate view of future
The author builds a world that speculates on what humans and reality might look like if rejuvenation by cloning were possible. He provides an in-depth view of its' science, technology, politics and warfare, as well as the every day lives of some of the characters. Throw in mysteries about a murder and the identity of at least one of the villains and it all makes an interesting listen.
This is an unabridged version so I predict you will encounter some boring parts. I guess which ones are boring to you will depend on what you are looking for. In my case, for example, I enjoyed the sections on how the powerful families manipulate what happens in the Commonwealth. On the other hand, slogging through an hour plus on the development of "emotiles" was punishing for me.
The number of "major" characters in this work is very large. While I listened to the audio version, there were times when I wished I had read it instead. The numerous characters, locations and plot points requires real concentration not to miss something. If you are looking for an easy listen, skip this one! I gave the narrator five stars because he did a really great job over 37 hours of (mostly) making the individual voices distinguishable. The only performance complaint I had was wishing there were decent pauses between chapters. However, that might be attributed to a need to keep the production time down in an already very long work, so I didn't want to ding the narrator for this issue.
Everyone will have their own favorite characters. Among the "major' players, mine is the enigmatic Bradley Johannsen and his single pointed dedication to eliminating the Star Flyer, an alien who most people think is a fantasy. I also enjoyed the sections on Mark and Liz, willing to take the chance of restructuring their lives to be happier, despite the cultural pressures of the Commonwealth. One of my least favorite characters is Paula Myo. Hamilton casts her in a way that you have to accept that she is who she is and isn't capable of change. While I won't give away the details, there is an incident about her "parents" where I have difficulty accepting her reactions. Her inability to have any empathy for the effect her actions regarding her parents will have on her sister is disturbing to me. Therefore, I was unable to connect with her even though her role is meant to be one of the "good guys." I'm not sure if it was intentional but the way Hamilton casts Paula is an interesting example of how we humans are complicated and shouldn't be easily cast into simplistic views of what is a "hero" vs. a "villain." Perhaps this is why Bradley is one of my favorite characters.
One note about purchasing this book. I got it on a daily deal months ago and just finally got around to it. Somehow I didn't see or later forgot that this is the first of two books (an understandable error given that Pandora's Star is over 37 hours). So I was surprised when I got down below 10 hours and it felt as if the story wasn't going to be wrapped up, Going back to the website, I saw that there is a part two, Judas Unchained. While the reviews on it aren't terrific, I plan to continue anyway to get closure after such a long listening investment. For anyone like myself who is on the annual $10 "light" plan, I would suggest buying the Kindle version and then the audio book at reduced price for buying both, since the full price for Judas Unchained is quite hefty for those of us who don't have credits. This way makes it quite a bargain for 40+ hours of listening, greatly improving my long work day commutes. Happy listening!
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- LauraRose
- 02-23-15
Looking forward to Part 2--30+ hours sailed by
My favorite part of this story was getting to know all of the characters/planets/socio-political groups. This is some pretty thick Sci-Fi. There is no warning when you jump from one to the next, so it's a little confusing at first, but fun when you get the hang of it.
The narration is amazing. Really. He changes his voice just enough from character to character that you know who is speaking, but it's not strained or overly "acted," just really truly very honestly well and smoothly read.
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- Kindle Customer
- 06-01-15
Good story, irritating narrator
I enjoyed the story. The only problem is that there were SO many story lines, and I never found them to come together. The problem I had with the narrator is that he's so veddy Bditish. He never said an "R" and pronounced words like "shedule" the British way, so I came out of the story about every third word. But interesting and imaginative story about future planets and a First Contact.
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- Linda
- 11-17-13
I want an e-butler!
I can't believe how much is going on in this book. Besides humans, there are at least 4 other types of developed sentient species and all are very different. There is genocide. There are hundreds of developed planets, and they are quite different. Earth still exists and it appears to be less crowded and under strict environmental regulation. There is genetic manipulation. There is resurrection and reliving. There are individuals with 1000 years of memories, as well as "first-lifers." There is murder. There are terrorists/resistence fighters. And you really have to pay attention, as there are a lot of characters and, at first, seemingly unrelated characters and events. But, you quickly learn that no one appears and nothing happens that is not going to be important later!
The technology is quite impressive and used for transportation, education, reproduction, and just about anything you can think of. I was quite envious of the e-butler - the PDA of the future!
I did not realize this was a series so was quite shocked at the ending and ready to give the book a 3 for leaving me hanging. But having discovered there is more to come, I am relenting and going back to the 5 stars it had just before the last sentence and buying the the next installment! For a more detailed review, see my review on Goodreads.
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- Allan
- 02-25-13
Excellent Listen
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
36 hour single session? No way. :)
Any additional comments?
If I had one complaint about this production it was regarding John Lee's knack for not pausing when the narrative POV changed. A couple times it threw me off.
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-23-17
Great
The story was fantastic. I found John Lee's narration solid, but a little monotonous in tone. I would gladly listen to it again and highly recommend it to others.
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- Brian Lounsberry
- 01-28-17
excellent. but audio recording mediocre
what an amazing story well-written. unfortunately the audio is not that great. the volume comes up and down; however the narrator is exceptionally good
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- Matt
- 10-09-16
loved the book, the whole series really
Great series, love the details it really feels like a living world, and A future you'd wish to live in.
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