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Vortex
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
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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
By: John McFetridge - editor, and others
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Beyond the Aquila Rift
- By: Alastair Reynolds
- Narrated by: Tom Dheere
- Length: 1 hr and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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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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The Hercules Text
- By: Jack McDevitt
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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From a remote corner of the galaxy, a message is being sent. The continuous beats of a pulsar have become odd, irregular, and artificial. It can only be a code. Frantically, a research team struggles to decipher the alien communication. And what the scientists discover is destined to shake the foundations of empires around this world - from Wall Street to the Vatican.
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Lots to recommend here!
- By Matthew on 10-19-18
By: Jack McDevitt
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Blue Remembered Earth
- By: Alastair Reynolds
- Narrated by: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
- Length: 21 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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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
- By Michael G Kurilla on 07-21-12
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Robot Uprisings
- By: Daniel H. Wilson, John Joseph Adams - editor
- Narrated by: Emily Beresford, Tamara Marston, A.T. Chandler, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Humans beware. As the robotic revolution continues to creep into our lives, it brings with it an impending sense of doom. What horrifying scenarios might unfold if our technology were to go awry? From self-aware robotic toys to intelligent machines violently malfunctioning, this anthology brings to life the half-formed questions and fears we all have about the increasing presence of robots in our lives.
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Has some bright spots
- By ChrisM. on 10-22-15
By: Daniel H. Wilson, and others
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White Noise
- By: Don DeLillo
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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When an industrial accident unleashes an "airborne toxic event", a lethal black chemical cloud floats over the Gladneys' lives. The menacing cloud is a more urgent and visible version of the "white noise" engulfing the Gladneys - radio transmissions, sirens, microwaves, ultrasonic appliances, and TV murmurings - pulsing with life yet suggesting something ominous.
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Designed to be analyzed by an English class
- By RI in Canada on 10-15-16
By: Don DeLillo
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Zendegi
- By: Greg Egan
- Narrated by: Parisa Johnston
- Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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As tragedy strikes his multicultural family, Martin struggles to maintain his place in his adapted culture, and to provide for his child. Zendigi explores what it means to be human, and the lengths one will go to in order to provide for ones children. This emotional roller coaster explores a non-Western-European near future that both challenges ideas of global monoculture and emphasizes the humanity we all share.
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important topics, sad story
- By Kindle Customer on 04-06-24
By: Greg Egan
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The Forge of God
- By: Greg Bear
- Narrated by: Stephen Bel Davies
- Length: 16 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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On September 28th, a geologist working in Death Valley finds a mysterious new cinder cone in very well-mapped area. On October 1, the government of Australia announces the discovery of an enormous granite mountain. Like the cinder cone, it wasn't there six months ago.
Something is happening to planet Earth, and the truth is too terrifying to contemplate
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Great Story, Wonderful Listening, But the Editor?
- By George Knight on 07-14-13
By: Greg Bear
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Lise Adams is a young woman attempting to uncover the mystery of her father's disappearance ten years earlier. Turk Findley is an ex-sailor and sometimes-drifter. They come together when an infall of cometary dust seeds the planet with tiny remnant Hypothetical machines. Soon, this seemingly hospitable world will become very alien indeed--as the nature of time is once again twisted, by entities unknown.
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From Hypothertical to Pathetic , let down!
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I RCW keeps writing for years to come
- By NMwritergal on 12-09-16
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The Chronoliths
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Scott Warden is a man haunted by the past-and soon to be haunted by the future. In early 21st-century Thailand, Scott is an expatriate slacker. Then, one day, he inadvertently witnesses an impossible event: the violent appearance of a 200-foot stone pillar in the forested interior. Its arrival collapses trees for a quarter mile around its base, freezing ice out of the air and emitting a burst of ionizing radiation. It appears to be composed of an exotic form of matter.
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A haunting, beautiful work...
- By M. Stephenson on 11-20-09
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Burning Paradise
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Cassie Klyne, 19 years old, lives in the United States in the year 2015 - but it's not our United States, and it's not our 2015. Cassies world has been at peace since the Great Armistice of 1918. There was no World War II, no Great Depression. Poverty is declining, prosperity is increasing everywhere; social instability is rare. But Cassie knows the world isn't what it seems. Her parents were part of a group who gradually discovered the awful truth: That for decades - back to the dawn of radio communications - human progress has been interfered with, made more peaceful and benign, by an extraterrestrial entity.
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Annoyingly Bad
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The Affinities
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In our rapidly-changing world of "social media", everyday people are more and more able to sort themselves into social groups based on finer and finer criteria. In the near future of Robert Charles Wilson's The Affinities, this process is supercharged by new analytic technologies - genetic, brain-mapping, behavioral.
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Compelling Concepts
- By Madeleine on 05-20-15
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A Bridge of Years
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A secluded Pacific Northwest cottage becomes a door to the past for Tom Winter, who travels back to the New York City of 1962, followed by a human killing machine that he alone must stop.
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More like an elevator
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 06-02-12
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Axis
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Lise Adams is a young woman attempting to uncover the mystery of her father's disappearance ten years earlier. Turk Findley is an ex-sailor and sometimes-drifter. They come together when an infall of cometary dust seeds the planet with tiny remnant Hypothetical machines. Soon, this seemingly hospitable world will become very alien indeed--as the nature of time is once again twisted, by entities unknown.
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From Hypothertical to Pathetic , let down!
- By Jason on 08-30-08
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Last Year
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In the near future of Robert Charles Wilson's Last Year, the technology exists to open doorways into the past - but not our past, not exactly. Each "past" is effectively an alternate world, identical to ours but only up to the date on which we access it. And a given "past" can be reached only once. After a passageway is open, it's the only road to that particular past; once closed, it can't be reopened.
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I RCW keeps writing for years to come
- By NMwritergal on 12-09-16
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Scott Warden is a man haunted by the past-and soon to be haunted by the future. In early 21st-century Thailand, Scott is an expatriate slacker. Then, one day, he inadvertently witnesses an impossible event: the violent appearance of a 200-foot stone pillar in the forested interior. Its arrival collapses trees for a quarter mile around its base, freezing ice out of the air and emitting a burst of ionizing radiation. It appears to be composed of an exotic form of matter.
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A haunting, beautiful work...
- By M. Stephenson on 11-20-09
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Cassie Klyne, 19 years old, lives in the United States in the year 2015 - but it's not our United States, and it's not our 2015. Cassies world has been at peace since the Great Armistice of 1918. There was no World War II, no Great Depression. Poverty is declining, prosperity is increasing everywhere; social instability is rare. But Cassie knows the world isn't what it seems. Her parents were part of a group who gradually discovered the awful truth: That for decades - back to the dawn of radio communications - human progress has been interfered with, made more peaceful and benign, by an extraterrestrial entity.
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Annoyingly Bad
- By David Shear on 11-11-13
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A secluded Pacific Northwest cottage becomes a door to the past for Tom Winter, who travels back to the New York City of 1962, followed by a human killing machine that he alone must stop.
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More like an elevator
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 06-02-12
What listeners say about Vortex
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- thawstone
- 06-04-12
Good ending to the Spin series
I'm actually pretty torn on whether or not to give this five stars. I think with every series, no matter the author, the progressive books never seem as good as the earlier ones. This is probably because the freahness of the idea behind the books tends to wears off. However, I would have to give the complete 3 book series five stars.
It's amazing the way this story comes together in the end, especially the last paragraph (I'm imagining it's the last paragraph since this is audio). I guarantee you won't see it coming.
The bottom line is: if you've read the first two books, you can't not read this one. If you haven't read the first two, what are you waiting for?
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- Emmett
- 10-19-15
A pleasant conclusion to the Spin Trilogy.
this is not about specific characters from Spin. It concludes the story of the Hypotheticals.
It's an interesting perspective.
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- AJ
- 11-25-18
At times prescient, at times a little dark
The whole series draws you in with deep and complex character development. It predicts the demise of our planet by greed and desire. The eventual ending is satisfying but really too dark. I doubt that I will look for other books by Wilson.
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- Anonymous User
- 08-05-21
Excellent story, ambitious scope, very nice!
A strong finish to a very good series. I'm not easily impressed, but this one had me thinking about their universe long after the book was finished 😄
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- Steve
- 08-24-11
A decent closure
This review contains spoilers (plot details):
I really liked Spin, and I was more drawn in to it than most books I've read. Axis wasn't all that great to me. I figured I had to get Vortex to figure out what it was all about.
It's a well-done story with typical Wilsonian bouncing from time and character to time and character. He goes farther out than I'd expected, to the eventual breakdown of subatomic particles in the very distant future.
I liked the characters and ideas, and generally enjoyed it. Narration is the same as for the previous 2 books.
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- R. Baker
- 07-12-11
well-written, well-narrated, but...
When I first listened to Spin, the first book in this trilogy, I thought I might very well be onto the best scifi experience of my life. A few years later, this concluding volume has left me a bit unsatisfied. The core mystery that underlies all three volumes, and is so captivating in Spin, gets "solved" in an almost off-handed way at the end of Vortex. And the solution won't exactly makes you shiver with delight. Or even interest.
But here's the thing: the books are so well-written that it almost doesn't matter. The stories themselves are engaging, the characters are generally worth investing in, the prose is weighty and never silly. (Silly is a concern for me when it comes to time-bending science fiction.) And the narration is, well, Scott Brick. You know exactly what you'll get before you start listening, and it'll be good.
So I'm giving it a decent rating and a big warning: if the middle book felt like a miss to you, this one probably will too. But if you enjoyed it anyway, this is worth a listen. Maybe you can make up a better ending for yourself after it's all done.
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21 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 04-26-19
More than 42
The science in this book, at the end Is awareness expanding and fun. So glad the Spin was all wrapped up. I enjoyed the explanation immensely even if I really didn’t understand the details. What a ride!
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- Edward
- 09-15-11
Better than Axis more like Spin
If you were turned off by Axis don't worry this is better. Spend the credit and find out how it all ends.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Lincoln
- 11-26-20
a nice end to a wonderful story
This series of books was so quiet and understated, yet haunt you when you are not reading them. many people probably prefer a sci fi series with a lot of action, but I prefer this style. cerebral, thoughtful, and sentimental. I did, however, find most of the characters in this last book with the exception of Issac and Orrin a bit lacking the depth the characters in the previous books had. Even Turk felt a bit muted and I was expecting to get to know him more since he was a repeat character, but it was the opposite, he seemed distant and underdeveloped. the characters just didnt fill out like in the previous books which was dissapointing. All in all, a nice ending to the series, and will not spoil it, but a very unique way of ending the story. Hint, you get to find out the fate of the universe.
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- Bill
- 02-11-19
Beautiful ending to a well crafted series
I guess previous reviewers like their fiction tied up neatly with a bow while the protagonists ride off into the sunset. I do not. If you like explosions and space wars, look elsewhere. If you enjoy carefully crafted narratives featuring characters who display actual depth, this might be your jam. The ending was, I thought, beautiful without being overly sentimental, and took on a scope far beyond what most books dare. If it happened quickly, its because the plot here is secondary. What matters is the discovery of the self, the creation of meaning, the exploration of the universe both exterior and interior. Couldn't have ended better.
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1 person found this helpful