Far-Seer

The Quintaglio Ascension, Book 1

By: Robert. J. Sawyer

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman

The Face of God is what every young saurian learns to call the immense, glowing object which fills the night sky on the far side of the world. Young Afsan is privileged, called to the distant Capital City to apprentice with Saleed the court astrologer. But when the time comes for Afsan to make his coming-of-age pilgrimage, to gaze upon the Face of God, his world is changed forever- for what he sees will test his faith...and may save his world from disaster!

©1992 Robert J. Sawyer (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

slow start

I love Robert J. Sawyer, but this book took a couple house before I could even start to give a sh*t about any of the characters.

if you feel the same, but love the struggle our early astronomers had with the church, please keep listening!

for me, it wasn't until Afsan was on his Sea voyage that I started really liking the book.

I do find it hard to believe that *this* series is ranked higher than his WWW series as that was awesome from the get, but I can see how adult males might find it difficult to bond with a teen girl as a main character.

A great book

I can't believe I missed this one during the 90's. I spent so much time reading I figured I read every book in the library

Definitely Original!

I found the story fascinating, but not easy to read – I really had to stretch my imagination in order to go along with a community of sentient dinosaurs.

I had trouble thinking about how their bodies worked, how their furniture was shaped, how their buildings looked, what their clothes covered… but those difficulties aside, the story was great and I’m in for more instalments!

A great book with a great performance.

Would you consider the audio edition of Far-Seer to be better than the print version?

Well, it's unabridged, so I'd say "no". Just as good, mind you - just a different experience than reading it to one's self.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Far-Seer?

Afsan's commitment to rational scientific inquiry in the face of willful ignorance was quite compelling overall. I wish more humans held his principles!

Which character – as performed by Oliver Wyman – was your favorite?

Easily Afsan - he is the protagonist, after all; and gets most of the attention in the book.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. This is one point where I might prefer the print edition, as I can read more quickly than I could listen to the audio version!

Any additional comments?

Sawyer is a great author - seek out his other books! You won't be disappointed.

Science versus Religion anyone?

First - the narrator did a fantastic job with the multiple characters. Not much more to say, other than I did not spend one moment lamenting how awful the marrator was, which oftentimes takes away from the story. No worries here!

Second - the story ... well it is kind of like Aesop's Fables where we have animal characters painting a picture that should be so obvious, that sometimes we have to look at in a different context to appreciate or learn from it. Such as we have here with a young brilliant mind using facts to try and help save his people when religion is damning them not to move forward in science and as a species. Living on a planet doomed for destruction, our hero pays a heavy price to help save their world.

What a surprise

I love the promise. I mean the main character is a space dinosaur astrologer. it's just a crazy fun ride

Dinosaurs Are People Too

So you thought the renaissance and rise of secularism was tough on humans... Well it’s pretty rocky for evolved saurians too... Coming of age story and a fascinating peak into cultural and societal evolution... Characters, plot, and setting are richly textured, and narration is superb... If book 1 is any indication this series might be as good as WWW and/or Neanderthal Parallax... Only wish I’d come across it earlier...

Overall great, some whiplash

This is a thrilling story of scientific discovery and revolution. The first part moves at a clipper pace, this new world unfolding with all its characters. The third act stumbles some with tonal whip lash and feels rushed at times. But not enough to ruin the experience

A Coming-Age-Story of Discovery with Dinosaurs

Even though there is a minor layer of predictability because of Afsan being this story's equivalent to the real-life astronomer Galileo Galilei, the setting by itself is interesting enough to hook any sci-fi loving reader to learn more about it as the protagonist finds out the truth of his world, and the possible extinction of the sapient dinosaur species that live on it if he doesn't attempt to inform the highly religious population about the inevitable end of their homeworld. I have some gripes about the ending, which I can't describe without going into spoiler territory, but overall, it was still an intriguing journey.

Unexpectedly bad

What disappointed you about Far-Seer?

I really like most of R.J Sawyer's work. This book is a teen lizard 'coming-of-age' story with the unlikely twist of the lizard developing a complete astrophysical model of his solar system from scratch. Confusing? - yes. Unbelievable? - Yes. Thought provoking? - nope.

Have you listened to any of Oliver Wyman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Really have to admire the narrator's handling of the unpronounceable names and customs of the race of lizard people. Glad I didn't have to read it.