D. Askay
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Starfall
- By: Drew Harrison
- Narrated by: John Pirhalla
- Length: 22 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 61
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 55
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 55
Fantasy. Sci-fi. The world was brought back from the brink of annihilation, but its still-new institutions are rattled once again as heroes and criminals clash in a neon-drenched cyberpunk metropolis.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Strong Debut Novel, Amazing Narration
- By Mediocrates on 01-15-22
- Starfall
- By: Drew Harrison
- Narrated by: John Pirhalla
A thought-provoking cyberpunk story
Reviewed: 05-05-22
Echoing the voices of other reviewers, this is a fantastic debut novel from Drew Harrison. I love the cyberpunk environment that is reminiscent of Blade Runner and Snow Crash. The talented narrator adds to the story with an engaging delivery of dialogue and range of unique voices and accents for characters.
While many familiar elements of sci-fi, noir, and cyberpunk are evident, the way that the story uses and weaves them together makes for a fresh and engaging read. There are action-packed fight scenes with an interesting light-based magic/superpower system. There are mysteries to unravel during a missing person investigation that eventually leads to the origins of these superpowers. There are desperate resistance groups fighting a megacorporation using gorilla tactics.
At a deeper level, the city of New Phoenix echoes many of the concerns facing society today: misinformation, manufacturing consent, and surveillance. Artificial intelligence plays a central role throughout the book to offer a realized dystopian vision of a panopticon tracking everyone and everything communicated, then using that knowledge to manufacture misinformation about the world. What I found most compelling was Michelangelo, a thought-provoking AI character. Drew Harrison goes deep in explaining what drives this AI character and the lengths it will go to advance them. The interactions between Michelangelo and its handler Beverly confronts the reader with important philosophical and moral perspectives of AI. For me, this is what moved the book from great to excellent.
All together, this book offers a lot. The setting and characters offer an engaging story on its own, while layered questions allow you to consider deeper issues for today. Finally, the narration is on point. I would welcome another visit to the city of New Phoenix and the world beyond it.
I received this book from the author in order to review it.
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