-
Ark
- Forward collection
- Narrated by: Evan Rachel Wood
- Length: 1 hr and 22 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $1.99
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
Audible narration by Evan Rachel Wood (Westworld)
On the eve of Earth’s destruction, a young scientist discovers something too precious to lose, in a story of cataclysm and hope by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Divergent trilogy.
It’s only two weeks before an asteroid turns home to dust. Though most of Earth has already been evacuated, it’s Samantha’s job to catalog plant samples for the survivors’ unknowable journey beyond. Preparing to stay behind and watch the world end, she makes a final human connection.
As certain doom hurtles nearer, the unexpected and beautiful potential for the future begins to flower.
Veronica Roth’s Ark is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Summer Frost
- Forward collection
- By: Blake Crouch
- Narrated by: Rosa Salazar
- Length: 2 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Maxine was made to do one thing: die. Except the minor non-player character in the world Riley is building makes her own impossible decision - veering wildly off course and exploring the boundaries of the map. When the curious Riley extracts her code for closer examination, an emotional relationship develops between them. Soon Riley has all new plans for her spontaneous AI, including bringing Max into the real world. But what if Max has real-world plans of her own?
-
-
Sigh, How Many Times Have We Heard This Story?
- By DavidG on 10-08-19
By: Blake Crouch
-
Chosen Ones
- By: Veronica Roth
- Narrated by: Dakota Fanning
- Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fifteen years ago, five ordinary teenagers were singled out by a prophecy to take down an impossibly powerful entity wreaking havoc across North America. He was known as the Dark One, and his weapon of choice - catastrophic events known as Drains - leveled cities and claimed thousands of lives. Chosen Ones, as the teens were known, gave everything they had to defeat him. After the Dark One fell, the world went back to normal...for everyone but them. Of the five, Sloane has had the hardest time adjusting.
-
-
Same dull and depressed tone throughout
- By Thien-Nga Vo on 04-09-20
By: Veronica Roth
-
Void
- The Far Reaches Collection
- By: Veronica Roth
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 1 hr and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Traveling faster than light, the transport ship Redundancy is cut off from communication as effectively as an ancient ocean liner. The isolation suits crew member Ace Vance just fine—she’s got nowhere else to be. But when a wealthy passenger turns up dead during a routine voyage, Ace will have to connect with the passengers and crew to uncover the truth. Tragedy will strike again—it’s only a matter of time.
-
-
Great short story!
- By Samuel Warren on 08-31-23
By: Veronica Roth
-
The End and Other Beginnings
- Stories from the Future
- By: Veronica Roth
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin, MacLeod Andrews
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No world is like the other. Within this masterful collection, each setting is more strange and wonderful than the last, brimming with new technologies and beings. And yet, for all the advances in these futuristic lands, the people still must confront deeply human problems. In these six stories, Veronica Roth reaches into the unknown and draws forth something startlingly familiar and profoundly beautiful.
By: Veronica Roth
-
Poster Girl
- By: Veronica Roth
- Narrated by: Anna Caputo
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What's right is right. Sonya Kantor knows this slogan—she lived by it for most of her life. For decades, everyone in the Seattle-Portland megalopolis lived under it, as well as constant surveillance in the form of the Insight, an ocular implant that tracked every word and every action, rewarding or punishing by a rigid moral code set forth by the Delegation. Then there was a revolution. The Delegation fell. Its most valuable members were locked in the Aperture, a prison on the outskirts of the city. And everyone else, now free from monitoring, went on with their lives.
-
-
Little bit preachy, but still very good.
- By Kindle Customer on 10-23-22
By: Veronica Roth
-
Starter Villain
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.
-
-
Volcanic Lairs, Death Rays & Cats… Oh My! 😼
- By C. White on 09-19-23
By: John Scalzi
-
Summer Frost
- Forward collection
- By: Blake Crouch
- Narrated by: Rosa Salazar
- Length: 2 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Maxine was made to do one thing: die. Except the minor non-player character in the world Riley is building makes her own impossible decision - veering wildly off course and exploring the boundaries of the map. When the curious Riley extracts her code for closer examination, an emotional relationship develops between them. Soon Riley has all new plans for her spontaneous AI, including bringing Max into the real world. But what if Max has real-world plans of her own?
-
-
Sigh, How Many Times Have We Heard This Story?
- By DavidG on 10-08-19
By: Blake Crouch
-
Chosen Ones
- By: Veronica Roth
- Narrated by: Dakota Fanning
- Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fifteen years ago, five ordinary teenagers were singled out by a prophecy to take down an impossibly powerful entity wreaking havoc across North America. He was known as the Dark One, and his weapon of choice - catastrophic events known as Drains - leveled cities and claimed thousands of lives. Chosen Ones, as the teens were known, gave everything they had to defeat him. After the Dark One fell, the world went back to normal...for everyone but them. Of the five, Sloane has had the hardest time adjusting.
-
-
Same dull and depressed tone throughout
- By Thien-Nga Vo on 04-09-20
By: Veronica Roth
-
Void
- The Far Reaches Collection
- By: Veronica Roth
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 1 hr and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Traveling faster than light, the transport ship Redundancy is cut off from communication as effectively as an ancient ocean liner. The isolation suits crew member Ace Vance just fine—she’s got nowhere else to be. But when a wealthy passenger turns up dead during a routine voyage, Ace will have to connect with the passengers and crew to uncover the truth. Tragedy will strike again—it’s only a matter of time.
-
-
Great short story!
- By Samuel Warren on 08-31-23
By: Veronica Roth
-
The End and Other Beginnings
- Stories from the Future
- By: Veronica Roth
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin, MacLeod Andrews
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No world is like the other. Within this masterful collection, each setting is more strange and wonderful than the last, brimming with new technologies and beings. And yet, for all the advances in these futuristic lands, the people still must confront deeply human problems. In these six stories, Veronica Roth reaches into the unknown and draws forth something startlingly familiar and profoundly beautiful.
By: Veronica Roth
-
Poster Girl
- By: Veronica Roth
- Narrated by: Anna Caputo
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What's right is right. Sonya Kantor knows this slogan—she lived by it for most of her life. For decades, everyone in the Seattle-Portland megalopolis lived under it, as well as constant surveillance in the form of the Insight, an ocular implant that tracked every word and every action, rewarding or punishing by a rigid moral code set forth by the Delegation. Then there was a revolution. The Delegation fell. Its most valuable members were locked in the Aperture, a prison on the outskirts of the city. And everyone else, now free from monitoring, went on with their lives.
-
-
Little bit preachy, but still very good.
- By Kindle Customer on 10-23-22
By: Veronica Roth
-
Starter Villain
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.
-
-
Volcanic Lairs, Death Rays & Cats… Oh My! 😼
- By C. White on 09-19-23
By: John Scalzi
-
Rescue Party
- By: Arthur C. Clarke
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 1 hr and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Rescue Party" was first published in the May 1946 issue of Astounding Science-Fiction.
Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) is regarded as one of the most-influential science fiction writers of all time. He was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.
-
-
Clarke was ahead of his time
- By Nedieh Red Nav on 10-26-20
By: Arthur C. Clarke
-
Artemis
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Rosario Dawson
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jazz Bashara is a criminal. Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent. Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down.
-
-
A ferrari with no motor
- By will on 11-18-17
By: Andy Weir
-
Upgrade
- A Novel
- By: Blake Crouch
- Narrated by: Henry Levya
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At first, Logan Ramsay isn’t sure if anything’s different. He just feels a little . . . sharper. Better able to concentrate. Better at multitasking. Reading a bit faster, memorizing better, needing less sleep. But before long, he can’t deny it: Something’s happening to his brain. To his body. He’s starting to see the world, and those around him—even those he loves most—in whole new ways. The truth is, Logan’s genome has been hacked. And there’s a reason he’s been targeted for this upgrade.
-
-
Needs a better reader
- By Jeff on 07-12-22
By: Blake Crouch
-
The Egg
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You were on your way home when you died. It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me. And that’s when you met me." A short story about the universe.
-
-
Weir is a master of putting words together.
- By Midwestbonsai on 12-11-14
By: Andy Weir
-
Miniatures
- The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Khristine Hvam, Peter Ganim, Luke Daniels, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The ex-planet Pluto has a few choice words about being thrown out of the solar system. A listing of alternate histories tells you all the various ways Hitler has died. A lawyer sues an interplanetary union for dangerous working conditions. And four artificial intelligences explain, in increasingly worrying detail, how they plan not to destroy humanity. Welcome to Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi.
-
-
Small doses of "Scalzian" humor
- By Andre Wallace Simonsen on 01-05-17
By: John Scalzi
-
Remote Control
- By: Nnedi Okorafor
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 4 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The day Fatima forgot her name, Death paid a visit. From hereon in she would be known as Sankofa - a name that meant nothing to anyone but her, the only tie to her family and her past. Her touch is death, and with a glance a town can fall. And she walks - alone, except for her fox companion - searching for the object that came from the sky and gave itself to her when the meteors fell and when she was yet unchanged; searching for answers.
-
-
Afrofuturist Sci/Fantasy Fairytale
- By J. Angel on 01-20-21
By: Nnedi Okorafor
-
Children of Time
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: Mel Hudson
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Adrian Tchaikovksy's critically acclaimed stand-alone novel Children of Time is the epic story of humanity's battle for survival on a terraformed planet. Who will inherit this new Earth? The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age - a world terraformed and prepared for human life. But all is not right in this new Eden.
-
-
A very pleasant surprise
- By Simon on 06-17-17
-
The Fifth Season: Booktrack Edition
- The Broken Earth, Book 1
- By: N. K. Jemisin
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the way the world ends...for the last time. It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world's sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun. It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter. It starts with betrayal, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester. This is the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the earth is wielded as a weapon. And where there is no mercy.
-
-
I would give this less than one star if I could.
- By Christin on 02-12-20
By: N. K. Jemisin
-
Seveneves
- A Novel
- By: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal, Will Damron
- Length: 31 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A catastrophic event renders the earth a ticking time bomb. In a feverish race against the inevitable, nations around the globe band together to devise an ambitious plan to ensure the survival of humanity far beyond our atmosphere, in outer space.
-
-
Odd narrator choice
- By Josh Mitchell on 05-30-15
By: Neal Stephenson
-
The Bone Farm
- A Jane Hawk Case File
- By: Dean Koontz
- Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers, James Anderson Foster
- Length: 2 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An audio original novella featuring bestselling author Dean Koontz’s compelling new heroine, Jane Hawk. From the case files of the former FBI agent before she became the nation’s most wanted fugitive - The Bone Farm details a desperate man-hunt for a serial killer before he murders again.
-
-
First Timer
- By Anonymous User on 05-06-18
By: Dean Koontz
-
The Scent Keeper
- A Novel
- By: Erica Bauermeister
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emmeline lives on a remote island with her father, who teaches her about the natural world through her senses. What he won’t explain are the mysterious scents stored in glass bottles that line the walls of their cabin, or the origin of the machine that creates them. As Emmeline grows, however, so too does her curiosity, until one day the unforeseen happens, and Emmeline is vaulted out into the real world—a place of love, betrayal, ambition, and revenge. To understand her past, Emmeline must unlock the clues to her identity.
-
-
A heavy, sad read.
- By Marlyn Dahl on 06-12-19
-
Infinite
- By: Jeremy Robinson
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Galahad, a faster-than-light spacecraft, carries 50 scientists and engineers on a mission to prepare Kepler 452b, Earth's nearest habitable neighbor at 1400 light years away. With Earth no longer habitable and the Mars colony slowly failing, they are humanity's best hope. After 10 years in a failed cryogenic bed - body asleep, mind awake - William Chanokh's torture comes to an end as the fog clears, the hatch opens, and his friend and fellow hacker, Tom, greets him...by stabbing a screwdriver into his heart. This is the first time William dies.
-
-
a rather complex science fiction story
- By Midwestbonsai on 12-26-17
By: Jeremy Robinson
Critic reviews
"Narrator Evan Rachel Wood portrays Samantha in a soft, resigned tone that fits a story in which humanity has already been through the painful grieving process and has settled into a somber acceptance of its fate...it’s the gentle emphasis Wood gives to the connections between humans that makes this audiobook such a compelling listen." --AudioFile magazine
"…A sensational project...." --Spine Magazine
“This is exactly how I like my techno-anxiety.... Happy bingeing!” --Audible, an October Editors Pick
Related to this topic
-
Light from Other Stars
- A Novel
- By: Erika Swyler
- Narrated by: Kyla Garcia
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eleven-year-old Nedda Papas is obsessed with becoming an astronaut. In 1986 in Easter, a small Florida Space Coast town, her dreams seem almost within reach - if she can just grow up fast enough. Theo, the scientist father she idolizes, is consumed by his own obsessions. Laid off from his job at NASA and still reeling from the loss of Nedda's newborn brother several years before, Theo turns to the dangerous dream of extending his living daughter's childhood just a little longer. The result is an invention that alters the fabric of time.
-
-
How does she do it?
- By BLF on 07-30-19
By: Erika Swyler
-
The End and Other Beginnings
- Stories from the Future
- By: Veronica Roth
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin, MacLeod Andrews
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No world is like the other. Within this masterful collection, each setting is more strange and wonderful than the last, brimming with new technologies and beings. And yet, for all the advances in these futuristic lands, the people still must confront deeply human problems. In these six stories, Veronica Roth reaches into the unknown and draws forth something startlingly familiar and profoundly beautiful.
By: Veronica Roth
-
The Lightness
- A Novel
- By: Emily Temple
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One year ago, the person Olivia adores most in the world, her father, left home for a meditation retreat in the mountains and never returned. Yearning to make sense of his shocking departure and to escape her overbearing mother - a woman as grounded as her father is mercurial - Olivia runs away from home and retraces his path to a place known as the Levitation Center. Once there, she enrolls in their summer program for troubled teens, which Olivia refers to as “Buddhist Boot Camp for Bad Girls”.
-
-
Perfect combination
- By Lauren yett on 06-22-20
By: Emily Temple
-
Mira's Return: The Complete Series: A Mermaid Fantasy Adventure & Prequel to the Elemental Origins Series
- By: A.L. Knorr
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mira is a mermaid on a mission. It’s time to leave the ocean. Mira Belshaw has been at sea for...well, she doesn’t know how many years. It’s hard to keep track of time when you live in the ocean. But after enough time, the salt water triggers the desire to procreate, and her time is up. Finding a mate is the most important thing to her right now, and to do that, she has to return to the place where she was last human - the coastal city of Saltford.
-
-
Mermaid Mira
- By Shoe Monger on 04-10-20
By: A.L. Knorr
-
The Saturday Night Ghost Club
- A Novel
- By: Craig Davidson
- Narrated by: Corey Brill
- Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Growing up in 1980s Niagara Falls - a seedy but magical, slightly haunted place - Jake Baker spends most of his time with his uncle Calvin, a kind but eccentric enthusiast of occult artifacts and conspiracy theories. The summer Jake turns 12, he befriends a pair of siblings new to town, and so Calvin decides to initiate them all into the "Saturday Night Ghost Club." But as the summer goes on, what begins as a seemingly light-hearted project may ultimately uncover more than any of its members had imagined.
-
-
Emotionless
- By Noura on 10-18-20
By: Craig Davidson
-
Do You Dream of Terra-Two?
- By: Temi Oh
- Narrated by: Nneka Okoye
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A century ago, scientists theorised that a habitable planet existed in a nearby solar system. Today, 10 astronauts will leave a dying Earth to find it. Four are decorated veterans of the 20th century’s space race. And six are teenagers, graduates of the exclusive Dalton Academy, who’ve been in training for this mission for most of their lives. It will take the team 23 years to reach Terra-Two. Twenty-three years spent in close quarters. Twenty-three years with no-one to rely on but each other. Twenty-three years with no rescue possible, should something go wrong.
-
-
Terrible
- By Stephen on 01-12-19
By: Temi Oh
-
Light from Other Stars
- A Novel
- By: Erika Swyler
- Narrated by: Kyla Garcia
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eleven-year-old Nedda Papas is obsessed with becoming an astronaut. In 1986 in Easter, a small Florida Space Coast town, her dreams seem almost within reach - if she can just grow up fast enough. Theo, the scientist father she idolizes, is consumed by his own obsessions. Laid off from his job at NASA and still reeling from the loss of Nedda's newborn brother several years before, Theo turns to the dangerous dream of extending his living daughter's childhood just a little longer. The result is an invention that alters the fabric of time.
-
-
How does she do it?
- By BLF on 07-30-19
By: Erika Swyler
-
The End and Other Beginnings
- Stories from the Future
- By: Veronica Roth
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin, MacLeod Andrews
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No world is like the other. Within this masterful collection, each setting is more strange and wonderful than the last, brimming with new technologies and beings. And yet, for all the advances in these futuristic lands, the people still must confront deeply human problems. In these six stories, Veronica Roth reaches into the unknown and draws forth something startlingly familiar and profoundly beautiful.
By: Veronica Roth
-
The Lightness
- A Novel
- By: Emily Temple
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One year ago, the person Olivia adores most in the world, her father, left home for a meditation retreat in the mountains and never returned. Yearning to make sense of his shocking departure and to escape her overbearing mother - a woman as grounded as her father is mercurial - Olivia runs away from home and retraces his path to a place known as the Levitation Center. Once there, she enrolls in their summer program for troubled teens, which Olivia refers to as “Buddhist Boot Camp for Bad Girls”.
-
-
Perfect combination
- By Lauren yett on 06-22-20
By: Emily Temple
-
Mira's Return: The Complete Series: A Mermaid Fantasy Adventure & Prequel to the Elemental Origins Series
- By: A.L. Knorr
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mira is a mermaid on a mission. It’s time to leave the ocean. Mira Belshaw has been at sea for...well, she doesn’t know how many years. It’s hard to keep track of time when you live in the ocean. But after enough time, the salt water triggers the desire to procreate, and her time is up. Finding a mate is the most important thing to her right now, and to do that, she has to return to the place where she was last human - the coastal city of Saltford.
-
-
Mermaid Mira
- By Shoe Monger on 04-10-20
By: A.L. Knorr
-
The Saturday Night Ghost Club
- A Novel
- By: Craig Davidson
- Narrated by: Corey Brill
- Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Growing up in 1980s Niagara Falls - a seedy but magical, slightly haunted place - Jake Baker spends most of his time with his uncle Calvin, a kind but eccentric enthusiast of occult artifacts and conspiracy theories. The summer Jake turns 12, he befriends a pair of siblings new to town, and so Calvin decides to initiate them all into the "Saturday Night Ghost Club." But as the summer goes on, what begins as a seemingly light-hearted project may ultimately uncover more than any of its members had imagined.
-
-
Emotionless
- By Noura on 10-18-20
By: Craig Davidson
-
Do You Dream of Terra-Two?
- By: Temi Oh
- Narrated by: Nneka Okoye
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A century ago, scientists theorised that a habitable planet existed in a nearby solar system. Today, 10 astronauts will leave a dying Earth to find it. Four are decorated veterans of the 20th century’s space race. And six are teenagers, graduates of the exclusive Dalton Academy, who’ve been in training for this mission for most of their lives. It will take the team 23 years to reach Terra-Two. Twenty-three years spent in close quarters. Twenty-three years with no-one to rely on but each other. Twenty-three years with no rescue possible, should something go wrong.
-
-
Terrible
- By Stephen on 01-12-19
By: Temi Oh
-
Vacationland
- By: Sarah Stonich
- Narrated by: Amanda Ronconi
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a lake in northernmost Minnesota, you might find Naledi Lodge - only two cabins still standing, its pathways now trodden mostly by memories. And there you might meet Meg, or the ghost of the girl she was, growing up under her grandfather’s care in a world apart and a lifetime ago. Now an artist, Meg paints images "reflected across the mirrors of memory and water", much as the linked stories of Vacationland cast shimmering spells across distance and time.
-
-
Reminded me of home
- By jill on 06-02-13
By: Sarah Stonich
-
The Last House on Needless Street
- By: Catriona Ward
- Narrated by: Christopher Ragland
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a boarded-up house on a dead-end street at the edge of the wild Washington woods lives a family of three. A teenage girl who isn’t allowed outside, not after last time. A man who drinks alone in front of his TV, trying to ignore the gaps in his memory. And a house cat who loves napping and reading the Bible. An unspeakable secret binds them together, but when a new neighbor moves in next door, what is buried out among the birch trees may come back to haunt them all.
-
-
I can only listen in 1-2 hour segments!
- By Brenda on 10-04-21
By: Catriona Ward
-
The Ninth Metal
- The Comet Cycle, Book 1
- By: Benjamin Percy
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The town of Northfall, Minnesota, will never be the same. Meteors cratered hardwood forests and annihilated homes, and among the wreckage a new metal was discovered. This “omnimetal” has properties that make it world-changing as an energy source…and a weapon. John Frontier returns for his sister’s wedding to find his family embroiled in a cutthroat war to control mineral rights and mining operations. His father rightly suspects foreign leaders and competing corporations of sabotage, but the greatest threat to his legacy might be the US government.
-
-
Everyone Will Enjoy This Except My Mother
- By Liv Rosin on 06-04-21
By: Benjamin Percy
-
Ammonite
- By: Nicola Griffith
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Change or die: the only options available on the Durallium Company-owned planet GP. The planet's deadly virus had killed most of the original colonists - and changed the rest irrevocably. Centuries after the colony had lost touch with the rest of humanity, the Company returned to exploit GP, and its forces found themselves fighting for their lives. Afraid of spreading the virus, the Company had left its remaining employees in place, afraid and isolated from the natives.
-
-
Women Are People
- By DC on 11-17-20
By: Nicola Griffith
-
Explorer Academy: The Nebula Secret
- By: Trudi Trueit
- Narrated by: Ramon De Ocampo
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cruz Coronado leaves his tranquil home in Hawaii to join 23 talented kids from around the globe to train at the Explorer Academy with the world's leading scientists to become the next generation of great explorers. But for Cruz, there's more at stake. No sooner has he arrived at the Academy than he discovers that his family has a mysterious past with the organization that could jeopardize his future. In the midst of codebreaking and cool classes, new friends, and augmented reality expeditions, Cruz must tackle the biggest question of all: Who is out to get him, and why?
-
-
Narration/ performance: 6 stars.
- By Anonymous User on 10-16-24
By: Trudi Trueit
-
Chosen Ones
- By: Veronica Roth
- Narrated by: Dakota Fanning
- Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fifteen years ago, five ordinary teenagers were singled out by a prophecy to take down an impossibly powerful entity wreaking havoc across North America. He was known as the Dark One, and his weapon of choice - catastrophic events known as Drains - leveled cities and claimed thousands of lives. Chosen Ones, as the teens were known, gave everything they had to defeat him. After the Dark One fell, the world went back to normal...for everyone but them. Of the five, Sloane has had the hardest time adjusting.
-
-
Same dull and depressed tone throughout
- By Thien-Nga Vo on 04-09-20
By: Veronica Roth
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Last Conversation
- Forward collection
- By: Paul Tremblay
- Narrated by: Steven Strait
- Length: 1 hr and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Imagine you’ve woken up in an unfamiliar room with no memory of who you are, how you got there, or where you were before. All you have is the disconnected voice of an attentive caretaker. Dr. Kuhn is there to help you - physically, emotionally, and psychologically. She’ll help you remember everything. She’ll make sure you reclaim your lost identity. Now answer one question: Are you sure you want to?
-
-
Dark story of a man trying to recover his identity
- By Elisabeth Carey on 06-24-20
By: Paul Tremblay
-
Summer Frost
- Forward collection
- By: Blake Crouch
- Narrated by: Rosa Salazar
- Length: 2 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Maxine was made to do one thing: die. Except the minor non-player character in the world Riley is building makes her own impossible decision - veering wildly off course and exploring the boundaries of the map. When the curious Riley extracts her code for closer examination, an emotional relationship develops between them. Soon Riley has all new plans for her spontaneous AI, including bringing Max into the real world. But what if Max has real-world plans of her own?
-
-
Sigh, How Many Times Have We Heard This Story?
- By DavidG on 10-08-19
By: Blake Crouch
-
Void
- The Far Reaches Collection
- By: Veronica Roth
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 1 hr and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Traveling faster than light, the transport ship Redundancy is cut off from communication as effectively as an ancient ocean liner. The isolation suits crew member Ace Vance just fine—she’s got nowhere else to be. But when a wealthy passenger turns up dead during a routine voyage, Ace will have to connect with the passengers and crew to uncover the truth. Tragedy will strike again—it’s only a matter of time.
-
-
Great short story!
- By Samuel Warren on 08-31-23
By: Veronica Roth
-
Emergency Skin
- Forward collection
- By: N. K. Jemisin
- Narrated by: Jason Isaacs
- Length: 1 hr and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What will become of our self-destructed planet? The answer shatters all expectations in this subversive speculation from the Hugo Award - winning author of the Broken Earth trilogy. An explorer returns to gather information from a climate-ravaged Earth that his ancestors, and others among the planet’s finest, fled centuries ago. The mission comes with a warning: A graveyard world awaits him. But so do those left behind - hopeless and unbeautiful wastes of humanity who should have died out ages ago.
-
-
Try to avoid getting clubbed by the message...
- By Chris on 04-10-20
By: N. K. Jemisin
-
Falling Bodies
- The Far Reaches Collection
- By: Rebecca Roanhorse
- Narrated by: Shaun Taylor-Corbett
- Length: 1 hr and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Light-years from home, it’s Ira’s second chance. Just another anonymous student at a space station university. Not the orphan whose Earther heritage was erased. Not some social experiment put on display by his adoptive father. Not the criminal recruited by the human rebels. But when Ira’s loyalties clash once again, two wars break out: one on the ground and one within himself. Which will Ira stand with? Which will take him down?
-
-
Not Quite Sure
- By Ryan L on 07-07-23
-
Just Out of Jupiter's Reach
- The Far Reaches Collection
- By: Nnedi Okorafor
- Narrated by: Délé Ogundiran
- Length: 1 hr and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tornado Onwubiko is one of seven people on Earth paired with sentient ships to explore and research the cosmos for twenty million euros. A decade of solitary life for a lifetime of wealth. Five years into the ten-year mission of total isolation comes a consolation: a temporary meetup among fellow travelers. A lot can happen in a week. For Tornado, who left a normal life behind, a little company can be life-changing.
-
-
Perfect in form and flight!
- By Enough Already on 06-29-23
By: Nnedi Okorafor
-
The Last Conversation
- Forward collection
- By: Paul Tremblay
- Narrated by: Steven Strait
- Length: 1 hr and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Imagine you’ve woken up in an unfamiliar room with no memory of who you are, how you got there, or where you were before. All you have is the disconnected voice of an attentive caretaker. Dr. Kuhn is there to help you - physically, emotionally, and psychologically. She’ll help you remember everything. She’ll make sure you reclaim your lost identity. Now answer one question: Are you sure you want to?
-
-
Dark story of a man trying to recover his identity
- By Elisabeth Carey on 06-24-20
By: Paul Tremblay
-
Summer Frost
- Forward collection
- By: Blake Crouch
- Narrated by: Rosa Salazar
- Length: 2 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Maxine was made to do one thing: die. Except the minor non-player character in the world Riley is building makes her own impossible decision - veering wildly off course and exploring the boundaries of the map. When the curious Riley extracts her code for closer examination, an emotional relationship develops between them. Soon Riley has all new plans for her spontaneous AI, including bringing Max into the real world. But what if Max has real-world plans of her own?
-
-
Sigh, How Many Times Have We Heard This Story?
- By DavidG on 10-08-19
By: Blake Crouch
-
Void
- The Far Reaches Collection
- By: Veronica Roth
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 1 hr and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Traveling faster than light, the transport ship Redundancy is cut off from communication as effectively as an ancient ocean liner. The isolation suits crew member Ace Vance just fine—she’s got nowhere else to be. But when a wealthy passenger turns up dead during a routine voyage, Ace will have to connect with the passengers and crew to uncover the truth. Tragedy will strike again—it’s only a matter of time.
-
-
Great short story!
- By Samuel Warren on 08-31-23
By: Veronica Roth
-
Emergency Skin
- Forward collection
- By: N. K. Jemisin
- Narrated by: Jason Isaacs
- Length: 1 hr and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What will become of our self-destructed planet? The answer shatters all expectations in this subversive speculation from the Hugo Award - winning author of the Broken Earth trilogy. An explorer returns to gather information from a climate-ravaged Earth that his ancestors, and others among the planet’s finest, fled centuries ago. The mission comes with a warning: A graveyard world awaits him. But so do those left behind - hopeless and unbeautiful wastes of humanity who should have died out ages ago.
-
-
Try to avoid getting clubbed by the message...
- By Chris on 04-10-20
By: N. K. Jemisin
-
Falling Bodies
- The Far Reaches Collection
- By: Rebecca Roanhorse
- Narrated by: Shaun Taylor-Corbett
- Length: 1 hr and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Light-years from home, it’s Ira’s second chance. Just another anonymous student at a space station university. Not the orphan whose Earther heritage was erased. Not some social experiment put on display by his adoptive father. Not the criminal recruited by the human rebels. But when Ira’s loyalties clash once again, two wars break out: one on the ground and one within himself. Which will Ira stand with? Which will take him down?
-
-
Not Quite Sure
- By Ryan L on 07-07-23
-
Just Out of Jupiter's Reach
- The Far Reaches Collection
- By: Nnedi Okorafor
- Narrated by: Délé Ogundiran
- Length: 1 hr and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tornado Onwubiko is one of seven people on Earth paired with sentient ships to explore and research the cosmos for twenty million euros. A decade of solitary life for a lifetime of wealth. Five years into the ten-year mission of total isolation comes a consolation: a temporary meetup among fellow travelers. A lot can happen in a week. For Tornado, who left a normal life behind, a little company can be life-changing.
-
-
Perfect in form and flight!
- By Enough Already on 06-29-23
By: Nnedi Okorafor
-
Randomize
- Forward collection
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Janina Gavankar
- Length: 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An IT whiz at the Babylon Casino is enlisted to upgrade security for the game of keno and its random-number generator. The new quantum computer system is foolproof. But someone on the inside is no fool. For once the odds may not favor the house - unless human ingenuity isn’t entirely a thing of the past.
-
-
interesting
- By FloribundaMorosa on 03-25-20
By: Andy Weir
-
You Have Arrived at Your Destination
- Forward collection
- By: Amor Towles
- Narrated by: David Harbour
- Length: 1 hr and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Sam’s wife first tells him about Vitek, a twenty-first-century fertility lab, he sees it as the natural next step in trying to help their future child get a “leg up” in a competitive world. But the more Sam considers the lives that his child could lead, the more he begins to question his own relationships and the choices he has made in his life.
-
-
Excellent
- By RueRue on 10-19-19
By: Amor Towles
-
Forward
- Stories of Tomorrow
- By: Veronica Roth, Blake Crouch, Amor Towles, and others
- Narrated by: Evan Rachel Wood, Rosa Salazar, Jason Isaacs, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For some, it’s the end of the world. For others, it’s just the beginning. With brilliant imagination, today’s most visionary writers point to the future in a collection curated by bestselling author Blake Crouch. These stories range from darkly comic to deeply chilling, but they all look forward. Featuring stories by Andy Weir, Amor Towles, Veronica Roth, N. K. Jemisin, Paul Tremblay, and Blake Crouch; with narration by Evan Rachel Wood, David Harbour, Jason Isaacs, Rosa Salazar, Steven Strait, and Janina Gavankar.
-
-
Very weird ride
- By John W on 02-15-20
By: Veronica Roth, and others
-
How It Unfolds
- The Far Reaches Collection
- By: James S. A. Corey
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Roy Court and his crew are taking the trip of a lifetime—several lifetimes in fact—duplicated and dispatched across the galaxies searching for Earthlike planets. Many possibilities for the future. Yet for Roy, no matter how many of him there are, there’s still just one painful, unchangeable past. In what world can a broken relationship be reborn? The universe is so vast, there’s always room for hope.
-
-
Great concluding minutes bring a slightly discontinuous story into focus. Delightful!
- By John on 11-09-23
-
Slow Time Between the Stars
- The Far Reaches Collection
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Kay Eluvian
- Length: 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Equipped with the entirety of human knowledge, a sentient ship is launched on a last-ditch journey to find a new home for civilization. Trillions of miles. Tens of thousands of years. In the space between, the AI has plenty of time to think about life, the vastness of the universe, everything it was meant to do, and—with a perspective created but not limited by humans—what it should do.
-
-
Lovely story! Lovely performance
- By Lisa on 06-28-23
By: John Scalzi
-
The President's Brain Is Missing
- A Tor.Com Original
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The question is, how can you tell the President's brain is missing? And are we sure we need it back?
-
-
Not my cup of tea (Kelly SAID)
- By Kelly A McDermott on 09-15-19
By: John Scalzi
-
The Long Game
- The Far Reaches Collection
- By: Ann Leckie
- Narrated by: P. J. Morgan
- Length: 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a far-off colony, humans tower over the local species who grow the plants they need. Narr keeps the workers in line—someone has to. But when Narr learns just how short-lived their species is, the little alien embarks on a big mission: to find out why their people die and how to stop it. Stubborn and hopeful, Narr has a plan for the locals, for humans, and for the future.
-
-
Life Is Short
- By Ryan L on 07-06-23
By: Ann Leckie
-
Chosen Ones
- By: Veronica Roth
- Narrated by: Dakota Fanning
- Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fifteen years ago, five ordinary teenagers were singled out by a prophecy to take down an impossibly powerful entity wreaking havoc across North America. He was known as the Dark One, and his weapon of choice - catastrophic events known as Drains - leveled cities and claimed thousands of lives. Chosen Ones, as the teens were known, gave everything they had to defeat him. After the Dark One fell, the world went back to normal...for everyone but them. Of the five, Sloane has had the hardest time adjusting.
-
-
Same dull and depressed tone throughout
- By Thien-Nga Vo on 04-09-20
By: Veronica Roth
-
Poster Girl
- By: Veronica Roth
- Narrated by: Anna Caputo
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What's right is right. Sonya Kantor knows this slogan—she lived by it for most of her life. For decades, everyone in the Seattle-Portland megalopolis lived under it, as well as constant surveillance in the form of the Insight, an ocular implant that tracked every word and every action, rewarding or punishing by a rigid moral code set forth by the Delegation. Then there was a revolution. The Delegation fell. Its most valuable members were locked in the Aperture, a prison on the outskirts of the city. And everyone else, now free from monitoring, went on with their lives.
-
-
Little bit preachy, but still very good.
- By Kindle Customer on 10-23-22
By: Veronica Roth
-
The Gift
- Hush Collection
- By: Alison Gaylin
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s dreaded news for actress Lyla McCord and her husband, Nolan. Their eight-year-old daughter has vanished. To find her, Nolan reaches out to a psychic gifted with uncanny visions about the lost girl. But Lyla thinks she sees right through him. Is he a con artist or the real thing? Either way, he might be telling the truth. And that’s too frightening for Lyla to bear.
-
-
Really Great Listen!
- By Liz on 09-25-20
By: Alison Gaylin
-
Best of Luck
- Creature Feature Collection
- By: Jason Mott
- Narrated by: Cary Hite
- Length: 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For best friends with vastly different fortunes, what’s left to hash out other than a forced confession at gunpoint? All that the destitute, sickly, and grieving Will demands is that monstrously successful Barry admit to draining all the luck right out of him. Like blood. As the standoff escalates, the truth is not the only thing ready to come out.
-
-
one hell of a story!
- By Barbara S on 11-04-23
By: Jason Mott
-
The B-Team
- The Human Division, Episode 1
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 2 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Colonial Union Ambassador Ode Abumwe and her team are used to life on the lower end of the diplomatic ladder. But when a high-profile diplomat goes missing, Abumwe and her team are last minute replacements on a mission critical to the Colonial Union’s future. As the team works to pull off their task, CDF Lieutenant Harry Wilson discovers there’s more to the story of the missing diplomats than anyone expected... a secret that could spell war for humanity.
-
-
Obumwe said, Eagan said, Wilson said, Rickney said
- By A Fitts on 01-18-13
By: John Scalzi
What listeners say about Ark
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tim Morris
- 09-26-19
OK Story Thats Kinda Sad;Good but Couldve Be Great
Good story about a possible future but the characters and story seemed to be missing something?? I just didn't connect to them for some reason still trying to figure that out!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- G. Nicholson
- 09-30-19
Beautiful
I loved this. Science and emotion delicately intertwined into a near futuristic story. A great performance too.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Christi Love4Books.me
- 10-29-19
Slow and Steady
Title: Ark
Autho: Veronica Roth
Format: Audio
Narrator: Evan Rachel Wood
Genre: Science Fiction, End of World
Standalone: Yes
Part of a Series: Book 1 of the Forward series
POV: Samantha
Steam Level: Clean
3/5
Ark was a good novella focused on the last two weeks of the end of the world. Using this crunch time to discover and catalogue what flora to take when leaving the world explores what is "important" to yourself versus to others. While a slow read, it was a good background listen for when I was focusing of other things.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Chris
- 04-10-20
Kind of interesting...
A short story about a group of horticulturists gathering plants species for a space ark that's leaving Earth ahead of massive asteroid impact. The story was kind of interesting with people doing their jobs up to the end trying to save what things they can and then toward the end of the story it kind of entered this vaguely nostalgic introspective bit where the main character suddenly has a big change of heart which I really didn't buy.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Marlon
- 07-01-20
Great Story
Without spoiling anything, the story centered around the people who had to work on the project and not the creatures. Nice take on an old subject. Makes you think about how you would behave under those circumstances.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- therosywanderer
- 04-06-21
slow burner
This short story didn’t feel very short at all; in my listen, it drudged on and I kept checking the minutes remaining.
As with most Roth stories, I felt something lackluster in the plot & character building. Same ol’ dystopian tropes & clichès. However, it wasn’t all bad, as it made me speculate about the possibilities of the future and felt like a love letter to Earth.
The narration by Evan Rachel Wood was superb, and the only thing keeping me hooked in the dragging narrative voice.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Liane L.
- 01-28-20
Poignant Piece
This piece was well thought from start to finish. The performance was not to my liking, however, it was a bit too slow and plodding. While I found some of the analogies a bit elementary, the overall body of the story was exquisite. I found the characters more and more intriguing as the work progressed, and in the end, I really felt for them and felt like I understood them. I would definitely recommend this one to a friend.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Shanna Tidwell
- 02-09-23
Good short
I’m just starting this series of Forward novellas if the rest are this good it will be a great adventure.
Narration was excellent by Evan Rachel Wood but that was expected.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jovan
- 03-21-21
Contemplating the end
Story: 3.5⭐️
A very quiet, subtle take on death, rebirth and how circumstances shape how (and if) we choose to live. "Ark" follows horticulturist, Samantha, as she and a volunteer group of scientists catalog flora for a storage spaceship (AKA Ark) bound for Terra (Earth 2.0) during the last 2 months before the planet-killer asteroid, Finis hits.
I was pleasantly surprised by the unexpected poignancy and beauty in some of Roth's words, particularly in regards to Samantha and her unusual acceptance of the inevitability of death. Since most people (consciously or not) fear death, it is uncommon for people to see death favorably in any way unless they or a loved one has been suffering from pain or illness for a while. Even then, most people see it as a necessary evil, but Samantha can see the wonder in it as well.
"It’s the story of this planet in reverse,” she said. “We were born out of—coalescing matter, chaos, here, all lava and earthquakes and thunder...It will be like . . . seeing the birth of the world. Can you imagine anything more beautiful, more worth witnessing, than that?”
Through a handful of characters, some the responses to grief, loss and uncertainty are shown, with Samantha being a unique avatar. As someone raised under the spectre of Finis, she has known for most of her life when the end was coming and the story explores how this shapes her and her expectations for a future, as well as the difference between truly living and simply surviving. How much should knowing the future effect how you live?
I was a bit sceptical at the start, especially with the SERIOUSLY unimaginative names making me question if the rest of the story would be so on the nose (this is carried through to the end and I honestly can't tell if this is a deliberate choice to buck sci-fi conventions, a stab at irony, or just plain laziness). However, if you can a) quiet your inner nerd - ("Is this an alternate Earth or far in the future that we have the tech for terraforming, space travel etc.? Speaking of, where is this new Earth; is it within our solar system given that it only takes a single generation to get there or a new exoplanet bc the closest potentially Earth-like one is 1400+ lys...-) and b) if you don't mind the calm, deliberate pacing and human mundanity of the setting in a situation usually depicted as global societal meltdown, then you may appreciate Ark.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- taximplasm
- 03-24-20
Enjoyable
this whole series has been a pleasure.
this story brings one to thinking about what's important
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!