Ball Lightning
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Narrated by:
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Feodor Chin
About this listen
"Wildly imaginative." (Barack Obama on The Three-Body Problem trilogy)
A new standalone military science fiction adventure from the New York Times best-selling and award-winning author of the Three-Body Trilogy.
When Chen’s parents are incinerated before his eyes by a blast of ball lightning, he devotes his life to cracking the secret of the mysterious natural phenomenon. His search takes him to stormy mountaintops, an experimental military weapons lab, and an old Soviet science station.
The more he learns, the more he comes to realize that ball lightning is just the tip of an entirely new frontier in particle physics. Although Chen’s quest provides a purpose for his lonely life, his reasons for chasing his elusive quarry come into conflict with soldiers and scientists who have motives of their own: a beautiful army major with an obsession with dangerous weaponry, and a physicist who has no place for ethical considerations in his single-minded pursuit of knowledge.
Ball Lightning, by award-winning Chinese science fiction author Cixin Liu, is a fast-paced audiobook about what happens when the beauty of scientific inquiry runs up against a push to harness new discoveries with no consideration of their possible consequences.
This program is read by Feodor Chin, voice of Zenyatta in Overwatch.
©2005, 2018 Liu Cixin; Translation copyright by China Educational Publications Import & Export Corp., Ltd. (P)2018 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Perhaps it wasn't from our time, perhaps it wasn't even from our universe, but the arrival of the 300-kilometer long stone was the answer to humanity's desperate plea to end the threat of nuclear war. Inside the deep recesses of the stone lies Thistledown: the remnants of a human society, versed in English, Russian and Chinese. The artifacts of this familiar people foretell a great Death caused by the ravages of war, but the government and scientists are unable to decide how to use this knowledge.
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Am Epic Original SciFi Read Worth Your Time...
- By Michael on 07-01-12
By: Greg Bear
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Footfall
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They first appear as a series of dots on astronomical plates, heading from Saturn directly toward Earth. Since the ringed planet carries no life, scientists deduce the mysterious ship to be a visitor from another star. The world's frantic efforts to signal the aliens go unanswered. The first contact is hostile: the invaders blast a Soviet space station, seize the survivors, and then destroy every dam and installation on Earth with a hail of asteriods.
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Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle at Their Best
- By Flatlander on 06-24-10
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Event
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In the summer of 1947, an unidentified object crashed in Roswell, New Mexico. There were no survivors. Now it's happened again. But this time, two creatures have emerged from the wreckage alive.
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A Great Series.
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Rise of the Rocket Girls
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In the 1940s and '50s, when the newly minted Jet Propulsion Laboratory needed quick-thinking mathematicians to calculate velocities and plot trajectories, they didn't turn to male graduates. Rather, they recruited an elite group of young women who, with only pencil, paper, and mathematical prowess, transformed rocket design, helped bring about the first American satellites, and made the exploration of the solar system possible.
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Struggles In Space Exploration
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The Atlantis Gene
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Seventy thousand years ago, the human race almost went extinct. We survived, but no one knows how.
Until now. The countdown to the next stage of human evolution is about to begin, and humanity might not survive this time. The Immari are good at keeping secrets. For 2,000 years, they've hidden the truth about human evolution. They've also searched for an ancient enemy - a threat that could wipe out the human race. Now the search is over.
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Pretty bad, but not the worst I've ever read
- By january on 03-20-14
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The Medusa Chronicles
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Howard Falcon almost lost his life in an accident as the first human astronaut to explore the atmosphere of Jupiter - and a combination of human ingenuity and technical expertise brought him back. But he is no longer himself. Instead he has been changed into an augmented human: part man, part machine, and exceptionally capable.
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Almost stopped listening. Glad I didn't.
- By cek on 08-21-16
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Semper Mars
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The Year is 2040. The Marines have landed on Mars to guard the unearthed secrets of an ancient and dangerous alien race: Ourselves. Scientists have discovered something astonishing in the subterranean ruins of a sprawling Martian city: startling evidence of an alternative history that threatens to split humanity into opposing factions and plunge the Earth into chaos and war.
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GOT SH@T UP HIS CHAMBER
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 09-15-17
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2001
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It has been 40 years since the publication of this classic science-fiction novel that changed the way we look at the stars and ourselves. From the savannas of Africa at the dawn of mankind to the rings of Saturn as man adventures to the outer rim of our solar system, 2001: A Space Odyssey is a journey unlike any other.
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The Movie Makes More Sense Now
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By: Arthur C. Clarke
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Homeworld
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Jan Kulozik was one of Earth's privileged elite. A brilliant young electronics engineer, he enjoyed all the blessings of a twenty-third-century civilization that survived global collapse and conquered the starts, unaware of the millions who slaved or starved to maintain his way of life. Then Jan met Sara, a beautiful agent of the rebel underground dedicated to smashing Earth's rigid caste system. Through her he discovered the truth behind the lies he'd been taught.
By: Harry Harrison
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What listeners say about Ball Lightning
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- J. OBrennan
- 09-20-18
Interesting idea...just not very gripping story
I chose Ball Lightening because I heard such good things about The Three Body Problem, and I wanted to start with this in as "book 0" in the series before I began the others. Although the ideas and science are interesting, I struggled to stay engaged in the story. I think a different narrator could have inspired more enthusiasm. I'll probably give Cixin Liu another try, eventually, but I have to admit that I'm a little lukewarm on the prospect right now. If you're interested in The Three Body Problem, maybe start reading there and circle back to this one when you're done with the series.
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- eric lowder
- 02-10-23
wow !
wow this story is so good !
I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it however i found myself really loving the character ling , so much character development was put into her the good and bad and all of her character flaws put out there . im American and even though this story takes place from a Chinese point of view where America is clearly a bad guy I could still really appreciate the story . half way through the book I found myself recommending it to coworkers at that point already . im going on to buying the next books in the series I know this is basically a precursor to those stories but I can't wait !
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- Nigel
- 11-29-22
little slow, not really much of an introduction
I didn't think it wod be that bad as online reviews put it. but man it would have been nice to have a warning at the beginning stating that is isn't much of an intro as it doesn't fully follow the story of the main book. The epilogue felt like it should have been at the start to save me the trouble
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- Henry T. Sanford-Crane
- 03-15-22
Interesting story
I enjoyed the story, although I my eyes admittedly glazed over a bit during the physics discussions. Too bad I'm not smarter.
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Overall
- Kindle Customer
- 08-18-19
Fresh and New
A must read before the Three Body books ! I thoroughly enjoyed the whole book,no dull moments.
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- Cat man
- 02-27-19
Electrifying
A delightfully winding tale about one man's obsession spanning a lifetime. Cixin Liu is a master of the long time scale science fiction effortlessly whisking us through decades.
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- Jose Arrillaga
- 10-22-19
ok
solid story, plot, and development. sad that the quantum physics concepts got butchered so horribly
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- Name
- 07-22-19
terrifying
this book is scary.
thanks for ruining everything.
loved it. am a huge fan of three body.
looking forward to more!
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- David Beres
- 05-24-24
accurate science
easy to follow the story. good translation. learned about the Chinese culture. good read. great ideas.
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- Gr
- 01-02-19
Tough Read
I have not read “The Three Body Problem”. This was my first exposure to Cixin Liu and his writing. Ball Lightning is a near-term SCI FI Novel and definitely not typical of the genre. The plot, which revolves around China’s military scientific efforts to weaponize lightning, follows a Chinese scientist and his coworkers through the military testing associated with their experiments.
Overall, I found the novel to be a very slow tough read, but worth it in the end. As I struggled to stay engaged with narration, I was confused about the universally high reviews contained in Audible. The first 4/5ths of the book are dull and the characters wooden and stiff. Not until 8 hours into the narration does the story change from a clinical experimental test plan to an interesting story. The author then introduces a war with an unnamed but identifiable American foe, who is also exploring the future of atmospheric weapons.
Ultimately this book revolves around the pursuit of science for military application without conscience and without regard for the potential consequences. Humanity has certainly demonstrated such activity through history and as our science advances, the potential for increased self-destruction increases. There are some surprises at the end, and while the conclusion and ideas achieved in this book are interesting and redeeming, the journey to get to there was difficult. Ultimately, I can only give it 3 stars.
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