Cast Under an Alien Sun
Destiny's Crucible, Book 1
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Narrated by:
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Jonathan Davis
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By:
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Olan Thorensen
About this listen
What if you were thrown into a foreign society, never to see home again? What would you do, and could you survive?
Joe Colsco boarded a flight from San Francisco to Chicago to attend a national chemistry meeting. He would never set foot on Earth again.
On planet Anyar, Joe is found unconscious on a beach of a large island inhabited by humans where the level of technology is similar to Earth circa 1700. He awakes amid strangers speaking an unintelligible language and struggles to accept losing his previous life and finding a place in a society with different customs, needing a way to support himself and not knowing a single soul. His worry about finding a place is assuaged when he finds ways to apply his knowledge of chemistry - as long as he is circumspect in introducing new knowledge not too far in advance of the planet's technology and being labelled a demon.
As he adjusts, Joe finds that he has be dropped into a developing clash between the people who cared for him, and for whom he develops an affinity, and a military power from elsewhere on the planet - a power with designs on conquest. Unaware, Joseph Colsco has been poured into a crucible where time and trials will transform him in ways he could never have imagined.
Cast Under an Alien Sun is a story that's science fiction in premise, adventure in execution - a cross-genre adventure with elements of science fiction, history, hard science, epic fantasy, time travel, romance, alien contact, and space colonization.
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- By: Gerald N. Lund
- Narrated by: Larry A. McKeever
- Length: 22 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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In an ancient land in a time foretold by prophets, a babe was born beneath a shining star. Thirty years later, Jesus of Nazareth began teaching a message of hope, peace, and love. He claimed to be the Son of God, and his words - and his life - would change the world. Though David ben Joseph is quick to accept Jesus as the Messiah, the rest of his family is more cautious.
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Please more books like these.
- By Elizabeth on 07-06-16
By: Gerald N. Lund
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First Lessons
- Medieval Tale 1
- By: Lina J. Potter
- Narrated by: Tiffany Morgan
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
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Being a genius Medical school graduate and a sporty and active girl, Aliya dies suddenly in a car accident... only to find herself reborn in a completely different body in the middle of a half-ruined castle during Medieval times. While confused and dismayed, Aliya realizes she has been given a second chance in life - so she rolls up her sleeves and gets to work on restoring the castle and her new life.
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Reads like a high school project
- By P on 07-04-20
By: Lina J. Potter
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Stand on Zanzibar
- By: John Brunner, Bruce Sterling - foreword
- Narrated by: Erik Bergmann
- Length: 21 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Niblock House is a rising executive at General Technics, one of a few all-powerful corporations. His work is leading General Technics to the forefront of global domination, both in the marketplace and politically - it's about to take over a country in Africa. Donald Hogan is his roommate, a seemingly sheepish bookworm. But Hogan is a spy, and he's about to discover a breakthrough in genetic engineering that will change the world...and kill him. Society is squeezed into hive-living madness by god-like mega computers and mass-marketed psychedelic drugs.
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perfect audio experience
- By Darryl on 03-24-14
By: John Brunner, and others
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The Mist-Torn Witches
- By: Barb Hendee
- Narrated by: Emily Beresford
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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In a small village in the nation of Droevinka, orphaned sisters Cline and Amelie Fawe scrape out a living selling herbal medicines in their apothecary shop. Cline earns additional money by posing as a seer and pretending to read people's futures. But they exist in a land of great noble houses, all vying for power, and when the sisters refuse the orders of a warlord prince, they must flee and are forced to depend on the warlord prince's brother, Anton, for a temporary haven.
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A really good read...
- By Sheila Medlam on 03-25-16
By: Barb Hendee
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Coyote Horizon
- A Novel of Interstellar Discovery
- By: Allen Steele
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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The planet of Coyote has become the last, best hope of humankind, but it has also become the principal point of contact with the hjadd, the alien race encountered by a European starship many years earlier. Although the hjadd have built an embassy near the original colony, they remain a mystery.
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A Disappointing Fourth in the Coyote Series
- By Holly Helscher on 05-04-09
By: Allen Steele
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City of Tranquil Light
- A Novel
- By: Bo Caldwell
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Will Kiehn is seemingly destined for life as a humble farmer in the Midwest when, having felt a call from God, he travels to the vast North China Plain in the early twentieth century. There he is surprised by love and weds a strong and determined fellow missionary, Katherine. They soon find themselves witnesses to the crumbling of a more than two-thousand-year-old dynasty that plunges the country into decades of civil war.
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What We're Here For
- By Annette on 10-14-10
By: Bo Caldwell
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Daughter of the Blood
- Black Jewels, Book 1
- By: Anne Bishop
- Narrated by: John Sharian
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Seven hundred years ago, a Black Widow witch saw an ancient prophecy come to life in her web of dreams and visions. Now, the Dark Kingdom readies itself for the arrival of its queen, a witch who will wield more power than even the High Lord of Hell himself. But she is still young, still open to influence - and corruption.
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A Walk on the Dark Side of Fantasy
- By Wrightaway on 06-07-10
By: Anne Bishop
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The LonTobyn Chronicle, Books 1-3
- By: David B. Coe
- Narrated by: Pete Cross
- Length: 64 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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This bundle includes Children of Amarid, The Outlanders, and Eagle-Sage.
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The complete characters, made you think !
- By Darla Renn on 06-27-24
By: David B. Coe
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1632
- Ring of Fire, Book 1
- By: Eric Flint
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 19 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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New York Times best-selling author Eric Flint has received glowing critical praise for his Ring of Fire alternate history series. In this first installment, a West Virginia town is transported from the year 2000 to 1631 Germany at the height of the Thirty Years’ War. Thrust into conflict, the town residents must also contend with moral issues such as who should be considered a citizen.
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NOT ALL THAT BAD
- By Randall on 11-26-18
By: Eric Flint
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47 Ronin
- By: John Allyn, Stephen Turnbull - foreword
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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For those looking for the real story behind the fictionalized movie account of the 47 Ronin story, this is the definitive, fascinating account of this unforgettable tale of a band of samurai who defied the Emperor to avenge the disgrace and death of their master, and faced certain death as a result. It led to one of the bloodiest episodes in Japanese history, and in the process, created a new set of heroes in Japan.
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Neither fish nor....
- By David on 11-05-14
By: John Allyn, and others
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Archangel
- Samaria, Book 1
- By: Sharon Shinn
- Narrated by: Tamara Marston
- Length: 17 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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A tale of the distant future by the author of The Shape-Changer's Wife brings listeners to a world in which the fate of all life rests on the voice of an angel.
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An All-TIme Favorite
- By Carol on 02-27-11
By: Sharon Shinn
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The Lost Choice
- A Legend of Personal Discovery
- By: Andy Andrews
- Narrated by: Andy Andrews
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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When a young boy finds a mysterious object in the creek near his home, his parents launch an investigation that will eventually link the ancient object to such remarkable figures as George Washington Carver, Oskar Shindler, Joan of Arc, and Alfred Vanderbilt. Separate pieces of the artifact, with different but similar inscriptions, shape the lives of those who possess the object.
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A good story with a few lulls sprinkled throughout
- By Ken on 09-06-04
By: Andy Andrews
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The year is 2033. The world has been reduced to rubble. Humanity is nearly extinct and the half-destroyed cities have become uninhabitable through radiation. Beyond their boundaries, they say, lie endless burned-out deserts and the remains of splintered forests. Survivors still remember the past greatness of humankind, but the last remains of civilisation have already become a distant memory. Man has handed over stewardship of the earth to new life-forms. A few score thousand survivors live on, not knowing whether they are the only ones left on Earth....
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One of a Kind.
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40 ROLLS OF ASS CLEANING GOODNESS
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The fight for water in a drought fueled apocalypse
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Cities all around the world reported strange alien vessels descending. Some saw them as the heralds of a new age; others fired everything they had at them. All were taken as the beams lashed down and drew them into the sky. Dean was left behind, seemingly the last man on Earth. A trail of clues left by his dead wife guides Dean on a perilous journey across America and beyond to learn the truth behind the mysterious ships and save humanity from its doom.
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Out There
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With a focus on the weird and eerie forces that lurk beneath the surface of ordinary experience, Kate Folk’s debut collection is perfectly pitched to the madness of our current moment. A medical ward for a mysterious bone-melting disorder is the setting of a perilous love triangle. A curtain of void obliterates the globe at a steady pace, forcing Earth’s remaining inhabitants to decide with whom they want to spend eternity.
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Very good! Best book I have listen to yet.
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A Song for a New Day
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In the Before, when the government didn't prohibit large public gatherings, Luce Cannon was on top of the world. One of her songs had just taken off and she was on her way to becoming a star. Now, in the After, terror attacks and deadly viruses have led the government to ban concerts, and Luce's connection to the world - her music, her purpose - is closed off forever. She does what she has to do: She performs in illegal concerts to a small but passionate community, always evading the law.
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Amazingly Prescient & Heartfelt
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Immobility
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You open your eyes for what you know is not the first time and you remember nothing. You find out that a catastrophic event known as the Kollaps has destroyed life as we know it. Something crucial has been stolen - but under no circumstances can you know what or why. You’ve got to get it back or something bad is going to happen. And you’ve got to get it back fast, so they can freeze you again before your own time runs out. Paralyzed from the waist down, you’re being carried around on the backs of two men who don’t seem anything like you at all.
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A paralyzing journey to survive
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What listeners say about Cast Under an Alien Sun
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kurt Schwoppe
- 10-06-17
Subliminal Assimilation
The first book of Destiny's Crucible has a riveting start, immediately followed by more mundane ground-laying, but gradually finds a way weave itself into your psyche. By the end of the first third of the book, you do not want to put it down. Surprisingly, what holds your attention is not fast action or a suspenseful plot. You keep listening because of a genuine bonding with the main characters, love of location in time and space, and the tantalizing potential of what the main character is going to do. You simply become very interested in his new life. This may sound simple, but it's effectively good writing - character development at its finest!
Cast Under an Alien Sun is not quite a literary masterpiece, but it is extremely well written and subtly entertaining. Like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, everything in this book seems to be just right. It has just the right amount of science, sex, violence, and intrigue to keep things interesting and fresh. The narrative is mature, but not stuffy. And for Science Fiction, there is zero hokiness and believable context The performance by Jonathan Davis is superb and pleasant to listen to.
Because I have strict criteria about what I give 5 stars, I can't quite go there; but would easily give this book 4.5 stars if I could. What I look for in a 5 star book is that element that transforms a well written entertaining story into something deeper and more meaningful. Cast Under an Alien Sun is an entertaining and extremely well written book. Thoresen clearly has the potential to put the other books in the series over the top. I guess I'll have to read them and find out - something I am definitely looking forward to doing!
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70 people found this helpful
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- odin
- 07-19-17
Instantly Hooked
This book was extremely satisfying for me -- it had such an unusual mix of hard science, historical fiction, off-world anthropology, and yes, sword-play, put together with skill and inspiration, that I couldn't stop listening. I usually listen to books while driving to/from work and maybe during lunch a bit. With this book, I got home and just started looking for random menial chores to do so I could continue listening.
Then of course there is Jonathan Davis (if you have never heard his rendition of Snow Crash, you are missing out). Davis' performance is absolutely A-class, but then, he is always that good. I've picked books based solely on the fact that he read them.
The combination of a great author and narrator like here, should probably be regulated as a controlled substance. I'm totally hooked, just counting the days before I can download book 2.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Melanie
- 10-09-17
Nice mix of genres. Very likeable protagonist
Really enjoyed this first book & well into the second; hoping for the third. I like audible books which are good enough to keep me wanting more, but not overly intense, with thoughtful ideas presented throughout. Very nice mix of SF, history, economics, warfare, scientific progression... this is not in my top-tier of brilliant books, but was quite enjoyable for my purpose at the time. Good enough that I'm spending the credits for next in the series! Also, I like to think that in most ways the main character does what I would try to do in the unlikely event it happens to me, & you can't prove that it won't. Review by Rick L
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4 people found this helpful
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- Craig Cassar
- 05-24-18
An Instant Favourite!
I was drawn to the Sci-Fi premise but was pleasantly surprised how it turned into a world-building story with a very relatable main character. There is a strong focus on the story arc at the expense of fast-paced action which will explain why others have called it 'boring' (paraphrasing), but there is enough humour and action to mix things up. I know I was enjoying this book because I couldn't wait to begin my commute to and from work so I could listen to it. I went on to listen to each of the other 3 books currently available and by the end, I had to listen to it at home on the weekend because I couldn't wait for Monday to come. I thoroughly enjoyed all 4 books and this is definitely a series I would call one of my favourites and would certianly recommend it!
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- William
- 07-05-17
Wonderful 'Yankee In Camalot' romp
What made the experience of listening to Cast Under an Alien Sun the most enjoyable?
Jonathan Davis is one of my favorite narrators and he his amazing talents bring the book to life.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Cast Under an Alien Sun?
There is a scene where our Joe is talking with the abbot and he's mentally trying to work through what he can share in terms of technology that won't land him being branded a witch.
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- Texas Artist
- 07-08-17
New twist on a familial story
What made the experience of listening to Cast Under an Alien Sun the most enjoyable?
The author has a lot of actual scientific knowledge,as well as earth history, which makes the story so much more believable and entertaining.
He describes a man named Joe, from our time being placed on an alien world but in a time period similar to the 1700s on earth. Joe's ability to bring technology to this group of peaceful island dwelling farmers is limited to materials available or known to the alien residents whose ancestors came from earth thousands of years ago..
The story is captivating as he discovers what can actually be produced to enhance their lives and perhaps used to defend his new friends against an aggressive race from across the sea set on their destruction. .
I really enjoyed listening to the detailed descriptions of what it might take to make things we take for granted in todays world.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Cast Under an Alien Sun?
After a mid air plane explosion, Joe finds himself on an alien space craft for an extended period of time talking to an AI who will determine his future. These interchanges were very thought provoking and interesting.
Have you listened to any of Jonathan Davis’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
no
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
I did want to listen to this book all in one sitting. But instead have been listening to it on a long car journey from Texas to Ohio and back over several days.
Any additional comments?
Was disappointed that the other 2 books in the series are not on audible. I bought the kindle versions of the last 2 so I could finish the story.
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- Dan in SA
- 08-19-18
Great story, a very good listen.
Bought the audible after reading the print. very good story, narrator is one of the best.
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- Michael Jacobi
- 07-26-18
Excellent is too pale a compliment
I have seldom read a better series of books than those that make up this saga. The situation is fascinating. A modern man from earth, a chemist by trade is suddenly sent to a distant world set in the 18th century. How he brings modern inventions to this new culture and how he teaches historic military tactics from earth sets up a wonderfully well thought out situation. Added to the really thought provoking story are the well crafted three dimensional characters. I felt they were almost real people. The hero is a likable guy and the supporting characters are believable. The conversations are also believable, Now for the narration, Its among the best I have heard. I can't heap enough praise on this series of books. Many of the series I read give me a sense of satisfaction at the end. This one made me sad there were no more stories, no new visits to a wonderful world with great characters narrated by a top rank author. If I could, Id award ten or a dozen stars in every category. I urge you to start with this one then follow the other volumes to their conclusion.
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- shane
- 08-11-17
The Author paints wonderful illustration
A great sci-fi story that is so easy to listen to , credit to the narrator !
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- A&D Kamae
- 06-16-17
fun book!
can't wait to see where the story goes! hurry and get them out! it would make a cool series.
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