
Crashing Heaven
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Narrated by:
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Thomas Judd
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By:
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Al Robertson
A diamond-hard, visionary new SF thriller. Nailed-down cyberpunk a la William Gibson for the 21st century meets the vivid dark futures of Al Reynolds in this extraordinary debut novel.
With Earth abandoned, humanity resides on Station, an industrialised asteroid run by the sentient corporations of the Pantheon. Under their leadership a war has been raging against the Totality - ex-Pantheon AIs gone rogue.
With the war over, Jack Forster and his sidekick, Hugo Fist, a virtual puppet tied to Jack's mind and created to destroy the Totality, have returned home.
Labelled a traitor for surrendering to the Totality, all Jack wants is to clear his name, but when he discovers two old friends have died under suspicious circumstances he also wants answers. Soon he and Fist are embroiled in a conspiracy that threatens not only their future but all of humanity's.
,p>But with Fist's software licence about to expire, taking Jack's life with it, can they bring down the real traitors before their time runs out?©2015 Al Robertson (P)2015 Audible, LtdListeners also enjoyed...




















The sci-fi elements are mainly centered around digital / electronic / virtual reality, that comes off as William Gibson squared. AIs dominate the landscape with a blurring of the lines between human and machine intelligence. Even the deceased remain as digital versions known as "fetches" while virtual reality is seamlessly integrated with real space to create whole new environments. The dominance of AIs is taken for granted, but the underlying theme is that even AIs can succumb to petty, human foibles and turning important decision over to the new "gods" is no recipe for success.
The narration is excellent with a good range of voices and solid pacing.
AIs as a rogue nation
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Ultimately the world is very, very imaginative and the story was very compelling. I didn't fully know what was going on most of the time though, so it could have helped to have a little more backstory and explanation. It took me a long while before I understood exactly what this puppet was, what the Weave was, what the Pantheon was, etc. The interplay between Jack and Fist was really fun and it was quite satisfying to see their relationship (and Fist's personality) evolve and grow through the novel.
The narrator did a fine job with all the voices and the reading, and his British accent added some charm to the reading.
The only thing I wasn't overly enthusiastic about (other than the confusing nature of a lot of the concepts) was the profanity. It's pretty much in every other sentence. It is amazing that centuries from now, people would be using the exact same profanity as today. Hmm.
Anyways, it was a fun listen and the story wrapped up in a nice, satisfying way. There were lots of heavy themes explored (what it means to die, how humans differ from AIs, how the digital world compares to the physical, etc.) and that was enlightening and interesting. And it was never really boring, which is a plus.
NOTE: I received this audiobook for free in exchange for an honest review.
Imaginative, fun, but sometimes confusing thriller
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Very unique idea, story left a bit to be desired
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I couldn't find myself caring about any of the characters or even the outcome.
A meandering plodding story
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Not As Advertised
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Thomas Judd is a very good narrator.
Production could be been slightly better, the editor missed some repeats of spoken lines.
A great new author
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Good Enough for a Second Listen
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The rest of the story is fascinating, but at times difficult to track. There is a ton of back story the listener is left to fill in themselves. I think I will give this another listen, and I have a feeling my rating will go to 5 stars as when I do. The world of virtual entities and The cyberpunk sensibility are well executed here, and I am anxious to try something else from Robertson. Particularly if it is read by Judd.
Enjoyed it, but still not sure why!
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