Empire Games
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Narrated by:
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Kate Reading
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By:
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Charles Stross
About this listen
Charles Stross builds a new series with Empire Games. Expanding on the world he created in the Family Trade series, a new generation of paratime travelers walk between parallel universes.
The year is 2020. It's 17 years since the Revolution overthrew the last king of the New British Empire, and the newly reconstituted North American Commonwealth is developing rapidly, on course to defeat the French and bring democracy to a troubled world. But Miriam Burgeson, commissioner in charge of the shadowy Ministry of Intertemporal Research and Intelligence - the paratime espionage agency tasked with catalyzing the Commonwealth's great leap forward - has a problem. For years she's warned everyone: "The Americans are coming." Now their drones arrive in the middle of a succession crisis, for their leader, First Man Adam, is dying of cancer, and the vultures are circling.
In another timeline the US has recruited Rita, Miriam's own estranged daughter, to spy across timelines in order to bring down any remaining world-walkers who might threaten national security. But her handlers are keeping information from her.
Two nuclear superpowers are set on a collision course. Two increasingly desperate paratime espionage agencies are fumbling around in the dark, trying to find a solution to the first contact problem that doesn't result in a nuclear holocaust. And two women - a mother and her long-lost adopted-out daughter - are about to find themselves on opposite sides of the confrontation.
©2016 Charles Stross (P)2016 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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I waited for it to get off the ground....
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By: Dale Brown, and others
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The Intercept
- A Jeremy Fisk Novel, Book 1
- By: Dick Wolf
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Days before the July Fourth holiday and the dedication of One World Trade Center at Ground Zero, an incident aboard a commercial jet flying over the Atlantic Ocean reminds everyone that vigilance is not a task to be taken lightly. But for iconoclastic NYPD detective Jeremy Fisk, it may also be a signal that there is much more to this case than the easy answer of this being just the work of another lone terrorist. Fisk suspects that the event might also be a warning sign that another scheme has been set in motion.
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Page turner
- By Katherine on 12-31-12
By: Dick Wolf
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The Cutting Room
- A Time Travel Thriller
- By: Edward W. Robertson
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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In the future, there are many parallel Earths - but only one of them has time travel. Known as Primetime, its criminals break into the pasts of other worlds, far beyond the reach of conventional police. Blake Din is the top agent of the Cutting Room, the group tasked with stopping these trespassers. After a mission to undo the murder of a young boy, he uncovers extensive damage to another world's timeline - and a conspiracy that reaches all the way back to Primetime.
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Characters and their journeys mildly interesting
- By Sailfish on 09-27-16
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Final Epidemic
- A Beck Casey Thriller, Book 1
- By: Earl Merkel
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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An invisible killer has returned. The last time it raged, upward of 40 million died - in a matter of months. Now it is back, released to prey on an unsuspecting, unprotected world. The first case appears on a flawless spring morning, initially diagnosed as a common cold - perhaps a mild flu. Then the deaths begin. Beck Casey, an expert on biological warfare, is called back to his former CIA post to unravel the twisted case... and to discover if a vaccine exists. But Casey's potential allies to save the future are the worst enemies from his past.
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A Great Listen!
- By Cecilia on 10-11-13
By: Earl Merkel
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The Hunted
- By: Rachel Lee
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Journalist Erin McKenna is not only investigating a major defense contractor suspected of complicity in the international sex-slave trade but testifying against them in court. Her world collapses when that same firm buys her newspaper and she's fired without explanation. Her home is ransacked, her computer stolen and she is attacked. FBI agent Jerod Westlake is haunted by the disappearance of his sister long ago, and has dedicated his life to ending the international sex-slave trade. When he discovers Erin wounded on the floor of her apartment, he swings into action to protect her as a witness - and as a woman.
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Should NEVER be billed as "Romantic" Suspense!!!!!
- By M. Davis on 08-16-12
By: Rachel Lee
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Cold City
- Repairman Jack: Early Years Trilogy, Book 1
- By: F. Paul Wilson
- Narrated by: Alexander Cendese
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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If you've never read a Repairman Jack novel, this is the place to begin. It's 1990. A twenty-one-year-old named Jack has dropped out of college, leaving his old life behind to build a new one in New York City. Manhattan's rough edges are jagged enough to shred any unwary newcomer, but perhaps not one who is determined to stay off the grid, at any cost, in the busiest metropolis on earth. And to do so, he'll have to take jobs of a less than legal nature.
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Fun, as long you don't think too much
- By Andrew Pollack on 01-17-14
By: F. Paul Wilson
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The Ultimatum
- The Guardian, Book 1
- By: Karen Robards
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
Growing up, Bianca St. Ives knew she was different from all her friends. Instead of playing hopscotch or combing her dolls' hair, she studied martial arts with sensei masters and dismantled explosives with special-ops retirees. Her father prepped her well to carry on the family business. Now a striking beauty with fierce skills, the prodigy has surpassed the master.
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Cliffhanger!!!
- By Jan M on 03-25-18
By: Karen Robards
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The Chronoliths
- By: Robert Charles Wilson
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Scott Warden is a man haunted by the past-and soon to be haunted by the future. In early 21st-century Thailand, Scott is an expatriate slacker. Then, one day, he inadvertently witnesses an impossible event: the violent appearance of a 200-foot stone pillar in the forested interior. Its arrival collapses trees for a quarter mile around its base, freezing ice out of the air and emitting a burst of ionizing radiation. It appears to be composed of an exotic form of matter.
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A haunting, beautiful work...
- By M. Stephenson on 11-20-09
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Layover in Dubai
- A Novel
- By: Dan Fesperman
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Corporate auditor Sam Keller, careful to a fault, has decided to live it up for a change. And what better spot for business-class hedonism than the boomtown of Dubai, where resort islands materialize from open ocean, fortunes are made overnight, and skiers crisscross the snowy slopes of a shopping mall. But when a colleague is murdered during a night on the town, Sam soon finds himself waist-deep in a bewildering, lethal mix of mobsters, prostitutes, and crooked cops.
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Dubai Dubai Doo
- By itinerant on 02-14-12
By: Dan Fesperman
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Going Grey
- Ringer, Book 1
- By: Karen Traviss
- Narrated by: Euan Morton
- Length: 22 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Ian isn't crazy. Life would be a lot simpler if he was. He's eighteen, on the run, and scared - the shape-shifting delusions he's had since childhood have turned out to be real. He's the result of a dynamic mimicry project intended to help undercover agents "go grey" and blend in unnoticed. Now the biotech company wants its property back, and the only people he can trust are two private military contractors sent to find him...
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Oddly wonderful
- By Barbara Kindle Customer on 08-24-15
By: Karen Traviss
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The American
- Ryan Kealey, Book 1
- By: Andrew Britton
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
At 33, Ryan Kealey has achieved more in his military and CIA career than most men can dream of in a lifetime. He's also seen the worst life has to offer and is lucky to have survived it. But being left alone with his demons is no longer an option. The CIA needs him badly, because the enemy they're facing is former U.S. soldier Jason March. Ryan knows all about March - he trained him.
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Decent Characters, Decent Plot, AWFUL Production
- By ShelterMe on 11-08-14
By: Andrew Britton
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Hardest of hard SF...
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Not what I expected
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Stross' dry humor nowhere to be seen
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2 Smart Books Well Worth the Listen - Great Reader
- By C. Hartmann on 01-08-12
By: Charles Stross
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Wireless
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- Narrated by: Paul Hecht, Robert Ian Mackenzie
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What listeners say about Empire Games
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Robert
- 02-07-17
Long awaited and promises more.
Story starts slow and takes a while to build to interesting. Ends on high intrigue so I am looking forward to next book in the series. Hope the wait will not be as long until the next book.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Alex Beckers
- 03-23-17
Disappointing
The whole book just feels like setup for the next book. Only for serious fans of the series.
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7 people found this helpful
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- ano
- 09-08-22
plot points are often repeated
Great performance. I liked the story and want more. There were sections of the the story that just restated an already often restated event. For example, the kidnapping. As other reviews the series can get very political.
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- TJ Young
- 10-29-18
Good read
I love pretty much everything that Stross writes and this one didn't disappoint. He is good at weaving real world crazy into his fiction.
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- Lars
- 02-06-24
Context
The eerily ”explaination” that coincides with the congressional hearings on UFO. Could it be? An excellent continuation of the old series. Well done.
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- Per
- 05-20-18
Interesting setting, poor format
The setting and story are compelling enough, yet I feel the way it is written does not do it any favours. While the idea to use a clueless recruit as the vehicle for introducing an established setting to new readers might be good, when the execution is a mind-numbing set of exposition scenes and ‘Huh? What? Eh?’ by the main protagonist, it really, really gets annoying. The between-chapters setups work poorly in an audio format, but strike me as terribly inelegant overall and not really suitable for this story in any format. It steals momentum and excitement from the main chapters.
A story I finished despite the way it was told, because the setting has merit. Will be researching further books in this setting eventually, but currently I would rather point people to selected Laundry Files and the magnificent Accelerando if they really want to enjoy an on-point Stross.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Jaye Sunsurn
- 01-22-17
Roaring good fun
Loved the merchant princes series, this just adds more to it. Great narration by Kate Reading as well... always a delight hearing her voice.
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1 person found this helpful
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- R. Wolcott
- 07-02-21
fun but...
The jump forward in time is welcome plus new characters. That said, the thick ideological bias is grating, 2d, and predictable... making an otherwise fun story seem wooden and preachy.
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3 people found this helpful