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Fool's War
- Narrated by: Parisa Johnston
- Length: 19 hrs and 40 mins
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Publisher's summary
In this New York Times Notable Book of the Year, a strange new life form threatens all of humanity, and only a fool would stand in its way. Katmer Al Shei has done well with the starship Pasadena, cutting corners where necessary to keep her crew paid and her journeys profitable. But there are two things she will never skimp on: her crew - and her fool. For a long space journey, a certified Fool’s Guild clown is essential, to amuse, excite, and otherwise distract the crew from the drudgeries of interstellar flight.
Her newest fool, Evelyn Dobbs, is a talented jester. But does she have enough wit to save mankind? In the computers of the Pasadena, something is emerging. The highly sophisticated software that makes interstellar travel practical is playing host to a new form of artificial intelligence, one with its own mind, its own needs, and its own desperate fears. Combatting this terrifying new threat becomes the fool’s secret fight. Evelyn Dobbs’s personal war might just cost Katmer Al Shei everything, and everyone, she holds dear. But if they fail, humanity itself is lost for good.
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Katmer Al-Shei owns a company that deals in a new form of communication. While on a business trip to Deep Space (hope she at least got business class for that commute) she is misidentified as a traitor and spy. As Al-Shei works to untangle the mess she’s now in, she stumbles upon a series of conspiracies that are of galactic consequence.
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Story
Three hundred years ago, Earth suffered a mass extinction event. The last humans fled to the stars in search of a new home. In the darkness, they fought to survive. Now the fleet decays, and their hope of finding a better world is fading. Era Corinth works to preserve the archives, but viewing them herself would be treason. When she's faced with the possibility that her unborn child may be aborted due to a genetic defect, her fascination with ancient secrets escalates to obsession.
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Review of legacy
- By Stephen Bergquist on 03-20-17
By: Autumn Kalquist
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War of the Spheres
- By: James Millington, B. V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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When humanity reaches for the stars, our probes are destroyed. They crash into an incredibly advanced piece of technology: a massive force-field. Unknown beings have placed a barrier around our star and planets, enclosing us within. We’re locked inside a Great Sphere. Was this invisible obstacle built to imprison us - or to protect us? No one knows the truth, but it soon becomes clear the barrier has leaks. Aliens infiltrate and try to sabotage our efforts to escape our cage.
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misleading summary...
- By Neil Kresl on 04-04-19
By: James Millington, and others
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Mercury's Bane
- Book One of the Earth Dawning Series
- By: Nick Webb
- Narrated by: Greg Tremblay
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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They're all gone. We remember them like yesterday: pieces of our stolen heritage. Things like NASA. Football. Parades and pies. Good things, comfortable things. We remember a time when we were alone in the universe, safe and oblivious. But it's all gone now. We called them the Telestines, and in the face of their ruthless invasion we were powerless. By 2040, all the world's governments and militaries had fallen, and the remnants of humanity exiled to the solar system. We looked down on our blue planet, so close to our birthplace, so close to our home.
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A shockingly bad book.
- By Ginger on 04-12-17
By: Nick Webb
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Dark Run
- Keiko, Book 1
- By: Mike Brooks
- Narrated by: Damian Lynch
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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The Keiko is a ship of smugglers, soldiers of fortune and adventurers, travelling Earth's colony planets, searching for the next job. And nobody talks about their past. But when a face from Captain Ichabod Drift's former life sends them on a run to Old Earth, all the rules change. Trust will be broken, and blood will be spilled.
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Fun sf in a familiar setting *cough Firefly cough*
- By John on 06-12-16
By: Mike Brooks
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Requiem for a Ruler of Worlds
- The First Adventure of Alacrity Fitzhugh & Hobart Floyt
- By: Brian Daley
- Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Mankind was beginning its third leap into the Galaxy, but Old Earth had so long kept to herself that her people were unable to travel safely among the rough-and-tumble cultures that had evolved on distant worlds. That annoyed Earth's rulers, for Hobart Floyt--a minor Terran bureaucrat-- had been left a mysterious inheritance by the deceased ruler of a small but wealthy interstellar empire.
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Best Sci Fi Fun anywhere!
- By A. Foxter on 07-07-15
By: Brian Daley
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The Ark
- Children of a Dead Earth, Book 1
- By: Patrick S. Tomlinson
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Humankind has escaped a dying Earth and set out to find a new home among the stars aboard an immense generation ship affectionately named the Ark. Bryan Benson is the Ark's greatest living sports hero, enjoying retirement working as a detective in Avalon, his home module. The hours are good, the work is easy, and the perks can't be beat. But when a crew member goes missing, Bryan is thrust into the center of an ever-expanding web of deception, secrets, and violence.
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Nearly there
- By Michaela on 05-11-16
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The Disasters
- By: M. K. England
- Narrated by: James Fouhey
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Hotshot pilot Nax Hall has a history of making poor life choices. So it’s not exactly a surprise when he’s kicked out of the elite Ellis Station Academy in less than 24 hours. But Nax’s one-way trip back to Earth is cut short when a terrorist group attacks the Academy. Nax and three other washouts escape - barely - but they’re also the sole witnesses to the biggest crime in the history of space colonization. And the perfect scapegoats. On the run, Nax and his fellow failures plan to pull off a dangerous heist to spread the truth.
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Fabulous!
- By Maria W on 07-01-19
By: M. K. England
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The Pride of Chanur
- Chanur, Book 1
- By: C. J. Cherryh
- Narrated by: Dina Pearlman
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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No one at Meetpoint Station had ever seen a creature like the Outsider. Naked-hided, blunt toothed and blunt-fingered, Tully was the sole surviving member of his company -- a communicative, spacefaring species hitherto unknown -- and he was a prisoner of his discoverer/captors the sadistic, treacherous kif, until his escape onto the hani ship The Pride of Chanur.
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Great, fascinating, and exciting
- By Gentle Reader Jill on 08-22-13
By: C. J. Cherryh
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Inside Out
- By: Maria V. Snyder
- Narrated by: Amanda Ronconi
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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"I drew a deep breath. I’d spoken more in one burst to this stranger whose room I’d invaded than anyone else in weeks. And with a single word he could alert the Pop Cops and send me to the Chomper. We stared at each other for a few heartbeats. Before I could retreat he said, 'My name’s Riley Narelle Ashon. Any time you need peace, you’re welcome to use my hideaway.'"
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Interesting world
- By kim on 08-16-10
By: Maria V. Snyder
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Last Command
- Fallen Empire, Book 0
- By: Lindsay Buroker
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 2 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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In the final days of the empire, Cyborg Corps Colonel Leonidas Adler plans to die in a manner befitting of an imperial officer. He will fight until his last breath, giving his life to defend Emperor Markus, as it was meant to be. But when the emperor himself summons him for a final special mission, how can he refuse?
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Pretty good teaser for lighter space opera
- By 🔥 Phx17 🔥 on 10-15-21
By: Lindsay Buroker
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Stitching Snow
- By: R. C. Lewis
- Narrated by: Mia Barron
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Princess Snow is missing. Her home planet is filled with violence and corruption at the hands of King Matthias and his wife as they attempt to punish her captors. The king will stop at nothing to get his beloved daughter back - but that's assuming she wants to return at all. Essie has grown used to being cold. Temperatures on the planet Thanda are always sub-zero, and she fills her days with coding and repairs for the seven loyal drones that run the local mines.
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Dry mouth
- By Angela on 09-09-19
By: R. C. Lewis
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The Calculating Stars
- A Lady Astronaut Novel
- By: Mary Robinette Kowal
- Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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On a cold spring night in 1952, a huge meteorite fell to earth and obliterated much of the East Coast of the US, including Washington, DC. The ensuing climate cataclysm will soon render the Earth inhospitable for humanity, as the last such meteorite did for the dinosaurs. This looming threat calls for a radically accelerated effort to colonize space and requires a much-larger share of humanity to take part in the process. Elma York’s drive to become the first lady astronaut is so strong that even the most dearly held conventions of society may not stand a chance against her.
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Never achieves lift off
- By Richard Bruno on 10-01-18
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Valor's Choice
- By: Tanya Huff
- Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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In the distant future, humans and several other races have been granted membership in the Confederation - at a price. They must act as soldier/protectors of the far more civilized races who have long since turned away from war.
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Military Future Past
- By Dave H on 04-21-13
By: Tanya Huff
What listeners say about Fool's War
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- William
- 12-01-17
A better future
The title doesn't refer to the world of the novel, but to the future of sci-fi as a genre. Ms. Zettel presents a more inclusive world, exposing not just compelling hypotheticals but also a diversity of people, viewpoints, and cultures.
This book WILL get you outside your cultural bubble, if you give it a chance.
History rhymes though, we should remember the first modern work of science fiction can be credited to Shelley's Frankenstein. The new Prometheus was also a story that chafed at the edges of cultural norms. It wasn't just great because it explored the cultural ramifications of conquering death, and Fool's War didn't just postulate about the potential form and politics of machine sentience. Both books have real insight into what it is to live a meaningful and good life.
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- E. Brown
- 12-08-18
Amazing characters. Amazing story. I loved it.
This is a great story with wonderful characters and a lot to say. The fool is great fun, and the leader of the ship is strong, vulnerable and real.
There are several twists, each of which is fascinating.
I highly recommend this book.
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- Kindle Customer
- 11-11-13
interesting universe
Any additional comments?
Interesting book. The universe the book was set in was interesting. Each planet, ship and other setting was well thought out and wonderfully described.
The complexities of the main character's family and religion were also interesting and lent a realistic dimension to the characters.
However, the plot grew well beyond the characters control. The turns in book lead the main character down a rapidly declining slope with all hope lost again and again. Although the characters were colorful, their roles morphed beyond reasonable expectations.
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