
In the Ocean of Night
Galactic Center, Book 1
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Narrated by:
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Maxwell Caulfield
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By:
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Gregory Benford
About this listen
It is 2019. NASA astronaut Nigel Walmsley is sent on a mission to intercept a rogue asteroid on a collision course with Earth. Ordered to destroy it, he instead discovers that it is actually the shell of a derelict space probe - a wreck with just enough power to emit a single electronic signal.
In 2034, a reply is heard. Searching for the source of this signal, which comes from outside the solar system, Nigel discovers the existence of a sentient ship. When the new vessel begins to communicate directly with him, the astronaut learns of the horrors that await humanity. For the ship was created by an alien race that has spent billions and billions of years searching for intelligent life… to annihilate it.
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Heart of the Comet
- By: Gregory Benford, David Brin
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan, Stefan Rudnicki, Gabrielle de Cuir
- Length: 21 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Prescient and scientifically accurate, Heart of the Comet is known as one of the great hard SF novels of the 1980s. First published in 1986, it tells the story of an ambitious manned mission to visit Halley's Comet, alter its orbit, and mine it for resources. But all too soon, native cells - that might once have brought life to Earth - begin colonizing the colonists. As factions battle over the comet's future - and that of Earth - only love, courage, and ingenuity can avert disaster and spark a new human destiny.
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Challenging hard sci-fi with some characterization
- By William Tanksley, Jr. on 08-06-18
By: Gregory Benford, and others
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Pushing Ice
- By: Alastair Reynolds
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 19 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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2057. Humanity has raised exploiting the solar system to an art form. Bella Lind and the crew of her nuclear-powered ship, the Rockhopper, push ice. They mine comets. And they're good at it. The Rockhopper is nearing the end of its current mission cycle, and everyone is desperate for some much-needed R & R, when startling news arrives from Saturn: Janus, one of Saturn's ice moons, has inexplicably left its natural orbit and is now heading out of the solar system at high speed.
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Proof that a good story doesn't require a trilogy
- By Jesse on 01-14-12
What did you like best about In the Ocean of Night? What did you like least?
Good: Very interesting ideas, it seems well through through. I had to listen in bits.Bad: Very slow paced and many times over analytical. I got bored at times, but the book had my rapt attention at other times. If I find a time where none of my other series have a new book out or I'm looking for something slower paced, I might buy the next book.
A bit slow paced for my taste.
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Be careful listening at the very end...
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Would you consider the audio edition of In the Ocean of Night to be better than the print version?
Haven't read the print versionHas In the Ocean of Night turned you off from other books in this genre?
No. I've read and enjoyed a number of similar "intercept the alien craft" titles. This one seemed a bit disjointed.What about Maxwell Caulfield’s performance did you like?
Easy to listen toWas there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
No. it was very difficult to identify with any of the characters and the scenes seemed very superficial.Not what I expected
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Oh, and kudos to the narrator for a fine job!
A Jewel in Benford's Crown
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While quite popular in its day, probably due to its unique take on alien first contact, the tale suffers from underdeveloped characters. While the main character seems mostly adrift, supporting characters get extremely short shrift that makes their motivations and reactions quite uninterpretable. The fascination with BigFoot may have also been unique to the time period when the book was written which does not gel well today. By the end, it just wasn't clear what the author was trying to relate and the conclusion was far from satisfying. As an intro to a longer story arc, this is a disappointing appetizer.
The narration is good with a solid range of voices and good pacing with a tone suitable for the overall tenor of the tale.
Slow start to a longer story arc
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I was waiting for the "science fiction" part to dominate the "dramatic" part, and it doesn't really happen until the end of the first half. The creepy robots of Benford's novella have not shown up yet in Nigel's world, but he begins to get a sense of their presence. The entire novel is a build up to the idea that robotic life dominates the universe and that organic life is rare. My favorite character in the novel is actually the "snark", an automated craft that has been sent by these as of yet unseen robotic forces, to sniff out organic life. The snark does not know why it exists but only behaves as it has been programmed to behave. In its discussions with Nigel, there are some of the most interesting passages of the book. The snark drifts eternally through the "ocean of night" and finds its only fulfillment through learning about organic life forms.
I was disappointed that this novel was so different from "Hunger for the Infinite," but I enjoyed it anyway. Its slow and thoughtful, with no real gripping action or suspense, but contains some captivating musings about mankind and our relationship to the universe. I will continue with the series to see where it leads.
Very Different from "Hunger for the Infinite"
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What made the experience of listening to In the Ocean of Night the most enjoyable?
I have to confess that I've read Benford before, and his writing efforts are consistently very good reading/listening. In this case, I accidentally read Great Sky River first a number of years ago, and it is a strong hard tech scifi read that sweeps you along to its great conclusion. That being said, I walked into this audiobook listen with high expectations, and wasn't disappointed! It reads different, because it takes place prior to the third book, and is in a completely different environment. So, it was a great experience, and my expectations were well met. Thanks, Benford, for a solid scifi series I already knew was great before I started the very first book.What was one of the most memorable moments of In the Ocean of Night?
I won't answer this question. I don't often give away parts of a good read. This is a great series, so I'll plead the fifth on this one.What does Maxwell Caulfield bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
He's a good narrator, but I'll want to hear his performance on the rest of the series, and then I'll update this review. It's only fair to give him his proper due.If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
An unending galactic war is about to begin, and it waits...for YOU.Any additional comments?
Enjoyable. Well paced. Strong plot. Solid character development. Captivating story. Nuff said. Get the audiobook.A Grand Opening For An Epic Series
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The story, however, started well, right into hard science fiction, astronauts discovering an alien artificial asteroid. Just what I wanted. But then the author made me jump fifteen years, to arrive into the daily life of the astronaut who made the first contact. The family setup was interesting, I must say, a blossoming triangle of a man and two woman, enjoying the threesome love-life. Besides that, a family drama unfolded in front of me, with the sadness of one of the partners having cancer. Oh, as a subplot, some slow development happened concerning an alien automated spaceship called Snark passing by. But not much.
The story seemed to speed up when the Snark started to communicate through a medical implant, and resurrected the said partner. I thought "yes, real science-fiction, finally". It didn't last long, though. The alien spaceship left the Solar system running from a missile. Why, of course the US government had to shoot at it, it's standard Hollywood procedure.
Then there was the wreck of another alien spaceship on the moon, which almost caused the death of the character who stumbled in its shield by chance. Space accident. Fight for life. Good stuff. But then jump again, and now I was discovering the alien ship's computer. Oh, the ship lowered its shield sometime in between, but I never learned how and why. Anyway, there was the promise of hard sci-fi again. But what I really got was description of dull images downloaded from the alien computer. Boring. I wondered why the scientists didn't go exploring the ship. Yes, they told me that it was dangerous, and they had plenty of time, it wasn't going anywhere. Serious? It was an alien ship, for god's sake!
And then came Mr Itchino (I hope I spell it right after hearing), who went to play being a hermit in the woods on the hillside. But only after that I had to listen to all the wonders of singing birds and landscapes he was amazed of. Did I mention boring? After an agonizingly long time he finally learned about the secret of the mountain: Bigfoot existed. No kidding. Mr Grave saw them, they shot at him with their laser gun.
By this time I listened to the audiobook at x1.25 speed to get over it quicker. I still had my hope that there will be an amazing ending. False hopes.
Mr Walmsley suddenly was sucked into the alien computer, and the aliens told him everything he wanted to know, and he told me some of it. While chopping wood on the hill. For Mr Itchino. In an elevated mental state. All of these spiced with a high literature writing style, which was odd, because it didn't match the previous part of the book.
I almost forgot to mention the religious sect of the New Sons. I'm still wondering what was the author's purpose with them.
I found the cover copy misleading. In the Ocean of Night promised me so much, but definitely failed to deliver. John Scalzi would be able to write this story in thirty pages, and still find the room for a little sarcastic humour of his.
Some reviewers say that the next books in the series are better. I wouldn't know. I won't buy them. I go to listen to an Alastair Reynolds book instead.
The narrator did an excellent job, certainly I would listen to books he reads.
I wish I liked it
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The main character isn't likable. Not in a flawed character sence, he's just a jerk. I found myself not caring about his musings (which again, are over wordy) and thinking about something else.
The side plots seem pointless. The main character's wife and their joint lover were useless color to the plot. It seemed like the author needed to fill pages for his editor.
Lastly, the reader. Why he chose to give one of the main characters a western/southern/rural accent when he couldn't be consistent is beyond me. Each time he read in the character's voice, it sounded different to the point where it was difficult to tell who was speaking.
In the end, it cost me kne credit to realize this author is not worth reading.
Interesting premise, very poor author.
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This is a narrator that technically is very good at speaking and pronunciation. But what he doesn't seem to have learned is emotion. If it wasn't for how long ago this book was published, this could be a bad AI narration. At best this is a good sleep-aid; the same sing-a-song way of reading every sentence, same pauses - very forgetful. Regardless of what is happening it's the same tone, same inflection, same speed. The positive part is that every word heard is easily understood - although get used to having every character talk the same way. It's a pure reader experience - it's not about giving you an interpretation of how a story could be seen if it was for real; perhaps we get too used to super-stars like Ray Porter; perhaps we just need to aim for better - which this is not even an attempt at.
As to the story - I still like the idea of the story. But 2+ hours in, I am fairly sure I'll put this back on the shelf and mark it as unreadable. I should have been caught and into the story by now and I'm not. And unfortunately I don't think it's due to the book - but how it's presented. I'm just not sure.
Another one falls to narration
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