Matter
Culture Series, Book 8
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Matter
Buy for $25.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Toby Longworth
-
By:
-
Iain M. Banks
About this listen
The novels of Iain M. Banks have forever changed the face of modern science fiction. His Culture books combine breathtaking imagination with exceptional storytelling, and have secured his reputation as one of the most extraordinary and influential writers in the genre.
The intricate structure of a Shellworld - an artificial planet of spheres-within-spheres - is matched only by the machinations of its inhabitants.
On the eighth sphere of Sursamen, a man witnesses the murder of his father and flees, searching for the one - maybe two - people who could clear his name. For his brother, this means a life lived under constant threat of treachery, while for their sister, Djan Seriy Anaplian, it means returning to a place she'd thought abandoned forever.
Anaplian is not who she once was. She has become an agent of the Culture's Special Circumstances section, charged with high-level interference in civilisations throughout the greater galaxy.
Concealing her new identity - and her particular set of abilities - might be a dangerous strategy. In the world to which she returns, nothing is quite as it seems; and determining the appropriate level of interference in someone else's war is never a simple matter.
The Culture series:
Consider Phlebas
The Player of Games
Use of Weapons
Excession
Inversions
Look to Windward
Matter
Surface Detail
The Hydrogen Sonata
The State of the Art
Other books by Iain M. Banks:
Against a Dark Background
Feersum Endjinn
The Algebraist
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Consider Phlebas
- By: Iain M. Banks
- Narrated by: Peter Kenny
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 4,507
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,971
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,979
The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans fought for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles were at stake. There could be no surrender. Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it....
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Visionary but half-cooked intro to Culture 'verse
- By Ryan on 07-20-13
By: Iain M. Banks
-
The Reality Dysfunction
- Night's Dawn Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Peter F. Hamilton
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 41 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,499
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,215
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,205
In AD 2600, the human race is finally beginning to realize its full potential. Hundreds of colonized planets scattered across the galaxy host a multitude of prosperous and wildly diverse cultures. Genetic engineering has pushed evolution far beyond nature's boundaries, defeating disease and producing extraordinary spaceborn creatures. Huge fleets of sentient trader starships thrive on the wealth created by the industrialization of entire star systems, and throughout inhabited space the Confederation Navy keeps the peace.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Finally on Audible!! My favorite Hamilton series!
- By Patrick on 04-05-16
-
Revelation Space
- By: Alastair Reynolds
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 22 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 5,624
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 4,719
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 4,716
Nine hundred thousand years ago, something annihilated the Amarantin civilization just as it was on the verge of discovering space flight. Now one scientist, Dan Sylveste, will stop at nothing to solve the Amarantin riddle before ancient history repeats itself. With no other resources at his disposal, Sylveste forges a dangerous alliance with the cyborg crew of the starship Nostalgia for Infinity. But as he closes in on the secret, a killer closes in on him because the Amarantin were destroyed for a reason.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Defeated
- By Eoin on 07-15-12
-
Children of Time
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: Mel Hudson
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 38,875
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35,414
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 35,342
Adrian Tchaikovksy's critically acclaimed stand-alone novel Children of Time is the epic story of humanity's battle for survival on a terraformed planet. Who will inherit this new Earth? The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age - a world terraformed and prepared for human life. But all is not right in this new Eden.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A very pleasant surprise
- By Simon on 06-17-17
-
Pandora's Star
- By: Peter F. Hamilton
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 37 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 9,782
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 7,676
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,691
The year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars some 400 light-years in diameter, contains more than 600 worlds, interconnected by a web of transport "tunnels" known as wormholes. At the farthest edge of the Commonwealth, astronomer Dudley Bose observes the impossible: Over 1,000 light-years away, a star...vanishes. It does not go supernova. It does not collapse into a black hole. It simply disappears.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great Epic Scifi
- By Devin on 10-17-09
-
City of Last Chances
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 19 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 215
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 175
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 176
There has always been a darkness to Ilmar, but never more so than now. The city chafes under the heavy hand of the Palleseen occupation, the choke-hold of its criminal underworld, the boot of its factory owners, the weight of its wretched poor and the burden of its ancient curse. What will be the spark that lights the conflagration? Despite the city's refugees, wanderers, murderers, madmen, fanatics and thieves, the catalyst, as always, will be the Anchorwood–that dark grove of trees, that primeval remnant, that portal, when the moon is full, to strange and distant shores.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Occupied Paris during WW2 In Fantasy World?
- By caleb on 06-19-23
-
Consider Phlebas
- By: Iain M. Banks
- Narrated by: Peter Kenny
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 4,507
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,971
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,979
The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans fought for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles were at stake. There could be no surrender. Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it....
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Visionary but half-cooked intro to Culture 'verse
- By Ryan on 07-20-13
By: Iain M. Banks
-
The Reality Dysfunction
- Night's Dawn Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Peter F. Hamilton
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 41 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,499
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,215
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,205
In AD 2600, the human race is finally beginning to realize its full potential. Hundreds of colonized planets scattered across the galaxy host a multitude of prosperous and wildly diverse cultures. Genetic engineering has pushed evolution far beyond nature's boundaries, defeating disease and producing extraordinary spaceborn creatures. Huge fleets of sentient trader starships thrive on the wealth created by the industrialization of entire star systems, and throughout inhabited space the Confederation Navy keeps the peace.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Finally on Audible!! My favorite Hamilton series!
- By Patrick on 04-05-16
-
Revelation Space
- By: Alastair Reynolds
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 22 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 5,624
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 4,719
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 4,716
Nine hundred thousand years ago, something annihilated the Amarantin civilization just as it was on the verge of discovering space flight. Now one scientist, Dan Sylveste, will stop at nothing to solve the Amarantin riddle before ancient history repeats itself. With no other resources at his disposal, Sylveste forges a dangerous alliance with the cyborg crew of the starship Nostalgia for Infinity. But as he closes in on the secret, a killer closes in on him because the Amarantin were destroyed for a reason.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Defeated
- By Eoin on 07-15-12
-
Children of Time
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: Mel Hudson
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 38,875
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35,414
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 35,342
Adrian Tchaikovksy's critically acclaimed stand-alone novel Children of Time is the epic story of humanity's battle for survival on a terraformed planet. Who will inherit this new Earth? The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age - a world terraformed and prepared for human life. But all is not right in this new Eden.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A very pleasant surprise
- By Simon on 06-17-17
-
Pandora's Star
- By: Peter F. Hamilton
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 37 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 9,782
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 7,676
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,691
The year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars some 400 light-years in diameter, contains more than 600 worlds, interconnected by a web of transport "tunnels" known as wormholes. At the farthest edge of the Commonwealth, astronomer Dudley Bose observes the impossible: Over 1,000 light-years away, a star...vanishes. It does not go supernova. It does not collapse into a black hole. It simply disappears.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great Epic Scifi
- By Devin on 10-17-09
-
City of Last Chances
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 19 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 215
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 175
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 176
There has always been a darkness to Ilmar, but never more so than now. The city chafes under the heavy hand of the Palleseen occupation, the choke-hold of its criminal underworld, the boot of its factory owners, the weight of its wretched poor and the burden of its ancient curse. What will be the spark that lights the conflagration? Despite the city's refugees, wanderers, murderers, madmen, fanatics and thieves, the catalyst, as always, will be the Anchorwood–that dark grove of trees, that primeval remnant, that portal, when the moon is full, to strange and distant shores.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Occupied Paris during WW2 In Fantasy World?
- By caleb on 06-19-23
Critic reviews
'Banks is a phenomenon' William Gibson
Related to this topic
-
Project Hail Mary
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 181,759
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 165,951
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 165,398
Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission - and if he fails, humanity and the Earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Bazinga
- By Davidgonzalezsr on 05-04-21
By: Andy Weir
-
George Orwell’s 1984
- An Audible Original adaptation
- By: George Orwell, Joe White - adaptation
- Narrated by: Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Scott, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,062
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 7,674
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,673
It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Revelation!
- By wotsallthisthen on 04-07-24
By: George Orwell, and others
-
Starter Villain
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 10,431
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 9,272
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 9,266
Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Volcanic Lairs, Death Rays & Cats… Oh My! 😼
- By C. White on 09-19-23
By: John Scalzi
-
The Martian
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 37,666
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 33,521
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 33,417
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive - and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
I love Wil Wheaton but why not R. C. Bray?
- By L. Newman on 01-11-20
By: Andy Weir
-
Artemis
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Rosario Dawson
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 94,512
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 86,519
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 86,317
Jazz Bashara is a criminal. Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent. Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
A ferrari with no motor
- By will on 11-18-17
By: Andy Weir
-
Temporal
- By: Julian Simpson, Richard MacLean Smith, Bec Boey, and others
- Narrated by: Nicola Walker, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Jessie Mei Li, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 26 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,030
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,980
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,981
In the not-too-distant future, a 21-member crew launches from Earth. Their mission: to establish a temporary colony on Mars. Little do they know that colony will become permanent–and the last stand of the human race. Because, without warning, every single person left on Earth simply...vanishes. Now, a thousand years later, the resources needed to sustain life are running out, and the very existence of the Mars colony is threatened. Humankind has only one option–to return to its home planet.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
It was ok.
- By Cregg Terasa on 08-06-24
By: Julian Simpson, and others
-
Project Hail Mary
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 181,759
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 165,951
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 165,398
Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission - and if he fails, humanity and the Earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Bazinga
- By Davidgonzalezsr on 05-04-21
By: Andy Weir
-
George Orwell’s 1984
- An Audible Original adaptation
- By: George Orwell, Joe White - adaptation
- Narrated by: Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Scott, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,062
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 7,674
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,673
It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Revelation!
- By wotsallthisthen on 04-07-24
By: George Orwell, and others
-
Starter Villain
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 10,431
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 9,272
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 9,266
Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Volcanic Lairs, Death Rays & Cats… Oh My! 😼
- By C. White on 09-19-23
By: John Scalzi
-
The Martian
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 37,666
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 33,521
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 33,417
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive - and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
I love Wil Wheaton but why not R. C. Bray?
- By L. Newman on 01-11-20
By: Andy Weir
-
Artemis
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Rosario Dawson
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 94,512
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 86,519
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 86,317
Jazz Bashara is a criminal. Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent. Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
A ferrari with no motor
- By will on 11-18-17
By: Andy Weir
-
Temporal
- By: Julian Simpson, Richard MacLean Smith, Bec Boey, and others
- Narrated by: Nicola Walker, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Jessie Mei Li, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 26 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,030
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,980
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,981
In the not-too-distant future, a 21-member crew launches from Earth. Their mission: to establish a temporary colony on Mars. Little do they know that colony will become permanent–and the last stand of the human race. Because, without warning, every single person left on Earth simply...vanishes. Now, a thousand years later, the resources needed to sustain life are running out, and the very existence of the Mars colony is threatened. Humankind has only one option–to return to its home planet.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
It was ok.
- By Cregg Terasa on 08-06-24
By: Julian Simpson, and others
What listeners say about Matter
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Jefferson
- 08-26-10
Intelligent, Entertaining, & Moving Space Opera
Iain M. Banks' Matter is an entertaining and intelligent space opera, using galactic civilizations of various humanoid and non-humanoid species at various stages of technological and cultural development, impressive artifacts (like giant shellworlds that house concentric, inhabited levels; intelligent battle suits that talk to you, shoot for you, and turn your urine into water; and AI spaceships who give themselves droll names like Don't Try This at Home), and exciting action and battle scenes to explore themes about matter, culture, power, freedom, growth, love, and human nature. The ending is shocking, fitting, and moving. The characters are compelling. The story is humorous, horrifying, awe-inspiring, and thought-provoking.
And the reader, Toby Longworth, is fantastic. His voice is appealingly gravelly but clear, he understands the story, and he reads it perfectly, effectively changing his voice for different characters, among them power-hungry lords, foppish princes, grizzled generals, cold killers, rustic and wise servants, strong women, drugged prostitutes, fanatic insectoid aliens, cool, caring, or inimical AIs, and more, all sounding just right for their personalities and situations. He even talks like a mild American for this amoral ex-Culture agent who's running an endless war (by recycling soldiers) on some planet for the vicarious pleasure of his alien employers.
All in all a great listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Peter
- 08-12-10
Like Lord of the Rings meets Ghost in the Shell
A little slow to start, but most longish sci-fi books are. All back story is paid off sooner or later. Iain Banks' perfectly timed, but not over used, and rather scottish use of profainity and toilet humor are conveyed hilariously by the narrator and help to keep things interesting and enjoyable, even when the topic is some what darker.
Ending is unexpected, emotionally charged and satisfying but leaves you feeling that everything will be all right after abilities noted earlier in the story.
Back story never feels empty and all that seems excessively detailed at first, comes to a head toward the end.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jacobus
- 02-13-11
Very much the same as Consider Phlebus, just bette
It seems Ian M Banks is modern writer of tragedy. In the advanced, everything is possible, Culture where machine and human has merged in ways which you cannot imagine, he succeeds to bring a tragic element in, that leaves you with more questions than answers.
I am struggling to listen to Toby Longworth. From time to time my mind just opts out, which meant that I had to relisten certain parts of the story.
All in all, it is a good book, but I would suggest that you read/ listen "Consider Phlebas" and "Player of Games" if you haven't yet been introduced to the Banks' Culture novels.
Still, this is a worthwhile listen!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 03-26-18
Nicely balanced
The Culture Universe has really matured in this one. Cool worlds, nice adventures, lovable characters and creatures.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Rasheed
- 11-05-09
Much more than a 'read'
I listen to my audiobooks as I commute (1.5 hours a day). It's amazing I'm still alive having been so engrossed in this book.
The story has all the wonder of Ian M Bank's vivid imagination. He conjours up fantastical species and worlds that require no effort on my part to suspend disbelief. A beautiful story that tries to describe the problems that might face species as they reache their full potential through scientific discovery. The author does so without coming off as pretentious, trite, or belittling the audience's intelligence. More than once he made my life seem very trivial when held against the vastness of existance. A tragic story, but captivating the whole way through.
Toby Longworth's narration is a credit to the story and Toby himself. Toby imbues each character with his/her/it's own personality without sounding at all ridiculous. You always know who's talking and get an incredible sense of who they are. I'd like to wax lyrically about Toby's performance, but to save you the pain of my inelloquant banter, I'll just say that it was superb.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Leni
- 11-10-17
Great start, interesting middle, lackluster ending
I'll try to keep it short and absolutely spoiler free.
I really enjoyed the premise of the book, following the plots of a medieval/industrial civilization located on a shell world, in turn overlooked by multiple 'modern' races. That they were aware of the nature of their world and civilization (or at least, the leaders were) made it all the more interesting.
The concept of a shell world was really quite nice too, and I like the thought that went into it- sufficiently mysterious and weird, but making sense in an odd, suspend-your-disbelief kind of way.
The characters were appealing and interesting too, and I was quite curious to see where the story would take them, since the book seemingly kept on building and building to some sort of great reveal. A really nice climax/confrontation where we learn about the ultimate motives and plans of the various players involved.
Sadly, it ends abruptly and it's over in what felt like five minutes. None of the questions I had were answered, a lot of the things I thought would matter turned out not to and I feel just a little bit like towards the end, the author lost interest and just wanted to get it over with. There is an epilogue to offer the tiniest closure, but it feels more cheap than satisfying (and seemingly goes against the characters development through the book).
The performance was good, although it took some time to adjust to the new fella- and for 4/5ths of the book, it had me interested and captivated which is why I still give it a pretty decent rating.
I don't think I'd really -recommend- it to anyone, but if you like the The Culture novels, this is a nice easy listen... but nothing really satisfying.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall2 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 01-15-11
Had a really tough time to get into it.
I am not sure I really like the narrator here, it was really hard to penetrate the book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!