Ninth City Burning Audiobook By J. Patrick Black cover art

Ninth City Burning

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Ninth City Burning

By: J. Patrick Black
Narrated by: Suzanne Elise Freeman, Lincoln Hoppe, Ryan Gesell, Johnathan McClain, Mike Chamberlain, Susan Hanfield, Ariadne Meyers
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For fans of Red Rising, Starship Troopers, and Ender’s Game comes an explosive, epic science-fiction debut....

We never saw them coming.

Entire cities disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving nothing but dust and rubble. When an alien race came to make Earth theirs, they brought with them a weapon we had no way to fight, a universe-altering force known as thelemity. It seemed nothing could stop it - until we discovered we could wield the power, too.

Five hundred years later, the Earth is locked in a grinding war of attrition. The talented few capable of bending thelemity to their will are trained in elite military academies, destined for the front lines. Those who refused to support the war have been exiled to the wilds of a ruined Earth.

But the enemy's tactics are changing, and Earth's defenders are about to discover this centuries-old war has only just begun. As a terrible new onslaught looms, heroes will rise from unlikely quarters and fight back.

©2016 J. Patrick Black (P)2016 Penguin Audio Adventure Coming of Age Dystopian Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Military Science Fiction War

Critic reviews

"Grabbed my attention from the first page - fresh and un-put-downable. An intriguing cocktail of science fiction, fantasy, and military adventure stirred into something new and satisfying." (Patricia Briggs, number one New York Times best-selling author of Fire Touched)

“A finely crafted and original science-fantasy epic full of wonder and spectacle. Highly recommended.” (Anthony Ryan, New York Times best-selling author of The Waking Fire)

“Ninth City Burning is simultaneously an epic fantasy, a science fiction adventure, a coming of age story, and a delight.” (Seanan McGuire, New York Times best-selling author of A Red Rose Chain)

All stars
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Fantastic detailed characters. Imaginative unique story. Artfully narrated. Thoughtful. Emotional. Worth every damn cent. Bravo.

Complex, Complete, Entertaining

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There isn't a second book. It's publication was canceled. This book is ok. I started searching to see if this is a series. My gut says that there will be a lot of questions once I'm finished.

unsure

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well written characters who are brought to life by each narrator so well! the story is intriguing and keeps up even for a second listen 4/5 years later

great listen, highly recommend

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The story is very fluid and you really get a good sense of the struggles and emotions of the characters. As a huge fan of science fiction, the mixture of magic and technology really impressed me, and the detail through which it is explained really drew me in and I would listen to the same part a few times so I could really grasp the concept myself. The performances of the narrarators are really well done, none really standing out over the others, although my favorite was probably kisabelle(not sure of the spelling)

Awesome performances and great story

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great story and characters I was hooked, it took me a few tries to get into the first chapter but after that I couldn't stop

great listen

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Lady Jane was painful and some of the characters were hard to endure. The story itself would have been more palatable if the had been more action and less dialogue and world building.

Not to my taste.

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I hate to say it, but Ninth City Burning isn't followable on audiobook. Also, some of the voice actors are more of a distraction than good. One female actor I just finished sounded almost exactly like she used the voice of an Asura character in the Guild Wars 2 game. He seemed to copy a loveable little Asura female that is certain everything she does is beyond brilliant. Asura are that way, since they introduce science into the game and never let you forgettheir magnificent role is that world, but ripping her straight out of the game, exactly like she is in every way, is too much. I can't keep the characters straight in my head. The writer created this mess by writing his brilliant human Rae to seemingly copy that GW2 Asura. It's too much. Oh, and Black's character is also building a giant robot that she can ride up inside its head, which is exactly what the Asura did. AND, insult to injury, the name of the robot is the same as the Asura's giant robot. ALSO, when the Asura first started her robot, it fell apart a few times before it worked. I enjoy the Asura, which are cool, but J. Patrick Black must have assumed that GW2 players won't read his book. I'm returning this one for my credit back

Seems gleaned from other stories, as if A.I. wrote it.

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Tedious , like doing an all night drive on a poker straight interstate with only the drone of the engine to listen to. There are some nice bits where the characters are actually doing something action wise, but they were just too few and Far between to keep my interest. I just felt there could have been a much shorter version to the descriptive narratives

Really Tuff Read/Listen

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