Polostan
Bomb Light, Book 1
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Narrated by:
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January LaVoy
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By:
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Neal Stephenson
About this listen
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Termination Shock and Cryptonomicon, the first installment in a monumental new series—an expansive historical epic of intrigue and international espionage, presaging the dawn of the Atomic Age.
The first installment in Neal Stephenson’s Bomb Light cycle, Polostan follows the early life of the enigmatic Dawn Rae Bjornberg. Born in the American West to a clan of cowboy anarchists, Dawn is raised in Leningrad after the Russian Revolution by her Russian father, a party line Leninist who re-christens her Aurora. She spends her early years in Russia but then grows up as a teenager in Montana, before being drawn into gunrunning and revolution in the streets of Washington, D.C., during the depths of the Great Depression. When a surprising revelation about her past puts her in the crosshairs of U.S. authorities, Dawn returns to Russia, where she is groomed as a spy by the organization that later becomes the KGB.
Set against the turbulent decades of the early twentieth century, Polostan is an inventive, richly detailed, and deeply entertaining historical epic, and the start of a captivating new series from Neal Stephenson.
©2024 Neal Stephenson (P)2024 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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A Revelation!
- By wotsallthisthen on 04-07-24
By: George Orwell, and others
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7 Hours to Die
- By: James Patterson, Duane Swierczynski
- Narrated by: Sarah Paulson, Patina Miller, Mel Rodriguez, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 25 mins
- Original Recording
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Kidnappers grabbed Jenna in broad daylight, right in front of her children and their horrified classmates. Her family was issued an insane ransom demand: $25 million in cash and jewels, payable by the end of the school day, otherwise they’ll never see her again. As Jenna’s mother scrambles to gather the money, detectives Mo Butler and George Ortega follow the trail of the kidnappers, which will lead them through a sordid landscape of jealous lovers, broken dreamers, and twisted schemers. But every second counts, and there’s one thing Jenna Wade doesn’t have: very much time.
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This was such a fun Quick listen
- By Mdc on 10-08-24
By: James Patterson, and others
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Dead Med
- By: Freida McFadden
- Narrated by: Patricia Santomasso, Scott Merriman
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
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When Heather McKinley dreamed of becoming a doctor, she imagined curing sick kids and sporting pink stethoscopes. She never anticipated the sleepless nights, grueling exams, and endless labs. And she certainly never knew that her medical school earned the nickname Dead Med thanks to the tragic history of students overdosing on illegal drugs. But Heather would never consider doing anything like that. That is, until her longtime boyfriend dumps her, she finds herself failing anatomy, and her world starts to crumble.
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Hmm
- By Morgan Meaux on 08-22-24
By: Freida McFadden
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The Ex
- By: Freida McFadden
- Narrated by: Nicol Zanzarella
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
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Cassie thinks she has met the perfect man. Joel is sweet, handsome, romantic, and best of all, he’s crazy about Cassie. She thinks she’s found the guy she’ll spend the rest of her life with. Have children with. Grow old with. Yes, she knows about his perfect ex-girlfriend, Francesca. The beautiful, brilliant chef, beloved by all his friends. But she thinks Francesca is out of the picture. She thinks Francesca is gone for good. Think again, Cassie.
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Too bizarre for someone who loves bizarre
- By G. C. Webster on 07-01-22
By: Freida McFadden
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Artemis
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Rosario Dawson
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
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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.
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A ferrari with no motor
- By will on 11-18-17
By: Andy Weir
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The Married Man
- By: K.L. Slater
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
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Everyone thinks my husband is dead. Just like we planned. Eleven years ago, my husband disappeared. Eleven long hard years I waited, my heart breaking for our son, who didn’t know his father was coming back. Today, my hands shake as I try to understand what I’ve just learned: my husband has a new wife. This wasn’t part of our plan. Eleven years ago, my husband made a terrible mistake. I sacrificed everything to help him fix it. But now he’s put our son and me in danger again. We had a plan. He broke the rules. But who will pay the price?
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K.L. Slater and Clare Corbett – riveting Tango!
- By Karenique on 11-11-24
By: K.L. Slater
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Too Late
- Definitive Edition
- By: Colleen Hoover
- Narrated by: Ryan Gray, Maxine Mitchell, Joe Arden
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
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Sloan will go through hell and back for those she loves. And she does so, every single day. Caught up with the alluring Asa Jackson, a notorious drug trafficker, Sloan has finally found a lifeline to cling to, even if it’s meant compromising her morals. She was in dire straits trying to pay for her brother’s care until she met Asa. But as Sloan became emotionally and economically reliant on him, he in turn developed a disturbing obsession with her—one that becomes increasingly dangerous every day.
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Triggering and poor narration
- By Katherine Epperson on 07-11-23
By: Colleen Hoover
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The year is 2041, and it's a dangerous time to be a woman driving across the United States alone. Deadly storms and uncontrollable wildfires are pummeling the country while political tensions are rising. But Kelly's on the road anyway; she desperately needs to get back to her daughter, who she left seven years ago for a cause that she's no longer sure she believes in.
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What listeners say about Polostan
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Daniel
- 11-02-24
Finally, Neal gets back to delivering a good story
Neal Stephenson used to be my absolute favorite author. Bar none. I own literally every one of his books. Cryptonomicon, the Baroque Cycle, and Reamde are some of my favorite books of all time. I own them in every format possible and have read and listened to them all multiple times.
That said, it's been a while since he's delivered a book worth reading. Fall was a disjointed mess that murdered some of my favorite characters in nonsensical ways. Termination Shock was a pile of woke garbage attached to a rambling story based on leftist wet dreams. Polostan was literally his last chance with me.
Fortunately, he made good.
Polostan is the first book in an extremely promising series where Neal is doing what he does best - inserting fascinating hard science into historical fiction with interesting characters.
The book, and story, doesn't quite reach the great level, but it is very good. Not quite getting over that "great" line is due to the story focusing heavily on Dawn/Aurora (who is fascinating) while the supporting cast, mostly interesting so far, all having very brief bits. They are generally cleverly written and compelling, but the circumstances of the time and place in history leads to short, and abruptly ended, stints spent with them. I'm assuming far more time will be spent on other characters as the story develops and moves out of such a perilous locale.
January LaVoy is a competent and skilled narrator and works extremely well for the main character. She has good vocal range and timing while delivering the appropriate emotion and accent to all of the voices. She does fall a bit short with masculine voices, but this is common even for the most skilled female narrators and isn't a failing.
Some of the negative criticism I've seen could have been taken verbatim from the initial reviews for the Baroque Cycle, and are, in my opinion, just as invalid now as they were then. This is the first book in a large story and the standard single-novel tropes just aren't going to apply. The story will develop across multiple books and expecting a clear-cut beginning, middle, and end is not rational. This IS the beginning.
Overall, it is a very promising start to another fascinating story from Stephenson. I'm looking forward to the next installment!
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- PapaStitch
- 11-09-24
New hero!
 The construction of the main character Dawn Rae in the light of the history she grew up in and the forces that shape her nature, abilities, suffering and viewpoint, show a consistency that Stevenson has always created in the characters he puts forward
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- Gabriel Diaz
- 10-18-24
loving the characters and plot
kept me wondering what was gonna happen, I'm left wanting more. I relate to dawn a bit and Im curious how her story will play out. the writing detailing the how America once was especially during the century of progress left me daydreaming what it must of been like, to see all those modern technologies that we now find common,seeing it all for the first time. I wonder if dawn will continue to be a communist or if she'll have a change of heart. I wonder what will happen when she sees the fall of Soviet Union, if she even survived to see it fall. she reminds me of the elder women in my family the ones who went through similar things while in their youth, women who survived trials and tribulations as youths and had to make decisions that affected them and their descendents til this day.
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- Seth F.
- 10-22-24
an alchemy of the past
if you liked the Baroque cycle, you will like this book. it is, in many ways, like starting that series over but at a different point in time. it has the same depth of history mixed with a thrillers plot points. instead of drawing from swashbucklers and seralgios, it draws from Bonnie and Clyde and cold War thrillers. you can hear NS's voice in just the way a developed author's voice should come through. like a new conversation with an old friend.
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- Matthew
- 11-16-24
Good setup for a new series
It reads like an interesting prequel to a series with a lot of potential. The novel is basically setting the backstory for Dawn/Aurora, who will be the protagonist for the rest of the series. Overall, it is an interesting read, but on its own, not especially compelling. But I look forward to reading the rest of the series.
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- Bouncybrit
- 10-19-24
Political Intrigue, Science and Polo in the Cold War
This is a great start to a series, can’t wait for the next installment. Dawn/Aurora is a fascinating character and the political machinations set amongst the scientific discoveries and culture of the 1930s makes for Neal Stephenson at his best. (I’m just waiting for Enoch Root, a Waterhouse or a Shaftoe to make an appearance)
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- Kirez A Reynolds
- 11-03-24
10/10 on rich character, cracking plot and action, and profound scientific and political history!
What a character is Aurora!!! Stephenson has grown and leveled up; hard for me to say, since I love his entire body of work so much. But he excellently treats this history of the USSR (and underground history from the US Great Depression.)
(You can read a novelization of the same period and an American woman and her offspring, like Aurora an American communist (but Aurora is learning the hard way) in Sana Krasnikov’s _Patriots_, also set in both Magnetogorsk and back in the USA, so coincidentally similar to the events and settings of Polostan!)
Aurora strikes me as an improved, deeper treatment of the heroine America Shaftoe from Cryptonomicon.)
I love this whole novel.
I believe Dick is Richard Feynman, which means he is 15 years old when Aurora meets him.
Fantastic capture of Physics and realistic, accurate capture of the scientific process and zeitgeist in the 1930s, leading up to the invention of the atomic bomb. I suspect that’s where this series is going. I’m all in!
One tragic flaw in this audiobook: unforgivable mispronunciations of the Russian names, throughout. Like nails on chalkboard.
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- A Simple Life
- 10-21-24
Not what I was thinking…
Very good book and well written, but not like any of his other books! And I have listened to all of them a few times
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- Trent The Uncatchable
- 11-05-24
Please use an editor!
This could have been a half or a third as long and still carried the story. I'd have stopped reading it if it weren't for the narrator.
Even so, I kept drifting off because the story is so slow
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Glenn Johns
- 11-03-24
Off to a good start - waiting for book 2
Spoiler warning - not a good enough writer to compose a review absent spoilers. With that out of the way, I'll start with saying that, on any given day, both Neal Stephenson is my favorite living author and that the Baroque Cycle is in my top 5 works of all time. So I'm sure that colors this review. I'd agree with an opinion that I read that Polostan is similar to Quicksilver. That isn't much of a surprise given that they are both opening installments in a "trilogy". (printed trilogy, however many Audible titles for Baroque Cycle) The comparison holds in that the narrative is split into different timelines for Dawn/Aurora and the realities of the political/social/economic settings are illustrated with the good and the bad of both the USA and USSR in the 20s and 30s of the 20th century. Also that,the author creates and sketches some memorable characters including some that are of historical significance in our reality. For much of the story Dawn/Aurora, also reminded me of Nell in the Diamond Age, in that she is swept along with little agency (no surprise, i guess, given Dawn/Aurora's age similarity) and both are a bit of a cipher at the start. Its mainly that, with what I think is intention of the author, I never really got the sense of what Dawn/Aurora really believes about the tenants of capitalism/marxism. Because she does display courage, ability to think on her feet, and complete tasks assigned to her. I just never know if she is really doing it out of belief or sense of duty and/or self preservation. Another difference is that, so far, she is really the only point of view character with only a couple of exceptions, notably the book's opening. That is an area of slight disappointment - I find the author's tangents as fun as some find irritating. There are a few tangents present, but at shallower angles, and so serve to move the story along a bit more than in other of the author's works. Another difference is there are also no other point-of-view story lines so far ala Jack Shaftoe/Daniel Waterhouse/Eliza, so far. I do feel that this book is not as strong as Quicksilver as an introductory title so give 4 stars. I recently listened to Pynchon's Bleeding Edge. So my opinion of January LaVoy's performance may be influenced by the painful narration of that title. The narrator, here, crafted enough differences in characters voice's that the story was easy to follow in the dialog sections and overall was a very pleasant listen. I eagerly await book 2 of Bomb Light.
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