-
Shadow of the Scorpion
- A Novel of the Polity
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
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Publisher's summary
Raised to adulthood during the end of the war, between the human Polity and a vicious alien race, the Prador, Ian Cormac is haunted by childhood memories of a sinister scorpion-shaped war drone and the burden of losses he doesn’t remember. Cormac signs up with Earth Central Security and is sent out to help restore and maintain order on worlds devastated by the war. There, he discovers that though the Prador remain as murderous as ever, they are not anywhere near as treacherous or dangerous as some of his fellow humans - some closer to him than he would like. Amidst the ruins left by wartime genocides, Cormac will discover in himself a cold capacity for violence, and learn some horrible truths about his own past while trying to stay alive on his course of vengeance.
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David Marantz delivers a clear and straightforward performance of Neal Asher’s science fiction narrative Shadow of the Scorpion: A Novel of the Polity. Protagonist Ian Cormac came of age during the end of a war between humans and aliens, Polity versus Prador. Memories of a scorpion-shaped war drone haunt him, but he has trouble remembering everything. As he travels as part of Earth Central Security to war-torn locales, he discovers that humans are far more cruel and violent than the enemy aliens. He’s out for vengeance and nothing can stop him - not even the truth about his own past.
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Story
Carson Mach, a former war hero turned freelancer, seeks the biggest payday of his life when he's tasked to hunt down a ghost ship that has echoed through the centuries. The legendary Atlantis ship has become a reality, appearing at the Commonwealth frontier and obliterating an orbital station.
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Very Good Story, Looking Forward to the Next Book
- By Striker on 09-13-15
By: A. C. Hadfield
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Prominence
- By: A. C. Hadfield
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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They tried to destroy our planets. Our way of life. They tried to send us into extinction. But we, the Coalition, fought them and won. That was a decade ago. They’re known as the Host: a cabal of aliens seeking to dominate our sector of space. And they’re back - with help from a powerful new enemy. We’re outnumbered and unprepared. But there is hope. An ancient race of long-dead but technologically advanced aliens called the Navigators have a ship called the Blackstar that could potentially turn the tide. That is if I, Kai Locke, a humble ship racer, can find it and learn how to harness its power in time.
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Newly found love.
- By L. Rampey on 03-22-19
By: A. C. Hadfield
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Earth Unknown
- Forgotten Earth, Book 1
- By: M.R. Forbes
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Two hundred years ago, a fleet of colony ships left Earth and started a settlement on Proxima Centauri. Centurion Space Force pilot Nathan Stacker didn't expect to return home to find his wife dead. He didn't expect the murderer to look just like him, and he definitely didn't expect to be the one to take the blame. But his wife had control of a powerful secret. A secret that stretches across the light years between two worlds and could lead to the end of both. Now that secret is in Nathan's hands, and he's about to make the most desperate evasive maneuver of his life.
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Half a story.
- By RBD 2 on 03-29-21
By: M.R. Forbes
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Inquisitor
- By: Mitchell Hogan
- Narrated by: Allyson Johnson
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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To Inquisitor Angel Xia, it was just another corporate killing on a backwater planet. But as the bodies begin to pile up and she finds herself a target, she realizes she's stepped on one toe too many. Barely escaping attempts on her life by powerful agents with seemingly limitless reach and influence, Angel senses even her co-Inquisitors can't be trusted. But as the web tightens, she receives a cryptic message from a computer program claiming to be a little girl in desperate need of her help.
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meh
- By James Cross on 08-17-15
By: Mitchell Hogan
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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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Titanborn
- By: Rhett C. Bruno
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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After decades hunting wanted offworlders throughout the solar system, Corporate Bounty Hunter Malcolm Graves doesn't bother asking questions. So long as the pay is right, he's the man for the job. And he always works alone. But when a high-profile bombing on Earth has Pervenio Corp clamoring for answers, they force him to team up with a strange, cyber-augmented partner. A young man more interested in statistics than instinct. Their assignment: Track down a suspected group of extremists from Titan who will go to any length to free their moon from the grip of Earth's corporations.
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Great Mystery Sci-fi
- By Bryan on 02-08-19
By: Rhett C. Bruno
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Arcadian Genesis
- By: Greig Beck
- Narrated by: Sean Mangan
- Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Alex Hunter - in the mission that turned him from a normal man into the weapon known as the Arcadian - and the elite team of soldiers known as the Hotzone All-Forces Warfare Commandos must enter a hostile country to rescue a defected Chechen researcher from the centre of a country at war. But the HAWCs are not the only ones looking for the rogue scientist and the mysterious package he carries with him. A brutal and relentless killer and his death squad are on the trail, too - and they bring a savagery with them that Hunter and his team have never witnessed before in modern warfare.
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Not bad, but not great
- By Michael on 02-27-22
By: Greig Beck
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At Any Price & Rolling Hot
- Hammer's Slammers Series
- By: David Drake
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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This two-story compiliation, read by Stefan Rudnicki, offers two stories from David Drake's popular Hammer's Slammers series. In At Any Price, Col. Alois Hammer's indomitable Slammers are called in to support human colonists against a native uprising in this novel-length adventure. But even though the natives' off-world weapons are no match for the Slammers, their ability to teleport gives them a frightening advantage! In Rolling Hot, the battle-crazed troop of recruits and vets, led by Captain Ranson, must cover 300 miles of hostile enemy territory.
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Not a cohesive story or stories
- By Jeffery on 01-19-21
By: David Drake
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Crucible: A Max Ahlgren Story
- Crucible, Book 0
- By: Ryan W. Aslesen
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
- Length: 2 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Captain Max Ahlgren is proud to be one of the first team commanders in the Marine Corps’ nascent MARSOC detachment. Finally, the Corps’ elite warriors are working alongside those of other branches, battling insurgents, not on the front lines but behind them. After his first mission, however, Max learns he will be replaced as team commander.
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Revenge is said best served cold It best high volt
- By Dennis on 03-25-21
By: Ryan W. Aslesen
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The Ember War
- Publisher's Pack, Books 1-2
- By: Richard Fox
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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The Ember War, book 1: The Earth is doomed. Humanity has a chance. In the near future, an alien probe arrives on Earth with a pivotal mission: to determine if humanity has what it takes to survive the impending invasion by a merciless armada. The probe discovers Marc Ibarra, a young inventor who holds the key to a daring gambit that could save a fraction of Earth's population. Humanity's only chance lies with Ibarra's ability to keep a terrible secret and engineer the planet down the narrow path to survival.
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A COUPLE OF BULLETS AND FOUL LANGUAGE TO DEFEND
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 12-10-16
By: Richard Fox
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Mass Effect
- Revelation
- By: Drew Karpyshyn
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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After discovering a cache of Prothean technology on Mars in 2148, humanity is spreading to the stars---the newest interstellar species, struggling to carve out its place in the greater galactic community. On the edge of colonized space, ship commander and Alliance war hero David Anderson investigates the remains of a top secret military research station---smoking ruins littered with bodies and unanswered questions. Who attacked this post, and for what purpose?
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Enhances the enjoyment of the games substantially
- By Some Dude on 09-01-11
By: Drew Karpyshyn
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Predator - Incursion
- The Rage War, Book 1
- By: Tim Lebbon
- Narrated by: John Chancer
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Predator ships stream into human space in unprecedented numbers. The Colonial Marines, controlled by Weyland-Yutani, respond to the incursion, thus entering the Rage War. This terrifying assault by the Yautja cannot go unchallenged, yet the cost of combat is high. Predators are master combatants, and each encounter yields a high body count. Then, when Lt. Johnny Mains and his marines - the VoidLarks - enter the fray, they discover an enemy deadlier than any could imagine.
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I was really wanted to like this book!!
- By jeremy lamarch on 05-15-16
By: Tim Lebbon
What listeners say about Shadow of the Scorpion
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Customer
- 07-14-22
ok, better if u kno the series
struggled to care about the story. tried to multitask while listening and it's too hard to follow changing timelines multiple times in a long chapter with very minor voice acting. Very long to an anti-climactic answer to the war drone & MC's dad.
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- Jon Johansson
- 09-07-22
well somebody heard about nonlinear story telling
it is a solid sci-fi action book, could have gone without the tacked on adult scenes. but it can be hard to follow when the narrative jumps around time periods.
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- Michael G Kurilla
- 02-28-21
Origin story for Agent Cormac
Neal Asher's Shadow of the Scorpion is the origin story for agent Cormac, a long running series located in his Polity universe. The main tale relates Cormac's early years from a young military grunt with his demonstration of fighting, spying, and deductive skills that gets him into the ESC (Earth Central Security). While the Prador is the alien enemy of the Polity, there is an indigenous insurgent movement that is fighting for independence from the the Polity itself. The story alternates between this present day and Cormac's childhood which involves interactions with the Polity war drone Amistad who worked with Cormac's father, missing and presumed dead during the early Prador war, but never fully explained. Cormac progressively evolves over time into the bigger than life character.
Set in the Polity universe, there's less emphasis on the AI dominated culture. At the same time, the Prador play a limited role with the insurgents taking center stage through a classic underground movement. One distinctive feature is the use of selective memory wipes as a way of dealing with painful experiences and preventing PTSD. Cormac comes to learn that he underwent several during his childhood and deals with that reintegration.
The narration is well done with good character distinction and adequate pacing well aligned with the plot.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Marilee Diehl
- 04-23-15
Fascinating!
Leaves you wondering. Well played. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I can't help wondering what comes next. I'm not ready to leave these characters.
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- claricebowie
- 05-24-17
it had satisfying ending
man, Amistad is just poor misunderstood murder machine that just wanted little cormac to know the truth
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- Teaat3
- 05-24-19
The Crack Cocain of Sci Fi
Neal Asher writes such good books that are so engaging. The characters are round and the world is realistic. Can't get enough!
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- BSW
- 03-25-15
Excellent First in Cormac Series
Great intro to the Ian Cormac series. Necessary reading the Neal Asher fans who seek the background and origins of Cormac. Must listen!
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- Gr
- 05-06-21
Outstanding
This was a great book and made me wanting more. The origin story for agent Cormac, series located in the Polity universe. Lots of action and excitement. I listened to the audible version and the narration by David Marantz was outstanding. I wish more of the Polity Universe was in Audible.
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- Arjen
- 01-20-18
Best sci-fi action writer I know
Even though the polity series is chuck full of fast pased emersive combat and gritty cyberpunk characters it is not in any sense light reading. Neal Asher is a master of epic world building and interesting character development. The science in his work often esoteric and mysterious yet with a strong foundation in the world he built.
What attracts me most to his writing is that Asher manages to capture the grit and feel of early cyperpunk works and manages to hold on to that through huge and intricate story arcs. Something most early cyberpunk writers never really mastered.
I am relistening the entire polity universe series now since it is finally complete in audiobook form. I do advise anyone with similar ambitions to google the timeline and read the series chronologically. Asher has been writing in this universe for decades, prequels sequels an all, so it can get a little confusing if you just go by audible's inferior sorting options.
Ps: A tip for you audible devs: remember my sorting preferences already, sigh.. Resorting every query to release date got tiresome years ago. The new terminology does not help either.
If you like Neal Asher go check out Peter F. Hamilton too. Not as much grit and action but seriously good at building story arcs . Takes epic out of the spectrum.
Piece
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- unsightlyleaf
- 03-12-15
Really good book
One of Asher's best, in my opinion. Love the evolution of techno-Bond. It's great to see how Cormac got his start.
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