
Shards of Earth
The Final Architecture, Book 1
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Narrated by:
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Sophie Aldred
About this listen
From the author of the thrilling science-fiction epic Children of Time, winner of the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award. Shards of Earth is the first high-octane, far-future space adventure in Adrian Tchaikovsky' Final Architecture trilogy.
The war is over.
Its heroes forgotten.
Until one chance discovery . . .
Idris has neither aged nor slept since they remade his mind in the war. And one of humanity’s heroes now scrapes by on a freelance salvage vessel, to avoid the attention of greater powers.
Eighty years ago, Earth was destroyed by an alien enemy. Many escaped, but millions more died. So mankind created enhanced humans such as Idris – who could communicate mind-to-mind with our aggressors. Then these ‘Architects’ simply disappeared and Idris and his kind became obsolete.
Now, Idris and his crew have something strange, abandoned in space. It’s clearly the work of the Architects – but are they really returning? And if so, why? Hunted by gangsters, cults and governments, Idris and his crew race across the galaxy as they search for answers. For they now possess something of incalculable value, and many would kill to obtain it.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2021 Adrian Tchaikovsky (P)2021 Macmillan Publishers International LtdListeners also enjoyed...
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Performance
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Lynesse is the lowly Fourth Daughter of the queen, and always getting in the way. But a demon is terrorizing the land, and now she's an adult (albeit barely) with responsibilities (she tells herself). Although she still gets in the way, she understands that the only way to save her people is to invoke the pact between her family and the Elder sorcerer who has inhabited the local tower for as long as her people have lived here (though none in living memory has approached it).
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barely more than a short story.
- By Daniel Smith on 09-10-23
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Saturation Point
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: Emma Newman
- Length: 4 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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The Hygrometric Dehabitation Region, or the "Zone," is a growing band of rainforest on the equator, where the heat and humidity make it impossible for warm-blooded animals to survive. A human being without protection in the Zone is dead in minutes. Twenty years ago, Marks went into the rainforest with a group of researchers led by Doctor Elaine Fell, to study the extraordinary climate and see if it could be used in agriculture. The only thing she learned was that the Zone was no place for people. There were deaths, and the program was cut short. Now, they're sending her back in.
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Good Book. Despite the pronouns.
- By Andrew Teats on 01-30-25
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Spiderlight
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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The Church of Armes of the Light has battled the forces of Darkness for as long as anyone can remember. The great prophecy has foretold that a band of misfits, led by a high priestess will defeat the Dark Lord Darvezian, armed with their wits, the blessing of the Light and an artifact stolen from the merciless Spider Queen. Their journey will be long, hard and fraught with danger. Allies will become enemies; enemies will become allies. And the Dark Lord will be waiting, always waiting…
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First listen to this author went well
- By nikolaus matheis on 11-04-24
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Service Model
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Humanity is a dying breed, utterly reliant on artificial labor and service. When a domesticated robot gets a nasty little idea downloaded into its core programming, they murder their owner. The robot discovers they can also do something else they never did before: They can run away. Fleeing the household they enter a wider world they never knew existed, where the age-old hierarchy of humans at the top is disintegrating into ruins and an entire robot ecosystem devoted to human wellbeing is having to find a new purpose.
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Another banger from Tchaikovsky
- By J. C. Amos on 06-09-24
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Empire in Black and Gold
- Shadows of the Apt, Book 1
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: Ben Allen
- Length: 23 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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The Lowlands’ city states have lived in peace for decades, hailed as bastions of civilization. Yet that peace is about to end. A distant empire has been conquering neighbours with highly trained soldiers and sophisticated combat techniques. And the city states are its desirable new prize. Only the ageing Stenwold Maker – spymaster, artificer and statesman – foresees the threat, as the empires’ armies march ever closer. So it falls upon his shoulders to open the eyes of the cities’ leaders.
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A hidden gem in Epic Fantasy
- By Blaise Ancona on 12-14-20
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Children of Time
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: Mel Hudson
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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A very pleasant surprise
- By Simon on 06-17-17
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Backyard Starship: Origins 2
- By: J.N. Chaney, Terry Maggert
- Narrated by: Neill Thorne, John Pirhalla
- Length: 1 hr and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Get ready to experience two more origin stories in the Backyard Starship universe.
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Character of main person is environment dependent.
- By George Riley on 12-28-24
By: J.N. Chaney, and others
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Exodus: The Archimedes Engine
- Exodus: The Archimedes Engine, Book 1
- By: Peter F. Hamilton
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 30 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Forty thousand years ago, humanity fled a dying Earth. Traveling in massive arkships, these brave pioneers spread out across the galaxy to find a new home. After traveling thousands of light-years, one fleet of arkships arrived at Centauri, a dense cluster of stars with a vast array of potentially habitable planets. The survivors of Earth signaled to the remaining arkships that humanity had finally found its new home among the stars.
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The 2024 Six Star Winner !
- By C. Hartmann on 09-22-24
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Wayward Galaxy
- Wayward Galaxy, Book 1
- By: Jason Anspach, J. N. Chaney
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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A company of Army Rangers is sent on an interstellar colony ship to secure a foothold on a dangerous, alien planet through violence of action. Leaving behind a warring Earth flung headfirst into a conflict of mutual assured destruction, the Rangers and the accompanying crew of first colonists are guided on a 40-year journey by an unprecedented artificial intelligence. But when they emerge from the frigid embrace of cryosleep, they awake to a nightmare, finding themselves greeted by the same ruthless enemy that brought about the ruin of Earth.
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A breath of fresh air
- By Anonymous User on 09-29-20
By: Jason Anspach, and others
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Stranger in a Strange Land
- By: Robert A. Heinlein
- Narrated by: Christopher Hurt
- Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Stranger in a Strange Land is the epic saga of an earthling, Valentine Michael Smith, born and educated on Mars, who arrives on our planet with “psi” powers—telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, telekinesis, teleportation, pyrolysis, and the ability to take control of the minds of others—and complete innocence regarding the mores of man. After his tutelage under a surrogate father figure, Valentine begins his transformation into a kind of messiah.
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We live in the world this book made
- By W. Seligman on 02-26-04
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Gateway
- Expeditionary Force, Book 18
- By: Craig Alanson
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 21 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Disaster. There was no other word to describe how Operation Olympic had changed in a flash from a triumph to the worst failure the Merry Band of Pirates had ever experienced. A failure that meant the fight was over. Unless the Pirates could perform a miracle, without Skippy.
By: Craig Alanson
What listeners say about Shards of Earth
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- J
- 04-27-22
The narrator's style does not suit the book
The story is relatively good. Not particularly novel.
The narration does it no favours. This is not a failing on the narrator's part, Sophie is quite competent in her own right. This is a production failure. It's like watching prima ballerinas performing in an MMA ring; a bit cringy.
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- Pauli S
- 05-06-22
A compelling introduction to a new galaxy
The author does a job of introducing and building a new complex, future Milky Way. There are several alien species and an intriguing political web. The science is plausible enough but still a fantasy.
I will read the next book because I struggled with the narration. The "acting" didn't match my interpretation of the characters. However, the voice was very pleasing.
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- Fredrik S
- 11-27-22
started a bit slow
took me a while to get into the story, but after a few chapters I started to really like it.
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- Watching and Reading
- 02-19-23
Okay
I have mixed feelings about this novel. The ending leaves most things unfinished but did cement character interplay. It was big on action but this supposed science fiction novel was really light on science. I won’t carry on reading this series but this one was just okay.
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- Pascal Scheffers
- 10-18-22
Great space opera and the narration is fine.
If you like a good, adventurous space opera this book will suit you.
Someone else really disliked the narrator, but it’s fine.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Pork Hunt
- 05-30-22
Good solid interesting story.
Not going to change your life, but an engaging tale that appealed to my Peter F Hamilton / Alastair Reynolds sensibilities. There seems to be a lot of hate for the narration, I found it totally fine. enjoyed the story and the performance.
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- Buhle G
- 04-16-23
It was exquisitely performed
I liked the characters, the contemplative style of writing and how the plot tied in nicely towards the end.
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- K&E
- 02-17-23
fine space opera
I enjoyed this title as the initial offering into a wider world. much like a tourist on a fast moving tour bus it was sometimes hard for me to keep all of the alien races and factions straight. however, I just held on for the ride and didn't bother trying to grasp all of the details so that I could just enjoy the scenery. I enjoyed this as much as the Children of Time and series and will definitely finish the rest of the titles.
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- doctorstarch
- 06-30-22
Great start to a sci-fi trilogy.
I found this totally compelling writing, and listening.
I think Sophie Aldred does a brilliant job the the characters, particularly Oli and the Hivers.
Looking forward to the next two
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- Jon
- 07-22-22
Great adventure
Tchaikovsky doing it again. Love his stuff. A long adventure with a lot of players
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