-
The Crucible of Empire
- Narrated by: Chris Patton
- Length: 15 hrs and 56 mins
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Publisher's summary
The intricate and action-packed sequel to New York Times bestseller and master tale-spinner Eric Flint and K.D. Wentworth’s ground-breaking Course of Empire.
Humanity is first subjugated by haughty alien colonizers calling themselves the Jao when Earth is unexpectedly attacked by the implacable and nearly-unstoppable Ekhat, exterminators of all intelligent life not their own. Now the fragile Human-Jao alliance is put to the test. A devastating encounter with the Ekhat in a distant nebula reveals a powerful alien society that may hold the key to defeating the Ekhat once and for all. There’s one big problem: they utterly loathe humanity's ally, the Jao. And why shouldn’t they? It was the Jao who drove them into hiding in the first place. Once again, everything depends on those innovators and idea-generators, the humans, to quell a brewing war and forge a tripartite alliance of very different species - or be blasted to empty cinders if they don’t succeed.
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Cobras are technologically-enhanced warriors bred to fight an alien menace no ordinary human can withstand. At the center of action, on the Cobra world of Aventine, is the legendary Moreau clan. While the Cobras are necessary in times of war, in times of peace, they are often reviled by those they have saved. Now, the Cobras have resisted a second invasion of the alien Troft forces, forcing the Troft to a stalemate - even converting some thoughtful Troft into uneasy allies against their kin.
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What?
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 07-09-15
By: Timothy Zahn
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Fleet of Worlds
- 200 Years Before the Discovery of the Ringworld
- By: Larry Niven, Edward M. Lerner
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Fleet of Worlds takes a closer look at Human-Puppeteer (Citizen) relations and the events leading up to Niven's first Ringworld novel. Kirsten Quinn-Kovacks is among the best and brightest of her people. She gratefully serves the gentle race that rescued her ancestors from a dying starship, gave them a world, and nurtures them still. If only the Citizens knew where Kirsten's people came from.
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Hurrah!
- By Bruce on 01-25-08
By: Larry Niven, and others
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Mech Zero: The Dominant
- By: B. V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 1 hr and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Death awaits the curious! Out along the rim of the galaxy hangs a loose configuration of some 60 stars known as the Faustian Chain. This whorl of sparkling suns is rich in planets and occupies an irregular volume of space some 20 light years in diameter. From an external viewpoint, the Chain presents a colorful display of plasma-streams, luminous nebulae and sparkling pinpoints of light.
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No hero's here
- By SteveM on 07-17-16
By: B. V. Larson
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Star Trek Prometheus - Fire with Fire
- By: Bernd Perpies, Christian Humberg
- Narrated by: Alec Newman
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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A mysterious terrorist organisation has carried out several attacks against the Federation and Klingon Empire. Tensions are running high in a region already crippled by conflict. The perpetrators are tracked to the Lembatta Cluster, a mysterious region of space whose inhabitants, the Renao, regard the Alpha Quadrant s powers as little more than conquering tyrants. The Federation are desperate to prevent more bloodshed, and have sent their most powerful warship, the USS Prometheus, into the Cluster to investigate the threat before all-consuming war breaks out.
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Please pronounce things correctly
- By C. A. Aranzazu on 12-22-18
By: Bernd Perpies, and others
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The Daedalus Incident
- By: Michael J. Martinez
- Narrated by: Kristin Kalbli, Bernard Clark
- Length: 16 hrs
- Unabridged
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Mars is supposed to be dead. Bizarre quakes are rumbling over the long-dormant tectonic plates of the planet, disrupting its trillion-dollar mining operations and driving scientists past the edges of theory and reason. However, when rocks shake off their ancient dust and begin to roll seemingly of their own volition carving canals as they converge to form a towering structure amid the ruddy terrain, Lt. Jain and her JSC team realize that their routine geological survey of a Martian cave system is anything but. The only clues they have stem from the emissions of a mysterious blue radiation, and a 300-year-old journal that is writing itself.
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I wanted to love this more, but still solid...
- By A reader on 09-11-13
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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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Sten
- Sten Series, Book 1
- By: Chris Bunch, Allan Cole
- Narrated by: Jerry Sciarrio
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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The first book in an action–packed new SF adventure series. Vulcan is a factory planet, centuries old, Company run, ugly as sin, and unfeeling as death. Vulcan breeds just two types of native: complacent or tough. Sten is tough. When his family is killed in a mysterious accident, Sten rebels, harassing the Company from the metal world’s endless maze-like warrens. He could end up just another burnt–out Delinquent. But people like Sten never give up.
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THE MASTERPIECE BY JERRY SCIARRIO
- By Professor on 10-31-12
By: Chris Bunch, and others
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Orion
- Orion Series, Book 1
- By: Ben Bova
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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John O'Ryan is not a god...not exactly. He is an eternal warrior destined to combat the Dark Lord through all time for dominion of the Earth. Follow him, servant of a great race, as he battles his enemy down the halls of time, from the caves of our ancestors to the final confrontation under the hammer of nuclear annihilation.
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Cornucopia of Genre's
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 06-10-12
By: Ben Bova
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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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A Talent for War
- An Alex Benedict Novel
- By: Jack McDevitt
- Narrated by: Gregory Abbey, Jack McDevitt
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
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Everyone knew the legend of Christopher Sim. Fighter. Leader. An interstellar hero with a rare talent for war, Sim changed mankind's history forever when he forged a ragtag group of misfits into the weapon that broke the back of the alien Ashiyyur. But now, Alex Benedict has found a startling bit of information, long buried in an ancient computer file. If it is true, then Christopher Sim was a fraud.
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Very good - but the cover and title are deceptive
- By Brian on 09-25-10
By: Jack McDevitt
What listeners say about The Crucible of Empire
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Lack of Warning
- 07-16-15
Good enjoyable read
As a fan of Eric Flint this was a good enjoyable read. I can't wait to get to book three.
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- Douglas Tiffin
- 01-11-13
How can advanced races be so stupit?
Any additional comments?
Almost every conflict that pushes the plot is based on every race involved being so stupid when it comes to psychology that nothing makes sense. Every race involved is an advanced race used to dealing with other alien races yet they cannot accept that every other race might act and react different than them or each other. Not only do they act this way with new races but even with the race they have been dealing with for decades. It gets very tiring watching every character's inability to realize the other races act differently and never being able to either predict how they will act or understand why anything is done the way it is done.
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- David Hurwitz
- 10-26-12
Great Sequel to The Course of Empire
I enjoyed this book even more than the first. The Jao race's character is better developed and individual characters are better developed. The story is exciting but also gives the reader much to think about in terms of relationships between humans and the alien races as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each. Chris Patton does a superb job of reading, making the characters vivid and compelling. Sadly, there is no mention of a sequel on Eric Flint's web site, and with the death earlier this year of coauthor K. D. Wentworth, this is probably the last in the series.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Christa
- 05-10-12
Very likable, but don't expect hard sci-fi.
Like the first book, Course of Empire, the story is all about the character interaction, and straight forward action. I very much enjoyed the switching viewpoints between the three species and their interaction, but you will really need to suspend disbelief in a lot of places. If you are a fan of realistic sci-fi, which takes science seriously, this is not it.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Andrew
- 09-10-13
Wanted more from the denouement
This is decent and dependable. Knowing the sort of book I was getting, I found it more enjoyable than the first. The alien cultures are interesting and I enjoyed the interplay. I felt the book ended a bit abruptly, and wanted more from falling action.
Not spectacular, but enjoyable. Three for story, three for performance, but since I wanted more of the same in the falling action...I wound up with four overall.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Adam
- 05-05-12
An excellent follow-up to Course of Empire
Any additional comments?
A long delayed follow-up to Course of Empire. Crucible of Empire is enthralling because of the interesting alien culture represented by the Jao, now the series authors add an additional culture to the mix. This is done extraordinarily well.I am writing this review without having yet finished the audio-book, I have another few hours to go. The reason I am writing this now is that unlike so many other stories in the military-scf fi genre I do not know for certain how this story will end. There is a genuine opportunity for tragedy, and in a genre where the good guys inevitably win in the end my uncertainty is a rare and special gift. I hope the Authors won't take another decade to continue with this excellent series.
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- ShySusan
- 11-21-12
Great character development of the aliens
I really enjoyed this story, and I was sorry to learn that K. D. Wentworth has died, so we probably can't look forward to any more entries in this series. However, I'm grateful for what we did get.
I think Flint and Wentworth did a very good job of developing the alien species: Their appearance and physical characteristics, their thought processes, their motivations, and how they got that way. I thought their society was very interesting, and I would have loved to see how it developed in the future after their contact with humanity. (Hey! Could someone from the urban fantasy community step over here and bring Wentworth back from the dead to write another sequel?)
I did get a little irritated by the whole "secrets" thing: we must keep this a secret, now we must lie about the secret, now we must not lie about the secret. However, that was a very trifling quibble about an otherwise excellent first contact story. I recommend it.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Got My Book
- 11-01-16
Withholding Final Judgement
An uneven, possibly overly long, Adult SF story with some great characters.
BOOK DETAILS:
The Crucible of Empire by Eric Flint & KD Wentworth, read by Chris Patton, published by Audible Studios (2012) / Length: 16 hrs
SERIES INFO:
This is Book #2 of 3 in the "Jao" trilogy. Book #3 was just recently published, and is not currently available on audio.
**This review contains spoilers for the previous book.**
SUMMARY:
This book was a bit hit or miss for me. There were some parts that I loved, some I didn't enjoy as much, and a few I didn't like at all. In general, it seemed like a side trip. It's been left for the third book to explain why it was necessary.
CHARACTERS:
Tully: Still a favorite. He has really grown & changed, but isn't quite comfortable with that fact yet himself. It is interesting to see a spy who was always on the move try to become a leader.
Caitlyn: I found her sections to be even more boring than in the last book. She is an interesting character, but I just don't enjoy reading things from her POV.
Jihan: I'm with Tully and did not like the Lleix culture at all (although I understand how damaged it is by what has happened to it). That made it difficult to enjoy her parts as much as I might have if she had had different surroundings.
Pranks aside, my favorite new character is Kaln, the female Jao tech. Although, by the end, Terra Captain Dannet was shaping up to be very interesting also.
WORLDBUILDING:
I would still like to get more details about the state of current Earth society. We are given a deeper understanding of Jao culture, especially as experienced from outside the highest circles. And the Lleix culture is very clearly laid out. There are some great descriptions of their city and it's conditions. Although I didn't like their culture, these latter explorations of their setting and least important residents were good.
Note: there isn't really any acknowledgement of difference in time (i.e. years old) based on your planet.
PLOT:
We begin with Tully, who was one of my favorite characters in the first book. Most of the major characters from before get at least a cameo in the first few chapters. The current time (2 years later) and situation are made clear. It should be easy enough for someone to get oriented even if it's been awhile since they read the first one (or if they haven't).
Unlike the previous book, which had lots of POVs that were all part of the same set of happenings, this book has two different stories that come together in the middle.
Some concepts were repeated too many times after any reasonable reader should have already understood them.
I love the endings. The Ekhat situation isn't resolved, and even the Lleix are still somewhat in limbo, but it is hopeful and sweet.
HIGHLIGHTS / CAUTIONS:
--Tully & the surviving Krant officers.
--Everyone comes together for the first time
--Tully & the Lleix outcasts
I COULD HAVE DONE WITHOUT: Swearing / the pranks stuff, even if it is central to the plot / anything with Ekhat POV, nasty
OTHER CAUTIONS(?): There is some discussion of human sexual practices from an outside perspective.
NARRATION:
Character voices differentiated = Yes / Opposite sex voices acceptable = Yes / Accents = Good, especially since they were mostly aliens / Phrasing, Pacing & Pronunciation = Good / Emoting = Good / Speed = listened on 1.25, my usual
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- Mike From Mesa
- 02-19-13
Excellent second book in series
I read the first book in this series and, when I reviewed it, I gave it 5 stars. Not because of the story (which I thought was OK but nothing special) but because the epilogue of the book changed the entire way I viewed the story and, in my opinion, changed it from an OK 4 star to a first class 5 star book. Now, reviewing the second book in the series, I find myself again giving the book 5 stars although for very different reasons.
This book, which picks up about where the first book left off, introduces an entirely new set of alien characters. While the first book set the background for what was to come, this book excels in the very interesting new aliens which are introduced. Some come from what I have to call the Rodney Dangerfield alien Jao clan (they don't get any respect from the other Jao) and others from an entirely new species introduced with this book. The story revolves around the human-Jao alliance's attempt to save the remaining aliens from an upcoming Ekhat attack. All of this is complicated by the fact that the Jao had been the race that, while Ekhat servants, had almost annihilated them and pushed them into hiding.
The story itself is somewhat pedestrian but the book excels in the characters that are introduced and the interplay between them. We have humans coming to understand and sympathize with the Jao, Jao beginning to see the humans as a truly intelligent species with the beginnings of respect for each other and it becomes clear how the alliance will proceed to gain Jao-wide respect for their new proto clan. The book also ends with what was clearly intended to be the plot for the next volume in the series.
With K D Wentworth's passing in 2012 it does not seem clear that there will be another book in this series and, that if there is, that the book will be as well conceived and written as this one. While Eric Flint is a first class sf writer I have not noticed the kind of interesting character development in the other of his books that I have read. Assuming that much of this came from Ms Wentworth's contribution it is impossible to say if there will be another book and, if there is, if it would be as good as this one. Still, if another book in this series came out I would almost certainly buy it.
Chris Patton's narration is very good and it is nice to have been able to hear all of the names and voices much the same as in the first book. If you liked the first book in this series you will almost certainly like this one.
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- Matt Murdoch
- 04-24-15
Great space adventure
Even better than the first one! Great aliens, great characters and some breathtaking space battles. Excellent narrator for this one as well.
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