The Darwin Elevator
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Narrated by:
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Simon Vance
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By:
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Jason M. Hough
About this listen
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Jason M. Hough’s pulse-pounding debut combines the drama, swagger, and vivid characters of Joss Whedon’s Firefly with the talent of sci-fi author John Scalzi.
In the mid-23rd century, Darwin, Australia, stands as the last human city on Earth. The world has succumbed to an alien plague, with most of the population transformed into mindless, savage creatures. The planet’s refugees flock to Darwin, where a space elevator—created by the architects of this apocalypse, the Builders—emits a plague-suppressing aura.
Skyler Luiken has a rare immunity to the plague. Backed by an international crew of fellow “immunes,” he leads missions into the dangerous wasteland beyond the aura’s edge to find the resources Darwin needs to stave off collapse. But when the Elevator starts to malfunction, Skyler is tapped—along with the brilliant scientist, Dr. Tania Sharma—to solve the mystery of the failing alien technology and save the ragged remnants of humanity.
Praise for The Darwin Elevator “A hell of a fun book.”—James S. A. Corey, New York Times bestselling author of Abaddon’s Gate
“[Jason M.] Hough’s first novel combines the rapid-fire action and memorable characters associated with Joss Whedon’s short-lived Firefly TV series with the accessibility and scientific acumen of [James S. A.] Corey’s ‘Expanse’ series.”—Library Journal (starred review)
“The best part about alien stories is their mystery, and Jason Hough understands that like no other. Full of compelling characters and thick with tension, The Darwin Elevator delivers both despair and hope along with a gigantic dose of wonder. It’s a brilliant debut, and Hough can take my money whenever he writes anything from now on.”—Kevin Hearne, New York Times bestselling author of The Iron Druid Chronicles
“Newcomer Hough displays a talent for imaginative plotting and realistic dialogue, and the brisk pacing and cliffhanger ending will keep readers enthralled and eagerly awaiting the next installment.”—Publishers Weekly
“Jason M. Hough does a great job with this huge story. The world of Darwin and the Elevator is deliciously complex and satisfying. Skyler, Tania, and all the other characters are delightfully drawn and fun to spend time with. . . . The story unfolds with just the right balance of high adventure, espionage, humor, and emotional truth. . . . As soon as you finish, you’ll want more.”—Analog
“A debut novel unlike any other . . . This is something special. Something iconic. The Darwin Elevator is full of majesty and wonder, mystery and mayhem, colorful characters and insidious schemes.”—SF Signal
“Fun, action-packed and entertaining . . . a sure contender for science fiction debut of the year!”—Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist “Claustrophobic, intense, and satisfying . . . I couldn’t put this book down. The Darwin Elevator depicts a terrifying world, suspends it from a delicate thread, and forces you to read with held breath as you anticipate the inevitable fall.”—Hugh Howey, New York Times bestselling author of Wool
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Critic reviews
“The best part about alien stories is their mystery, and Jason Hough understands that like no other. Full of compelling characters and thick with tension, The Darwin Elevator delivers both despair and hope along with a gigantic dose of wonder. It’s a brilliant debut, and Hough can take my money whenever he writes anything from now on.” (Kevin Hearne, New York Times bestselling author of The Iron Druid Chronicles)
"Newcomer Hough displays a talent for imaginative plotting and realistic dialogue, and the brisk pacing and cliffhanger ending will keep readers enthralled and eagerly awaiting the next installment." (Publishers Weekly)
“A hell of a fun book.” (James S. A. Corey, New York Times bestselling author of Abaddon’s Gate)
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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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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 Pearl Wars: Skyship Academy, Book 1
- By: Nick James
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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A devastated Earth's last hope is found in Pearls: small, mysterious orbs that fall from space and are capable of supplying enough energy to power entire cities. Battling to control the Pearls are the Skyship dwellers -political dissidents who live in massive ships in the Earth's stratosphere - and the corrupt Surface government.
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Starts slow but picks up in the quarter...
- By Karissa Eckert on 12-11-16
By: Nick James
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TimeRiders
- By: Alex Scarrow
- Narrated by: Aaron Landon
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Maddy should have died in a plane crash. Liam should have died at sea when the Titanic sank. Sal should have died in a tragic fire. But a mysterious man whisked them away to safety. Maddy, Liam, and Sal quickly learn that time travel is no longer just a hope for the future; it is a dangerous reality. And they weren't just rescued from their terrible fates…they were recruited for the agency of TimeRiders created to protect the world from those seeking to alter the course of history for personal gain.
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Rather mundane story, not very scifi
- By DoctorMu on 01-24-16
By: Alex Scarrow
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Time Salvager
- By: Wesley Chu
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Convicted criminal James Griffin-Mars is no one's hero. In his time, Earth is a toxic, abandoned world, and humans have fled into the outer solar system to survive, eking out a fragile, doomed existence among the other planets and their moons. Those responsible for delaying humanity's demise believe time travel holds the key, and they have identified James, troubled though he is, as one of a select and expendable few ideally suited for the most dangerous job in history.
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Thrilling time-traveling adventure full of twists.
- By Daniel on 11-13-15
By: Wesley Chu
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The Last Bastion of the Living
- A Futuristic Zombie Novel
- By: Rhiannon Frater
- Narrated by: Kristin Allison
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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A walled city surrounded by lush land, protected by high mountain summits, and fortified by a massive gate to secure the only pass into the valley, The Bastion remained humanity's last hope against the fearsome undead creatures known as the Inferi Scourge. On one fateful day, the valley gate failed and the Inferi Scourge overran and destroyed the human settlements outside the walls, trapping the remaining survivors inside the city. Now, decades later, the last remaining humans are struggling to survive....
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A breath of fresh air in the Zombie genre
- By sarah on 09-16-12
By: Rhiannon Frater
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Dark Run
- Keiko, Book 1
- By: Mike Brooks
- Narrated by: Damian Lynch
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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The Keiko is a ship of smugglers, soldiers of fortune and adventurers, travelling Earth's colony planets, searching for the next job. And nobody talks about their past. But when a face from Captain Ichabod Drift's former life sends them on a run to Old Earth, all the rules change. Trust will be broken, and blood will be spilled.
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Fun sf in a familiar setting *cough Firefly cough*
- By John on 06-12-16
By: Mike Brooks
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Frozen Earth
- Rogue Star, Book 1
- By: Jasper T. Scott
- Narrated by: Flynn Earl Jones
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Logan Willis’s life is falling apart: he lost his job and found out that his wife is cheating on him all in the same day. Thinking that his world has ended, Logan checks into a hotel and turns on the TV to see that he's not far wrong - radio telescopes have detected mysterious signals coming from inside our solar system, and the source is moving toward us at over 500 miles per second. The media concludes that these signals must be of an alien origin. Still reeling from the news, Logan gets a phone call from his brother-in-law.
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Not that good
- By Roni on 12-27-18
By: Jasper T. Scott
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War of the Spheres
- By: James Millington, B. V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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When humanity reaches for the stars, our probes are destroyed. They crash into an incredibly advanced piece of technology: a massive force-field. Unknown beings have placed a barrier around our star and planets, enclosing us within. We’re locked inside a Great Sphere. Was this invisible obstacle built to imprison us - or to protect us? No one knows the truth, but it soon becomes clear the barrier has leaks. Aliens infiltrate and try to sabotage our efforts to escape our cage.
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misleading summary...
- By Neil Kresl on 04-04-19
By: James Millington, and others
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Shadow Catcher
- Nick Baron, Book 1
- By: James R. Hannibal
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Over ten years ago, Air Force major Nick Baron was part of a failed special ops mission that left a B-2 stealth bomber at the bottom of the Persian Gulf. Now, leading his men - the Triple Seven Chase team - Baron must find the bomber and dispose of it for good before any unfriendly nation can steal the onboard technology for its own purposes. But as the team embarks on its mission, there are greater dangers waiting.
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Fun book
- By JL on 02-16-14
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Last Command
- Fallen Empire, Book 0
- By: Lindsay Buroker
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 2 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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In the final days of the empire, Cyborg Corps Colonel Leonidas Adler plans to die in a manner befitting of an imperial officer. He will fight until his last breath, giving his life to defend Emperor Markus, as it was meant to be. But when the emperor himself summons him for a final special mission, how can he refuse?
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Pretty good teaser for lighter space opera
- By 🔥 Phx17 🔥 on 10-15-21
By: Lindsay Buroker
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Code Breakers: Prequel
- By: Colin F. Barnes
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 2 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Rogue hackers Petal and Gabriel are low on food and water. Their reputation precedes them and they are no longer able to hustle the crime community for supplies. With survival becoming harder, they’re left with no other choice but to accept a risky job from a dangerous individual. The two will have to negotiate with the Tinker - a woman whose reputation for psychotic behaviour is known across the nuclear-blasted Abandoned Lands; infiltrate a town overrun with killers; and recover a cache of exceptionally rare information.
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Good action and plot - terrible world building
- By J. S. Bowers on 12-08-18
By: Colin F. Barnes
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The Atlantis Ship
- By: A. C. Hadfield
- Narrated by: Alexander Cendese
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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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
What listeners say about The Darwin Elevator
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- DKR
- 06-23-21
Garbage in, garbage out
Warning: spoilers.
The author spends an entire book making one of the main characters out to be extremely smart, extremely meticulous, and with an extensive, well-thought-out plan.
Then, the bad guys magically overrun all his defenses, he has no way out and no contingency, and he just dies stupidly.
Talk about lazy, garbage writing.
And he does it repeatedly.
Sad, really. It was a really engaging story ruined by never letting the good guys win for a second, no matter how contrived he had to make the bad guys' success. Somebody watched too much Game of Thrones.
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- Crew of the Normandy SR-2
- 08-12-13
Try this book!
Where does The Darwin Elevator rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
I've listened to over 200 books on Audible and I would rank this in the top 10%. Having my favorite narrator Simon Vance doesn't hurt.
Any additional comments?
This book is a tad hard to follow at first. It's a post apocalyptic story, but some of the facts that all the characters in the book know do not get explained to the reader/listener right way. However, after the first hour I had a hard time taking a break from it. This book really doesn't have any slow sections. It draws you in and just takes off. Eagerly awaiting a sequel.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Ink Paper
- 07-27-16
Really wonderful! So glad there are more.
I'm not a person who reviews books, so I'll leave that to everyone else. I personally loved everything about this book and can't wait to continue on through the series.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Takashi
- 04-28-23
Not as engaging
It’s a great story to fall asleep with barely entertaining enough for the commute home. The characters stated out okay then just never became more. Like I said great bedtime story just nothing to continue on after the original.
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- Cassie S
- 10-18-16
Enjoyable
A bit predictable at times, but I enjoyed it. Looking forward to the next one. Performance was great.
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- Michael G Kurilla
- 09-03-13
Unique perspective on alien contact
Author Jason Hough has produced a rather unique perspective on alien contact. In this case, an automated alien vessel has entered Earth's orbit and constructed a space elevator centered over Darwin, Australia. A few years later, the rest of the planet becomes uninhabitable due to an unknown "disease" that changes people into "subhumans," all except for a patch of ground centered around Darwin. Under the influence, humans revert to more primitive behavior that is mostly violent. A few humans remain immune to the effect. Subsequently, the elevator has become a lifeline, supplying space grown food in exchange for air and water from below.
The story revolves around two young individuals caught up in the power struggles between and within the orbitals (spaced based habitats) and the people on the ground. In the meantime, another alien vessel is arriving. The sci-fi elements are standard fare with little beyond the alien artifacts which remain mysterious throughout. The action is non-stop with good pacing and nicely integrated infodumps that avoid bogging down the plot. Unfortunately there is little resolution of any major or minor conflicts as this is part of a longer story arc. The ending merely inserts some suggestive possibilities and leaves much hanging in the balance.
The narration is respectable, but unremarkable,
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7 people found this helpful
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- goddess_of_pipework
- 09-21-13
Interesting
This book is a particularly well-done blending of "zombie apocalypse" and hard-core old-school SF. The characters and story are interesting and complex. Simon Vance does his usual excellent job of narration. The subtle accents are especially well done, from Skyler's Dutch to Tania's Indian to Platz' Australian. I look forward to listening to the other books in the series.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amanda
- 07-01-21
Good, but some parts... Too much...
Overall I liked it! But a bit too much of the unnecessary degrading of the women. Sure Blackfield is disgusting, but did it need to be shoved in our face so often? Wasn't once or twice enough? So many unnecessary comments. Like, yeah, I get it! He loves to humiliate women and secually harass them. I got it after the first time. no need to shove it in there literally at least 10 more times...
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- Cody Uhl
- 07-17-23
Enjoyable and unique hard Sci Fi read
It took me a few chapters to get into it. But then I was intrigued by the story and characters, and had fallen into it. The last third of the book is nonstop action, and keeps you hooked.
It definitely goes a little Game of Thrones in the unexpected killing of characters that you get invested in.
My biggest dislike is that the villain of the story is very one dimensional, and it’s hard to believe that such a character managed to eek their way into power in this post apocalyptic world.
I actually liked that the gorgeous brilliant woman scientist didn’t magically turn into an action hero. I’ve read some reviews complaining that she didn’t fight back enough, but I thought it was very realistic that a woman who has spent her entire life in education and then research living on a highly selective space station would be incredibly sheltered from obscene behavior. In the Fight/Flight/Freeze response to danger, I’m not surprised she might Freeze.
The performance of the narrator was great; I gave a 4 stars out of 5 (I wish 4.5 was an option), purely because I got the impression that the main character, Skyler, was an old grandpa-type man. I was shocked to see the cover art of a mid-30’s man for the character.
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- G.Monie
- 09-12-13
Darwin Starts his Survival of the Fittest Trilogy
This first book of the trilogy ends up being groundwork for the next novels that the author thankfully decided to write & release all very quickly in literary terms. If I had to wait a year for the next book of this series I might have easily forgotten or procrastinated after that much time passed.
That statement might make this Sci-Fi book sub-par by most standards but I believe the author might have known readers would be confused at the ending of this book & require answers relatively quickly or else just chalk this series up to one that only teases u to buy more of the books, therefore, he ensured the releases of the entire trilogy quickly & I am currently half-way thru the next book (So? I'm still not sure lol, but the books are entertaining reading for a sci-fi enthusiast). The book starts off as many futuristic style books do setting a backdrop of a strange extra-terrestrial event occurring & shortly after a virus of some sort kills off the majority of the worlds population and leaves the ones still alive that are infected with an extremely violently insane quality to them... Don't think zombies think crazy people acting more like gorillas than homo sapiens. There is a small percentage (prob about 1%) of the world population immune to the disease & the area around the alien event which manifests itself as an elevator into space, virus free or those who are infected the virus goes dormant crossing within the boundaries quick enough because a large city like area around the 'elevator' is virus free (although many times shoot first ask questions later is the usual policy). Located in Darwin, Australia it gives a quick scratch to the head regarding the title (duh, not even a cheesy metaphor or one liner?) but that's not the only reason for the title because the disease itself effects every human diff. but usually ending in either a 'flight or fight' response, in essence the reptilian nature of humans are amplified. Those that are infected (sub-humans) all revert to a primal nature where usually the strong or more violent survive. As time progresses the city around this uninfected alien piece of machinery starts to prosper to those who held property rights therefore bringing power to certain landowners & the need for intelligent scientists to figure out why & what this 'elevator' was dropped down ? & coincidentally right before an epidemic? so far seems a quagmire. As u get to know the main characters u learn not so much their past but what their future wants & current survival needs are. Although u do learn in depth about the original person whose land the 'elevator' landed on & how he used it to build an empire using its qualities. U are also introduced to a few more ambitious characters grasping for the usual need to have power & control over the surviving people that are left both on the earth & a growing space station attached to the other end of this 'elevator'. There is a semi-symbiotic relationship between those in space needing water & supplies from those dirt-side versus those in orbit that need the food grown in hydroponic like farms in space due to small real-estate humans that are not immune to the disease can live.
This whole background is introduced in obv. much more detail with protagonists & even antagonists that are worse than the sub-humans the disease has turned. Suffice it to say things slowly start to go wrong & there are signs that whoever built this 'elevator' did it for a purpose & is coming back to continue what they started. I liked the books originality & the questions it proposes in a situation the author depicts but there is a lack of proper character development that I am seeing being made up as the book starts to end & now thru the 2nd book. Although the characters, i.e one of the major antagonists is shown to be no more than a brute & bully but lacking in much intelligence while the one of the protagonists is an ex-soldier that is now a scavenger trying to conquer his own insecurities replacing a past leader in the group (a bit flimsy in my opinion). The story itself is enough to pull me along for the ride to at least the next book because the main event is finding out who, why, & what the alien architecture is really about?
For those who like Sci-Fi I believe this will be a new look at another brutal future an author plans for us humans (it seems all authors these days are real pessimistic of human nature, empathy, & future status in the universe lol). Those not into the genre might not get too far into this book before putting it down because it just 'not they're cup of tea.' We shall see after I finish with 'The Exodus Tower, Book 2, Dire Earth Cycle', & like I said it is good to see the 3rd book of the trilogy is due out 9/24/13 on audio & print release if the story stays at its current trajectory for me. If u are into the genre I recommend giving it a try.
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5 people found this helpful