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The Halcyon Drift
- Hooded Swan, Book 1
- Narrated by: Bob Dunsworth
- Length: 5 hrs and 49 mins
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Publisher's summary
In a galactic culture that extends from quasi-utopian worlds, like New Alexandria, to vermin-infested slums, like Old Earth, starship pilots have become the great romantic heroes of the day. When Star-Pilot Grainger is rescued from a shipwreck, he finds himself pressed into reluctant service to fly the Hooded Swan, the prototype of a new kind of interstellar ship. He's also picked up an alien parasite that's determined to share his brain. Under these dire circumstances, can Grainger possibly stay out of trouble? Not a chance!
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When the biggest colony ship in human history was sent to settle a paradise world, an accident hurtled it deep into uncharted space. A thousand light years from Earth, with no way home and no way to call for help, the colonists’ only hope for survival was the one barely habitable planet in range, a nightmare world they named Croatoan. Landing on the only five mountain peaks tall enough to rise above the lethal acid clouds, the settlers carved a civilization from the rock.
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Awesome
- By Justin H on 10-22-21
By: Larry Correia
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Rebel Stars: Books 0-2
- By: Edward W. Robertson
- Narrated by: Ray Chase
- Length: 20 hrs
- Unabridged
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A thousand years ago, an alien invasion set humanity back to the Iron Age. Slowly, we recovered, colonizing the Solar System in peace. And discovered that an unknown force is stopping us from exploring any farther. But before the cause can be discovered, a slow-burning conspiracy threatens to explode into System-wide war. With enemies at home and in the darkness beyond, a team of unlikely heroes-a janitor, a mercenary, an asteroid miner, and a pirate-are the only ones who can avert a second apocalypse. This set includes the first three books of the newly-finished REBEL STARS series.
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Fun and entertaining.
- By Shirley on 01-04-18
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Victories Greater than Death
- Universal Expansion, Book 1
- By: Charlie Jane Anders
- Narrated by: Hynden Walch
- Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Tina never worries about being 'ordinary' - she doesn't have to, since she's known practically forever that she's not just Tina Mains, average teenager and beloved daughter. She's also the keeper of an interplanetary rescue beacon, and one day soon, it's going to activate, and then her dreams of saving all the worlds and adventuring among the stars will finally be possible.
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There has never been a more annoying narrator to exist
- By Megan on 04-13-21
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Storm Clouds
- The Guild Wars, Book 1
- By: Chris Kennedy, Mark Wandrey
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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The Peacemaker-enforced ceasefire brought an end to the hostilities, but not a resolution, and now it’s up to the Four Horsemen to forge a lasting peace. Alexis Cromwell, despite her pregnancy, heads off to Capital with Nigel Shirazi to obtain justice from the enigmatic Mercenary Guild Council, but when they arrive, they’re quickly embroiled in galactic politics, and find out the situation is far, far worse than they could possibly have imagined.
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wow I can't wait for the next installment!!!!!
- By Mike on 06-24-20
By: Chris Kennedy, and others
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Vigilante
- By: Michael Anderle, Natalie Grey
- Narrated by: Chris Andrew Ciulla
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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When a mine owner thinks that he's above the law and continues to utilize slave labor to keep his mines running, Barnabas, a former Ranger One, must fight for justice.
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If I could I would give 10 stars..
- By Trish R. on 08-05-21
By: Michael Anderle, and others
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Revolt in 2100
- By: Robert A. Heinlein
- Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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After the fall of the American Ayatollahs (as foretold in Stranger in a Strange Land) there is a Second American Revolution; for the first time in human history there is a land with Liberty and Justice for All.
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Heinlein's Future History
- By ShySusan on 05-30-12
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Mars Nation: The Complete Trilogy
- Mars Trilogy, Books 1-3
- By: Brandon Q. Morris
- Narrated by: Greg Tremblay
- Length: 25 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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NASA finally made it. The very first human has just set foot on the surface of our neighbor planet. This is the start of a long research expedition that sent four scientists into space. But the four astronauts of the NASA crew are not the only ones with this destination. The privately financed "Mars for Everyone" initiative has also targeted the Red Planet. Twenty men and women have been selected to live there and establish the first extraterrestrial settlement.
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Worth a listen
- By Chris Duemig on 09-16-20
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The Last Reaper
- By: JN Chaney, Scott Moon
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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When a high-value scientist is taken hostage inside the galaxy's most dangerous prison, Halek Cain is the only man for the job. The last remaining survivor of the Reaper program, Hal is an unstoppable force of fuel and madness. A veteran amputee-turned-cyborg, he has a history of violence and a talent for killing that is unmatched by any soldier. With the promise of freedom as his only incentive, he'll stop at nothing to earn back his life from the people who made him, imprisoned him, and were too afraid to let him die.
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Ray Ray!
- By David on 06-23-19
By: JN Chaney, and others
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Lilith: A Snake in the Grass
- The Four Lords of the Diamond, Book 1
- By: Jack L. Chalker
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Aliens are spying on Earth from one of the four worlds that make up the Warden Diamond. But it is impossible to send agents to any of the four worlds because of unique microscopic symbionts that make it impossible for visitors to leave the Diamond. Seeking a unique solution, each of the four worlds making up the Diamond is sent a person whose mind has been stripped of everything and who is now controlled by an agent of the Confederacy. Lilith is the first planet to be visited.
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A great series if read in its entirety
- By Onix Harbinger on 08-21-18
By: Jack L. Chalker
What listeners say about The Halcyon Drift
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Paul Whitfield
- 11-22-11
An old favourite in a new format.
I loved this book when I first read it years ago, I was worried I would not enjoy it as much
now. But it is still a great book. The narrator did a great job of capturing the mood of the book. The cynical world(s) weery protagonist with his strange mind symbiot. Excellent, I really hope they do the rest of the series but even if they don't this is a great book all by itself.
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- Katherine
- 12-03-13
Beautiful in places
Originally posted at Fantasy Literature.
Grainger, a spaceship pilot, has been shipwrecked on a deserted island in a dangerous star system called the Halcyon Drift. He’s just about to give up hope when he is unexpectedly rescued by a commercial spacecraft. They charge him for the rescue and take him to court, so now he’s deep in debt. When he arrives on Old Earth, he finds it in decline. There’s no hope of getting off or finding lucrative work, so he’s forced to accept a job offer to pilot the prototype of a new hi-tech spaceship, the Hooded Swan. Unfortunately, this means going back to the Halcyon Drift to help his boss, a mad scientist, hunt for the Lost Star, a spaceship that disappeared in the Drift carrying a potentially valuable cargo. This is a very dangerous job, but perhaps Grainger will get some help from the alien parasite that took up residence in his brain while he was stranded in the Drift.
There’s so much beauty at the beginning of The Halcyon Drift as Grainger sat alone on an empty world, reminiscing about the planets he’d visited and the people he’d known. Brian M. Stableford has a gift for world building and I was entranced by the creative places and interesting experiences that Grainger described:
"On Bira, we both got hooked on the nectar of the scorpion lilies, which grew only in the dawn, and faded once the sun was clear of the horizon. But the local day was two standard years long, and the dawn lingered long. We followed sunrise around the planet for half a year, until we reached the shore of an uncrossable sea. There would be no more lilies until the dawn reached the far shore. Hundreds of the natives had taken the same ecstatic trek, and over half of them died in the throes of withdrawal. Those who did not began the return journey, to wait for the sun again. They were a slender, sickly people, but Lapthorn and I had stronger stomachs and stronger minds. We returned only so far as our ship, and left for a different shore."
This part of the novel reminded me of some of George R.R. Martin’s work and I thought it was wonderful. Perhaps that’s not too surprising since Brian Stableford’s background is in biology and sociology (he was a sociology professor before becoming a full-time writer).
Grainger is an interesting protagonist — smart, quiet, tough, confident, proud, ambitious, arrogant, sexist (at least at first). He’s introverted and solitary and, though he seems to think he doesn’t care much for other people, we learn that this is not exactly true. The alien parasite, which Grainger calls the Wind, enjoys analyzing his host’s personality for him, though it’s not appreciated by Grainger.
Once Grainger is on the Hooded Swan, the story shifts tone and becomes more typical of an old science fiction exploit as the characters race to the Halcyon Drift to find the Lost Star before their competitors do. Usually I like a lot of action and adventure in a science fiction story, but I discovered that in the case of The Halcyon Drift, I preferred the quieter moments when Grainger is reminiscing and being introspective. I thought Stableford did a better job with these parts and I found them fascinating. Some of the action scenes — most notably the long spaceship flight to the Halcyon Drift — get a little dull. This may just be my particular taste, though. I can imagine that other readers may have exactly the opposite reaction.
The Halcyon Drift (1972) is the first in a six-book series about Grainger and the Hooded Swan. The sequels are Rhapsody in Black, Promised Land, The Paradise Game, The Fenris Device, and Swan Song. I read the audiobook version of The Halcyon Drift which was produced by Wildside Press and narrated by Bob Dunsworth who I liked very much. Unfortunately, at this time, books two through four are not available in that format, though the last two books are. I would like to read the rest of the series, so I hope Wildside Press will produce them.
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