
The Praxis
The Dread Empire's Fall Trilogy, Book 1
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $16.07
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Stefan Rudnicki
About this listen
“Space opera the way it ought to be.... Bujold and Weber, bend the knee; interstellar adventure has a new king, and his name is Walter Jon Williams.” (George R. R. Martin)
The first book in the completed Dread Empire’s Fall trilogy, followed by The Sundering and Conventions of War.
All will must bend to the perfect truth of the Praxis.
For millennia, the Shaa have subjugated the universe, forcing the myriad sentient races to bow to their joyless tyranny. But the Shaa will soon be no more. The Dread Empire is in its rapidly fading twilight, and with its impending fall comes the promise of a new galactic order...and bloody chaos.
A young Terran naval officer marked by his lowly birth, Lt. Gareth Martinez is the first to recognize the insidious plot of the Naxid - the powerful, warlike insectoid society that was enslaved before all others - to replace the masters’ despotic rule with their own. Barely escaping a swarming surprise attack, Martinez and Caroline Sula, a pilot whose beautiful face conceals a deadly secret, are now the last hope for freedom for every being who ever languished in Shaa chains - as the interstellar battle begins against a merciless foe whose only perfect truth is annihilation.
©2002 Walter Jon Williams (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing and Skyboat MediaListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Last Watch
- The Divide Series, Book 1
- By: J. S. Dewes
- Narrated by: Andrew Eiden, Nicol Zanzarella
- Length: 16 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Divide. It’s the edge of the universe. Now, it’s collapsing - and taking everyone and everything with it. The only ones who can stop it are the Sentinels - the recruits, exiles, and court-martialed dregs of the military. At the Divide, Adequin Rake commands the Argus. She has no resources, no comms - nothing, except for the soldiers that no one wanted.
-
-
Good story but the F-bomb got really old.
- By Carr Harvey on 06-29-21
By: J. S. Dewes
-
Quillifer
- Quillifer, Book 1
- By: Walter Jon Williams
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 18 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Quillifer is young, serially in love, studying law, and living each day keenly aware that his beloved homeport of Ethlebight risks closure due to silting of the harbor. His concerns for the future become much more immediate when he returns from a summery assignation to find his city attacked by Aekoi pirates, leading to brigands in the streets and his family and friends in chains.
-
-
The opposite of George R R Martin (in a good way)
- By A reader on 10-30-17
-
First Command Box Set: Spacers, Books 1-6
- By: Scott Bartlett
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 43 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Out of the blue, a young Space Fleet officer's dream becomes reality: He's made captain of a starship. Just in time for the return of humanity's most terrible enemy, after 50 years of peace. To survive against this enemy, Captain Tad Thatcher will have to do more than learn how to become an effective commander, or how to wrangle his wayward crew. He will need to reinvent space combat. From scratch.
-
-
One of my favorite series!
- By Julia Monzon on 08-10-22
By: Scott Bartlett
-
Boundless
- The Lost Fleet: Outlands, Book 1
- By: Jack Campbell
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Geary believed in the Alliance. Even when he uncovered overwhelming evidence that the highest echelons of the government and fleet command were involved in secret programs and prison camps, he believed it was worth saving. He believed his duty was to see that justice was served even though some factions feared that revealing the truth would cause the Alliance to crumble. But after narrowly surviving two assassination attempts when he brings evidence of the misdeeds to the capital star system, Geary realizes that some want to get rid of him.
-
-
It was just so COMFORTABLE to be back on Dauntless
- By Mikey72 on 06-18-21
By: Jack Campbell
-
Raven's Peace
- Peacekeepers of Sol, Book 1
- By: Glynn Stewart
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For 17 years, Colonel Henry Wong and the United Planets Space Force have fought the Kenmiri Empire. They drove the alien overlords back from humanity's borders into their own stars and found allies among the Kenmiri's slaves and subjects. Now the war is over. A great Gathering has been called of the allies who fought the war, but they only ever shared a common enemy. With the Kenmiri in retreat, a thousand new agendas are revealed.
-
-
An anomaly for this author.
- By Clay on 02-13-20
By: Glynn Stewart
-
Grimm's War: Books 1-3
- By: Jeffery H. Haskell
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 36 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Idealistic Navy Lieutenant Jacob Grimm just wanted to honor his mother’s sacrifice in the last great war. When he’s forced to return fire and destroy a squadron of ships to save his own, he thinks he’s the hero...until they discover the ships are full of children. Disgraced and denied promotion, Jacob’s career is over. That is until the head of ONI needs a disposable officer to command a battered destroyer on the rim.
-
-
I love it!
- By Brothanoomsy on 02-14-23
-
The Last Watch
- The Divide Series, Book 1
- By: J. S. Dewes
- Narrated by: Andrew Eiden, Nicol Zanzarella
- Length: 16 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Divide. It’s the edge of the universe. Now, it’s collapsing - and taking everyone and everything with it. The only ones who can stop it are the Sentinels - the recruits, exiles, and court-martialed dregs of the military. At the Divide, Adequin Rake commands the Argus. She has no resources, no comms - nothing, except for the soldiers that no one wanted.
-
-
Good story but the F-bomb got really old.
- By Carr Harvey on 06-29-21
By: J. S. Dewes
-
Quillifer
- Quillifer, Book 1
- By: Walter Jon Williams
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 18 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Quillifer is young, serially in love, studying law, and living each day keenly aware that his beloved homeport of Ethlebight risks closure due to silting of the harbor. His concerns for the future become much more immediate when he returns from a summery assignation to find his city attacked by Aekoi pirates, leading to brigands in the streets and his family and friends in chains.
-
-
The opposite of George R R Martin (in a good way)
- By A reader on 10-30-17
-
First Command Box Set: Spacers, Books 1-6
- By: Scott Bartlett
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 43 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Out of the blue, a young Space Fleet officer's dream becomes reality: He's made captain of a starship. Just in time for the return of humanity's most terrible enemy, after 50 years of peace. To survive against this enemy, Captain Tad Thatcher will have to do more than learn how to become an effective commander, or how to wrangle his wayward crew. He will need to reinvent space combat. From scratch.
-
-
One of my favorite series!
- By Julia Monzon on 08-10-22
By: Scott Bartlett
-
Boundless
- The Lost Fleet: Outlands, Book 1
- By: Jack Campbell
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Geary believed in the Alliance. Even when he uncovered overwhelming evidence that the highest echelons of the government and fleet command were involved in secret programs and prison camps, he believed it was worth saving. He believed his duty was to see that justice was served even though some factions feared that revealing the truth would cause the Alliance to crumble. But after narrowly surviving two assassination attempts when he brings evidence of the misdeeds to the capital star system, Geary realizes that some want to get rid of him.
-
-
It was just so COMFORTABLE to be back on Dauntless
- By Mikey72 on 06-18-21
By: Jack Campbell
-
Raven's Peace
- Peacekeepers of Sol, Book 1
- By: Glynn Stewart
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For 17 years, Colonel Henry Wong and the United Planets Space Force have fought the Kenmiri Empire. They drove the alien overlords back from humanity's borders into their own stars and found allies among the Kenmiri's slaves and subjects. Now the war is over. A great Gathering has been called of the allies who fought the war, but they only ever shared a common enemy. With the Kenmiri in retreat, a thousand new agendas are revealed.
-
-
An anomaly for this author.
- By Clay on 02-13-20
By: Glynn Stewart
-
Grimm's War: Books 1-3
- By: Jeffery H. Haskell
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 36 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Idealistic Navy Lieutenant Jacob Grimm just wanted to honor his mother’s sacrifice in the last great war. When he’s forced to return fire and destroy a squadron of ships to save his own, he thinks he’s the hero...until they discover the ships are full of children. Disgraced and denied promotion, Jacob’s career is over. That is until the head of ONI needs a disposable officer to command a battered destroyer on the rim.
-
-
I love it!
- By Brothanoomsy on 02-14-23
-
Cast Adrift
- Cast Adrift, Book 1
- By: Christopher G. Nuttall
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over the years, humans have grown used to their position within the empire, serving as soldiers and spacers for alien masters as well as building a place in the universe for themselves. But now, in the aftermath of a violent interstellar war that shattered the power of the Alphans, humanity has rediscovered its pride.
-
-
well done
- By alan on 12-13-21
-
Memory's Legion
- The Complete Expanse Story Collection
- By: James S. A. Corey
- Narrated by: Jefferson Mays, Daniel Abraham, Ty Franck
- Length: 16 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On Mars, a scientist experiments with a new engine that will one day become the drive that fuels humanity's journey into the stars. On an asteroid station, a group of prisoners are oblivious to the catastrophe that awaits them. On a future Earth beset by overpopulation, pollution, and poverty, a crime boss desperately seeks to find a way off planet. On an alien world, a human family struggles to establish a colony and make a new home. All these stories and more are featured in this unmissable collection of short fiction set in the hardscrabble world of The Expanse.
-
-
Its about damn time...
- By Samuel Warren on 03-15-22
-
Shards of Earth
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: Sophie Aldred
- Length: 18 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Idris has neither aged nor slept since they remade him in the war. And one of humanity's heroes now scrapes by on a freelance salvage vessel, to avoid the attention of greater powers. After Earth was destroyed, mankind created a fighting elite to save their species, enhanced humans such as Idris. In the silence of space they could communicate, mind-to-mind, with the enemy. Then their alien aggressors, the Architects, simply disappeared - and Idris and his kind became obsolete. Now, 50 years later, Idris and his crew have discovered something strange abandoned in space.
-
-
Not sure what the point was [Spoilers]
- By C. Andrew Hessler on 08-27-21
-
Columbus Day
- Expeditionary Force, Book 1
- By: Craig Alanson
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We were fighting on the wrong side of a war we couldn't win. And that was the good news. The Ruhar hit us on Columbus Day. There we were, innocently drifting along the cosmos on our little blue marble, like the native Americans in 1492. Over the horizon come ships of a technologically advanced, aggressive culture, and BAM! There go the good old days, when humans only got killed by each other. So, Columbus Day. It fits. When the morning sky twinkled again, this time with Kristang starships jumping in to hammer the Ruhar, we thought we were saved.
-
-
WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 01-04-17
By: Craig Alanson
-
Renegade
- Spiral Wars, Book 1
- By: Joel Shepherd
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 17 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One thousand years after Earth was destroyed in an unprovoked attack, humanity has emerged victorious from a series of terrible wars to assure its place in the galaxy. But during celebrations on humanity’s new homeworld, the legendary Captain Pantillo of the battle carrier Phoenix is court-martialed then killed, and his deputy, Lieutenant Commander Erik Debogande, the heir to humanity’s most powerful industrial family, is framed for his murder.
-
-
Politics?
- By ochoavida102 on 06-18-17
By: Joel Shepherd
-
Federation Chronicles
- The Complete Series
- By: Ken Lozito
- Narrated by: Phil Thron
- Length: 34 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First came the development of the Personality Matrix Construct—PMC, transferring human consciousness into a machine. It changed the galaxy and the way wars were fought. Then something went wrong with PMCs and the Federation Wars toppled the galactic order. PMCs became a menace to be hunted and exterminated.
-
-
A Captivating Sci-fi World builder
- By Amazon Customer on 06-07-23
By: Ken Lozito
-
Downbelow Station (Dramatized Adaptation)
- Alliance-Union Universe: The Company Wars, Book 1
- By: C.J. Cherryh
- Narrated by: Holly Adams, James Konicek, James Lewis, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Beyond started with the Stations orbiting the stars nearest Earth. The Great Circle the interstellar freighters traveled was long, but not unmanageable, and the early Stations were emotionally and politically dependent on Mother Earth. The Earth Company which ran this immense operation reaped incalculable profits and influenced the affairs of nations.
-
-
Disappointing Audio for a Great Story
- By Z&K on 10-25-24
By: C.J. Cherryh
-
Uplink Squadron
- By: J.N. Chaney, Chris Kennedy
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Five years ago, aliens destroyed a carrier and its airwing at Jupiter without warning. Since then, the Earth’s nations have learned to work together, and they want to know more about the aliens who appeared, attacked, and vanished without a trace. The Americans have provided a new carrier. Chinese technology has made going after the invaders possible. And the Russians have developed a new control system that will give the craft never-before-seen capabilities. Mankind’s next war is upon us, and Uplink Squadron is the tip of the spear.
-
-
total sci-fi
- By Nate on 06-11-22
By: J.N. Chaney, and others
-
Warship
- Black Fleet Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Joshua Dalzelle
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 25th century, humans have conquered space. The advent of faster-than-light travel has opened up hundreds of habitable planets for colonization, and humans have exploited the virtually limitless space and resources for hundreds of years with impunity. So complacent have they become with the overabundance that armed conflict is a thing of the past, and their machines of war are obsolete and decrepit. What would happen if they were suddenly threatened by a terrifying new enemy?
-
-
Good delivery of a very mediocre story
- By John on 04-19-16
By: Joshua Dalzelle
-
From a Certain Point of View (Star Wars)
- By: Renée Ahdieh, Meg Cabot, Pierce Brown, and others
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Ashley Eckstein, Janina Gavankar, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Experience Star Wars: A New Hope from a whole new point of view. On May 25, 1977, the world was introduced to Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, C-3PO, R2-D2, Chewbacca, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader, and a galaxy full of possibilities. In honor of the 40h anniversary, more than 40 contributors lend their vision to this retelling of Star Wars. Each of the 40 short stories reimagines a moment from the original film, but through the eyes of a supporting character.
-
-
Chapter listing. Audible sucks
- By The Way of the Wounded Cinema Warrior on 11-27-17
By: Renée Ahdieh, and others
-
On Basilisk Station
- Honor Harrington, Book 1
- By: David Weber
- Narrated by: Allyson Johnson
- Length: 15 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Honor Harrington has been exiled to Basilisk station and given an antique ship to police the system. The vindictive superior who sent her there wants her to fail. But he made one mistake: he's made her mad....
-
-
Thanks for the memories
- By ShySusan on 03-23-13
By: David Weber
-
Taken to the Stars
- By: J.N. Chaney, Rick Partlow
- Narrated by: John Pirhalla
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charlie Travers figures his life can’t get much worse. He lives over a pizza restaurant, he’s lost his girlfriend, and has no prospects for a career. Then, he’s abducted by an alien robot and taken across the galaxy. When he wakes up, he finds himself stranded thousands of light-years away, and about to be killed by space pirates.
-
-
This book is for middle schoolers
- By David Jacob Heino on 07-28-24
By: J.N. Chaney, and others
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Behind the Throne
- By: K. B. Wagers
- Narrated by: Angèle Masters
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Behind the Throne begins K. B. Wagers's action-packed science fiction adventure, with a heroine as rebellious as Han Solo, as savvy as Leia, and as skilled as Rey. Hail Bristol has made a name for herself as one of the most fearsome gunrunners in the galaxy. But she can't escape her past forever: Twenty years ago, she was a runaway princess of the Indranan Empire. Now, her mother's people have finally come to bring her home.
-
-
Couldn't stop listening.
- By Patti on 09-01-16
By: K. B. Wagers
-
Metropolitan
- The Metropolitan Series, Book 1
- By: Walter Jon Williams
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Aiah has fought her way out of poverty and discovers a limitless source of plasm, the mysterious substance that powers the world-city. Her discovery soon involves her with Constantine, the charismatic, dangerous, seductive revolutionary who plans to overthrow the government and upend the cosmic order.
-
-
Glad I came back to Walter Jon Williams
- By Richard Casto on 03-18-19
-
Hardwired
- By: Walter Jon Williams
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ex-fighter pilot Cowboy, "hardwired" via skull sockets directly to his lethal electronic hardware, teams up with Sarah, an equally cyborized gun-for-hire, to make a last stab at independence from the rapacious Orbitals.
-
-
The Best Cyberpunk I Have Read
- By David on 02-06-13
-
The Rift
- By: Walter Jon Williams
- Narrated by: Kevin Kenerly
- Length: 30 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It starts with the dogs. They won’t stop barking. And then the earth shrugs - 8.9 on the Richter scale. It’s the world’s biggest earthquake since Lisbon in 1755, and it doesn’t hit California or Japan or Mexico, but New Madrid, Missouri, a sleepy town on the Mississippi River. Seismologists had predicted the scope of the disaster - but no one listened. For hundreds of miles around, dams burst, engulfing entire counties in tidal waves of mud and debris. Within minutes, there is nothing but chaos and ruin from St. Louis to Vicksburg, from Kansas City to Louisville.
-
-
Bigotry on Parade
- By cp on 08-20-19
-
The Praxis Triad
- Investments, The Stickpin, and Impersonations (The Praxis Series)
- By: Walter Jon Williams
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“Investments” finds Gareth Martinez has accepted a meaningless post as Inspector General of Chee, a newly settled world. Intending nothing more than a pleasant vacation with his family, he first stumbles across a murderous conspiracy. In “The Stickpin,” set in the Naxid War, Caroline Sula leads the resistance against the Naxid occupiers, and shows how a pleasant afternoon stroll can have deadly consequences to the enemy. Then in Impersonations, Caroline Sula has been posted to the planet Earth, a dismal backwater where careers go to die.
-
-
Soooooo sloooooowww
- By From the Boston area on 06-08-23
-
Angel Station
- By: Walter Jon Williams
- Narrated by: Neil Hellegers
- Length: 16 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Orphans of deep space... They're outlaws now. Created to serve a function grown obsolete, haunted by the holographic ghost of their father, Ubu and Maria have lived their entire lives skating along the edge of extinction. Now they and their ship, Runaway, are in flight both from the law and from a predatory clan of competitors. They're going to come back rich or not at all. But what they find in the depths of space isn't wealth, but a secret so startling that Ubu and Maria will need every last reserve of guile, cunning, and intelligence just to survive.
-
-
Boring
- By Zach on 05-12-18
-
Behind the Throne
- By: K. B. Wagers
- Narrated by: Angèle Masters
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Behind the Throne begins K. B. Wagers's action-packed science fiction adventure, with a heroine as rebellious as Han Solo, as savvy as Leia, and as skilled as Rey. Hail Bristol has made a name for herself as one of the most fearsome gunrunners in the galaxy. But she can't escape her past forever: Twenty years ago, she was a runaway princess of the Indranan Empire. Now, her mother's people have finally come to bring her home.
-
-
Couldn't stop listening.
- By Patti on 09-01-16
By: K. B. Wagers
-
Metropolitan
- The Metropolitan Series, Book 1
- By: Walter Jon Williams
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Aiah has fought her way out of poverty and discovers a limitless source of plasm, the mysterious substance that powers the world-city. Her discovery soon involves her with Constantine, the charismatic, dangerous, seductive revolutionary who plans to overthrow the government and upend the cosmic order.
-
-
Glad I came back to Walter Jon Williams
- By Richard Casto on 03-18-19
-
Hardwired
- By: Walter Jon Williams
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ex-fighter pilot Cowboy, "hardwired" via skull sockets directly to his lethal electronic hardware, teams up with Sarah, an equally cyborized gun-for-hire, to make a last stab at independence from the rapacious Orbitals.
-
-
The Best Cyberpunk I Have Read
- By David on 02-06-13
-
The Rift
- By: Walter Jon Williams
- Narrated by: Kevin Kenerly
- Length: 30 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It starts with the dogs. They won’t stop barking. And then the earth shrugs - 8.9 on the Richter scale. It’s the world’s biggest earthquake since Lisbon in 1755, and it doesn’t hit California or Japan or Mexico, but New Madrid, Missouri, a sleepy town on the Mississippi River. Seismologists had predicted the scope of the disaster - but no one listened. For hundreds of miles around, dams burst, engulfing entire counties in tidal waves of mud and debris. Within minutes, there is nothing but chaos and ruin from St. Louis to Vicksburg, from Kansas City to Louisville.
-
-
Bigotry on Parade
- By cp on 08-20-19
-
The Praxis Triad
- Investments, The Stickpin, and Impersonations (The Praxis Series)
- By: Walter Jon Williams
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“Investments” finds Gareth Martinez has accepted a meaningless post as Inspector General of Chee, a newly settled world. Intending nothing more than a pleasant vacation with his family, he first stumbles across a murderous conspiracy. In “The Stickpin,” set in the Naxid War, Caroline Sula leads the resistance against the Naxid occupiers, and shows how a pleasant afternoon stroll can have deadly consequences to the enemy. Then in Impersonations, Caroline Sula has been posted to the planet Earth, a dismal backwater where careers go to die.
-
-
Soooooo sloooooowww
- By From the Boston area on 06-08-23
-
Angel Station
- By: Walter Jon Williams
- Narrated by: Neil Hellegers
- Length: 16 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Orphans of deep space... They're outlaws now. Created to serve a function grown obsolete, haunted by the holographic ghost of their father, Ubu and Maria have lived their entire lives skating along the edge of extinction. Now they and their ship, Runaway, are in flight both from the law and from a predatory clan of competitors. They're going to come back rich or not at all. But what they find in the depths of space isn't wealth, but a secret so startling that Ubu and Maria will need every last reserve of guile, cunning, and intelligence just to survive.
-
-
Boring
- By Zach on 05-12-18
-
This Is Not a Game
- By: Walter Jon Williams
- Narrated by: Jefferson Mays
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Imagine a game with no boundaries - waiting in parking lot, sitting at your computer, walking down the street. You could be called at any moment - and you'd better be ready. This is not a game. This is a novel of greed, betrayal, and social networking.
-
-
Recommended Thriller
- By ReadsALot on 10-20-12
-
Deathstalker
- Deathstalker Series, Book 1
- By: Simon R. Green
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 22 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Owen Deathstalker, last of the infamous warrior Clan, always considered himself more of a writer than a fighter, preferring his history books to making any actual history with a sword. But books won't protect him from Her Imperial Majesty Lionstone XIV, who just outlawed and condemned Owen to death, without any explanation, reason, or warning. No wonder she's called the Iron Bitch. Now, on the run from Imperial starcruisers, shady mercenaries, and just about everyone else in the Empire, Owen's options are limited.
-
-
So much fun!
- By Arc-Angle Gabe on 02-27-18
By: Simon R. Green
-
Quillifer
- Quillifer, Book 1
- By: Walter Jon Williams
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 18 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Quillifer is young, serially in love, studying law, and living each day keenly aware that his beloved homeport of Ethlebight risks closure due to silting of the harbor. His concerns for the future become much more immediate when he returns from a summery assignation to find his city attacked by Aekoi pirates, leading to brigands in the streets and his family and friends in chains.
-
-
The opposite of George R R Martin (in a good way)
- By A reader on 10-30-17
-
In the Ocean of Night
- Galactic Center, Book 1
- By: Gregory Benford
- Narrated by: Maxwell Caulfield
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 2019. NASA astronaut Nigel Walmsley is sent on a mission to intercept a rogue asteroid on a collision course with Earth. Ordered to destroy it, he instead discovers that it is actually the shell of a derelict space probe - a wreck with just enough power to emit a single electronic signal….
-
-
Like some Space with your Soaps?
- By Bradley on 05-15-12
By: Gregory Benford
-
Falling Free
- Miles Vorsokigan, Book 4
- By: Lois McMaster Bujold
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Leo Graf was just your average highly efficient engineer: mind your own business, fix what's wrong, and move on to the next job. But all that changed on his assignment to the Cay Habitat, where a group of humanoids had been secretly, commercially bioengineered for working in free fall. Could he just stand there and allow the exploitation of hundreds of helpless children merely to enhance the bottom line of a heartless mega-corporation?
-
-
Don't read this one first
- By Carol on 02-20-13
-
The Starship in the Stone
- By: M.R. Forbes
- Narrated by: Dave Jackson
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Thomas heard the cries for help, he didn’t hesitate to do the right thing. It was his chance for redemption. Until everything went wrong. The cave should have been deserted. The perfect place to hide. Instead, it’s crawling with soldiers and engineers working to unearth the impossible: Excalibur.
-
-
Interesting take and Scifi and Magic
- By SIMON P. on 05-18-25
By: M.R. Forbes
-
Revelation Space
- By: Alastair Reynolds
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 22 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nine hundred thousand years ago, something annihilated the Amarantin civilization just as it was on the verge of discovering space flight. Now one scientist, Dan Sylveste, will stop at nothing to solve the Amarantin riddle before ancient history repeats itself. With no other resources at his disposal, Sylveste forges a dangerous alliance with the cyborg crew of the starship Nostalgia for Infinity. But as he closes in on the secret, a killer closes in on him because the Amarantin were destroyed for a reason.
-
-
Defeated
- By Eoin on 07-15-12
-
Cast Under an Alien Sun
- Destiny's Crucible, Book 1
- By: Olan Thorensen
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 15 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joe Colsco boarded a flight from San Francisco to Chicago to attend a national chemistry meeting. He would never set foot on Earth again. On planet Anyar, Joe is found unconscious on a beach of a large island inhabited by humans where the level of technology is similar to Earth circa 1700. He awakes amid strangers speaking an unintelligible language and struggles to accept losing his previous life and finding a place in a society with different customs, needing a way to support himself and not knowing a single soul.
-
-
Slowly we turn, step by step, inch by inch...
- By Ron on 09-18-17
By: Olan Thorensen
-
Dauntless
- Lost Fleet, Book 1
- By: Jack Campbell
- Narrated by: Jack Campbell, Christian Rummel
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Alliance has been fighting the Syndics for a century—and losing badly. Now its fleet is crippled and stranded in enemy territory. Their only hope is a man who’s emerged from a century-long hibernation to find he has been heroically idealized beyond belief… Captain John “Black Jack” Geary’s legendary exploits are known to every schoolchild. Revered for his heroic “last stand” in the early days of the war, he was presumed dead. But a century later, Geary miraculously returns from survival hibernation.
-
-
Straightforward Action Based Science Fiction
- By David A on 07-07-22
By: Jack Campbell
-
System Overclocked
- System Overclocked, Book 1
- By: Randi Darren
- Narrated by: Stephanie Savannah
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wrench is a Fixer. Someone born to maintain, fix, and correct any and every issue that could go wrong in the habitat he lives in. Someone who makes sure he and his fellow humans can remain on display and entertain their owners as any good human pet would. At least, that’s what he was born to be. He’s taken a different route and joined a resistance faction to help free humanity to become more than just pets to an alien race.
-
-
Weak ending but great
- By Burnt Taco Meat on 05-03-23
By: Randi Darren
-
Eversion
- By: Alastair Reynolds
- Narrated by: Harry Myers
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 1800s, a sailing ship crashes off the coast of Norway. In the 1900s, a Zepellin explores an icy canyon in Antarctica. In the far future, a spaceship sets out for an alien artifact. Each excursion goes horribly wrong. And on every journey, Dr. Silas Coade is the physician, but only Silas seems to realize that these events keep repeating themselves. And it's up to him to figure out why and how. And how to stop it all from happening again.
-
-
An entirely new level of science fiction
- By Possum Bean on 01-08-23
-
Columbus Day
- Expeditionary Force, Book 1
- By: Craig Alanson
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We were fighting on the wrong side of a war we couldn't win. And that was the good news. The Ruhar hit us on Columbus Day. There we were, innocently drifting along the cosmos on our little blue marble, like the native Americans in 1492. Over the horizon come ships of a technologically advanced, aggressive culture, and BAM! There go the good old days, when humans only got killed by each other. So, Columbus Day. It fits. When the morning sky twinkled again, this time with Kristang starships jumping in to hammer the Ruhar, we thought we were saved.
-
-
WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 01-04-17
By: Craig Alanson
Good, but somewhat slow paced
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Antimatter missiles are OP.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Nothing ever happens
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
the beautiful cadet with the dark and mysterious past. she could be one of two people that we learn about throughout the novel through flashbacks. two identical strangers who met and became entwined in each other's lives. before we know much of anything about them, we know that one ended up enlisting, and that she had to leave a friend's dead body behind to get there.
the crisis that introduces these two characters to each other is a good example of the how the rest of the novel progresses. complicated space maneuvering, realistic personalities and internal monologues, and a deliberately unsentimental resolution.
I don't know if I can say that I "like" either character - him because of his clumsy manipulations and seductions in the present, her because the past that led her here. but every flawed reasoning is laid out clearly in their heads, their poor choices make sense to them at the time, somehow seem like the right thing. I'm certainly rooting for them when it hits the fan, and I'm very eager to move on to the next novel in the series.
had sci-fi with unsentimental character studies and epicly choreographed space battles
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
strong option to fill the expanses void
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Exactly what I wanted it to be. loved this book
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
good characters and interesting setting
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Good at first but bad in the end
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An enjoyable if somewhat generic space opera.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The Roman empire esque theme intrigued me and I'll definitely listen to the other books in the series
Really good sci-fi
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.