I guess the British Royal Family were on the Ark?

I thought a better name for the title would have been the "fabulous five in space" as this seemed more like Enid Blyton than PFH. It wasn't stated, but I can only assume this particular Ark was full of British Royals as the accent used for the main character sounded like a young Queen Elizabeth addressing the commonwealth, and the rest were very similar. I'm interested to see where the story goes so may get the 2nd instalment, I've not decided yet. I have never gotten to the end of book one in a PFH series and have not been desperate to read the next instalments, before this title.

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3 people found this helpful

Good story,awful narration

Well it’s not up there with peters best work but a solid story,sadly it’s spoilt by possibly the worst narration I’ve ever heard,why do Americans think us brits talk like that?A dreadful plummy accent and the way she pronounces words like ‘here’ really grated with me,I hope they change the narrator for the next instalment,I don’t think I could get through another 9 hours of that accent,bring back John Lee!!

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1 person found this helpful

Rich tales in a vivid new world

As always Peter Hamilton weaves a great story in a rich world with strong characters with a strong female protagonist

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Ok story. Off putting narration.

More for teenagers. Narrator had too many elocution lessons as a child
and the American pronunciation of words like ‘semi’ felt totally out of place. Not the author’s best.

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A decent story

I enjoyed listening to this. it started off a bit slow but stayed to gain pace as the book progressed. I'm looking forward to the next two parts.

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An intentional change of style, don't dismiss it!

From reading the description it is obvious that this book is targeted at teenagers, not PFH's usual reader - I'm amazed people didn't see that. I bought it knowing that and therefore what to expect; for a book aimed at teenagers it is very good indeed. The trope is perhaps similar to Hunger Games (female protagonist discovers things, has to put the workd to rights, whilst dealing with affections of suitors) - but accept it for that and it is as exceptionally well written as usual.

It must be hard to change your style as a writer - the number of negative comments for this show that people get upset when challenged; props to PFH for trying it. Don't be one of the people who can't deal with a new style. It's not *that* different - interesting plotlines, reasonable characterisation (a little teenage-narrow - to be expected), good action, some genuinely tense moments, original ideas and surprises. Read it as a good lightweight story.

If I were a teenager I'd have loved it; as an adult knowing what I was getting it was still very good.

Narration though is as bad as the other reviews say, I'm afraid :-(

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3 people found this helpful

Truly terrible narration, really…!!

I love PFH, this is the first book of his I have listened too however, aside from the totally different writing style which threw me, I cannot stress enough how absolutely abysmal the narrator is, the story was okay, but I’m still not sure if it would have been better had I read it myself, or if it had been read by a half decent narrator. It certainly isn’t up to Peter’s usual standard, not by a long shot, but it was okay, if a different narrator is used for the other books I might consider listening, but not a chance if it is the same person!

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2 people found this helpful

Decent story, awful narrator

This was an easy listen - more in the realms of 'young adult' fiction than Hamilton's usual offerings. But that narrator...

Just how did Elizabeth Klett get a job narrating audio books? Perhaps there are some books which she would be appropriate for but nothing involving range and accents that aren't super-posh. Proper plummy received pronunciation. Never heard someone say the word flan to sound like 'flaarn' before. It's distracting and annoying. Terrible choice of narrator.

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1 person found this helpful

Enjoyed it!

Unpopular opinion but I really liked the narrators accent! The lack of variety between the characters held it back a little for me.

This was my first Hamilton book so far but it's definitely made me want to listen to more of him! I look forward to the next book!

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Generation ship story. poorly narrated sadly.

It's a little derivative, a bit Logan's run, a bit Clarke, and a bit classic Gen ship. but I love a good discovery book with a bit of time thrown in.
having said that. I know the narrator is an English professor, and a very good one. sadly though She lacks any vocal range and seems to only narrate with the same clipped accent. A big shame as it makes it feel like a Jackanory reading for kids at school. I'm a huge fan of Peter's work this narrative does not do hos work justice.

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