Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • Beyond the Hallowed Sky

  • Lightspeed, Book 1
  • By: Ken MacLeod
  • Narrated by: Elliot Chapman
  • Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (46 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Beyond the Hallowed Sky cover art

Beyond the Hallowed Sky

By: Ken MacLeod
Narrated by: Elliot Chapman
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £13.00

Buy Now for £13.00

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Dissidence cover art
New Earth Books 1 & 2 cover art
Planetary Anthology Series: Pluto cover art
The Hole cover art
Live Free or Die cover art
Occupation cover art
Solar Storm cover art
The Thousand Earths cover art
The Forge of God cover art
The Eagle Has Landed cover art
Of Gods and Globes cover art
The Spare Man cover art
The Flight of the Aphrodite cover art
Will Save the Galaxy for Food cover art
Earth's Last Gambit: The Complete Series cover art
Mars Nation: The Complete Trilogy cover art

Summary

When a brilliant scientist gets a letter from herself about faster-than-light travel, she doesn't know what to believe. The equations work, but her paper is discredited - and soon the criticism is more than scientific. Exiled by the establishment, she gets an offer to build her starship from an unlikely source. But in the heights of Venus and on a planet of another star, a secret is already being uncovered that will shake humanity to its foundations.

Science fiction legend Ken MacLeod begins a new space-opera trilogy by imagining humankind on the precipice of discovery - the invention of faster-than-light travel unlocks a universe of new possibilities and new dangers

©2021 Ken MacLeod (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

"An exceptional blend of international politics, hard science, and first contact." (Michael Mammay, author of the Planetside series)

What listeners say about Beyond the Hallowed Sky

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    21
  • 4 Stars
    16
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    31
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    20
  • 4 Stars
    14
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

thank God it's a trilogy

like many, I found it a slow starter but it picks up pace and my interest from about a third way in. the finish is abrupt and I thought disappointing until I realise it's the first part of a trilogy. immediately downloaded the next book.

interesting ideas and well narrated. there are a wide range of required accents and he does the full justice if some of the Scottish accents are, like real life, hard to follow sometimes!

perseverance is rewarded

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Rollacoaster.

Engaging idea, started well . Great narration
Found it hard to follow in places and unresolvrd ending annoying.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A great imagination

... and an unfinished story to be continued in the next book. Anxiously awaiting this next instalment.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

A bit lacklustre for me

I really wanted to like this from the write up but I just felt it pondered a bit and I never really got 'into' it. The first few chapters seemed promising but it just didn't deliver the excitement and intrigue and 'sci-fi feel I wanted. I guess I won't be buying the others in the series. This could just be because it's not really my tipe of sci-fi.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A good read

A good read but I felt the story to be a bit fragmented. Personally I had a number of interruptions in the reading so it might’ve been my own fault. I’m considering a re-read when things quiet down a bit

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Old fashioned

This is not a standalone story, so it ends rather abruptly. It also feels very old fashioned, like stories from the 50s where a rocket to the moon is built in a backyard.

Still the world building is impressive and the plot rattles along.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting

My first Ken MacLeod book and I was expecting hard sci-fi but got a grand whimsical near future story with some sharp observations and political satire but there was no overarching plot or threat that drove the story on. However, a very enjoyable story with some great characters so I’m in for the ride and will get the next book. Elliot Chapman does a good job with a range of accents but for those that live/have lived there some of his Clydeside pronunciations are a wee bit quirky.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful