Excellent!

The product of a restless and inquisitive mind. I absolutely loved this book. I'll be honest, I kind of wish I'd read it rather than listened to it and may still do. There are so many ideas in here and so many things that I've pondered too. The way that Martin Macinnes weaves all these disperate yet interconnected ideas together is fantastic. Plenty of food for thought. Highly recommended.

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Interesting sci- fi concept

I would not normally choose a sci-fi book this intense. However once I got into it I really enjoyed the unusual concept of the story. The book does move around a lot charting the life of the main character and her family but once you get into the rhythm of the book it becomes a very enjoyable listen.

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Raises the big questions of our existence

Not my usual choice but aiming to read the Booker long list for the first time ever so…I found the plot slow to start with seemingly endless descriptions and discussions of microbiological science. Perhaps this was authorial indulgence or on reflection, perhaps necessary to enfold the reader in the vastness of those so called big questions. I’m not sure. But I did speed up the narration to 1.3x and it made the story a tad more exciting.

As others have said, things only really got exciting about three quarters of the way through and then suddenly the story was over. I wanted more of the excellent description about the end of the voyage and the future. Has it convinced me to try another eco sci-fi? Probably not, but overall it was worth a read.

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Amazing story - beautiful narration

Such mind blowing story telling an Im not usually one for sci fi/fantasy. But this 'sci fi' feels so grounded and plausible.
And I loved the spiritual and mystical elements which I felt the narrator completely suits and captures. This book SO deserves its Booker Prize longlist. Thank you!

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1 person found this helpful

Loved this incredible book

Powerful thought provoking gripping hard to listen at points but well worth the effort.

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Extraordinary

I became very emotionally involved with this story - so much so that I’m finding it hard to talk about it. The science is fascinating. The deep Atlantic trench is something I’ve been interested in for a long time, with the possibility that life on earth might have begun in the inhospitable atmosphere of the underwater volcanoes. Then, the mirror of that situation - to send a mission beyond the heliosphere… (Surely no one would make the decision to send a human crew? Robot probes would be the only responsible way to undertake something so experimental…) A terrifying and precise description of how such a voyage might evolve. The themes of the origins of life, and interconnection of life forms, interweave throughout the story. Think I’ll come back to this again…
I found the narrator’s repetitive speech patterns rather irritating - but later the story was so engrossing that I noticed it less.

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Comparisons to Contact

All reviews are subjective of course, and this is no different. The tone of the narration is almost whimsical or dreamlike, and suits the protagonists recounting of her life from young girl to the scientist described in the books summary. Whether you find the earlier accounts interesting enough to persevere is entirely down to if you find the story engaging enough or are curious as to where its going. An action rollercoaster this is not.

It's easy to draw comparison to Carl Sagans 'Contact'; young girl, impressionable relationship with father, scientist, space programme etc. with subsequent plot points confirming the comparison. This book is no Contact but borrows the same beats.

The reader/ listener may get frustrated by a number of 'fast forwards' which initially frustrate, and it takes until the characters training for a potential space mission where the story kicks into gear. Whether that's too late for many readers is up for debate.

Persevere until its conclusion and you're rewarded with a profound-lite conclusion and a few unanswered questions (unless I missed something...entirely possible).

The narrator has a easy to listen to lilt, a slight accent which suits the character, and does a convincing job of the first person narrative. The various characters voices could do with greater differentiation, however this is a minor quibble on an overall solid narration.

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7 people found this helpful

Insightful with many thought provoking ideas.

The narrator was exceedingly boring, reminded me of school days listening to people reading aloud in class. irritating and constant mispronounced words - illution for illusion, malaria with the final three syllables pronounced like aria, guage pronounced like gorge, origons as OR-igins, could not even say occasionally correctly. If the narration had been more interesting, this would not have been so irritating but it just added to what was a very tiresome listening experience. l am surprised that there is not better editing of narration to remove this kind of thing, are narrators actually auditioned?

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Staggeringly beautiful story

I can see why it was shortlisted for the Booked prize, this is an exquisitely crafted book which gives hope for our planet.

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Too long

I felt that too long was spent on the first three quarters of the story. Although the payoff was clever that wasn’t enough. I found the narrator a little annoying with her recurring sharp in take of breath, and the fact that voices weren’t differentiated in dialogue make it often difficult to follow, although I liked her accent.

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1 person found this helpful