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  • Pushing Ice

  • Written by: Alastair Reynolds
  • Narrated by: John Lee
  • Length: 19 hrs and 43 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (100 ratings)

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Pushing Ice

Written by: Alastair Reynolds
Narrated by: John Lee
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Publisher's Summary

2057. Humanity has raised exploiting the solar system to an art form. Bella Lind and the crew of her nuclear-powered ship, the Rockhopper, push ice. They mine comets. And they're good at it.

The Rockhopper is nearing the end of its current mission cycle, and everyone is desperate for some much-needed R & R, when startling news arrives from Saturn: Janus, one of Saturn's ice moons, has inexplicably left its natural orbit and is now heading out of the solar system at high speed. As layers of camouflage fall away, it becomes clear that Janus was never a moon in the first place. It's some kind of machine - and it is now headed toward a fuzzily glimpsed artifact 260 light-years away. The Rockhopper is the only ship anywhere near Janus, and Bella Lind is ordered to shadow it for the few vital days before it falls forever out of reach. In accepting this mission, she sets her ship and her crew on a collision course with destiny - for Janus has more surprises in store, and not all of them are welcome.

©2008 Alastair Reynolds (P)2010 Tantor
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What the critics say

"[Reynolds is] a genius for big-concept SF and fans of Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama and Larry Niven's Ringworld will love this novel." ( Publishers Weekly

What listeners say about Pushing Ice

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Incredible. One of Reynolds' best

I loved the entire Revelation Space series, and am a big time Reynolds fan.

I think Pushing Ice is his best work, and has become one of my favourite books. I only wish that there was a sequel, but sometimes things are better left as stand-alone stories.

I absolutely love the pace of these books. Reynolds has an uncanny ability to know exactly how to pace his stories. I rarely think that I am in a "boring" part of the book. I really appreciate that Reynolds understands that sometimes it's better to tell the reader what is happening or has happened in a few short sentences, rather than entire chapters devoted to unnecessary filler content.

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

Breathtaking view of a possible contact

Loved it to the end. couldn't stop reading it in the middle. e extremely nice view of the contact.

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3 people found this helpful

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

Excellent and captivating story!

stands out from the rest in 1st contact genre in every respect. Realistic characters and plausible, captivating storyline. definitely one of Reynolds best!

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

Outstanding story

Refreshing book with novel ideas. Biggest disappointment was when I came to the end of the book and had no more left to enjoy.

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

this book gets ALL the stars

if I could go and reduce every 5 star book I've ever read to 4 stars just so this book would be my only 5 star book, I would. characters are on point, the adventure makes sense and leaves you wanting more always, and the science in it scratches that science fiction itch in a brain pleasing way

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome

So good. Love Mr. Reynolds books! Highly recommend.
Koodos to John Lee great narration, mr you rock

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1 person found this helpful

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

The hardest SF of all

Alastair Reynolds is a master of stories about alien technology and hard science fiction. This reminds me a bit of Rendezvous with Rama, and other books of that ilk.

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

Unique backdrop, Boring execution, problematic narration

I liked the idea. Politics were heavy and a bit unbelievable. Was often hard to follow as an audiobook though because important pauses were frequently missing and the narrator often mixed up the accents of the various characters so following dialog was difficult. Gave up after 3/4 out of boredom.

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

Fun premise, disappointing execution

The further I got into this book the less I liked it. Some fun Sci-fi concepts that could have been great if they were fleshed out properly and weren’t almost completely overshadowed by the tedious rivalry of the two main characters. By the end, the characters felt flat, and the narrative was so long winded and needlessly repetitive as to be downright frustrating. So many ideas and plot points with potential that just fizzle out. Characters get killed, but you don’t really care because they are so two-dimensional. At times, the dialogue could give Plan 9 from Outer Space a run for its money. A good editor probably could’ve made this a great book.

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

could have really been something

a very interesting start and then for whatever reason the author felt it necessary to introduce some completely unnecessary drama between the characters. instead of focusing on the science the exploration and the far more interesting topics we have to spend chapter upon chapter focusing on some inter-human drama and petty nonsense. just gave up this point

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