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Seveneves cover art

Seveneves

Written by: Neal Stephenson
Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal, Will Damron
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Publisher's Summary

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Anathem, Reamde, and Cryptonomicon comes an exciting and thought-provoking science fiction epic - a grand story of annihilation and survival spanning five thousand years.

What would happen if the world were ending?

A catastrophic event renders the earth a ticking time bomb. In a feverish race against the inevitable, nations around the globe band together to devise an ambitious plan to ensure the survival of humanity far beyond our atmosphere, in outer space.

But the complexities and unpredictability of human nature coupled with unforeseen challenges and dangers threaten the intrepid pioneers, until only a handful of survivors remain....

Five thousand years later, their progeny - seven distinct races now three billion strong - embark on yet another audacious journey into the unknown...to an alien world utterly transformed by cataclysm and time: Earth.

A writer of dazzling genius and imaginative vision, Neal Stephenson combines science, philosophy, technology, psychology, and literature in a magnificent work of speculative fiction that offers a portrait of a future that is both extraordinary and eerily recognizable. As he did in Anathem, Cryptonomicon, the Baroque Cycle, and Reamde, Stephenson explores some of our biggest ideas and perplexing challenges in a breathtaking saga that is daring, engrossing, and altogether brilliant.

©2015 Neal Stephenson (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

What listeners say about Seveneves

Average Customer Ratings
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.great

loved it! Kept me engaged for 31 and a half hours. I wish there was more

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Fantastic

This book blew me away! So well told, researched and paced. Loved every minute of it!!

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

Slow but interesting book

I enjoyed the story and ideas presented in this book, but there were long stretches where it seemed to meander and lose focus. There were few characters I couldn't get into but I think this was largely due to the narrator's performance. One character that comes to mind is Marcus, I was relieved when he passed on only because I didn't want to hear his "voice" anymore. A decent listen if you're able to get through the slow parts.

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

Too much detail for me, but amazing story overall

I'm an *engineer* and it was too much detail for me! However, if you're into that kind of thing, you'll LOVE this; that said, the story made up for the parts I found draggy, and I was especially impressed with Mary Robinette Kowal's distinct voices for so many characters in the first part of the book.

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Epic doesn’t even cover it...

The scope of this novel is immense, such rich storytelling, brought to life by amazing narration. I would highly recommend this to just about anyone who enjoys science fiction. It is a little in-depth at times, so casual sci-fi fans should probably steer clear, but if you’re looking for an engrossing tale and don’t mind a little technical explanation, this should be top of your list!

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Loved the idea

The idea is great and unique. The details and technical explanations are on point but story wise sometimes it gets too technical and loses the flow of the story.
Otherwise, it was great.

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well done. good science, largely believable

there are a handful of logic flaws such as the purity of the seven trees surviving the first several hundred years of close confinement, but overall a great story, backed up by solid science and some unique ideas.

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best audio interpretation ever

I read this in hardcover and it was in a military voice. because I was in the military. so much better like this. bravo Mary.

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Only wished it was longer!

I liked how it was split up into two parts with different narrators, really added to the effect!

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

Mary Robinette Kowal is ruining it for me

I’m really unsure if I’ll finish this because Mary Robinette Kowal has to be the worst voice actor I’ve ever encountered. This story has an array of international characters so I don’t understand why the production team cast a voice actor who can only do the campiest and most stereotypical depiction of those accents. Kowal’s attempts at an English accent seem to have resulted solely from watching Mary Poppins; we have either a non specific “posh” accent or a dick van dyke-esqu cockney full of dropped ‘h’s. All the male characters have the same throaty brain-dead presentation which at least provides some comic relief when the prose states what accent the character is meant to have - the guy from New Jersey sounds indistinguishable from the guy from the Midwest and both sound like parodies of the “macho guy” voice. The other accents are all equally cringey and terrible, I’m surprised the Australian didn’t have a “g’day mate” thrown in because at this point, I’d expect it. The subject matter is meant to be grim and dark but the accents detract from me feeling anything about the characters’ and their situations.
Kowal reading straight prose is fine but why can’t she pronounce the letter ‘e’? End becomes “ind”, lens becomes “lins”, engine “injin” and so forth and its consistent whether reading prose or dialogue. It’s a small gripe but shouldn’t a voice actor have proper diction? The story itself is interesting and I’m hoping the second voice actor is better but it’s a challenge to continue.

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