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Stars and Bones

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Stars and Bones

By: Gareth L. Powell
Narrated by: Rebecca Norfolk
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About this listen

From the multi BSFA award-winner comes a stunningly inventive action-packed science-fiction epic adventure. A brand-new series for fans of Becky Chambers and Ann Leckie.

Seventy-five years from today, the human race has been cast from a dying Earth to wander the stars in a vast fleet of arks - each shaped by its inhabitants into a diverse and fascinating new environment, with its own rules and eccentricities.

When her sister disappears while responding to a mysterious alien distress call, Eryn insists on being part of the crew sent to look for her. What she discovers on Candidate-623 is both terrifying and deadly. When the threat follows her back to the fleet and people start dying, she is tasked with seeking out a legendary recluse who may just hold the key to humanity’s survival.

Gareth L. Powell’s Embers of War won 2018 BSFA Award for Best Novel and was shortlisted for the 2019 Locus Awards and the 2021 Seiun Awards in Japan. Its sequels, Fleet of Knives and Light of Impossible Stars, were both shortlisted for the BSFA Award for Best Novel, and Fleet of Knives was also shortlisted for the 2020 Locus Awards.

©2022 Gareth L. Powell (P)2022 W F Howes
Adventure Science Fiction Space Opera Space Fiction
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Critic reviews

"Gareth Powell drops you into the action from the first page and then Just. Keeps. Going. This is a pro at the top of his game." (John Scalzi)

"A headlong, visceral plunge into a future equal parts fascinating and terrifying." (Adrian Tchaikovsky)

What listeners say about Stars and Bones

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

Great SciFi is easy to believe

This book was a disappointment in comparison to my last audible book Project Hail Mary, but I persisted regardless.

Oddly the speaking cat was actually not jarring and his phrases were unexpectedly enjoyable, probably the highlight of the book actually.

As for the main entity (trying not to give spoilers), it felt linear and predictable and was the biggest disappointment for me.

I really wanted to enjoy this more, but I lost momentum half way through the book when there was a detective-like scene that took up too much time.

A lot of promise, but not the best sci-fi that I have listened to.

I do think this would be better adapted into a CGI heavy film.

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

A good start

A good start to a space opera series. Humanity is saved by a god like entity that banishes it to be eternal nomads. A scout ship encounters a lifeform that has the potential to destroy humanity for good.

Enjoyed it.

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

Fun but don't think too hard

This book is a bit like a b movie. it's a lot of fun and it carries you along well, but only if you don't think too hard about what's going on. If you make the mistake of analysing the actions or words of the characters too much the illusion is quickly shattered. The embers of war novels hung together a lot better. All of this said there's a lot here to enjoy - particularly the world building . I'm glad I listened to it. The narrator, Rebecca Norfolk, generally did well, but mispronounced a few words. it's weird that this wasn't caught and edited out.

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

A nice simple space adventure.

A nice simple space adventure with a good reader. I will check out the authors other books now.

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

Good story. Poor narrator

I found the frequently mispronounced words were very jarring and broke me out of the books spell very often.

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

Not a patch on Becky Chambers or Anne Leckie

To begin with I thought this may be a really absorbing story, but it quickly became plodding and predictable with a rather odd ending.
The narrator has a nice voice and I enjoyed listening to her but she had trouble pronouncing a number of words that in the end rather irritated me (damask, chasm & a few others).

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Sharp writing, poor reading

The latest book from Gareth, is a sharply written science fiction thriller, but it does borrow heavily from other writers especially Jeff Vandermeer and Adrian Tchaikovsky. Sadly what spoils this enjoyable romp, is the awful reading; littered with mispronouncing of common words, for example chasam is pronounced with a soft C rather than the typical hard C. The pronunciation issues grate on me, yet I struggled on with it, to get to the conclusion of the novel. I would think twice about listening to a book, being read by Rebecca Norfolk, very off putting.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Peter Hamilton-lite

A novel with a few good ideas but thin characters and a paint by numbers story. Struggled to finish but ploughed on until the end. Disappointing by a normally competent author.

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

I love good sci fi

I love good sci fi but this is possibly the worst science fiction book I've ever read (I checked I've read over 100 science fiction books on audible)
The plot has no flow the science is almost star wars bad
the main character is absolutely awful with no depth and I couldn't feel any empathy for her.
Terrible unbelievable scenes like getting 2 broken ribs then 2 days later taking out her frustrations on a punch bag !
An incomplete Dyson sphere so large you could stand in an atmosphere on its inner surface!
I'm sorry it's dreadful and I'm completely unconserned about how it ends because I couldn't listen to a second longer.

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