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Lockstep

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Lockstep

Written by: Karl Schroeder
Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
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When 17-year-old Toby McGonigal finds himself lost in space, separated from his family, he expects his next drift into cold sleep to be his last. After all, the planet he' s orbiting is frozen and sunless, and the cities are dead. But when Toby wakes again, he' s surprised to discover a thriving planet, a strange and prosperous galaxy, and something stranger still - that he' s been asleep for 14,000 years.

Welcome to the Lockstep Empire, where civilization is kept alive by careful hibernation. Here cold sleeps can last decades and waking moments mere weeks. Its citizens survive for milennia, traveling asleep on long voyages between worlds. Not only is Lockstep the new center of the galaxy, but Toby is shocked to learn that the Empire is still ruled by its founding family: his own.

Toby's brother Peter has become a terrible tyrant. Suspicious of the return of his long-lost brother, whose rightful inheritance also controls the lockstep hibernation cycles, Peter sees Toby as a threat to his regime. Now, with the help of a Lockstep girl named Corva, Toby must survive the forces of this new Empire, outwit his siblings, and save human civilization. Karl Schroeder's Lockstep is a grand innovation in hard SF space opera.

©2014 Karl Schroeder (P)2014 Recorded Books Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Space Opera Fiction Solar System Survival Interstellar
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Reader JT Ross, while fine, has a youthful YA voice that certainly suits the teen protagonist but somehow gives the story a quaint, old-timey Tom Swift vibe that does the story no favours. Perhaps John Lee or one of the usual suspects would better represent this material, or would that I had just read it myself.
Still, very satisfying sci-fi and I have no regrets.

Solid low key space opera

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