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

Great novel, only somewhat held back by narration

A solid tale that I've read and am now listening to after getting an itch to relive the story. The first 2/3 are really solid, the latter 3rd is a bit... different, however it is rather interesting as most stories of the like would leave a cliffhanger ending unexplored or a followup novel.

The main weakness here is one that is common to many audiobooks: having the narrator portray the other gender and the narrator doing so, unfortunately, quite poorly. Some narrators, few thus far I've found, can do both male and female characters quite well; most however can not, but I'll not blame the narrator in these cases (it seems like a darned tough job to do after all) but rather the one(s) who made the decision to do not bring in at least one other voice actor to portray some of the major characters to make it a bit more of an ensemble or duo performance piece rather than a simple solo narration. In this case the narrator does an excellent job producing a recognisable voice for most of the characters (and really nails it for this female forward cast I must add), but non-american accents and male characters sound, for lack of a better description, rather cheesy. However, this work is fairly female (and american) forward, so for most of the book it is a solid performance.

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5 people found this helpful

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

Interesting idea which almost worked

This book reads like The Stand in space.

It poses some interesting ideas... But the logic has too many holes to be considered serious science fiction. Also, the gender politics is too in your face, being a mix of 1950s stereotype and 1960s Women's Studies hangups.

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4 people found this helpful

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

Annoying to read, Disappointing

It was a fine psudo-realistic sci-fi novel until it became senslessly political, not-enjoyable to read.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
  • R
  • 2019-02-24

I cannot stand the voices

I am only a couple hours in and I cannot stand the voices the reader is using between characters... Very distracting. Poorly executed.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • BJM
  • 2023-06-29

I hope Ron Howard finds the catalyst necessary to make this movie finally happen.

This was a fantastic exercise in human possibility. In a time where it seems that the whole world has gone crazy, this mind journey was a much needed escape into a difficult yet worthwhile future. I love a story that makes me feel like we as humans can get past ALL the small stuff in the big picture. ❤️❤️❤️

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1 person found this helpful

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

A plus story and narration

What a wonderful take on the situation. Perfect length and pace of the story. Narration was nice and smooth. We’ll done team.

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1 person found this helpful

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

Amazing book!

Extremely thought-provoking, good narration, and super interesting ideas about space travel and the human mind

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1 person found this helpful

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

Amazing

Rarely have I been as enthralled by an audiobook as I was by this one! Great character development and story, thank you Neal Stephenson!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars
  • JT
  • 2022-06-08

Just couldn't get into it

I think there's a solid concept here worth exploring but this novel fails in the execution. I really wanted to like it because Snow Crash was just so amazing - but this is not in the same ballpark; not even the same sport. It's also hard not to notice the author is essentially just using this as a platform to virtue signal to the reader (listener) about their current political beliefs. The first few instances were forgivable but it quickly becomes very abrasive since it does not advance the plot or any character development. Rather, it distracts from the story and turns the characters into one dimensional caricatures.

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1 person found this helpful

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

a good read sprinkled with some complaints

I very much wish the third act was removed and then given it's own book. it felt like an extended prologue with characters and stakes I was not invested in and as soon as you start to it ends. I guess it's a good complaint to have but it's also frustrating

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1 person found this helpful