Now that's entertainment!

Both a fun and thoughtful romp through a post-apocalyptic scenario, as only Robert J. Sawyer can pull off. I thought the contrast between the astronauts and ex-cons provided good tension, and the Mennonites were a nice touch too. I loved that the story was placed in Waterloo: Sawyer always gives his work a proudly Canadian flourish. And it was a magnificent, layered theatrical performance of the audio book - Brendan Fraser was especially good, and fresh from his Academy Award! I love that Sawyer's brand of thoughtful science fiction is commanding such star power today.

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8 people found this helpful

Another winner from Robert J. Sawyer, and excellently produced!

The Downloaded is another winner from Robert J. Sawyer. It is extremely well written and the pacing was perfect—once I turned it on I struggled to turn it off. Further, the audiobook’s production values were through the roof with a talented cast who did a great job bringing the characters to life. Easily among the best—if not the best—I’ve listened to.

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2 people found this helpful

Intriguing Listen

Immerse yourself in a great Science Fiction novel as it spans many centuries in the blink of an eye. It is also well performed by well known celebrities, and with the addition of sound effects it makes an even greater listen.

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2 people found this helpful

A great production to the service of a “meh’’ story

I took this audio book after seeing the great ensemble cast, and being a Sic-Fi nuts, this seemed a really good deal. I wasn’t disappointed by the quality. As far as audiobooks go, this is very nice. Almost like an old time radio drama. However, it is all done to the service of an ok story, at best. The frustrating part is that it touches themes that are very interesting and could have been much better explored, but it keeps on the surface and move quickly from one issue to another, fixing debates and problems easily without getting in the suspense or the philosophical, because the story needs to get going. It feels like they shouldn’t have explored so many to begin with, since it is all wrapped up pretty quickly anyway and often without satisfaction or real drama. Also, this is an “interview” style storytelling, very similar to World War Z, but not done as well. At some point the story catches up with the “testimonies”, but they keep “testifying” to what they are doing/thinking, even though it doesn’t make sense anymore. The end is one of the most straight up and on the nose “happy endings” have heard in a while, with a very convenient Ex Machina type solution that makes you sigh a little. For the price (free with the Plus Catalogue) and the time (a little over 5 hours) it’s absolutely worth it, but it is no Asimov.

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2 people found this helpful

Excellent performance! Overall a good listen

I loved the premise of the book, and character development was great. But the insertion of the author's personal opinions toward covid 19 were disruptive and irrelevant to the storyline and made it difficult to remain immersed in the plot. Narration was spot on, and I still like the book- just leave the virtue signaling for social media next time.

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2 people found this helpful

Great story!!

I could not put this down! Very clever story and fantastic narration. I will definitely be revisiting this one again!

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1 person found this helpful

Interesting take on end of the world survival

Interesting story, but trying to weave social justice themes throughout the story ruined the whole thing.

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Pleasantly surprised

I really liked the performances and if the is a solid Criticism it would be the list opportunities to explore humanity more. This is a gem in the rough.

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Great book

The performance was really well done and the story was good. I hope there will be a continuation.

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Science Gone Wrong

I downloaded (no pun intended) this selection because it was short. Don't let the length fool you, there's a lot to this story that's set in Waterloo, ON and space. The pandemic, global warming, transgender issues and more are covered. Like I said there's a lot to this short story. I'm hoping to read the print version when it's released because I think I'd get more from it by reading.
The performances are really done well. I've already recommended to a few people I think might find this interesting.

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