A great listen!

I really enjoyed this book, the reader is very easy to listen to, and really brings the characters to life.

The first half of the book is the best as they deal with 'the event' but it does get rather far fetched towards the end, especially for a book which grounds itself as much as possible in believable physics. But don't let that put you off, it's still a great book!

The book was written in 1999 and is set in 2009, so although the setting is now in the past it was still a decade in the future when it was written, so it's interesting to note some aspects like the author suggesting that book stores had all turned into coffee shops with 'print on demand' facilities. One of the characters in 2009 expressed amazement at a 2030 vision of hard drive based recorders for TV programmes when they are/were perfectly commonplace in 2009!

Also while this takes some common elements from the TV series of the same name, the story is completely different so having watched/read one is not going to spoil the other!

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2 people found this helpful

If you knew the future would you read this book?

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes but not unreservedly, Robert Sawyer writes very intellectually interesting books with great ideas and he writes them well. Sometimes though what he brings in terms of the ideas and the philosophy he looses in the emotional translation. If you love ideas, this book is a marvel, if you need emotions with that its a good book, If you want an emotional book its a waste of time.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Michiko, human and the best and most rounded character of all

What about Mark Deakins’s performance did you like?

Great characterisations, he got everything he could from the page and was very clear.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely not, its way too theory heavy, but 2+hrs would be ok.

Any additional comments?

Its a great book for soft sci-fi lovers who want ideas heavy books.

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1 person found this helpful

Flash wo wo

I'm glad I've read, listened to this book. Totally different from the TV series of a few years ago. A good story although there was much sciencespeak. it was interesting to hear how the world would look in the future and even when you "see" your possible future, you could be in the wrong place at the right time.

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3 people found this helpful

A thoughtful and enjoyable story

I remember really enjoying this story when I first read it many years ago, at about the same age as the young Theo in the story, but naturally the memory of it faded with the passing years. I decided to treat myself to the audible version now that I am about the same age as the older Theo in the story, and it has impacted me even more than the first time, perhaps because I am more knowledgeable about the underlying science now and also have more life experience. A thoughtful, thought-provoking and enjoyable story about the effects of glimpsing what time has in store for us. I wonder what impact it will have on me when I read it again as an even older version of me in the future....

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Full of promise, idn't quite deliver

I enjoyed this book more at the beginning than I did at the end. I was left feeling a little empty by the closing chapter. It's an interesting plot idea though, and I imagine that the science is carefully researched. Deakins did a great job. I'd listen to other books narrated by him.

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Great book, awful narration

I am about half way through the audio of this book and I am thoroughly enjoying the plot. Quite different from the tv series but that's ok for me.

My only complaint is the narration - I find it quite hard to believe in any of the characters as all their accents are the same, regardless of nationality - the New Zealand accent is particularly amusing! I would rather the narrator didnt try to put on different voices for each character if he is going to do it badly.

For me, this really lets the audiobook down which is disappointing as I'm quite fascinated with the subject matter.

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Brilliant!

This is a beautifully written and thought-provoking book which is well read by the narrator. It raises the fascinating questions of how life would change if you could see 20-years into the future, how much that vision would dictate what actually happened in the future and whether or not the future is pre-determined. This is a great read and much better than the TV series.

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Better than the TV series

An excellent, thought provoking story, with a different feel to the TV series.

For two minutes, everyone loses conciousness, and glimpses their own futures. Of course there are many deaths caused by the two minutes, the one thing better portrayed in the TV series. The focus here though is how to deal with your glimpse of your future self - relationships had changed, and some see no future at all. Questions are raised - if you see your future, for example, is it therefore impossible to commit suicide? If the future is set, do we have no free will or control?

Will definitely be up for a re-read.

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1 person found this helpful

kept pausing itself, but bloody good book

I may try to find the series now and watch that. shame this file kept stopping and I would have to press play again, but such a good story

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Enjoyable & Quite Unique

I purchased this book quite sometime ago and started it, for some reason I could not carry on with it. Recently went back to it and started again, I must say I am glad that I did really enjoyed it a must if your a science fiction fan and have a scientific curiosity. The Time Travel element to the story was intriguing. Certainly a different novel for me. I may well try some of his other books. The narrator I have heard before on some of the Dan Brown Books I have listened to and his performance here was excellent an easy to listen to voice and builds suspense quite naturally. A good story teller.

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