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Poseidon's Wake cover art

Poseidon's Wake

By: Alastair Reynolds
Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
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Summary

This novel is a standalone story which takes two extraordinary characters and follows them as they independently begin to unravel some of the greatest mysteries of our universe. Their missions are dangerous, and they are all venturing into the unknown...and if they can uncover the secret to faster-than-light travel then new worlds will be at our fingertips.

But innovation and progress are not always embraced by everyone. There is a saboteur at work. Different factions disagree about the best way to move forward. And the mysterious Watchkeepers are ever present.

Completing the informal trilogy which began with Blue Remembered Earth and On the Steel Breeze, this is a powerful and effective story.

©2015 Alastair Reynolds (P)2015 Orion Publishing Group

What listeners say about Poseidon's Wake

Average customer ratings
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Gets tedious

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No. Too drawn out. Way too much uninteresting dialogue. Towards the end of the book I couldn't stomach any more.

If you’ve listened to books by Alastair Reynolds before, how does this one compare?

Other books I've read by him are better. More inventive.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator in and of herself is good - but the high pitch, squeeky, African-simulated voices get annoying after a while, espc. as there is so much dialogue.

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5 people found this helpful

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

Not bad, but oh so slow...

There is a worthwhile story in here, but unfortunately it's buried beneath a large amount of unnecessary padding. This is one book which would really benefit from some editing.

In particular, it seemed very dialogue-heavy, with a lot of conversations not contributing much. This was not helped by the narrator making some of the characters speak rather slowly - albeit for a good reason.

That aside, the narration was very good, and it was not hard to tell who was who.

Incidentally, I don't agree with the synopsis above, where it states that "This novel is a standalone story." On the contrary; it draws heavily on the previous two books, and if you're going to go for this one, I'd recommend reading/listening to the others first.

So to summarise: an interesting story buried under a lot of padding, with a decent narrator.

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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

Another great listen

Loved it! Would recommend to all Alastair Reynolds fans. Just make sure to listen to the first two books in the series first.

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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

Curates Egg

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I understand the desire to create an alternate to the standard white Anglo/American focus, but not sure the African slant works for me. But the biggest issue I have is, talking elephants! Felt like a bit 'young adult science fiction' to me, and a big stretch, especially as there was little character definition and therefore it was impossible to be either supportive or antipathetic toward them. I like the usual broad span of space and time of ARs books, and the strict adherence to the existing laws of physics.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

As in other books, the ending allows many more spinoff stories, which is a good thing.

Have you listened to any of Adjoa Andoh’s other performances? How does this one compare?

She was excellent and I will look out more books read by her on the basis of this.

Was Poseidon's Wake worth the listening time?

It filled up my daily commute, in that its length helped and the narrative was 'just' strong enough, but across the whole three books I think there were large chunks where I just concentrated on driving.....I don't think I missed anything critical

Any additional comments?

Alistair Reynolds is a great author but I'd rather see/hear more of the Chasm City universe (or the as yet undeveloped Pushing a Ice universe) than any more of this one. Noble attempt to change the paradigm, but ultimately the whole African/Elephant plot didn't convince me at all.

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1 person found this helpful

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

It had lots of promise

Well, It had lots of promise but (not really a spoiler but…) I felt that it could have ended better. Far better. I was waiting for excitement because there had been some but it just fell flat

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

Good but not the usual standard

I love Alastair Reynolds work including the first two books of this series. Some changes in character that felt odd, some inconsistencies in the story and worst “The Terror” that was the most bizarre nothing it just grated.

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

Listen to the other two first!

I listened to the first two books in the series quite a while ago and decided not to listen to this one straight away as I found Adjoa Andoh's narration a bit challenging for some of the characters. That was a mistake and I left it too long between instalments. I would strongly recommend persevering and listening to all three back to back to avoid losing some of the detail from the earlier books that is crucial in setting the scene for this one. It is described by Audible as a standalone story, but really it isn't at all.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • FN
  • 09-04-22

Enjoyable and different

A fascinating series, highly imaginative and well worth the time. It's always a good sign when I feel slightly disappointed at the end of a series because I'd like to know what happens next...

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

Good book even if not at the level of older titles

It' not at the level of Chasm City, Century Rain or other titles but still decent.

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

A Must Read!

Fantstic trilogy with all the normal genius we expect but from a fresh new angle

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