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  • The Orphaned Worlds

  • Humanity's Fire, Book 2
  • By: Michael Cobley
  • Narrated by: David Thorpe
  • Length: 18 hrs and 7 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (152 ratings)
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The Orphaned Worlds cover art

The Orphaned Worlds

By: Michael Cobley
Narrated by: David Thorpe
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Summary

Darien is no longer a lost outpost of humanity, but the prize in an intergalactic power struggle. Hegemony forces have a stranglehold over the planet and crack troops patrol its hotspots while Earth watches, passive, rendered impotent by galactic politics. But its Darien ambassador will soon become a player in a greater conflict. There is more at stake than a turf war on a newly discovered world. An ancient Uvovo temple hide’s access to a hyperspace prison, housing the greatest threat sentient life has ever known. Millennia ago, malignant intelligences were caged there following an apocalyptic war. And their servants work on their release.

However, Darien's guardians have not been idle, gathering resistance on the planet's forest moon. Knowledge has been lost since great races battled in eons past, and now time is short. The galaxy will depend on the Uvovo reclaiming their past - and humanity must look to its future. For a new war is coming.

From the author: "Audible did a great job with the audiobooks of Seeds Of Earth and The Orphaned Worlds - and David Thorpe is one versatile guy, able to lend his vocal talents to every strange character I was able to think up. Just excellent!"

©2010 Michael Cobley (P)2011 Audible Ltd

What listeners say about The Orphaned Worlds

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Another brilliant book.

Once again Excellent...loved every minute of it. The characters are well defined and bought to life, the twists and turns of the plot is like a 3D maze and the narration is excellent. I can barely wait for the next instalment!

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliantly read 2nd part of excellent trilogy

I picked this having read the first part (Seeds of Earth) following a recommendation by Audible (in fact for the 3rd book of this trilogy - The Ascendent Stars). I have to say that David Thorpe is an even better narrator than Michael Page who so excellently read Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora and Red Seas Under Red Skies.

This book really builds on the first part and the multi-layered Politics / participants lead to an increasingly complex but still coherent and understandable story. I've been racking my brains to try to come up with an equivalent - if you like the recent Battlestar Galactica TV series then this is like that, but more so. Also Iain M Banks fans will surely love this too.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • M
  • 27-10-12

And a bit more ...

Another enjoyable 18 hours spent with the wonderful David Thorpe narrating; his voice work is a pure joy. The story continues along in this second installment and gets progressively darker, and although it was slightly plodding in places, there were enough twists and turns to keep me going. As with the first book in the series the writing feels a bit dated but it's still worth the effort - I reckon - as this is one big old multilayered universe Michael Cobley's crafted and there are creatures and ideas worth exploring. Onto the third book now ...

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent space opera

A complex and long story, involving many characters of different races. Each chapter advances one of the main characters' stories a little further, interweaving the different factions and alliances, building to a grand crescendo.

The author's style is very descriptive, and the story is big - with many characters, locations and points of view. It requires concentration, and if your mind wanders you will find yourself hitting the rewind button! Some reviews have used these points in a negative way - it is a question of personal taste and I enjoyed the detailed narrative style, and the complexity and length of the audiobooks.

The narration is amongst the very best I've heard - David Thorpe has a remarkable variety of different 'special effects' and accents and does a great job of applying them consistently to the characters.

The only negative I have is that the editing could be better - I didn't count but I would guess I heard a retake of a line or paragraph at least half a dozen times across the three books. I'm not deducting any stars though, hearing a few words twice is hardly an issue.

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