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The Outside
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins
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The Outside
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Summary
Humanity's super-intelligent AI gods brutally punish breaches in reality, as one young scientist discovers, in this intense and brilliant space opera.
Autistic scientist Yasira Shien has developed a radical new energy drive that could change the future of humanity. But when she activates it, reality warps, destroying the space station and everyone aboard. The AI gods who rule the galaxy declare her work heretical, and Yasira is abducted by their agents. Instead of simply executing her, they offer mercy - if she'll help them hunt down a bigger target: her own mysterious, vanished mentor.
With her homeworld's fate in the balance, Yasira must choose who to trust: the gods and their ruthless post-human angels, or the rebel scientist whose unorthodox mathematics could turn her world inside out.
Critic reviews
"Hoffmann confidently layers morality and disability rights into a breezily told adventure that bursts with sheer fun.... This beautifully smart, uncynical space opera will charm fans of Charles Stross and Lois McMaster Bujold." (Publishers Weekly)
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What listeners say about The Outside
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- martin kenna
- 25-07-19
an author with her own original ideas
it's not often I cant wait to finish a book so I can get to the ratings bit to comment. the narrator is not my taste but tells the story well. well done Nancy. the story itself. Wow. having read thousands of books I can normally predict the plot 9 out of 10 times. Not this one. Because it's so original I had no idea where it was going to end up. So impressed
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Paul
- 26-12-22
Truly Bad SciFi
What a huge disappointment. Easily one of the worst books I have had to endure for many years. Purile dialogue, superficial characters, it’s a ghastly attempt at wokeness using females as a blueprint.
Laughable.
Avoid at all costs…the brilliant narrator can’t save it.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Adam
- 25-09-23
Really good
I enjoyed this book quite a bit, I thought the narrator in particular was very good.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Kai
- 12-09-23
I wanted to like it. A lot. Yet only 2½ stars.
Found this as a recommendation in Space Opera, and being a Sci-Fi buff I went for it straight away.
TLDR;
The good
+Good premise
+Interesting approach [non-standard protagonist]
+Space Opera with a Lovecraftian vibe, what's not to like
+RE-PRE-SEN-TA-TION! *applause*
The negative
-The protagonist is not teribbly nice.
-The girlfriend is too nice.
-Lovecraftian vibes end up just a bit boring
Plus and/or minus
The mental states of everyone gets dissected and opened like a frog in a biology lab. You either like it or don't.
I wanted to love this. So much about the premise is both rare and interesting. In an ableist society reading about a neuro-atypical protagonist would be empowering for all with any sort of non-standard qualities.
However, I don’t think it brought anything to the table that would make the story better or more relatable. That may be due simply to the fact that I am likely just too neurotypical.
Also, I shy away from religion in all shape or form. Thus presenting the 'Godlike A.I. overlords', who seem too cold and calculative aaand (surprise! surprise!) may not have humanitys best at heart, seems a bit too much of a space opera trope. One used a few times too many already.
Also, the neurodivergent dimension of so many important characters, seems simply to make them more...
...what's the word? ...not quite rude,
nor unlikable either.
But perhaps something along those lines.
The narrator is the great actress Nancy Wu. Somehow, here I found her performance somewhat off-putting, sometimes even a bit grating. I am not sure if it was the way she voiced the characters or the text. Most likely a combination of both.
Overall I felt slightly let down. The representative aspects are a big plus. The Lovecraftian spice could be interesting, but isn't and the narration doesn't help.
if I could, I would give it 2½ stars for a good try. Enough still to give the next volume in the series a try, I think.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kathryn
- 09-09-23
Excellent audio adaptation!
Really enjoyed this, it was a great listen and really captured the mind-bending horror of the novel.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 29-07-23
Not my cup of tea.
Slow, uneventful. Interesting god-concept.
Reviewers, stop using woke as a pejorative, you've no idea. 🙄
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- SABRE
- 16-07-23
Started to drag towards the end
I was really enjoying this story for about two-thirds. Then it started to drag and meander and I found it hard to follow. But I won’t give up on it. The concept is very cool.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Michael Harry
- 09-11-19
Meandering and boring story
The story was far too long and we spend far too much time inside the protagonist's head with her thoughts and worries that repeat and go on and on. Too many filler scenes, repetitive scenes that say things we've already been told. The central mystery about outside is not worth finding out about.
The voice acting kept me listening but honestly this was a slog to get through and I should have abandoned it
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- josh
- 13-09-19
not enough. poor story arc.
the parts of a story are there. it has interesting sci-fi. add it to your love craft portfolio.
but it lacks story arc. i'm left saying to my self, Do i care what happens? should i sit through this?
great narration.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- S. Donovan
- 29-08-20
Exhausting main character paralyzed by self doubt
The main character in this story is the most self-deprecating, fearful, unhappy creature I've ever encountered in fiction. At first this is likable, but the character keeps on passing up opportunities for self-growth or for questioning the "way things are" this combined with the worried narration makes it exhausting to listen to.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 04-01-20
Not good.
Not much happens and then a character becomes suddenly important and we're supposed to care.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Owly
- 07-08-21
Resonating and powerful for the neurodivergent
A story of space, magic, and the unknown and unknowable. This story does a particularly good job of being relatable to people who are neurodivergent or LGBT+ and is full of suspense all the way through, with every event compelling and making the next irresistible.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ross
- 28-07-20
An engaging new take on lovecraftian horrors!
The Outside is an engaging new take on lovecraftian horrors in a scifi setting!
The world building is detailed but it never feels like you're getting bogged down in trivia.
The main character and main antagonist being on the autistic spectrum adds a delightful layer to the story, as from their perspective humans are themselves arbitrary alien messes with incomprehensible rules.
The book works well enough as a stand alone story, but I hope there is a sequel!
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MsHarmony
- 27-01-20
Satisfied All My Cravings For a Sci-Fi Book
Hoffmann’s world is populated by a variety of post op angels, vague gods who rule over them, good, bad and so-so aliens, and an intrepid and brilliant young autistic scientist who embarks on the journey of her life. Without getting into the story line, let me just say, it was interesting, clever and refreshingly original; beautifully written and spot on narration. It kept my full attention front to back.
I just read there is a sequel tentatively set. I hope it’s with the same narrator, Nancy Wu.
Anyway, 5 stars, 2 thumbs’ up and a resounding Yes!
PS It's months later and I've re-read The Outside only to love it even more than the first time. I thought Nancy Wu's narration was perfect. Her voice captured the inner musings of young Yasira, the hesitant, lost and confused and yet oh-so determined genius scientist we follow on her path of discoveries. Please Ada Hoffmann, hurry with the next one!
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- DT Campbell
- 26-05-21
Unflinchingly honest
One of the best books for characterization I've ever read - especially the villains. Everything in the story is driven by motive, and all actions (or intended actions) make sense from each character's vantage point, poured through the lens of their prior experience with other people.
There's also a keen sense for how one's frame of reference affects both one's own understanding and how others perceive one. The way that the Outside is experienced reminded me - as if through a twisted, dark glass - how all the many possibilities of time were experienced by Muad'dib in Herbert's Dune. How transformative such a loss of self can be, how dangerous it can be, to everyone connected to the one transforming, losing themselves.
But Hoffmann's rendering of that consciousness is more exacting and feels more real, rather than imagined, more drawn from the terror, ecstasy and horror of perception altered - not by psychoactive substance, but by extreme experience and ordeal.
And, gods, that last conversation is so on point for lived experience.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Zaid
- 15-04-22
Im glad I gave it a second chance
The 1st time I tried to listen to this book I gave up and started a new one. But I gave it a second chance and it was an interesting story about an autistic young adult engineer. Her life takes a turn away from her “faith” and her limits are tested.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Ron A. Parsons
- 14-12-19
Gods, souls, religion
Did a double take on this, thought it was scify
-turned out medieval fantasy
Was closer
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- SarahMc
- 12-02-23
Wow!
I put this down for months; just couldn't get into it. But I'm so glad I picked it up again, because it really drew me in and held me fascinated throughout. Also, great narration.
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