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Absolution Gap

By: Alastair Reynolds
Narrated by: John Lee
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Summary

The Inhibitors were designed to eliminate any life-form reaching a certain level of intelligence - and they've targeted humanity. War veteran Clavain and a ragtag group of refugees have fled into hiding. Their leadership is faltering, and their situation is growing more desperate.

But their little colony has just received an unexpected visitor: an avenging angel with the power to lead mankind to safety - or draw down its darkest enemy. And as she leads them to an apparently insignificant moon light-years away, it begins to dawn on Clavain and his companions that to beat one enemy, it may be necessary to forge an alliance with something much worse.

©2008 Alastair Reynolds (P)2009 Tantor
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What listeners say about Absolution Gap

Average customer ratings
Overall
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Good to be back.

I just started reading this book after reading the two previous books. It's nice to be back with an author who takes his time, lets characters develop and doesn't play silly buggers with physics for the sake of plot. These are slow burn books and you cannot be in a hurry when you read them but they reward you this one has a really nice sense of foreboding from the start.

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1 person found this helpful

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

one of the great sci-fi novels of all time

loved it all. majestic ideas, powerful weapons and enemies abound. an all time great book.

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

Remarkable finale

Some of the most memorable scenes in Reynolds' universe, AG is grandiose and macabre and dizzying. A worthy finalé.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

absolution gap

loving it so far wish I had come across this a long time a go

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

smart, detailed, world building

narration was excellent, the attention to detail has to be appropriated. the extrapolation of scientific knowledge is integrated in a thought provoking manner

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

Curious Accent

Fascinating!
But why did the narrator suddenly decide to affect a new accent for Clavain, this time?

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3 people found this helpful

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

Excellent!

sorry it's finished. Eclectic mix of religion, war, science and space opera. Highly recommended conclusion to the series!

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

Somewhat unsatisfying end

I’m a fan of Reynolds and have read and/or listened to most of his work. I’ve recently listened to Absolution Gap after first reading it 20 odd years ago when it first came out. It’s aged well enough as a story, but it definitely leaves an unsatisfying ending to the initial revelation space trilogy. I’m about to start the new book Inhibitor Phase, so maybe my thoughts on this will change in the future.

The narration by John Lee is rather average though and at times flirts with pretty bad! A number of characters seem to have changed their accents from previous books which is jarring to say the least! I know Lee can be somewhat polarising, personally I don’t dislike his narration, but this is by far his worst performance I’ve heard.

So overall 4 stars. Still waiting for Reynolds to climb the heights of Chasm City once again!

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

Another good yarn, narrated by a master

John Lee is in his element as usual. The story is not quite as good as the previous books in the series, hence 4 stars. Still a first rate book, but it has a lot to live up to. I hated what the Skade character did. Shame she didn't really get her comeuppance. I grew to like Scorpio the pig and was glad he made it to the end of the book. At least some of the baddies get bumped off. Shame some of the good guys 'buy it' by the end. Still, I enjoy Reynolds a great deal. I had to listen to the epilogue twice to understand it. I will definitely listen to the next book

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

Same as others in the series, but yet stranger.

I like it. Somewhat different than rest of the series, but that's a good thing, isn't it?

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