Far from the Light of Heaven cover art

Far from the Light of Heaven

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Far from the Light of Heaven

By: Tade Thompson
Narrated by: Clifford Samuel
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About this listen

Arthur C. Clarke Award winner Tade Thompson makes a triumphant return to science fiction with this unforgettable vision of humanity's future in the chilling emptiness of space.

The colony ship Ragtime docks in the Lagos system, having travelled light years from home to bring 1,000 sleeping souls to safety among the stars.

Some of the sleepers, however, will never wake - and a profound and sinister mystery unfolds aboard the gigantic vessel. Its skeleton crew are forced to make decisions that will have repercussions for all of humanity's settlements - from the scheming politicians of Lagos station, to the colony planet of Bloodroot, to other far-flung systems and indeed Earth itself.

©2021 Tade Thompson (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK
First Contact Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Space Opera Space Fiction
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Critic reviews

"Gripping and skilfully told, with an economy and freshness of approach that is all Tade Thompson's own. The setting is interstellar, but it feels as real, immediate and lethal as today's headlines" (Alastair Reynolds)

"Readers looking for a smart sci-fi mystery should snap this up." (Publishers Weekly)

"First-rate space opera from one of the genre's most exciting voices." (Gareth L. Powell)

"A gripping space opera with characters fighting for their lives aboard a dying starship. I enjoyed it so much and can't wait to see what Thompson does next." (Martha Wells, author of the Murderbot Diaries)

"Simultaneously brutally grounded and wildly imaginative." (Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of Children of Time)

"Perfectly balances inspired universe building with both high-octane action and emotional depth." (Big Issue)

"Tade Thompson is a writer of enormous heart and talent. Just brilliant." (Dave Hutchinson)

What listeners say about Far from the Light of Heaven

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

POOR NARRATION

STORY MADE ALMOST INCOMPREHENSIBLE BY THE NARRATION. NO INFLEXION. PAUSES IN THE WRONG PLACES.
NO DIFFERENTIATION BETWEEN CHARACTERS.

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2 people found this helpful

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

Good story spoiled by poor narration

The narrator was so bad that I would lose track of who was speaking in any conversation with 2 or more people

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3 people found this helpful

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

Good story

The story was engaging and characters quite believable. I liked the grey moralities.
The narrator's voice had a lovely timbre and diction was clear. However the syntax was odd at times and they did not differentiate between characters, which meant I sometimes felt I was playing catch-up. These narrative blips meant I wondered a little if I was listening to an advanced AI. Overall enjoyable.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

OK. Decent Locked Room mystery on a Space Ship

it was fine. Lost me a little in places, Was never truly gripped but never entirely bored. Narration was a little flat but clear and concise. Wasn't particularly long so easy to get through....

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

The story was ok, but terrible to listen to

The story was quite good, I enjoyed the mystery of it; but the technical language seemed out of place at times.

The worst part was the performance, it was awful! Very monotone and bland, without properly punctuated sentences so the sense was sometimes lost. I would not listen to anything read by Clifford Samuel again.

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1 person found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Monotone monotony

Substandard reader killed my enjoyment of this story. The story itself was passable. .

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

Great story. Performance a bit lacking.

Unfortunately I was often lost as to which character had the current voice. The presenter needed to do a bit more work to differentiate the characters.

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Awful narrator! Overly simple writing.

Unsatisfying. Overly simple writing style - and the narrator is the fly on top of the mouldy cake.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

not quite a whodunit or coherent sci-fi

jumbled story line with unconvincing characters, especially the who did it. monotonic narrative and too many ideas thrown in in an incoherent manner. lost interest 3/4 in storyline.

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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

A great discovery!

A unique storyline, great pacing and well rounded characters all of which really intrigued me.

Clifford Samuel's narration was perfect.

Loved every minute of this book about to listen to it again!

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