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Existence

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Existence

By: David Brin
Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins, Robin Miles, L. J. Ganser
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About this listen

Best-selling, award-winning futurist David Brin returns to globe-spanning, high concept SF with Existence.

Gerald Livingston is an orbital garbage collector. For a hundred years, people have been abandoning things in space, and someone has to clean it up. But there’s something spinning a little bit higher than he expects, something that isn’t on the decades’ old orbital maps. An hour after he grabs it and brings it in, rumors fill Earth’s infomesh about an "alien artifact". Thrown into the maelstrom of worldwide shared experience, the Artifact is a game-changer - a message in a bottle, an alien capsule that wants to communicate. The world reacts as humans always do: with fear and hope and selfishness and love and violence. And insatiable curiosity.

©2012 David Brin (P)2012 Audible, Inc. First Contact Science Fiction Fiction

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All stars
Most relevant  
Not your usual expansive space opera but all the better for it. All of the narrator's were good which helped with the overall flow of the story.

Fantastic Sci Fi.

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Don't bother. The end of the book is missing from the download.



Most dissappointing.



Shame that this was not seen by Audible.

Shame that the whole book is not on the download.

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Yes, it does feel slightly disjointed, with a few gaps but the story is good so don't let that put you off. It kept my interest although it was long and if anything, I would say that this needed to be longer. It leaves you with the feeling that this was supposed to be a trilogy. We have at least four very interesting central characters that are much too underdeveloped. On top of that we have more peripheral characters that could be better developed within their stories.

Good story though gaps are evident.

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Brilliantly written book in content and style, and Entertaining! and first class production - 'nuff said

Brilliants Book and Entertaining

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David Brin is a master, and this book is hugely better in many ways than it's predecessor, "Earth", which is none the less fantastic. Several of my SF reading friends prefer the more psychedelic introspection of authors such as Philip K Dick and find the near-futurism a bit far reaching, technology obsessed and overly optimistic, not to mention telling the wrong story, about the environment of the characters instead of the characters themselves. It's true that Brin's characters are excessively wonderful humans, who's flaws even are advantageous. It would be great to see a real bad character in the next one. But the sheer scale of the imagination he possesses and his grappling with the larger, exo-existential questions is amazing. This is my second reading and I hazard it will not be my last.

Such a great book

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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

It's a great story, well told

What was one of the most memorable moments of Existence?

I realised about 10 minutes in that this is his best book since "Earth". While Brin has been reasonably prolific in terms of output, I first discovered him via "Earth" and was then somewhat let down by other books which had a very different feel. If you liked "Earth" you'll absolutely adore this.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

Well delivered, good pace.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It's a long book and as it was so good I found myself almost wanting to 'ration' myself to a few hours a day while on holiday!

Best novel since "Earth"

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This book is absolutely fantastic. Actually, its IMPORTANT. But it took me a while to get into, and there are a few things I just had to decide to overlook (some of the language - ie it is set after some world-altering event called 'Awfulday', etc.), and in a way the book is a vehicle for the author to explore the theory and questions around artificial intelligence, alien life, and how humanity would react to first contact (which doesn't happen as you think it would!!). It is imaginative, and the further in you get, the more each thread of the story falls into place, and parts of the story that you thought may be 'filler' had intention from the start. It is my most recommended new read of the year, but you have to persevere - stick with it for rewards!

Stick with it...

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What a fantastic book! I loved it's structure. Excellently complicated each character could have their own book. The whole thing could of easily been a trilogy of books.

Right up my street

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I like a book with alot more action and alot less philosophy i also found it quite annoying in places especially the rasta man !
So not my thing but some people might like it.

Not my thing

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Kept me amused and coming back for more - got a little weary half way through with some of the inevitability of the story line and then picked up at the end with a lesson on life I guess you could say. Overall this was well worth listening to if you enjoy an intelligent tale of a possible future. I see from other reviews that I should try Earth next.

Not such a sad existence

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