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In Ascension

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In Ascension

By: Martin MacInnes
Narrated by: Freya Miller
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About this listen

LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2023

Leigh grew up in Rotterdam, drawn to the waterfront as a refuge from her unhappy home life and volatile father. Enchanted by the marine world of her childhood, she excels in postgraduate research on ancient algae. When an unfathomable vent appears in the mid-Atlantic floor, Leigh joins the investigating team; what she finds there will change her life forever.

Around the same time, a trio of engineers, unknown to each other, make a seismic breakthrough in rocket propulsion, announcing an almost limitless era of space exploration. Billions of dollars is poured into projects, and Leigh's classified research on the ocean vent sees her recruited to develop an experimental food source for off-world travel. From her base in the Mojave desert, she's drawn further into the space agency's work, where she learns of a series of anomalies suggesting a beacon sent from the far side of the solar system. In responding to this beacon, Leigh embarks on a journey that will take her across the breadth of the cosmos and the fullness of a single human life.

©2023 Martin MacInnes (P)2023 W.F. Howes Ltd Dystopian First Contact Genetic Engineering Science Fiction Space Exploration Space Fiction Interstellar Genetics

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All stars
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Absolutely wonderful book, beautifuly narrated. I could listen to this over and over again!

Wonderful!

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Not my usual choice but aiming to read the Booker long list for the first time ever so…I found the plot slow to start with seemingly endless descriptions and discussions of microbiological science. Perhaps this was authorial indulgence or on reflection, perhaps necessary to enfold the reader in the vastness of those so called big questions. I’m not sure. But I did speed up the narration to 1.3x and it made the story a tad more exciting.

As others have said, things only really got exciting about three quarters of the way through and then suddenly the story was over. I wanted more of the excellent description about the end of the voyage and the future. Has it convinced me to try another eco sci-fi? Probably not, but overall it was worth a read.

Raises the big questions of our existence

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I found the book intriguing in places, yet over all slow paced and it struggled to keep my attention. The main character annoyed me, but I don’t think the very gentle voice of the narrator made me feel any link to her. I also found the fact her sister took up the story towards the end as annoying.
There were moments of deeper reflection but for me they were few and far between.

Intriguing in places

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I would have struggled to read In Ascension but I found the narrators portrayal captivating. The moment I finished it I thought to myself that I want to listen to it again.

Beautifully written

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I can see why it was shortlisted for the Booked prize, this is an exquisitely crafted book which gives hope for our planet.

Staggeringly beautiful story

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I can see why some readers found this opaque and frustrating but to me it succeeded perfectly. It’s a lot more 2001 than it is Interstellar, some of both, but really a lot of neither

A story of humanity

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This may be a better novel when experienced in book form but the narrator reads it like a children's story, with a very sing-song cadence which doesn't feel appropriate for the tone of the writing and quickly becomes annoying.

unfortunate choice of narrator

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Great story and narration. An unexpected joy. A few minor niggles but I cannot discuss without spoilers!

A great and unexpected book

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I felt that too long was spent on the first three quarters of the story. Although the payoff was clever that wasn’t enough. I found the narrator a little annoying with her recurring sharp in take of breath, and the fact that voices weren’t differentiated in dialogue make it often difficult to follow, although I liked her accent.

Too long

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Like the different stages of the storyline and how it all intertwined but would like to have had a bit more about the mum

Believable science fiction

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