A Science Fiction masterpiece

One of my favourite SF novels. Listening at 0.8 speed was best. The audible app is great too.

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2 people found this helpful

interesting ideas, beautifully written.

Yes, it's the novel that brought the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis into the awareness of science fiction fans, paving way for thousands of stories about language altering our perceptions. As such it is a direct ancestor of such modern classics as Arrival.

Yes, it won loads of awards, and is widely seen as a genre classic. Yes, it has a wonderfully exotic (if sparsely described) setting.

But it hasn't aged all that well, and the linguistics in it are not that accurate or based on now largely discredited theories. And there are many things that date it badly. Punch cards program computers, recordings are made on tape reels. It feels very 1960s.

And it's a bit clumsy at times. A minor character with a role that should have put him regularly across the path of space travellers knows nothing about them, merely acting as an audience proxy for several exposition dumps and some wild world building.

But it's fun, crazy and it's central premise is engaging.

Enjoyable, but not brilliant.

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4 people found this helpful

Story could have used another 5 hours, but happy!

Love the premise of this story! That language can have such a profound affect on the world around us!

Interesting characters that I cared about and wanted to know better, and well developed ideas that were novel.

Felt a bit rushed at the end, but still a great book!

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If you like Star Trek...

This is classic sci-if, born out of Saturday matinees, but with a twist. Here we have a female protagonists, and a mystery. It’s psychological. It’s sexy. It’s well populated, well crafted, and rips along at a fair pace.

Oh, and it’s free! This is well worth a listen, and Stefan Rudnicki’s performance makes for comfortable listening.

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Very entertaining with a great concept

I loved the exploration of language, and hope language shapes the thoughts of its speakers

I loved every single character (even the ones I hated)

I loved the world building, which was neat and evocative

vg narrator

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1 person found this helpful

Not my cup of tea but interesting concept

Like what I said in the title, just interesting enough for me not too return it, but it barely kept my attention

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Difficult to Hear

No problems with the story but the narrator is very difficult to understand. Listen to the full sample before purchasing.

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Very Interesting & Full of Action

Fascinating ideas around language amd a great sci fi romp... Found it a bit jumbled and chaotic however

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It's okay, for a "classic"

A little confusing at points but that might just be me. The characters aren't deep enough. You don't get to know them too well. Stefan Rudnicki's performance made it easier, so many characters and you could tell each one by his voice.

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Space opera where language becomes the space

I couldn't stop listening to it. The attention to characters with uniqueness creating new perspectives that were impossible to imagine before.

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2 people found this helpful