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  • Emergency Skin

  • Forward collection
  • By: N. K. Jemisin
  • Narrated by: Jason Isaacs
  • Length: 1 hr and 4 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (222 ratings)
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Emergency Skin cover art

Emergency Skin

By: N. K. Jemisin
Narrated by: Jason Isaacs
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Summary

2020 Audie Award Winner for Best Science Fiction

Audible narration by Jason Isaacs (Star Trek: Discovery)

What will become of our self-destructed planet? The answer shatters all expectations in this subversive speculation from the Hugo Award - winning author of the Broken Earth trilogy.

An explorer returns to gather information from a climate-ravaged Earth that his ancestors, and others among the planet’s finest, fled centuries ago. The mission comes with a warning: A graveyard world awaits him. But so do those left behind - hopeless and unbeautiful wastes of humanity who should have died out ages ago. After all this time, there’s no telling how they’ve devolved. Steel yourself, soldier. Get in. Get out. And try not to stare.

N. K. Jemisin’s Emergency Skin is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.

©2019 N. K. Jemisin (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

Emergency Skin, by the award(s)-winning Jemisin, is part of a sensational project called Forward, which brings together six writers, each telling a story about Earth’s imagined future.” --Spine Magazine

“Narrator Jason Isaac’s voice is the perfect mix of insistent, pedantic, and scornful…This brief but clever tale is truly best enjoyed on audio.” (AudioFile - Earphones Award Winner)

“The tale is a fascinating experiment in story structure…Thoughtful and interactive.” (LOCUS)

“This is exactly how I like my techno-anxiety…Happy bingeing!” (Audible, an October Editors Pick)

What listeners say about Emergency Skin

Average customer ratings
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Absurd, subversive, fun

I really, really enjoyed this short story! It’s hilarious. Using absurdity Jemisin illuminates a hopeful attitude of how we could change our world for the better. I listened to the audio book narrated by Jason Isaacs who is nothing short of brilliant.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Incredible

Why have I never heard of this author before? This story was briliant. I didn't know it was possible for someone to write so amazingly. My review of this story can't do it justice because I haven't the author's way with words. I too am obsessed with immortality, but this story delves into what the consequences of eternal life might be, and what such an existence would entail. Should we want for longevity at any cost? And yet the vibe of the author's storytelling is also quirky in a smart clever way. So glad I've found a new favourite author to read! Well, listen to audibooks. And this one being narrated by Jason Isaacs is brill. He's so good at accents it seems he's really born where he's talking from.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Funny and extremely thought provoking

Really enjoyed this short story. Excellent narrationaw well. Must look out some of their other work.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Short Story

A really engrossing hour or so in a well realised world, Definitely try further titles in the series

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Loved It

A fascinating little story that was very interesting and amusing at the same time and Jason Isaacs makes a great story teller.

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

Solid bit of sci-fi

I just really enjoyed this. I loved the premise of the plot, I loved how the story was told. Solid bit of sci-fi, albeit it short.

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

Enjoyable and thought provoking

The narrator really brought this story to life, particularly the later part where we were introduced to the character of the old man.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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Disgusting Race-Communist Propaganda

A transparent race-baiting communist propaganda piece, disgustingly trite and deeply hateful of modern society, which it strawmans as an all-male white supremacist fascist splinter group responsible for all the worlds ills. NK Jemisin is a vile sexist racist demagogue and I will never read another thing by her again. She is the epitome of the word "scum" and her writing is a direct reflection of her political hate.

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

Fantastic idea.

I did really enjoy this idea and the POV it was told from. The execution and performance by the narrator was fabulous.

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

told from an interesting perspective

alot of the text is one side of a conversation, which I thought worked very well. enjoyable and interesting short story.

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