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Permafrost
- Narrated by: Natasha Soudek
- Length: 4 hrs and 12 mins
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Permafrost
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Summary
A Locus Award Finalist for Best Novella
Fix the past. Save the present. Stop the future. Master of science fiction Alastair Reynolds unfolds a time-traveling climate fiction adventure in Permafrost.
2080: At a remote site on the edge of the Arctic Circle, a group of scientists, engineers, and physicians gather to gamble humanity’s future on one last-ditch experiment. Their goal: to make a tiny alteration to the past, averting a global catastrophe while at the same time leaving recorded history intact. To make the experiment work, they just need one last recruit: an ageing schoolteacher whose late mother was the foremost expert on the mathematics of paradox.
2028: A young woman goes into surgery for routine brain surgery. In the days following her operation, she begins to hear another voice in her head...an unwanted presence which seems to have a will, and a purpose, all of its own - one that will disrupt her life entirely. The only choice left to her is a simple one.
Does she resist...or become a collaborator?
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What listeners love about Permafrost
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Steve
- 23-08-19
Usual high calibre material from this author
Alastair Reynolds has become one of my favourite authors and it was not until I went away to try material from other writers and came back that I was reminded of his quality.. I usually avoid shorter stories but I was intrigued by the summary of Permafrost. I was not disappointed. Natasha Soudek was an inspired choice of narrator to convey the bleak Russian backdrop and characters. Reynolds applied a moving and measured ending to the story, which could so easily have been spoiled with an up-beat one, which it certainly was not. Good stuff.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- MR K.
- 04-07-19
Not good
Dreary fake Russian accent narration married with worse Alastair Reynolds’ plot ever - not my best Audible purchase - will make effort to listen to previews in future or play safe and just buy RC Bray stuff!
1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- DENNIS
- 09-11-19
SOMETHING DIFFERENT TO USUAL SPACE OPERA
ENJOYABLE TIME TRAVEL STORY WITH A TWIST,NOT QUITE AT HIS USUAL FIVE STAR LEVEL BUT A DEFINITE FOUR STAR PLUS.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Drew
- 11-07-19
At last a descent time travel book.
A really interesting take.
Not your run of the mill time travel book.
Just the right length.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- David
- 29-06-19
Interesting but did not enjoy
It was well read but the story did not grab me. The mother's character was developed a little and left out to dry.
The recording was in one four hour chunk so was difficult to manage when I inadvertently left it running.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Charles M.
- 23-08-19
Not your father's SciFi!
SciFi with a huge human element an atypical hero and a heart rending finale. This tightly packed novella is MORE than worth your time.
13 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Michael G Kurilla
- 30-09-19
Time travel escapades
Alastair Reynolds' Permafrost is a time travel novella that takes place in 2080 at which point environmental collapse is imminent. In an attempt to save humanity, a project is undertaken to send "pilots" back to 2028 to secure seed stocks to feed the starving remnants of the human race. Technically, a person cannot go back in time, but can connect and take over some from that time and direct actions. The goal is to secure those stocks in a location recoverable in 2080. Humanity is assisted by sophisticated AIs that appear to have their own agenda.
Reynolds employs a unique twist on time travel paradox by not actually sending anyone through time. Special preparations are needed and the pilot must go to great lengths to remain in control. At the same time, signals appear to be coming from her future suggesting that all is not well even with success.
The narration is well done with heavy Russian accents that are nevertheless quite understandable. Pacing is quick for this short offering.
12 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Gift Card Recipient
- 24-06-19
Wow
Most believable time travel scenario ever! Narrator was terrific. Perhaps I missed it somewhere in there, but what did the note say in the altimeter?
Really great, highly recommended.
8 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Douglas F. Couch
- 27-06-19
Allastair Reynolds back with another good one
Enjoyed the tight tale with the hazards of time paradox. Thought provoking so I listened twice.
7 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anthony Lewis Aragues Jr.
- 23-09-19
Too short, but done well.
I really hate time stories. I only got this because I really like Alastair Reynolds.
It was done well, had a fresh approach, got me invested right when it ends.
6 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Nikolas P. Robinson
- 25-01-22
A Different Sort of Time Travel
Most of my exposure to Alastair Reynolds has been in the form of grand, far-future space operas. Reynolds's work appeals to me, in large part, because it's typically heavy on the darker aspects of human nature--as well as the incomprehensible or frequently sinister nature of other intelligences humanity encounters amongst the stars. Of course, there's also the necessary focus on the uncaring and hazardous nature of the universe itself.
While Permafrost takes place on Earth, in our not-too-distant future, it's imbued with that theme of humanity struggling against forces of a universe that is indifferent to our survival. Only a couple of decades from where we find ourselves today, an unexpected global catastrophe begins. As insect, plant, and other animal life dies off, we find the remaining human population facing imminent starvation and dwindling numbers. The only solution is to find a way to make small changes in the past that will allow the humans of 2080 to implement their only chance of saving the human life that remains.
Unfortunately, we can't send anything like a human being into the past. However, scientists have discovered a way to tether two consciousnesses separated by half a century or more via a neural interface grown from nanoscale machines transported back in time. By sending pilots--individuals who will assume control of an unwilling and presumably unwitting subject--downstream and into these hosts, the Permafrost project hopes to salvage the only thing that can save the future.
The unlikely protagonist of Valentina was a surprising choice, an elderly woman and mathematician, the daughter of a mathematician who specialized in paradox and the potential for time travel. Chosen as the first pilot sent back, Valentina soon discovers unanticipated consequences of assuming control of a host. More than that, Valentina learns the chilling truth that there might be forces further upstream, unexpected foes who might not want them to succeed in their mission.
The final scene of this novella is positively heartbreaking but totally in line with the sort of ending one might expect from Reynolds.
Natasha Soudek's narration is perfect for both Valentina and Tatiana, capturing the differences between the two characters with effective nuance. She successfully managed to tackle the other characters no less effectively.
5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Annie Armstrong
- 19-06-19
BEST ONE YET. EXTRAORDINARY.
I am a huge fan of Mr. Reynold’s work and have listened to all his audiobooks. This is, hands down, the best one yet.... not only because the story is genius (as usual, with him)... but the narrator is brilliant. She nailed the characters and voices, and brought an intelligence and intimacy into the listening experience that absolutely blew me away. I didn’t know it was possible to be so moved by a science fiction narration, and I was. I also appreciated that they used a native Russian speaker/actress to narrate it, because it’s obvious when they don’t, and she was amazing. This is the best Alastair Reynolds audiobook yet!!!!
5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- A. Molnar
- 23-09-19
Great shorter, thought provoking listen!
Sometimes it's nice to listen to something that is shorter but exactly as long as it needs to be. If you like apocalypse and/or time travel and /or AI based science fiction... well, yeah, get a short, sweet, fresh angle on it here. No regrets and I doubt you will have any either. Easy to recommend.
4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Julie W. Capell
- 03-11-20
Great mind-bendy time warpiness
Tight plot, good characters, mind-bendy time warpiness all hitting my scifi sweet spot. Novella length is just right for this action-packed tale. Just what I'd expect from an accomplished writer in top form. Enjoyed the Russian-inflected narration by Natasha Soudek.
3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Doug Johnson
- 17-11-19
good but short
another good story but very short comes together well at the end. Not sure it be worth a credit but the 8 bucks sure.
3 people found this helpful