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  • The Visitor

  • First Contact Hard Science Fiction
  • By: Tony Harmsworth
  • Narrated by: Marni Penning
  • Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (130 ratings)
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The Visitor cover art

The Visitor

By: Tony Harmsworth
Narrated by: Marni Penning
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Summary

The Visitor - hard, near-future science fiction for the listener who likes realism. 

Specialist astronaut Evelyn Slater encounters a small, badly damaged, ancient alien artifact on the first ever space junk elimination mission. 

Where was it from? Who sent it?

International governments impose a security clampdown. Evelyn leads a team of handpicked scientists who make amazing discoveries within the alien device. Secrecy becomes impossible to maintain. When the news is finally released, she becomes embroiled in international politics, worldwide xenophobic hatred, and violence.

This is the first book in the Tony Harmsworth’s First Contact series of novels. If you like realistic near-future stories which compel you to imagine yourself as the protagonist, The Visitor is the book for you. The Visitor is a science fiction for the "thinking" listener and with a wicked twist. Buy it now and be transported into orbit.

©2017 Tony Harmsworth (P)2019 Tony Harmsworth

What listeners say about The Visitor

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A well crafted classic - Deserves a movie deal.

Just finished listening to this on Audible.
Americans, Christian's and Republicans are going to hate this book. Well, maybe half of all Americans.
I loved it.
Great plot progression and escalation.
A strong female lead.
Plausible and clever technology.
Reasonably accurate orbital physics.
Totally brutal towards right wing politics and religion.
Good narration.
A loud and clear definition of the stupidity of man.
Well done Tony. I loved it to bits.
My only complaint is that you've left no wiggle room for a sequel.
It's a book just crying out for a movie deal.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Finally someone gets hard sci fi

Most hard sci fi novels go down the road of pausing the story for long periods of time to deliver science lessons full of technical detail. Harmsworth doesn't make that mistake here. He has done his research, but rather than relaying it all back to the reader literally, he uses it to describe a realistic environment, giving the reader a taste of what it is like to be there.

That's what I want from my sci fi. I want to experience what it would really be like to travel in outer space, explore nearby star systems or be alive when first contact is made with extraterrestrial beings.

Most sci fi is either pure fantasy or pure science lesson. This book is one of the few that gets the balance right.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Narrator

I couldn’t listen to the book, entirely down to the narrator’s grating and affected accent. Unlistenable production of a good book.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved this!!

Great book, great concept, great narrator. Needless to say, i liked the book a bit too much

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great first contact story.

Amazing , complete first contact story. However it should be continue... I like the ideas presented in the book, They make you think about our life on earth and giv/e some new, alien perspective.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • VJ
  • 23-05-22

Brilliant!

A thoroughly captivating novel that should be read by all humans.
Great narration that brought the various characters to life.
Highly recommended thought provoking storyline.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good story.

I found it slow to get going but after a couple of chapters I was hooked.
It is a good story.
I would listen to it again.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

What was Harmsworth thinking?

Nauseatingly woke. Dreadfully condescending. Primary protagonist is entirely off-putting. Takes herself so seriously, she’s impossible to like.

It’s a pity, as the narrator is excellent and the premise is very interesting. The problem is that you know that if you actually met this character in real life, you’d run a mile. Yuck.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Relevant, thought-provoking and moving

Before buying this, I read a review that said "Americans and Christians won't like this" which intrigued me!

I haven't read a huge number of First Contact sci-fi, but I feel confident in saying that Harmsworth has managed to examine the idea from a new angle. There is, of course, some detail about the discovery of the alien device however most of the attention is focussed on how this discovery should be disseminated to the world's population. The autor touches on politics, in what I felt was a very pointed way! The religious impact of First Contact is also addressed fairly briefly. I think I would've enjoyed some more on that.

I think having "Hard Sci Fi" in the title may have made me listen more critically than usual. I can understand why the publishers may have required it but I found I was often questioning some of the writing. I think, at times, the author forgets their narrator is narrating to someone in the future, feeling the need to explain technologies of 2035 to an audience in 2020; that kind of broke the spell for me. There are some slightly clumsy moments too, where the cast of scientific characters explain some simple chemistry to each other that, surely, would be basic knowledge.

I did really enjoy the book - I just wish the editing had been just a little tighter.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

proper sci fi

dont get why people are attacking this author is good story really enjoyed this book better than listening too idiots writing story's on pandemics and covid related stories so dont put it down u til listen to it

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1 person found this helpful