Blue Remembered Earth

By: Alastair Reynolds

Narrated by: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

Critically acclaimed author Alastair Reynolds holds a well-deserved place “among the leaders of the hard-science space opera renaissance." (Publishers Weekly). In Blue Remembered Earth, Geoffrey Akinya wants nothing more than to study the elephants of the Amboseli basin. But when his space-explorer grandmother dies, secrets come to light and Geoffrey is dispatched to the Moon to protect the family name - and prevent an impending catastrophe.

©2012 Alastair Reynolds (P)2012 Recorded Books

Good but not epic

Is there anything you would change about this book?

For a book this long, the universe, characters and plot need to be bigger. I am a big fan of Reynolds earlier books but struggled to find satisfaction with this one. This could easily be adapted to a short story and all the interesting stuff packed into 50 pages. The characters are few and his universe feels small and dim. The plot? It felt developed along the way and the whole mystery with the glove and box, and the wild goose chase, it played out for far, far to long. Much ado about nothing.... I loved Pushing Ice but this isn't in the same category.

Another original book from Alastair Reynolds

Alastair Reynolds delivers another hard science fiction book. One gets use to his original stories by now as well as his unique characters. The reader is excellent.

I Remember Reynolds Being Better Than This

What did you like best about Blue Remembered Earth? What did you like least?

The writing is solid in typical Reynolds fashion. The narrator is just fantastic and took a slow predictable read and made it come alive.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I knew early on where the story was going and hoped it would have a more thrilling ending. It just kind of fizzled out.

Have you listened to any of Kobna Holdbrook-Smith’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I haven't listened to Kobna before but I will be on the look out for anything else read by him.

Any additional comments?

I have read every book Reynolds has written and this is by far his weakest work.

Reynolds, Visionary, Deserves more recognition!

If you could sum up Blue Remembered Earth in three words, what would they be?

Exciting, Optimistic and Masterful

Who was your favorite character and why?

I loved most all the characters and hope for this to be a first of a series. Most of the characters I already imagined possible futures they might have.

What does Kobna Holdbrook-Smith bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Omg!! It's so great to hear an African accent, the voice artist adds another level of bliss. I was sad when the story ended. His work was perfect, he took some risk and and succeeded, never going beyond his range.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I listened three times so far.I paused to savor it. After this last read, I appreciate the collaboration even more.

Any additional comments?

Alistor Reynolds has a rare gift to tell a story without over the top violence. He doesn't shy away from conflict, and there is plenty of action, tension with out cheep tricks. His stories have a convincing hope. Science fiction writers are important as any other form of literature and tell us important things about the future.

The reader ruined this book

This is one of the few readers whose voices are so over the top and accents are so distracting that he ruins the book. Just a straight reading would’ve been much better.

Spectacular Treat!

Finally real Sci-fi that you can really sink your mental teeth into. No mindless battles, sophomoric romances or blatantly bad science.

Great story, well told

The storyline has a number of twists that does not adhere to the mass production scheme of linear story telling. Things you are lead to believe are truths turn to not be so and the plot leads to an ending that is not quite what the reader would have predicted.

Reynolds is truely one of the greats of his time.

Another excellent novel from the hand of a powerful story teller. Deep believable characters, horizon spanning story line. A very good work.

Kobna never disappoints!

If you could sum up Blue Remembered Earth in three words, what would they be?

Thoughtful, interesting, and speculative.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Eunice, I suppose, in all her iterations. She gets and keeps our protagonists moving.

Which character – as performed by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith – was your favorite?

Eunice, I think, though I really enjoyed his characterization of the cousins as well, Lucas and Hector.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Taking breaks was nice, mainly because of the length of the book and amount of detail. I never got bored with it, though.

Any additional comments?

This is the first time I bought an audiobook because of the narrator, primarily. After Kobna's work on the Peter Grant series, I thought I would check out some other stories he had narrated, but there aren't many. Blue Remembered Earth sounded up my alley, though, so I took a shot and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately Kobna doesn't narrate the sequels so I am unsure if I will continue; thankfully the book was satisfying as a stand-alone, even if I do want to find out what happens next.

Great world building, Slow build

After having read The Revelation Space Series, I enjoyed Alastair Reynolds's take on more near future science fiction. Thinking about the coming changes in government, surveillance, AI, transportation etc. technologies is one of my favorite things about Sci-Fi and this book delivers that in spades. The reason it gets a 4 overall though is that the plot reveals its