Century Rain

By: Alastair Reynolds

Narrated by: John Lee

Three hundred years from now, Earth has been rendered uninhabitable due to the technological catastrophe known as the Nanocaust. Archaeologist Verity Auger specializes in the exploration of its surviving landscape. Now, her expertise is required for a far greater purpose. Something astonishing has been discovered at the far end of a wormhole: mid-20th-century Earth, preserved like a fly in amber.

Somewhere on this alternate planet is a device capable of destroying both worlds at either end of the wormhole. And Verity must find the device, and the man who plans to activate it, before it's too late - for the past and the future of two worlds.

©2008 Alastair Reynolds (P)2010 Tantor

Critic reviews

“ Century Rain fuses time travel, hard SF, alternate history, interstellar adventure, and noir romance to create a novel of blistering powers and style.” ( SFRevu)

1920's gumshoe meets 23rd century spaceships

What did you love best about Century Rain?

the Narrator. John Lee has a wonderful voice, I could (and have) Listen to him all day.

What other book might you compare Century Rain to and why?

I see it as a cross between Casablanca and Starwars.

Which scene was your favorite?

Landing the spaceships on the Eiffel Tower and it's eventual collapse

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

yes, but I cannot sit that long. it took a couple of days, but I enjoyed it

Any additional comments?

Alastair Reynolds is a wonderful writer. not all of his works take place in the same universe, but the are all quite imaginative

Frackin Awesome

What made the experience of listening to Century Rain the most enjoyable?

Listening to the story over and over and sharing it with my son, who listened to it over and over etc. A great story.

Which scene was your favorite?

So many to choose from. Perhaps the final scene of Floyd dropping the universal restorative. Interesting though self centered move.

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

Yes but I kept falling asleep and having to go back and start over!

Any additional comments?

Readers voice was great.

Doesn't need a sequel but I would lap it up

Americans in Paris detective story wrapped up in intricate, post apocalyptic, giant object sci-fi featuring non Asimov compliant snake robots. Seems too much? Not for Reynolds gnarly imagination.

I read this when it appeared in paperback on a holiday, probably got it at the airport. I remember it was seriously good.

Lee is excellent as always for this sort of smart, dense fiction. A pleasure to hear his compassion for characters and situations.

went in with no expectations

now a days the writing is pretty crappy when ever they have a woman Mc they make her a perfect Mary sue. I can't tell you how refreshing it is to have a good writer that balances characters and brings them to life instead of belief breaking moves. kudos and well done. must check your other work.

Got caught up in story once it got moving

If you could sum up Century Rain in three words, what would they be?

Grows on you, When you start to listen it has many threads that you wonder how it all fits but soon you start to understand what is happening and get captivated with the story line. If you like a single audio book without having to listen to a series then this is for you

Which scene was your favorite?

When the investigator realized that his earth was not alone it set the stage for fast action and rapid understanding of what needed to be done

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The last 20 minutes is great but cannot say more

Any additional comments?

Great listen, would highly recommend to anyone who likes to become part of what they are listening to.

professionally done, but not the best scifi

It has interesting concepts, and delivery of these concepts was pretty good. John Lee is a great narrator, and he does a pretty good job here. The reason i am giving three stars is due to the fact that approximately one quarter of the book deals with murder mystery investigation. I was hoping for more scifi and less of how Paris looked like in 1950 or so. Though last part of the book is pretty exciting, and has good nano technology based concepts.

I would listen to this one again!

Would you listen to Century Rain again? Why?

Whenever you get into an Alastair Reynolds book you know you are in for an epic adventure. This is no different. Although it is easy to get a little confused at the beginning, the story will work its way into a delightful tale long before you would even begin to think of giving up.
Which is always the case for me with his novels. This is why I know that I will enjoy the story even more the second time around, in a few months.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Century Rain?

Maybe its all my years around SciFi that had prepared me for the possibility, but I was thinking along the lines of a planetary intelligence being behind some of the activities. When that is revealed as being the case, it was done in such a way that really kept me glued.

Have you listened to any of John Lee’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Whenever I am contemplating a new audiobook, if I see John Lee as the narrator, its a done deal. I could listen to him for a week. Actually, I am sure that I have.

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

A one-sitting read for an Alastair Reynolds book would be quite a feat. I listen at work. (I am a general contractor.) Although there are interruptions, this was a book that kept me interested the whole way through. After some distractions, I always backed up so that I wouldn't miss a thing.

Any additional comments?

I would recommend this book to any SciFi fan.

Reynolds and Lee deliver another fantastic read.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, as long as they like the genre.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Century Rain?

There's a great twist in the story when you realize what is going on for the first time. Reynolds didn't come out and say it, he just gave lots of little clues. Then all of a sudden it just tipped, and I had a great ah ha moment. Wonderfully done.

What does John Lee bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I could listen to John Lee read a book about dirt and would probably be captivated. He is one of my top two favorite readers. His voice was soothing and stayed out of the way of the action in the text, and he voiced the characters so that you knew who was talking without having to think about it.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

There was maybe two times when I teared up, but hey, I'm an emotional guy.

Not among Reynolds' best

This was somewhat disappointing, not because the story is mediocre, but relative to Reynolds' other works such as the Revelation Space series, Century Rain is simply not at the level of the author's capability. Conceptually, the plot is engaging, but the 1959 Paris events are rather bland, dry, and dragged out a bit. There was insufficient development of the competing political factions to make the finish much more than a drawn out interstellar car chase. There were also too many loose ends that could suggest a sequel in the works, but a more satisfactory resolution would have been nice.

As far as some of the commentary on the narrator, John Lee is outstanding. IMHO, he ranks up there with some of the best I've heard such as Scott Brick, Grover Gardner, and Geoge Guidall. Lee has done most of Reynolds' work and his performances for Peter Hamilton's works are equally top notch.

Interesting concept but a little frustrating

First the performance of the narrator is awesome. I love John Lee’s voice and accent. His ability to convey emotion in spoken word is worth the price of admission.

The story is an interesting one and unique. My issue is with the pace and constant cliff hangers. You can’t help but feel sorry for the poor hero’s as they constantly face one calamity after another. Of course they go down in the basement of an old factory and of course they close the door and get trapped and of course they get injured during their inevitable yet spectacular escape. It just seems a little much at times like the author felt like he had to keep throwing obstacles in the way.

At the same time there were and are many open threads. Maybe those will form a sequel but honestly I would have preferred to chase those rabbits than hear about yet another missile that missed its mark.