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The Last Astronaut

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The Last Astronaut

By: David Wellington
Narrated by: Megan Tusing
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About this listen

 Shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award

***Paradise-1, David Wellington's gripping new survival horror set in the deepest reaches of space, is out now***

'An edge-of-your-seat tale of first contact'
Gareth L. Powell

'A terrifying tour de force . . . Gripping authenticity and an uncompromising white-knuckled pace' James Rollins

'Timely and terrifying, The Last Astronaut propels us deep into the mysteries of space . . . breathless, compulsive reading' Christopher Golden

A huge alien object has entered the solar system and is now poised above the Earth. It has made no attempt to communicate.

Out of time and options, NASA turns to its last living astronaut - Commander Sally Jansen, who must lead a team of raw recruits on a mission to make First Contact.

But as the object reveals its secrets, Jansen and her crew find themselves in a desperate struggle for survival - against the cold vacuum of space, and something far, far worse . . .

'Great action, knockout characters, scarily believable science' Jackson Ford©2019 David Wellington (P)2019 Hachette Audio UK Adventure First Contact Science Fiction Space Opera Fiction
All stars
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I wanted to enjoy this book I love this kind of scifi but it fell flat for me in the end wasn't really gripped at any point and the narrators voice was annoying at times.

A slog from start to finish

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The sheer horror of Jansen’s journey through the bowls of 2i are the stuff of nightmares. The story narrator really brought this tale to life, it felt like we were right there with Jansen, alone in the emptiness of space, side by side with her as she makes her way through the belly of the beast.

I wanted to scratch my eyes out

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I enjoyed this. Novel concept. Kinda like Heart of Darkness meets Event Horizon, although I think it petered out at the end. Certain characters felt tropey in places. Great narrator.

Great concept and narration.

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Repeat of an old story with poor narration. Not scifi just a tale of horror. Endless over dramatic voice which varied from a monotone to persistent repressed squeals. Suspect the author, as a child, found a maggot in an apple and his parents never explained.

replication

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I really wanted to love this. There's a lot to like - the basic idea is great, the plotting works well and the story has a good pace.

But the characters completely spoilt it.

They vary from flat out incompetent (and that's one of the main characters), to insipid and whiney, to bullying and aggressive. An underlying sexism shows through to me - with the men being 'real' men who dominate and bully, even if they're not in charge; or emotional women who can't perform like their male counterparts. They're all incredibly unlikeable, despite the narrator's best efforts to put some life into them.

The end result is that the potential of the story is wasted by not caring if any of them survive. I don't mind that it's an obvious copy of 'Rendezvous with Rama' or 'Eon' - both of whom are far superior versions of the same story - but when you can see how much the story could have been lifted by better characters, it feels like a missed opportunity.

Read it for the ideas but avoid it if you want to care about the people.

I wanted it to be more

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