
Powersat
The Grand Tour Series
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Buy Now for £12.99
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Narrated by:
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Stefan Rudnicki
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By:
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Ben Bova
About this listen
Two hundred thousand feet up, things go horribly wrong. An experimental low-orbit spaceplane breaks up on reentry, falling to earth over a trail hundreds of miles long. And in its wake is the beginning of the most important mission in the history of spaceflight.
Americans needs energy, and Dan Randolph is determined to give it to them. He dreams of an array of geosynchronous powersats, satellites that gather solar energy and beam it to generators on Earth, freeing America from its addiction to fossil fuels and breaking the power of the oil cartels forever. But the wreck of the spaceplane has left his company, Astro Manufacturing, on the edge of bankruptcy.
Worse, Dan discovers that the plane was sabotaged. And whoever brought it down is willing—and able—to kill again to keep Astro grounded.
Now Dan has to thread a dangerous maze. The visible threats are bad enough: Rival firms want to buy him out and take control of his dreams. His former lover wants to co-opt his unlimited-energy idea as a campaign plank for the candidate she’s grooming for the presidency. NASA and the FAA want to shut down his maverick firm. And his creditors are breathing down his neck.
Making matters even more dangerous, an international organization of terrorists sees the powersat as a threat to their own oil-based power. And they’ve figured out how to use it as a weapon in their war against the West.
A sweeping mix of space, murder, romance, politics, secrets, and betrayal, Powersat will take you to the edge of space and the dawning of a new world.
Listen to more in Ben Bova's Grand Tour series.©2005 Ben Bova (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Critic reviews
Set in a near future Earth and published in 2005, before the iPhone was released and prior to the last Space Shuttle launches I have to say that it really has not aged well at all.
The book has a decent plot, but is severely held back by two dimensional characters, outdated views on sex and race and as previously mentioned outdated “future” technology. Add to that the rather dire narration with dodgy accents (the Irish one in particular was cringeworthy) and numerous editing errors.
I’ll try some more of Bova’s books on Audible is the hope of enjoying them more than this one, but considering this is one of his higher rated titles I’m not overly optimistic!
This has not aged well
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Problem is it’s another set of books I’m going to have to buy.
Unexpectedly good
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Good political/scifi story.
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Besides the valiant effort by Mr Rudnicki to narrate this peace and make it interesting, I found myself almost rooting for the protagonist to utterly fail in all his ebdeavours. Such a relic and so unlikable he is. only sheer determination and stunbornness to see through something started made me finish this.
On the other hand, if you are a fan of say, Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt romps, then I'm sure you'll find this entertaining. In many regards, Dan, our protagonist is similarly unbelievable as Mr Pitt is in most everything he does.
Oh well, better luck next time.
Hasn't weathered well
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Narration by Stefan Rudnicki, whilst otherwise fine, his voice pleasantly deep, did his best to breathe life into the characters but his reading was also a little slow, best speeded up in playback to 1.2.
The microwave satellite sounds good, though.
"And rain makes apple sauce."
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Good book, good narration
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What made the experience of listening to Powersat the most enjoyable?
The story itself, I like a techno thriller and this delivered on that well. But I find Stefan Rudnicki's voice to be very mono-tone which makes is a hard listen.What didn’t you like about Stefan Rudnicki’s performance?
I found his voice to be very mono-tone, but the most annoying thing was the editing. There are at least 15 bad edits in this audiobook if not more. Many times a sentence or partial sentence is repeated, and in one case it was repeated twice. This is by far the worsted edited audiobook in my audible library of around 100 books.Good stor (very poor edit)
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Great
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Gave up after 2 hours
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Another one demonizing Muslims
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