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The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.

By: Neal Stephenson, Nicole Galland, Kate Udall
Narrated by: Laurence Bouvard, Shelley Atkinson, Laural Merlington, Joe Barrett, Will Damron, Luke Daniels
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Summary

You think you know how the world works? Think again.

21st Century America

Magic has faded from the minds of mankind, until an encounter between Melisande Stokes, linguistics expert at Harvard, and Tristan Lyons, shadowy agent of government, leads to the uncovering of a distant past.

After translating a series of ancient texts, Melisande and Tristan discover the connection between science, magic and time travel and so the Department of Diachronic Operations – D.O.D.O. – is hastily brought into existence. Its mission: to develop a device that will send their agents back to the past, where they can stop magic from disappearing and alter the course of history.

But when you interfere with the past, there’s no telling what you might find in your future…

Written with genius and complexity, this vividly realised novel will make you believe the impossible, and question the very foundations of the modern world.

©2017 Neal Stephenson; Nicole Galland (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers
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Critic reviews

‘A story that combines science, magic, history, and conspiracies into a genre-bending romp’ Inverse

‘Those familiar with Stephenson will recognize his humor and ideas, while Galland brings a fresh and irresistible voice to this ambitious novel’ Washington Post

‘The novel explores the boundary between magic and science with wit, intellectual intensity and panache’ Financial Times

‘Big, roomy and enjoyable … The characters are vibrant and the whole thing possesses heart and charm’ Guardian

Praise for Neal Stephenson:

‘Genius’ Time

‘He makes reading so much fun it feels like a deadly sin’ The New York Times

‘Fast-forward free-style mall mythology for the 21st century’
William Gibson

‘[Stephenson is] the hacker Hemingway’ Newsweek

What listeners say about The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.

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Great

Stephenson's clever plot line and Galland's wonderful story telling make a great combination. Really enjoyable and excellent performance from the readers.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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a good read and nicely executed I look forward to

a good read nicely executed I look forward to the next installment . . .

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Meh!

Story was a bit meh, performance was OK. I just never found it exciting or thrilling.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Too disjointed for me

I wanted to like this, but in the end just kept listening as I can’t leave a book unfinished. Found the characters two-dimensional and the plot had some aspects that begged considerably more depth to make a rounded story. Just too daft and not my taste.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A good yarn, sagged in the middle

A great premise, but could've been more concise; the middle was a bit draggy. However, I think this was to do with what would've, in print format, been interesting visually and you'd've been able to skip the time stamps on all the computer chat messages, which got annoying.

Feels queued for a sequel, but I'm unaware of one.

Good points of humour, subterfuge, good narrators. Overall a good listen.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

one of the most entertaining books in a while

Engrossing, amusing, a light and fun read but well researched. great characters. Novel format. the premise is somewhat daft (the quantum theory of witchcraft) but you can't put this down. the narration is outstanding, especially whoever voices Grainne the Elizabethan witch.

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Great well written and well read!

Great well written and well read!

Excellent... 15 words on 5 at the moment ahh 15

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars

How an organisation is set up

The story was great, imaginative, well acted. Unfortunately it was weighted down by an excess of organisational structure, how an organisation grows, the politics, the admin, etc described in great detail. The book could have been half the length and still tell the same story.

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Fun, good performance

The story does fall of a cliff at the end but it’s a fun journey, good narration and really enjoyed it.

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  • Overall
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Loved it!

The style of this is fairly novel - told as a series of diary entries or correspondence of various key characters. It's brilliant - that adds some extra interest to what is already a great book.

It's fun: magic, time travel, plots, sub-plots, counter-plots, and the odd explosion. The narration is great, and if I can find anything similar I shall be exceptionally pleased.

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