by Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal
Published on September 14, 2020 by Recorded Books
Format: Audiobook
Genres: Adult, Science Fiction
In the near future, humans choose life - for a price. Injectable nanite technology is the lifeblood that flows through every individual wishing to experience the world through the lens of their own theme. While death from mortal wounds is still possible, life is made easier in a socially liberated society where automation and income equality allow passion pursuits to flourish over traditional work. Renewal stations are provided to every law-abiding citizen for weekly check-ins, which issue life-sustaining repairs in exchange for personal privacy. But what becomes of those who check out, of those who dare to resist immortality and risk being edited under the gaze of an identity-extracting government surveillance system?
When Holly Winseed wakes up in a hospital room, her memory compromised and a new identity imposed on her, a team of government agents wastes no time stating their objective. With intent to infiltrate and defeat the terrorist group ICON, the agents tell Holly that she is now a Provisional Replica and has one week to hunt down and kill her Original for the murder of her husband, Jonathan. If she succeeds, she’ll assume her Original’s place in society. If she fails, her life will end. Holly’s progress is monitored by an assigned contact that feeds her information as she confronts the blank, robotic world around her, discovering that others view life through the theme of their own choosing.
With her newly implanted combat and deduction skills, Holly fends off both attacks by terrorists and doubts about her own trustworthiness as clues lead her to her Original - and to the truth about Jonathan. In the end, one body remains and one walks away. Although questions persist, one thing is certain: Life will never be the same.
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Short & Sweet & Lots of Fun
The Highlights:
- Really fast listen
- Cool science things
- Great ending
I stumbled upon The Original randomly last week, and was pretty surprised that a Sanderson book somehow skipped over my radar. Mary Robinette Kowal is an author I’ve been wanting to check out for a while now too, so obviously, I had to listen to this audio original. And it was so much fun! I’m really glad I found it.
The Original is a pretty short audiobook, less than three and a half hours total. So I listened to the whole thing in a morning, it was great. I never felt bored or lost(both things that totally happen to me when it comes to sci-fi). The story really lends itself to being short, and the action is pretty non-stop. The ending comes up fast, and then BOOM it’s over, and I adore those sorts of endings so it really worked for me.
The science stuff was really cool. Not too heavy(again, I get bored), but it was fun and clever. I don’t want to get into it too much, because I don’t want to give anything away. But if you like sci-fi the way it’s presented in a lot of movies, this book is definitely for you.
The narration was excellent. And there was music and sound effects, I loved it. It was really well produced and I’ll definitely be recommending it to anyone who enjoys audiobooks.
The Original was a lot of fun! I’ll definitely be listening to it again in the future. It’s a great character driven sci-fi adventure, perfect for fans of Blade Runner or The Island(yes, I know those are movies, but I don’t read much sci-fi!).
About Katie
I'm a twenty-something aspiring writer who really, really needs to get back to revisions. I've been reviewing books since 2014, and am determined to somehow make stories my day job. I truly think that every book out there contains something good and is meant for somebody.
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