Firewalkers

This is a much less ambitious novel than Tchaikovsky\’s Children of Time books, but might still have been an entertaining listen had it not been so hard to follow the narration at times. The narrator is very talented (hence the three stars) and I\’m sure she\’s very proud of her ability to produce authentic accents but this serves no purpose if so much of the dialog is so heavily accented that the listener has to work hard to understand, sometimes having to make the choice between a rewind in an attempt to comprehend what was said or just moving on. If I\’d realized it would take this much concentration to understand what was said I would have given it a pass. 7 people found this helpful

Great Story, great audio performance. Consider this a must listen…hoping for a continuation of this story 6 people found this helpful

Loved the story! Couldn\’t understand what they were saying half the time because she did the accents so well. The French accent in particular was almost impossible to comprehend, but maybe that\’s just me, I\’ve always hated the way French sounds. 5 people found this helpful

Adrain Tchaikovsky\’s Firewalkers is a novella concerning the intersection of runaway climate change combined with extreme income inequality. In the near future, the world has reached its limit of carrying capacity which is rapidly diminishing. Major population centers have been located on the equator to support space elevators that are part of a plan to build space habitats, but only for the wealthy. Firewalkers are a unique breed of underclass that will leave the confines of the city to repair critical infrastructure that keeps the city alive. On one such assignment, the intrepid group encounters a wide array of odd behaviors and stumbles across a machine intelligence that has its own agenda and offer a unique perspective on society and the current state of affairs. Tchaikovsky in a very economical way manages to flesh out a world that is an extreme of today\’s conditions, but is hauntingly familiar and recognizable as our possible future. There\’s a grittiness to life, while the sci-fi elements don\’t so much titillate the imagination as much as flow naturally from our current state. Beyond space elevators and orbital habitats with dreams of asteroid mining, the climate change and adaptations seem natural and unforced. The narration is the weakest aspect. While there is reasonable character distinction, the heavily accented renditions are difficult to track and there\’s a bit too much histrionic performance that makes listening a bit of a chore. 2 people found this helpful

I am a huge fan of Adrian\’s work, but boy, this one was so far off his usual genre, I grew bored instantly. I also could barely understand the narrator. The accents he uses are so thick sometimes I can\’t understand the dialogue. I gave up on this one. 1 person found this helpful

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