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Damocles
Damocles
Damocles
Audiobook10 hours

Damocles

Written by S.G. Redling

Narrated by Angela Dawe

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

When Earth is rocked by evidence that extraterrestrials may have seeded human DNA throughout the universe, a one-way expedition into deep space is mounted to uncover the truth. What linguist Meg Dupris and her crewmates aboard the Earth ship Damocles discover on Didet—a planet bathed in the near-eternal daylight of seven suns—is a humanoid race with a different language, a different look, and a surprisingly similar society.

But here, it’s the “Earthers” who are the extraterrestrial invaders, and it’s up to Meg—a woman haunted by tragedy and obsessed with the power of communication—to find the key to establishing trust between the natives and the newcomers. In Loul Pell, a young Dideto male thrust into the forefront of the historic event, Meg finds an unexpected kindred spirit, and undertakes an extraordinary journey of discovery, friendship, and life-altering knowledge.

Told from both sides of a monumental encounter, Seven Suns is a compelling novel about man’s first contact with an extraterrestrial race.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 28, 2013
ISBN9781480516687
Damocles
Author

S.G. Redling

S.G. Redling is the author of more than a half-dozen novels. A Hoboken, New Jersey, native, Redling was raised in West Virginia. After graduating from Georgetown University and living in New York City and California, she resettled in West Virginia and launched a fifteen-year morning radio career. Now off the air, she still lives and writes in West Virginia, simultaneously pursuing obsessions with locavore dining, sustainable gardening, and international travel.

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Reviews for Damocles

Rating: 4.137254870588236 out of 5 stars
4/5

51 ratings5 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I almost passed this up because the narrator sounded like she was yelling, all at one loud level, that was really off putting. Decided to give it one hour, and glad I did. The narrator was fantastic at a variety of voices in conversation among characters. Wish she used a similar cadence when reading at other times. Hope this makes sense. It was worth the listen.

    I truly enjoyed this unique story of first contact, and feel like there could be more to the story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The crew of Damocles has given up life on Earth in order to explore other planets seeded with human DNA. A one-way expedition, they are not expected to return. When they find the planet Didet, they are forced to land due to problems with their space ship. Meg, the team's linguist, meets Loul Pell, who had previously written papers on how to survive invasion. This book had a very interesting premise. It was fun to read about the interactions among the species, particularly the discoveries they quickly made about one another. It did feel slow at times, mainly because of the language barrier. I would love to read a sequel. Overall, well worth picking up.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I thoroughly enjoyed this twist on first contact. The crew of the Damocles are hurtling through space in search of the origins of humanity; the novel is merely a single episode on what is set to be a longer journey (which may or may not be explored in other novels). Brought out of cryosleep after the ship's drones identify a planet with potential for intelligent life, the crew find themselves rushing to the surface when the ship's engines malfunction. Aware there is a advanced - and human - life, but ignorant of quite what to expect, they must navigate the intricacies of first contact with these far-distant cousins without the benefits of any common ground. This is a very simple, very focused novel, which I found very charming.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I’m sure I would not enjoy the experience of space exploration in a search for intelligent life, but I love the armchair travel experience of reading about it and this book is exceptionally well thought out and engrossing. When the people of Earth find evidence that human DNA may have been scattered far and wide throughout the universe, a handful of Earthlings undertake a journey through deep space hoping to make contact with humanoids who may be distant relatives. After a long time traveling in a suspended state the crew lands on the distant planet of Diodet, not without problems of course, and makes contact. The Earth human narrator Meg is a linguist--not an engineer, pilot, or biologist--and since it’s her job to learn the language of the strange but still human resembling people they encounter readers have a front row seat for the excitement of first contact. Sharing narration duties with Meg is Loul, a young Dideto male who is called on by his government to advise them on the unfolding situation, even though his report on the possibility of space travel had caused him to be shunted away to a menial job years ago. It’s just as fascinating seeing Earth humans through his eyes as it is learning about the language, physical biology, and culture of the Dideto people with Meg. Amazing as it is to find other humans, it’s not all smooth sailing. Crew tensions, Dideto politics, and the quirks and superstitions of deep space travel complicate and then threaten what is already a difficult, dangerous venture with the Earthlings (or Urfers as the Dideto call them) far away from their homes and loved ones in both space and time. To me this is science fiction at its best--expansive, thought provoking, and steeped in “what if’s” inspired by science, but also strong on characterization as it explores the possibilities of human connection.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One novel I had read a long time ago "Contact" by Carl Sagan set the standard for me for books from this genre. Of course in that book as well as many others that have followed almost always have us Earthlings making contact on our own planet. This is the first time I have come across a book in which the Earthlings make the first contact and the planet they land on has not ever space traveled.This was a wonderful novel that kept me engrossed the entire way and in fact, I wish it were an even longer book so I could see what happens to everyone. The characters are complex and the author takes pains in proving that though the Dideotans are similar to us, yet in their own subtle ways they are vastly different. We get a good description of the natives but it still boggled my mind, so I never really had a clear picture of them. I did get a feeling that they were more like us than I thought but even though they had a lot of technology, they were still a few rungs below us on the physical evolutionary ladder. It is not until the last couple of chapters that I did have my suspicions confirmed.The book did get a bit bogged down in the complexity of what these two `sides' had to do just to start to communicate and the lack of communication did get a little frustrating for the reader. However, if the author had simplified it in any way I think that the purity of the story would have been compromised and it would not have been such a thought provoking novel.I think if you give this book a chance, it will grab you and not let you go until the very last page.