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  • Ball Lightning

  • By: Cixin Liu
  • Narrated by: Bruno Roubicek
  • Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (111 ratings)

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Ball Lightning cover art

Ball Lightning

By: Cixin Liu
Narrated by: Bruno Roubicek
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Publisher's Summary

When Chen's parents are incinerated before his eyes by a blast of ball lightning, he devotes his life to cracking the secret of this mysterious natural phenomenon. The more he learns, the more he comes to realise that ball lightning is just the tip of an entirely new frontier in particle physics. Although Chen's quest provides a purpose for his lonely life, his reasons for chasing this elusive quarry come into conflict with soldiers and scientists who have motives of their own.

©2005 Liu Cixin (P)2018 W.F. Howes Ltd

What listeners say about Ball Lightning

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing story

Started off a bit slow for the plot, then it really picks up. Played it at about 1.5x speed towards the end.

I'm glad I purchased and listened to this. Looking forward to the much more acclaimed other 3 Body Problem books, namely 'Death's end' and 'Dark Forest'.

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

A great prequel to the 3 Body Problem series

Another captivating storyline, one which you could belive actually happens with in depth characters. an enjoyable listen.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • 01-04-2024

An amazing book.

Just keeps getting better with every chapter.
Well written and well narrated.
The amount of research that was put into this book is outstanding. But even with all the scientific talk it is still believably human.

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

Worth the read

it begins slowly and develops a steady pace to the end, but it kept me glued, wanting to know what happened next

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

Amazing writing. The reader was great

I love my sci-fi. But this was more. Yes, there was a lot of sci-fi. But also poetry and just general different view of the world. It was a really good listen.

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

It good

Love the extremely nerdy flavoured pseudo science themes and details. Narration also excellent and consistent, especially appreciate how his characters' tone accounts for the authors description of the tone that comes after the speech or just how he appropriately matches the context.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

loved it!

great story; great characters, great narrator
i can't wait to start listening to next book

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Awesome

I listened to Ball Lightening after reading the Three Body trilogy. I love Cixin Liu's style. His characters are relatable, his ideas are novel and innovative, he has a talent for making frontier scientific concepts accessible without dumbing things down, and there's always another intriguing turn in the plot whenever you think you've read/heard all the juicy bits. The only thing I could say against his writing style is that it sometimes requires patience, in that occasionally sections or chapters will go on what at first seems a tangent, but read/listen on and your faith is very thoroughly rewarded (Lovecraft was a bit like that oftentimes, come to think of it). Another big plus is Bruno Roubicek's narration. Clear and consistently paced, and suitable for listening in the car or noisy places. Highly recommend.

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A fascinating speculation fiction

Ball Lightning's story is okay, but I wouldn't say it is amazing. Where this book truely shines is in its speculation of uncharted physics. I found Cixin's speculation on physics to be quite fascinating and entertaining to listen to, and overall enjoyed this book very much.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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I wish I read this before the three body problem series

This book was magnificent both in writing and narration. I wish I had read it before reading the three body problem, as it introduced one of the characters from the three body problem early, and gave his backstory fairly well. That being said, it would have zero impact on your understanding of the story

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2 people found this helpful

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