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Ghost Species

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Ghost Species

By: James Bradley
Narrated by: Rupert Degas
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About this listen

When scientist Kate Larkin joins a secretive project to re-engineer the climate by resurrecting extinct species, she becomes enmeshed in another, even more clandestine program to recreate our long-lost relatives, the Neanderthals. But when the first of the children, a girl called Eve, is born, Kate cannot bear the thought of her growing up in a laboratory and so elects to abduct her and raise her alone.

Set against the backdrop of hastening climate catastrophe, Ghost Species is an exquisitely beautiful and deeply affecting exploration of connection and loss in an age of planetary trauma. For as Eve grows to adulthood, she and Kate must face the question of who and what she is. Is she natural or artificial? Human or non-human? And perhaps most importantly, as civilisation unravels around them, is Eve the ghost species, or are we?

Thrillingly original, Ghost Species is embedded with a deep love and understanding of the natural world.

©2020 James Bradley (P)2020 Penguin Random House Australia Science Fiction Fiction Haunted Ghost
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A beautiful meditation on motherhood, childhood and identity.

This novel is recommended to fans of human side of science fiction because of its focus on character development.

The narrators performance was good overall and included a wealth of characters included a very welcome array of Australian accents. My only criticism would be in the voice of Eve who I found a bit grating and a bit of a simplistic expression of the author’s description.

Elegant Sci Fi

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not a bad book I like the neanderthal twist made me think ..thank you James Thank you Rubert Degas.

Ghost Species by James Bradley

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I thought the story structure, especially at the beginning was very detailed and believable, but by the end the author seemed over it all and the narrative jumpy and unconvincing. And you don't transplant potatoes 🙄😉

H bymm, yeah. it's OK.

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This story was a brilliant, gripping, emotionally-driven tale of a world on the edge. When humanity is free falling towards extinction, how do we preserve what little “humanity” we have left? And what does humanity mean, if we give billionaires free rein to play god? This book is a page-turner through and through. Intense, sharply written, and utterly bingeable. So good you’ll be crying AND scheduling in a re-read asap.

Brilliant, gripping story

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Beautifully and sensitively narrated, this story had me lamenting the fate of my species and, simultaneously, placing my hopes in Eve's hands. I truly hope this remains a work of fiction.

Frighteningly possible

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i loved this story. it had the hallmarks of a good read. compelling and inventive.

growing determination

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Now I know I am not the author but after a very interesting start the author seems to lose the plot, literally. He introduces more and more sub plots which have very little relevance to the initial plot. If he had only stuck with the original plot there is so much he could have explored. I guess the author is entitled to choose his own plot line without my help but I was really disappointed.
The narrator has an excellent, clear voice but over dramatises the story. The story really needs a sensitive tone.

The story misses the point.

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I read this book after listening to the Sydney Writers Festival interview with the author. He aimed to convey a number of ambitious ideas about the environment and genetics and about what it is to be human etc. Overall, he tries to do too much and doesn't succeed in conveying any of his ideas very successfully . He introduces elements which aren't properly explored and don't add much if anything to the story. And some deserve better and more sensitive handling.

The narrator does his best, but I'm not sure he was the ideal a choice. With Eve's voice he does, again, try his best with a difficult brief but I found it too gruff and simian and ultimately off-putting.

By necessity, the story spans a long time period, and this is somewhat disconcerting. Heavily detailed chapters are followed by huge leaps forward in time and story. Some of the chapter titles seem a little silly or comedic too, which seemed at odds with the overall tone of the book.

Ambitious but falls short

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Did not enjoy it. Too slow story.
Too slow narrating.
Original idea of the book is intersting, but got off rails and lost in details for too long.
Couldn't finish it unfortunately.

Don't bother

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