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The Salvage Crew

By: Yudhanjaya Wijeratne
Narrated by: Nathan Fillion
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Publisher's Summary

Award-winning actor Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Castle, The Rookie) brings to life a snarky artificial intelligence you won't soon forget. Don't miss his hilarious performance in a story perfectly crafted for sci-fi fans of The Martian, Red Dwarf, and We Are Legion (We Are Bob).

They thought this was just another salvage job. They thought wrong. 

An AI overseer and a human crew arrive on a distant planet to salvage an ancient UN starship. The overseer is unhappy. The crew, well, they're certainly no A-team. Not even a C-team on the best of days. And worse? Urmahon Beta, the planet, is at the ass-end of nowhere. Everybody expects this to be a long, ugly, and thankless job. 

Then it all goes disastrously wrong. What they thought was an uninhabited backwater turns out to be anything but empty. Megafauna roam the land, a rival crew with some terrifyingly high-powered gear haunts the dig site, and a secret that will change humanity forever is waiting in the darkness.

Stuck on this unmapped, hostile planet, lacking resources, and with tech built by the cheapest bidder, the salvage crew must engineer their way to payday...and beat Urmahon Beta before it kills them all.

©2020 Yudhanjaya Wijeratne (P)2020 Podium Audio

Critic Reviews

"Yudhanjaya Wijeratne's ingeniously crafted The Salvage Crew starts with a comforting science-fictional familiarity, before using its A.I.-co-authored idiosyncrasies to hurtle headlong into the gravity well of its considerable ambition. A novel of meteoric energy, flaring brighter and brighter as it falls further into its world." (Indrapamit Das, Lambda Award-winning author of The Devourers)

"A classic sci-fi adventure wrapped around a deeply philosophical core. With skillful plotting, interesting details, and a motley crew of humans and A.I., it's a story that embraces its meta-origins...with an ending worth waiting for." (S.B. Divya, Hugo and Nebula Award-nominated author of Runtime and Machinehood)

"With animation and wry humor, Fillion introduces listeners to OC, an artificially intelligent yet poetic overseer...with tenderness and sorrow [he] conveys OC's dawning realization that their mission has turned into a nightmare. Fillion's talents are undeniable...." (Audiofile Magazine)

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What listeners say about The Salvage Crew

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

Outstanding, Creative

Surprisingly optimistic despite the horror. Fillion is the perfect narrator, but words occasionally less crisp (maybe due to recording quality). I expect to be listening to this book many many times.

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

it was ok. sound issues ruined it

it seemed like it was cobstantly cutting off the first word of every sentence. kind of killed the vibe. would happily listen to nathan read anything else though.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Stop whispering, Fillion!

The first 95% of the story didn't match the ending. bizarre. poor performance that meant I was constantly rewinding to hear a whispered word or when I zoned out.

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

I liked this a lot

If you like imaginative SciFi that doesn’t take itself too seriously but tells a good story well - try it

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

Great story with acceptable narration

This is a great book, and Yudhanjaya Wijeratne has been added to my list of authors to track for new releases. The narration does suffer from a bit of odd cadence - but it's pretty on-brand for Nathan Fillion and bumping the playback speed to 1.10x was enough to offset any difference in taste.

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2 people found this helpful

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

Good but not great

This book is ok it’s not great. the pauses between sentences are a little jarring but I liked the story. Worth a listen

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Good but not great..

I picked up this book as a Nathan Fillion & sci fi fan. Nathan was great, though there were some words I just couldn't make out even passing back over them several times. For me, he was the best part of the book.

The story was interesting enough, I made it to the end so it's not a bad book. It just felt like the story lacked polish. It felt like a first draft that hadn't quite resolved flow and momentum issues. It felt like there should have been more depth that never arrived.

Despite being critical, I enjoyed it. It's good, just not great. If you're a sci fi nut, you probably need to try this book. If you dabble in sci fi, there are other books that I would more highly recommend.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Interesting and oddly creepy.

Was entertaining in the beginning, then really drew me in near the end. Well performed and written.

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

Great Sci fi.

Trapped on a hostile planet a group of salvage workers and their beleagued AI Overseer have a tough time survivng. Good fun.

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

Pretty great book

This good was pretty good, not the best book I've read, but not at all bad. Worth the read.

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