Boundary

Boundary Series, Book 1

By: Eric Flint, Ryk E. Spoor

Narrated by: Jonathan Walker

Paradigms Shift, Worlds Collide!

A daring and resourceful paleontologist uncovers something at the infamous K-T boundary marking the end of dinosaurs in the fossil record - something big, dangerous, and absolutely, categorically impossible. It's a find that will catapult her to the Martian moon Phobos, then down to the crater-pocked desert of the Red Planet itself. For this mild-mannered fossil hunter may just have become Earth's first practicing xenobiologist!

A new hard SF thriller from best-selling alternate history master Eric Flint and ace game designer Ryk E. Spoor.

©2006 Eric Flint and Ryk Spoor (P)2014 Audible Inc.

A Very Good Story

I bought this book and audiobook combo because I heard an interview with the authors about book 6 in the series and it sounded like my kind of story. Eric Flint always delivers but this was my first introduction to his co-author Ryk Spoor. The pair make an excellent novel filled with interesting characters doing interesting things with a subtle complexity I often find lacking.

A little more swearing than I would have liked...

A little more swearing than I would have liked... But the plot was engaging.

Great story, awful narration.

The narrator read the entire book like a politician reading a speech.. he paused, at all, of, the, wron, g, places. it was, disappointing, and, diffi, cult, to listen to.

The action between earth and mars

8, and I really don't know what to say about this. But LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, cause I have to use 15 words

Improbable but entertaining.

This book is about the trials and tribulations of space travel to Mars, with aliens thrown in to motivate and mystify. The evidence of alien presence, a fossil, is 65 million years old so none are alive at the time of the book. There is a mystery about how/why the aliens happened to be on Earth at exactly the time of the K-T boundary (when the asteroid impact killed the dinosaurs).

So, sorry, the book does not send the reader back to directly witness an alien/dinosaur battle, even though the cover implies it. No time travel here.

The book does follow the uncovering of the alien fossil. Coincidentally, an unmanned probe sent to a moon of Mars discovers the remains of an alien base. So an expedition is put together to see what can be learned about them.

The plot evolves from the circumstances and challenges of space travel. The book is rather similar to "The Martian" by Andy Weir, where science provides the method and natural forces provide the drama, with less time pressure. People are motivated by mundane needs and desires; there are no monstrous villains or super heroes, no nefarious foreign governments. However, everybody is superlative at their professions. The science used for travel and remote sensing is current, with a minimum of stretching to make it sound futuristic. I take it back, the remote sensing guy is a bit too geniusy.

The main characters are more than cardboard cutouts but only about as fleshed out as you expect from a tv mini-series where everybody is above average. Couples are paired off. Birth control isn't mentioned but maybe it should be considered.

I compared it to "The Martian" to give you an idea of the genre this book falls into. "Boundary" is not as well written but it does survive the comparison. The dialog in "The Martian" sounds more authentic then The "Boundary" dialog. "Boundary" has a subplot provided by the security officer (a la "Hunt for Red October") that is contrived. If you have worked with security people you will be squirming.

About the recording, it seems slowed down. I listened at 1.5 speed because it just plods at regular speed. The reader does a serviceable job.