By Calum Chase
Narrated by Joe Hempel
Reviewed by Tyler
Get it on Audible here!
Pandora’s Brain Overview:
Matt, a shy but engaging and resourceful student, discovers that his recently deceased father was involved in research that could enable the construction of the world’s first conscious machine. Matt’s enquiries lead to him being kidnapped, as he is caught in the crossfire between two groups pursuing that goal – one led by a Russian billionaire and another backed by the US military. Matt has to do more than simply survive. He has to harness these powerful forces to his own ends, and his life as well as his family’s is at stake.
Pandora’s Brain Audiobook Review:
STORY
The Good:
First off, I would just like to say that I really enjoyed Pandora’s brain. I didn’t read any reviews, and had no preconceptions in before listening, as Joe asked for an honest review.
The story line was fantastic, and a true mind fuck. Every time i thought it was relenting, we were thrown a new curve ball which had me wanting more. I remember the first night listening, my partner got angry as it was about 2 am on a work night when I reluctantly decided to push pause. The story explores very contemporary ideas within a fictional setting which are truly interesting.
The Bad:
Although the storyline was good, it wasn’t as strong as the ideas behind it and more of an after thought. It was clear that the ideas were very important to the author. As a result, there is definitely room from improvement in this area. My only other criticism is that the book was too short. I am an epic fantasy man at heart, and I was definitely left wanting more. If we haven’t listened to anything in the genre, this is definitely a great start.
IDEAS
The Good:
The ideas of artificial intelligence, consciousness (which of late has had quite a lot of attention in the scientific world) and simulation theory (which is both scary and curiously exciting) are wrapped up in a young mans adventure including black ops and mayans, I won’t elaborate too much on this to save spoilers.
Chase also presents many other relevant ideas; the challenges a society might face which are backed up real philosophy and science. This includes the conflicting religious beliefs and political agendas, and the likely outcomes for our society, not just those in the story. It is not only a story to listen to, but also one that has you internalising the underlying messages which for me, were rattling.
The Bad:
If it is not obvious now, i think it’s safe to say i don’t really have anything bad to say about the ideas and themes, They were definitely the best part about this book.
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CHARACTERS
The Good:
The characters I believe were secondary to theme as with the story, this genre is definitely one to add to your list. Matt was an enjoyable character with strong morals – definitely someone to like, but needed a couple of flaws to come across as more rounded..
The Bad:
Many of the other characters, most in fact, I felt much less of a connection to, we did jump perceptions here and there, so I think there was room for improvement, the parents, uncle, and girlfriend felt like quite shallow characters, the uncle which was present through out the novel, but didn’t exactly have any contribution. He felt like a bit of a filler character. While I said Matt was developed, I think he was maybe a little ‘too perfect’, although he was playing the hero, I think there may have been a little room for rounding.
NARRATOR
The Good:
Joe’s narration was solid, and managed well, despite knowing his native accent was not of that in the book. The pronunciation was fine, clear and consistent and was not simply read, we had elements of dramatisation which was good to hear.
The Bad:
This may be a small point, but I really struggled with one of the characters accents, which I believe sounded like a mix of Russian and Australian. I may have missed something here, but it felt very confused. I think there was some room to improve here, and a little production value was needed. However as noted, Joe definitely skilled, and the narration would not deter me from listening to a sequel.
I hope you enjoyed our Pandora’s Brain Audiobook Review, come back soon!