Undying Audiobook
By: Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
Narrated by: Steve West, Alex McKenna & Vikas Adam
Published by Brilliance Audio 1/22/2019
Undying Audiobook Sample
Undying Audiobook
4 Hearts
Unearthed led listeners on an edge of your seat twisting sci-fi archaeological adventure that left things at a breathtaking cliffhanger for Mia and Jules.
Undying begins with a nice letter from the authors that catches readers up on the world of the duology and where things are at in the story before diving back in.
This is not a good place to summarize details or it will ruin some of the brilliant high points of the first book, Unearthed. I’m going to go vague and stick with impressions and observations rather than a recap. This actually works good because there are aspects of the way this one wraps up that left me not really sure what I thought about it.
First of all, if you, like me, had your interest piqued by the archaeological adventure aspect with puzzles and mysteries of the first book, that is way scaled back since the focus is more on how to save earth which was already in desperate straits due to over population and not enough resources. Instead, we are brought back to earth, so to speak, with earth politics and getting everyone on board with the threat that is now come to earth.
There was also a teenage romance brewing strongly in book one between all the dangerous traps and close calls that is more of partners and friends in this one. I actually liked this because I felt the focus on survival on what the pair inadvertently unleashed on earth is the better focus. I continued to like Mia and Jules separately and together. Mia is still the kickbutt action heroine and Jules more the intellectual type, but they work together well especially now that they’ve established trust and understanding from their earlier adventures. I enjoyed seeing the addition of some other characters in the mix to change the isolation dynamic that was present in book one.
While, this one is missing the puzzles and traps and mysterious other planet quality of the first book, it is by no means dull. Rushing to save your life and the lives of everyone on earth will do that for you. If I have a niggle, it was that I wanted to slow things down a bit there at the end and tease some things out better.
All in all, I enjoyed this young adult sci-fi and can recommend it to those who want a lot of action and twists to their story headed by a pair of engaging characters.
Undying Audiobook Narration
5 Hearts
The narrators, Alex McKenna and Steve West who traded off the narration in the first book were consistent with that book and still fabulous, but, we added Vikas Adam to the mix. Others have praised his work and I can see why now. They all did a great job bringing this exciting sci-fi to life and portraying the characters. I would definitely listen to more work by all three of them.
Amie Kaufman is the New York Times bestselling co-author of Illuminae (with Jay Kristoff) and These Broken Stars, This Shattered World, and Their Fractured Light (with Meagan Spooner.) She writes science fiction and fantasy for teens, and her favourite procrastination techniques involve chocolate, baking, sailing, excellent books and TV, plotting and executing overseas travel, and napping.
She lives in Melbourne, Australia with her husband, their rescue dog, and her considerable library. She is represented by Tracey Adams of Adams Literary.
New York Times bestselling author Meagan Spooner grew up reading and writing every spare moment of the day, while dreaming about life as an archaeologist, a marine biologist, an astronaut. She graduated from Hamilton College in New York with a degree in play writing, and has spent several years since then living in Australia.
She’s traveled with her family all over the world to places like Egypt, South Africa, the Arctic, Greece, Antarctica, and the Galapagos, and there’s a bit of every trip in every story she writes. She currently lives and writes in Asheville, North Carolina, but the siren call of travel is hard to resist, and there’s no telling how long she’ll stay there. She’s the author of the award-winning Starbound trilogy (These Broken Stars, This Shattered World, Their Fractured Light) and the Skylark Trilogy (Skylark, Shadowlark, Lark Ascending) as well as the upcoming Beauty and the Beast retelling Hunted.
Steve West is an international actor who has starred on London’s prestigious West End stage, including productions of Mamma Mia! and Oh, What a Night! He is widely known for his television and film work in both the UK and US. He has performed for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace and currently hosts his own television show for the UK live from Los Angeles
Alex McKenna has credits in theater, television, and film and is currently working as a professional actor and voice-over artist in Los Angeles.
Vikas Adam was born in British Columbia and lived in various parts of Canada, the US, and a stint in India, before his parents settled in Dallas. After receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting/Directing from Syracuse University, he returned to Dallas and worked professionally as an actor, director, and producer in addition to teaching acting for various non profit arts organizations. He segued into the administrative side as Program Director for Junior Players, Dallas’ oldest non profit youth arts organization but continued to garner critical favor as an actor working with some of Dallas’ most reputable companies. After a number of successful years, Vikas decided it was time to further his craft and chose to attend the UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television three-year professional program to secure his Master of Fine Arts in Acting. While packing his bags in preparation for his move, Adam appeared on seven episodes of Pink (2007), a Webby Award winning dark comedy series starring Natalie Raitano. Post graduation has seen Vikas appearing on television as well as various web series and indie films, in addition to a successful career as an audiobook narrator.
My thanks to The Listening Library for the opportunity to listen to this book in exchange for an honest review.
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