Aeon Rising: The Apocalypse Begins
by Matthew Mather
Narrated by: Ray Porter
I
10 hours and 43 minutes
Release date: 06-07-22
Publisher: Recorded Books
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic, Techno-thriller
My Rating: 4.75 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.75; Narration 4.75.
An apocalyptic supernova flashes over the South Pole. A mysterious mission sent deep into the Amazon.
The story of one family’s struggle to reunite…
Max Carver, a down-on-his-luck truck driver and Army vet, joins a rescue mission into Brazil. The target is a utopian tech village, the Colony, hidden in the rainforest and run by a charismatic genius. Max’s pregnant wife, Talisha Carver, is the NSA analyst who intercepted encrypted Colony messages signaling a mysterious impending event.
Dr. Xin Rou is a Chinese researcher working at the IceCube neutrino experiment at the South Pole. On lucky days a single flash might signal the passage of a ghostly interstellar particle. Suddenly, IceCube’s entire array lights up. A million detectors at once. Which is impossible. The Antarctic sky is clear and calm—but she is already running for the door.
Because the world is about to end.
But the mystery only just begins...
Review:
Max was reluctant to leave his pregnant wife, but the fee offered by Colonel Buchannan to retrieve his daughter, Iona, was too attractive to resist. No one planned on an unexpected supernova incident which wiped out technology around the globe and set off drastic climate disasters.
Max is miles away trying to survive in the jungles of Brazil after the helicopter crashes. A handful of the retrieval team, including their guide, a fierce Afrikaner mercenary, are taken in by the Colony whose leader, Ben, is an old friend of Max. The Colony is a utopian tech village that was initially assisted by government agencies who now fear Ben and the Colony have gotten out of control.
Max doesn’t even know if Iona, a doctor working with Ben, wants to be rescued. Then he discovers that the Colony nano technology is creating monster creatures set on stopping Max and his escape. Max just wants to get back home, not knowing that Talisha is caught up in secrecy between the Colonel Buchannan and a rogue revolutionary group that wants to eliminate AI.
Meanwhile, the only scientist who tried to give a short warning of the solar event, Dr. Xin, is trying to save the data from the IceCube neutrino lab at the South Pole. Americans are desperate to get the data, but Xin wants to deliver it to her agent handlers in China. Xin and the IT expert, Dag, get left behind as the lab begins to flood and unknown assailants shoot at them. The
Back in Washington, DC, Colonel Buchannan and the authorities are scrambling to protect the president (and themselves) while trying to make sure that the mission to stop the Colony will be successful. They need to get their hands on Tal to keep some leverage and make sure she doesn’t get into the wrong hands. They would be even more desperate if they knew that Tal was getting guidance from a mysterious AI, Nyx.
There is a lot of action going on in this novel with four character groups/locations being tracked. The reader/listener is busy trying to sort out the good guys, the bad guys, and how the evolving technology is going to help or hurt. As a backdrop to the plot conspiracies, the solar event has thrown everyone into chaos anticipating worldwide devastation.
I enjoyed the fast-paced action, even though I struggled to sort out where the author was going. The Colony technology reminded me of scenes from the Matrix, crossing boundaries between reality and simulation. Even as the story closed out, it wasn’t totally clear who the good guys are and how the characters were going to survive. I will be looking to read the continuation in the next book set to release in December. I recommend this to readers who enjoy techno-thrillers and apocalyptic sci fi.
Audio Notes: Ray Porter is a wonderful narrator. I can always rely on him to deliver distinct voices and energy that enhances the story. I will always be glad to listen to books he narrates.
Source: NetGalley 2022. This qualifies for 2022NetGalley and 2022Audiobook goals.
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