Outland (2019)
Written By: Dennis E. Taylor
Narrated By: Ray Porter
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 10 hrs 30 mins
Publisher: Audible Original
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
Why I Chose It: I’ve really enjoyed the Bobiverse books and when Shara asked if I wanted to try something new from the same author, I said “yes!”
The premise:
When the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts, it’s up to six college students and their experimental physics project to prevent the end of civilization.
When an experiment to study quantum uncertainty goes spectacularly wrong, physics student Bill Rustad and his friends find that they have accidentally created an inter-dimensional portal. They connect to Outland – an alternate Earth with identical geology, but where humans never evolved. The group races to establish control of the portal before the government, the military, or evildoers can take it away.
Then everything changes when the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts in an explosion large enough to destroy civilization and kill half the planet. The team has just hours to get as many people as possible across to Outland before a lethal cloud of ash overwhelms them.
Nothing has prepared the refugees for what they find – a world of few resources and unprecedented dangers. Somehow, they must learn to survive, because Outland may not just be a safe haven – it could be their new home.
Spoiler Free!
Discussion: So, it’s a little hard to plow through an audiobook, since it’s a finite number of hours long. But there are ways. And you can find them if you’re motivated. I bumped up the speed a little, chased the talkative preschooler out of the room, and found more and more chores to do so I could listen longer. That’s the mark of a good audiobook, (or any book really) when you neglect the rest of your life in favor of reading.
Right off the bat, I really enjoyed this story. Ray Porter has always done a phenomenal job with Taylor’s work and on just a really simple level, I enjoy listening to him.
I will say the book was more of a slow burn than an action-packed adventure. Most of the tension came from the fact that you knew what was going to happen. The book opens with Yellowstone literally simmering and you spend so much time just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Outland did for Yellowstone what Seveneves did for the moon. After reading Seveneves, I kept checking to make sure the moon was still there. And after reading Outland, I’m tempted to stalk some geological surveys to make sure Yellowstone’s not going to erupt any time soon.
And after the shoe dropped the book became my favorite sort of post-apocalyptic survival story. I’m a sucker for books like Alas, Babylon and The Postman. Maybe that’s why I like Fallout so much. There’s a sweet spot; after the world ends, but before the dystopian society takes over and screws everything up.
In the end, I didn’t feel like Outland got as deep as the Bobiverse books. As a character Bob managed to explore some really hard questions of morality and the nature of immortality. He dealt with the consequences of recolonization and screwing with another species’ evolution. The characters in Outland were intriguing and fully formed, but with a cast of six, we didn’t get to see as deep into their personalities and conflicts. And they never felt truly challenged. I didn’t really worry whether or not they would beat the bad guys or save the day, because they seemed a little overpowered for what was thrown at them.
In Conclusion: That in no way ruined my enjoyment of the book. Watching a group of college kids out-think everything that came their way was highly entertaining. And the world building has left plenty of room for more books in the series. According to Taylor’s website there should be at least one more which I’m looking forward to.
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