Audiobook Review: Resurrection by Arwen Elys Dayton

Resurrection by Arwen Elys Dayton

Read by Kate Rudd

Brilliance Audio

Length: 13 Hrs

Genre: Science Fiction

Quick Thoughts: Resurrection is an excellent conceptual science fiction novel, but even better, it is also full of lots of fun sci-fi action, interesting alternate history, exotic locales and complex, fascinating characters. Science Fiction fans, from lovers of action series like Stargate SG-1 to fans of the philosophical physicists like Carl Sagan should find something to like in Arwen Elys Dayton’s Resurrection.

Grade: B+

For those who don’t typically read my blog, I tend to spend most of the first paragraph of my three paragraph reviews discussing things like why I chose the book, my thoughts on the genre in general, my biases for or against the reviewed topic, or simply what thoughts were going on in this small undeveloped brain of mine. In short, the first paragraph is me talking about me. If you want to know what I thought about the book, feel free to skip right to paragraph #2. Resurrection by Arwen Elys Dayton was not an audiobook that was even close to my radar. This month, I have been involved in a few science fiction blogging events, so when scouring the Brilliance Audios January releases, I was paying special attention to the science fiction releases. Resurrection jumped out at me, mostly because over the summer I watched nearly the entire run of the television series Stargate SG-1. Now, I don’t mean to imply in any way that Resurrection is related to the Stargate franchise, but Stargate has peaked my interest in Egyptian mythology and the concept of possible alien interaction with ancient humans. I should also admit, that for some reason, when picturing Dayton’s main character Pruitt, the image of actress Amanda Tapping, who played SG-1’s Samantha Carter, kept creeping into my mind. Despite the fact that it was a small Stargate SG-1 tint to the description that drew me into Dayton’s world, the book itself had plenty to keep me well enthralled.

The Kinley’s once held the power of faster than light travel, but in a brutal war with an alien species called the Lucien, along with a series of unfortunate events, that technology was lost 5,000 years ago by an ill-fated journey 8 light years away to a planet called Earth. Now, facing the threat of extinction at the hands of their ancient enemy, a Kinley soldier named Pruitt must retrace that ancient voyage, in order to retrieve the technology to save her planet. Resurrection is a fun piece of pulp science fiction, with a compelling main character, and full of a lot of interesting science fiction concepts. Yet, in some ways, Resurrection is two book sin one. The pulpish science fiction tale is only made better by an alternate history of ancient Egyptian and its mythology. Both stories would have made compelling tales on their own, but tied together they definitely exceeded the sum of their individual parts. One of my favorite aspects of the novel is the linking conceptual basis of how cultural differences between people whether from the same species or not, can lead to tragedy if the competing sides don’t attempt to understand each other. My only real complaint about the novel is that I really wanted to know more. More about the history of the war between the Lucien and the Kinsley, more about the cultural development of the Lucien home planet, yet mostly more about the potential seeding of humans throughout the universes. Resurrection is an excellent conceptual science fiction novel, but even better, it is also full of lots of fun sci-fi action, interesting alternate history, exotic locales and complex, fascinating characters. Science Fiction fans, from lovers of action series like Stargate SG-1 to fans of the philosophical physicists like Carl Sagan should find something to like in Arwen Elys Dayton’s Resurrection.

This is my first time experiencing Kate Rudd’s narration. Rudd brings a simple straight forward narrative approach to reading Resurrection that fit well. Rudd does well here assuming the role of storyteller, never overshadowing the work but providing well defined characterizations and steadily paced readings of the action segments. Where Rudd truly shines is in her reading the ancient Egyptian portions of the novel, with exotic accents and appropriate vocal changes that highlight the characters‘ progressions. One of the things I really like about taking on an audiobook that is outside of my radar is getting to experience new narrators who don’t typically work on books in the subgenre’s I listen to. I was glad to have a chance to experience Rudd’s narration, and I will be looking for more of her work in the future.

Note: A Special thanks to the good people of Brilliance Audio for providing me with a copy of this title for review.