3.5/5 stars, rounded up. I loved the Bobiverse books and thought I'd try this one which is by the same author and has the same audio narrator. I thought this story interesting though there seemed to be a couple of big holes in the story-mostly regarding the political situation and governmental administration in the U.S. Nevertheless, this was an interesting tale with a few Sci-Fi and Star Trek references which I enjoyed. I did miss the sense of humor I found in the Bob books, but this story didn...

2.5 very meh stars for the Audible version narrated by Ray Porter.This was just very meh for me and it's partly my own darn fault that I didn't like this. I must not have read the description fully, because I thought I was going to be listening to the adventures of a space miner and I anticipated something more fun. Instead, this is more a thinly-veiled introspective and moralistic look at how a possible interaction with an intergalactic species might occur; it repeatedly reminded me of some of

Where the Bobbiverse novels relied on an equal mix of pop-culture nerdiness and solid SF idea exploration in the realm of a self-replicating AI who is still effectively "human", The Singularity Trap jumps on some of the same solid SF ideas and plotting but does it without most of the humor.I can only assume this might piss off a few fans of the other books, but not me. It just proves that Taylor has the grit to back up his SF idea exploration with nothing more than good characterizations, big te...

I read this purely because I liked the author's other books so much. However, I was actually shocked to feel so different about this one compared to the Bobiverse series.We follow Ivan, the MC, who is a miner in financial trouble. Humanity has managed to not stop global warming. On the contrary: many coastal places such as Florida are gone due to melted ice caps. More than ever, if you're not born into a rich family, you are at a serious disadvantage (death definitely being an option). So he buy...

The fast-improving SF author revisits many of the themes of his Bobiverse series in this entertaining hardish-SF novel that's a clear leveling up of characterization and story-telling with less sarcastic humor and pop=culture references.The asteroid mining ship the Mad Astra is on a hard luck streak when it finds the strike of a lifetime. However, that break comes with a sting when one of crew members, IT guy Ivan Pritchard encounters a bizarre substance that attaches itself to the arm of his sp...

Executive Summary: A slow start, but a strong finish. Not as fun as his Bobiverse books, but still pretty enjoyable. 3.5 Stars.Audiobook: Ray Porter once again does a good job. Even though this isn't a Bobiverse book, it feels as though it could be, and that may partially be due to the same narrator returning. He does a few accents and generally is just the type of narrator that adds to the book. Full Review There were some similar themes and ideas in this book. Our protagonist is a Software

The Singularity Trap – Dennis TaylorThere is no doubting that Dennis Taylor is an incredibly gifted writer. On the back of the ‘Bobiverse’ series, comes ‘The Singularity Trap’. This had some very high expectations, and for me, I wasn’t disappointed. The story follows Ivan, a young man who like many people in this Universe, is desperate for work. The world is not in a particularly good way, with tides rising, land shrinking, high unemployment etc. Ivan is married and has a family to support, and

Lame! Hoping Taylor is not a one trick pony but so far... This is more of a 2.5 stars that I rounded up because I truly enjoyed the bobiverse. The first half is a decent if mundane, space miner story that ends up being a first contact scenario. The second half is an utterly boring investigation and justification of game theory. The dialog was weak, the scenarios half baked. Give this one a miss and hope for the best with his new bobiverse book.

The dynamic duo of Dennis E. Taylor and Ray Porter have done it again! This author and narrator team have once again created an incredible sci-fi story that was extremely unique, and so much fun to listen to.Ivan is a newbie space asteroid miner who touches a rock that squirts a liquid onto his arm. Turns out the asteroid is an alien booby trap which has been waiting around for eons to catch some poor species unawares. Ivan begins to turn into metal little by little and eventually he discovers t...

Forgive my absence of late. I’m doing my masters and unfortunately this means that my reading time now consists of reading research reports and text books instead of fiction. And there is another 2.5 years of this! Thankfully with travelling to and from work, and lots of cleaning up to do with two young kids, there is plenty of time for audio books!This was the first Dennis E. Taylor book I have encountered. It was a lot of fun. I will pretty much listen to anything that Ray Porter narrates so I...

3 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2018/07/07/...After completing his Bobiverse trilogy, Dennis E. Taylor tries his hand at something a little deeper and more serious in The Singularity Trap. Despite the slight drop in humorous moments and the pacing being a little uneven in places, it was still a very entertaining read complete with an old-school sci-fi feel and plenty of nods to hard science.The story begins on the mining ship Mad Astra where readers are introduced to

I really wanted to like this book. After all, it had everything going for it. Written by Dennis E. Taylor, who has recently finished what has become one of my all-time favorites series with his “Bobiverse” trilogy. As I almost always consume my books by audio anymore, Ray Porter returning to narrate was also another element strongly in favor of this new book. Let’s get some positives out of the way, for there are several. As stated, Ray Porter once again brings an A game to the narration with

I enjoyed Taylor’s Bobverse Series so grabbed this book when I saw it. The book has the same tone to it as Bobverse with a similar type of humor. I could read this book just as a fun sci-fi story, or I could ponder the philosophical/moral issues Taylor presents. There are several moral and philosophical questions the author presents: one of them being the “prisoner dilemma”. The ending of the book is interesting. Looking for a good sci-fi story for the summer? Try this one.I read this as an audi...

I really enjoy this combination of author and narrator. The use of sound effects is just enough to create atmosphere, without being distracting and it was a very pleasant surprise to realize that Ray Porter is pretty good at female voices (which he didn't really have a chance to show off in the Bobbieverse series). I don't think I can talk about this book without comparing it to the Bobbieverse, so I'll apologize in advance. The humor is more subtle and this feels like a more serious book, thoug...

3☆ good but not great