End of an Era

By: Robert J. Sawyer

Narrated by: David Marantz

Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

Paleontologist Brandon Thackery and his rival, Miles "Klicks" Jordan, fulfill a dinosaur lover's dream with history's first time-travel jaunt to the late Mesozoic. Hoping to solve the extinction mystery, they find Earth's gravity is only half its 21st-century value and dinosaurs that behave very strangely. Could the slimy blue creatures from Mars have something to do with both?

©1994, 2000 Robert J. Sawyer (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Amazing plot mixes dinosaurs and astronomy

What did you love best about End of an Era?

It had such plausible and creative explanations for the demise of dinosaurs and I say this as a skeptical paleontologist. All the pieces of the plot line led up so amazingly to this novel explanation in lieu of the comet at the end of the Cretaceous.
The aliens were an incredibly clever construct. First time ever to see this kind of alien.
Human characters were very well drawn, too.
Fabulous world-building.

What did you like best about this story?

The plot. Several interwoven highly imaginative concepts. Very well paced and conceived. I was sorry the book ended.

Have you listened to any of David Marantz’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. No idea. But he did amazing narration of the dialects/accents of the humans and of the voices of the aliens. Also, great expression. Very gifted performance. I can't imagine reading the book, after hearing this narration, as he brought it to life.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me want to time travel so badly to see extinct animals and plants. What a ride. Of course, a paleontologist dream has come true, now that we know birds are the living group of therapod dinosaurs that did not go extinct. And there are lots of living fossils, like dragon flies and monkey puzzle trees. But still, time travel to eons past is every paleontologist's fantasy.

Any additional comments?

Robert Sawyer is such an amazing and creative author. It was great to find one of his books that I had not already read. Our library doesn't carry much of him. Before Audible, I used to have to hunt the used bookstores.

Another Great Story

Any additional comments?

I discovered Robert Sawyers work with his story ROLL BACK. It has taken me too many years to pursue his other works, and I'm loving each new discovery!

Felt rushed.

This book looked promising. A trip back to see the ancient past, Dinosaurs no less. Who wouldn't want to take the trip?

Seems our intrepid adventurers are short of money and did little, or no, planning. Few useful resources and a seemingly risk free past Earth.

None of this would have mattered apart from two things;

1) A weak main character and his annoyingly arrogant 'best' friend
2) The 'Martian' voice, as spoken via a Dinosaur

I soon lost interest in our heroes and really didn't care what happened to them. I normally like Sawyer's characters so I guess you can't always win. But on top of this, this one felt rushed. More like a plot from a high school essay than the work of an author who has created some fantastic stories. A tight dead-line perhaps?

Unlike others, I found the multi-thread nature of the story pretty easy to follow and it was probably the thing that kept me listening to the end.

But the voice used for the Martians - no.

Twists and Turns, Lots of Unexpected things.

There were a lot of unexpected things in this book. I think the author did a good job of portraying his overall ideas. He did well with moving the story along and keeping the reader interested and on track. I liked the ending. I'd like to say more but I don't want to introduce spoilers.

Another reason to love RJ Sawyer

Another great addition to the body o fwork of this canadian gem of an author. Not his best but very imaginative and enjoyable. Th eonly downside is the highly unlikely premise for funding of the experiment the story revolves around, otherwise good RJ Sawyer fare prone to less vacilations between preachy lets-all-get-along with coexisting pinings and atheist manifesto than some of his other works too.

Fascinating!

Boy do I ever enjoy Robert Sawyer's imagination!

There is nothing I can tell you about this book without giving away the plot, other than I was riveted and could not put it down.

Another fantastic (fantastical) adventure… KEEP ‘EM COMING!

One of my favorites

A great and creative sci go book, one of my fav RJS books he’s written

best book ever

I would listen to it again. It was really good I also recommend the dinosaur four.

Now That's Some Good Sawyer

Quite a fine read... The time travel aspect is done w/ flair, and a wonderful twist... Light on characters, but not to the story's detriment... Interesting take on cause and effect... Great ending making one think... Narration wasn't great, and a better narration woulda made for a better performance, but it's fine once you settle in...

Good story - lousy narration

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Only in print. The story was great but it was painful to listen to the narrator. David Marantz reads this novel like a bad actor with a mouthful of marbles. This is the first book I have listened to by him so I cannot say if he is as bad on his other books, but I don't intend to find out. I will definitely avoid any future books read by him.

What was one of the most memorable moments of End of an Era?

The entire story was interesting. I love novels by Robert Sawyer and this one did not disappoint.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of David Marantz?

Anyone. Ray Porter would be good or Mark Boyett. Heck a robot narrator might have been better.