TERMINATION SHOCK

Edoardo Ballerini's impressive narrative range is on full display in this globe-trotting work of climate disaster speculative fiction. Ballerini is asked to create a cast of culturally diverse characters, all with distinct speaking voices. Other audiobooks like this might be forced to hire a full cast, but Ballerini is beyond capable. He slips from Texan to Dutch to Scottish voices within a few sentences in such a way that listeners feel like they are eavesdropping on an actual conversation. He juxtaposes his spectacular character work with a rock-steady third-person narration of complicated science data that grounds the audiobook in a dire reality that feels inescapable. While this audiobook is quite lengthy, listeners will not mind spending 20-plus hours listening to Ballerini. A.R.F. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2021]