Lots of interesting world building in this book and a strong fast paced plot which gets off the ground quickly. I think it would have been better as a longer novel as the ending felt slightly abrupt.

I was hooked from the very first sentence.

The story had a cool concept: a reborn clone of a murderer who’s sole purpose is to hunt and kill her “original.” It had a futuristic setting where a new “nanite” technology actively alters reality, tapping into your preferences and makes changes on everything you experience based on both conscious and unconscious data. I found it fascinating. It was easy to imagine how tech like that could make people lose touch with reality - highlighting the novelty of the tactile elements in a digitally-run world. The authors did a great job infusing this concept through every fiber of the story with fantastic use of sensory input description. It was total immersion. I found it especially poignant when dealing with the murder scene, as the description evoked a lot of uncomfortable and visceral feelings. All of this seamless infusion would make a great case study on world building for budding writers.

Julia Whelan was an awesome narrator. She was relatable and earnest in a way that really helped sell the story. Her POV was so perplexed... how could she possibly have committed a crime? The confusion and angst in her performance was palatable, making me think right from the start that there must be another explanation to what happened. She makes you feel the history and love between the main character and the victim. It spurred a lot of great questions and immediately hooked me for the rest of the story. I needed to find out what really happened. It was essential.

Recommendations: Overall, this was a fantastic audio production that will keep you on your toes. I especially recommend it if you’ve enjoyed some of Sanderson’s other mind-bending short stories like Snapshot and Legion. I haven’t read anything by Kowel yet, but after this, The Calculating Stars has definitely been bumped up my priority list.

Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller

I stumbled upon The Original randomly last week, and was pretty surprised that a Sanderson book somehow skipped over my radar. Mary Robinette Kowal is an author I've been wanting to check out for a while now too, so obviously, I had to listen to this audio original. And it was so much fun! I'm really glad I found it.

The Original is a pretty short audiobook, less than three and a half hours total. So I listened to the whole thing in a morning, it was great. I never felt bored or lost(both things that totally happen to me when it comes to sci-fi). The story really lends itself to being short, and the action is pretty non-stop. The ending comes up fast, and then BOOM it's over, and I adore those sorts of endings so it really worked for me.

The science stuff was really cool. Not too heavy(again, I get bored), but it was fun and clever. I don't want to get into it too much, because I don't want to give anything away. But if you like sci-fi the way it's presented in a lot of movies, this book is definitely for you.

The narration was excellent. And there was music and sound effects, I loved it. It was really well produced and I'll definitely be recommending it to anyone who enjoys audiobooks.

The Original was a lot of fun! I'll definitely be listening to it again in the future. It's a great character driven sci-fi adventure, perfect for fans of Blade Runner or The Island(yes, I know those are movies, but I don't read much sci-fi!). 

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This review will go live on NovelKnight on 9/18/20.

First of all, the audiobook by Julia Whelan is phenomenal, both in reading and production. I can't recommend this enough as an audiobook. I really enjoyed this story. I liked the main character, the slow burn of info release that kept you guessing, and the almost Philip K Dick type world building. I think it's a tremendous concept, even if it's a bit Psycho Pass/Minority Report, but the ending lost it a star. I like concrete conclusions. I don't like nebulous artsy endings. Wrap up your damn books, people!

Great sci-fi combination from two of my favorite authors! The world was fascinating.

I also really enjoyed the audiobook narration. Julia Whalen is an amazing narrator. I wasn’t a big fan of the addition sound effects, but I can see how they are beneficial to the storytelling.

I wish there was a physical book or physical CD option to bring into my store.


Thank you for the early copy, all opinions are my own.

The wonder of Sanderson world building in an all audio package. The 2 authors did a great job of providing scope to the world without bogging down into info dumps. excellent sense of what matters in this world and how it got the way it was, but with the info interspersed into the plot. The plot does a great job of staying grounded with a future and setting that could be extrapolated to the nth degree.

The audio bells and whistles are perfect. Building tension and adding suspense throughout action sequences. Whelan was perfect (although in a very slim cast).

Needless to say, I was intrigued when I first heard that Brandon Sanderson and Mary Robinette Kowal were doing a collaboration on a short audiobook novella. I wouldn’t describe myself as standing for either of them, but I appreciate the kind of science fiction they’re both trying to do and the concept of them doing it together was fascinating. As a bonus, the audio production on this book is really well done!

Simply put, The Original lived up to my expectations. It’s an immediately gripping tale that bends the mind in delicious little ways. In many ways it read as a kind of lament for an over-technologized world. Holly, the protagonist, walks through sparse cityscapes, and she only snatches glimpses of the "themed" world when she accidentally bumps into another human being who is allowed to have theming turned on. Though one could see the appeal of a world that could be themed to one’s tastes through the ease of digital means, it ends up being like the worst of Fortnite imposed upon the real world for the end result of Wendell Berry’s hellscape.

Sanderson and Kowal pose interesting questions about the intersections of bodily autonomy, individual expression, governmental authority, and the made vs. the given world. In many ways, this is exactly what I look for in science fiction: stories that dare to poke and prod at our contemporary lives and where that trajectory leads. If you have a spare Saturday afternoon sometime, pick it up and journey with them into a world that feels like the logical extension of ours in all the wrong ways. It’s worth the 3.5 hours!

DISCLAIMER: I received a copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of a fair, unbiased review.

This was a really compelling and fast paced story set in a fascinating world that I would love to read more about. It tells the story of a woman who wakes up as a replicated clone tasked with hunting down her original who has murdered her husband. I thought that the story was very good and that the world building was excellent, particularly given that this is such a short book. Very much a plot driven narrative, the characters are a little bit one-dimensional, but not to the detriment of the story, which flows at a breakneck speed and keeps you on the edge of your seat. I also thought that the audio production was very good, with sound effects and music interspersed into the audio working well to enhance the overall experience. The narrator was good and kept the excitement level high throughout, which was great. Overall, I would definitely recommend this to anyone who has a spare couple of hours and wants to listen to a really good fun story.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Having been a fan of Mary Robinette Kowal and her Lady Astronaut series, I knew I’d most likely really enjoy a collaboration with Brandon Sanderson on a sci-fi futuristic novella. This story is only available as an audiobook as far as I know.

Holly wakes to find out she’s a clone and was brought to life for the purpose of killing her Original. Original Holly killed “their” husband and in this future, Clone Holly has been built as a killer for one purpose.

I’m a sci-fi addict and I really enjoyed all of the high tech in this world. I could honestly see a movie being made of this premise. Mary Robinette has a way with writing strong female leads so I knew I’d love her main character. I’m not as familiar with Brandon’s work.

I really enjoyed Julia Whelan’s performance as narrator. I think she was the perfect choice.

The only gripe I have is the odd music throughout. It was very distracting. I like to listen to audiobooks for awhile before falling asleep and let a story soothe my mind. In this case, the music would startle me and in one case, I had to stop the book as it got really annoying during a scene in a nightclub. I had to wait for the right time of day to finish listening to that particular chapter.

*Thank you so much to R.B. Media and NetGalley for the advance copy!*

With all the craziness going on in the world right now I don't have much to do after work these days besides play video games and read so I feel like I'm always on the hunt for something new to read or listen to. So when two of my favorite authors decided not only to work together and co-write a new novella but to announce and release it in the same two-week window I got pretty damn excited. I don't think there is a single book that Sanderson or Kowal has written that I didn't love and The Original was no exception. 

While I'm normally not a fan of short stories or novellas, I did not have any doubt that Brandon Sanderson or Mary Robinette Kowal would completely wow me with The Original as they did. Three and a half hours doesn't seem like a lot of time to do much worldbuilding or characterization but somehow The Original managed to feel like a full novel to me by the time I had finished listening to it. This is such a short story that I think it would be hard to talk much about it without spoiling certain this for people so all I will say is that it is well worth the read or listen. Mary Winseed is a fantastic character and the novella manages to touch on some really great ideas and concepts that were fun to read about. 

I have to say though that I'm a little sad that I've somehow never listened to anything narrated by Julia Whelan before I thought she was absolutely fantastic. The Original would have been a good enough story on its own but I thought Julia really managed to bring the world and characters alive in a way that very few narrators manage to do. I think she would have easily made this a good book to listen to even if it hadn't had such a good story. 

This really was a great story to listen to and I really hope that Brandon and Mary decide to collaborate together on more fantastic stories.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Original is a science fiction novel written for audio. Not a physical book transformed into an audiobook, this one was intended for audio first.

The story was brought to life by expert narrator Julia Whelan and an amazing assortment of musical and sound accompaniments. The pacing was true to the emotion in the book.

The story begins with main character Holly awakening confused, and she is soon shaken to her core by devastating realizations. She questions all that she is and all that she represents. Holly soon discovers she is driven by unfamiliar impulses and knows she is forever changed from her original self.

The world created in this book is surreal, futuristic, unpredictable, and manufactured to control its inhabitants. Several scenes are dramatic with heart-racing intensity.

This book’s protagonist was reminiscent of that from one of my favorite shows, Westworld. As in the show, Holly is fighting to understand her reality and battle her way toward truth and justice.

This audiobook was very well done. I highly recommend it for those who enjoy reading about worlds constructed and manipulated within the context of futuristic science.

Thank you to NetGalley, the authors, the narrator, and the publisher for access to this audiobook in exchange for my honest review. I really enjoyed it!

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#NetGalley
#TheOriginal
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#BrandonSanderson
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The Original is thrilling, high-energy, mystery-science fiction adventure. Brandon Sanderson and Mary Robinette Kowal deliver an exciting story that is action packed and imaginative. Julia Whelan does an equally impressive performance with her narration and really brings to life the events of this story. I listen to a lot of audiobook throughout the year and her performance was one of the best. I really enjoyed the background audio elements, the audio engineer did a remarkable job as well.

I loved this idea of a replica/clone being brought into existence with the purpose of tracking down the original person. The time constraint that the replica has was a great touch which brings incentive to take action. The replica has 4 days to find and kill the original in continue to live. This story has a lot of twists and turns and I highly recommend it to all science fiction and thrillers fans.

I want to thank the authors, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for an advanced audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

4+ stars

Holly Winseed wakes up in a hospital to find out she is a clone of herself. Her original self is accused of killing her (?their?) husband Jonathan. Clone Holly has a week to find out what really happened.

There is a lot to like about the short novel The Original. Society is broken down into two groups—those who check in weekly and get rejuvenating nano technology while losing privacy vs. those who check out and age but have privacy. I loved the idea of “themes” where your perception of everything around you is altered according to your nanotechnology.

I enjoyed Julia Whelan’s narration. I did not care for the extra noises they used during action scenes. I found the sounds distracting to the story. I think I would have enjoyed the book more if I read it vs. listening. There were multiple times I would have gone back and reread a short section to make sure I understood what just happened which is harder to do with an audiobook.

One of the best-produced audiobooks I've heard from NetGalley. Scratch that. One of the best-produced audiobooks I've EVER heard!

The Original, by Brandon Sanderson and Mary Robinette Kowal, finds a way to comprehensively introduce an entire futuristic world in a brief amount of time. The reader follows the story of Holly, who is on a mission with life-or-death stakes. As she carries out the directive that was forced upon her, she learns a great deal about the technology used throughout global society to make life effortless and perfect, the government which facilitates the use of this technology, and herself.

I give this an easy five stars. The narrator, Julia Whelan, does a phenomenal job telling this story, and the production includes musical elements with just the right balance. Upon finishing this story, I immediately wanted to learn more about this world.

I knew I loved Sanderson's work, but this is my first experience reading something by Mary Robinette Kowal. I'm looking forward to getting to know her work now.

I went into this audiobook not knowing what to expect. I have heard nothing but amazing things about Brandon Sanderson's work, and while I have not read anything by him previously, I know enough to know that this is far from his usual staryline.

Yes, this story is short, but it captivated me from the very first page. With such a unique plot I found I really could not put this audiobook down and consumed it in a day. I was continuously shocked by the twists and turns and I honestly had no idea how it would end until the very end.

I enjoyed all of the characters. The main character was well developed and as the story was told from her point of view we could listen to her nervous thoughts and constant rambling. It made her character feel real and relatable.

The only improvement I would like to see is a bit more world building. I feel as though we really didn't know too enough about the world we were following and I would love to hear more.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this story and I will deffinetly be picking up another of Sanderson's novels in the future. I am giving this story a 4 out of 5 and I would recommend this to anyone that loves futuristic Sci-Fi stories.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for granting me an advanced copy of this audiobook.

Once I heard Sanderson was dropping this audiobook, I had to get my hands on it. Special thanks to the publishers for granting me an ARC before the publishing date.

I'm not going to give a summary of the plot because I think it is best to listen to this without knowing anything. This audiobook is not like the rest of Sanderson's body of work, including legion. I can't speak on behalf of Kowal's body of work, but I plan to read more if this is any indication of what her writing is like. This book is more of a science fiction thriller.

The characters were fleshed out and captivating. I just wish this audiobook was longer in order to grasp the essence of their personalities before and after the inciting incident.

I found the plot very intriguing and I wanted to know what was going to happen next. This audiobook has added music tracks that definitely built up the tension in the right moments for me.

Overall, my only issue was that I wish this was a bit longer, maybe 5 hours instead of 3.75 hours. It would have helped me latch onto the characters and the ending could have been more devastating to the reader, just as I normally feel at the end of a Sanderson book.

I recommend this to people who like Sanderson, John Marrs, and Black Mirror as the science fiction thriller setting was really good.

4/5

I really really REALLY liked this story. I think had I been reading it it would’ve been a 5 star but something about the audiobook took it down to a 4.5 for me. I hope they collab more in the future! I will definitely be a fan and continue to pick them up

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for granting me access to this audiobook.

This was a really good short story. I really love Brandon Sandersons sci-fi stories even more so than his fantasy! This story was very similar to a black mirror episode mixed with altered carbon. I can’t believe how quickly I became invested! The narrator did a great job too and the addition of sounds and back ground music really added to the audiobook experience.

I thought this sorry was not as strong as some of BS novels that I’ve engaged with in the past. I think there is a reason it seemed to go under the radar. Maybe just not for me, but I would not recommend.