This book was not for me I think because I have not read many sci fi books that’s why I was confused. DNF at 9% I wish this was a hit for me

dnf at 53%

I was willing to try and see if I would eventually like the world of this book, but I really doubt that is possible.

I found myself rolling my eyes a lot while listening and it just became too annoying, hence the dnf

Have you ever found yourself nearly addicted to your favorite reality show? Imagine if you could help direct the actual story and your favorite characters didn't know they were a show. In the far future, this is exactly what happens to Asher Reinhart and his favorite show Ignis. But when the show's main character is deliberately put in mortal danger for the sake of ratings, Asher has to do something about it. It very much like an updated version of The Truman Show but with a ton of twists and conflicts and an ending that is not your standard Happily Ever After.

My favorite aspect of this story was the narration by Wil Wheaton and Katherine McNamara. While Wil's narration was occasionally one-note, I really enjoy his speaking voice and would listen to other audio books just based on his participation. Katherine was a joy to listen to and added far more to the story than just her lines!

Thank you Podium Audio and NetGalley for sending me this audio book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley, Podium Audio, Rhett C. Bruno, Wil Wheaton (narrator), and Katherine McNamara (narrator) for the opportunity to listen to Vicarious in exchange for an honest review.

I used the NetGalley Shelf app to listen to this audiobook. Part of my interest in requesting id the big-name narrators who have done a number of other audiobooks that I adore. They are brilliant voice actors and really bring the characters to life. I feel that, because of the narrations, Vicarious is better as an audiobook.

This is a fantastic science fiction novel with a complex world. It was a bit hard to get into at first, as there is quite a bit going on and not a lot of description or explanation. The reader kind of figures it out along the way and has a general idea from the book blurb. This story takes place on High Earth, not quite the world as we know it. This world is full of technology drowning out what life once was. People divulge in all forms of digital entertainment, such as virtual reality, simulations, and of course television shows. Asher is the volunteer director of a show called Ignis. In this show, people believe themselves to be the last of humanity and have a very interestingly organized world structure on an interstellar ark. The catch? It's a reality TV show featuring really people; they have no clue they are being watched for the entertainment of a mass populace of human beings.

Mission is destined to be a mother on Ignis. This isn't quite what he wants, and she can't even be with the person she is in love with. That's just not how this society operates. When an explosion occurs on the interstellar ark, Mission finds herself in quite a bind.

Asher has an obscure attachment to Mission, and when she is in real trouble, he will do whatever it takes to save her, even if it goes against the regulations of being the show director.

This book is fantastic for dies-hard sci-fi fans, but if you aren't too into the genre, this book would be very hard to approach. As I mentioned, there is quite a lot going on and it can be a bit hard to follow at times, but the premise is quite interesting and made for an intriguing read once my brain was able to organize the information accordingly.

Vicarious by Rhett C. Bruno was a great book. I listened to the audio version, only requesting it because it was read by Will Wheaton, which I thought was pretty cool. Turns out, the book was worth it, no matter who read it, although, he and his female counterpart both did a great job. Vicarious is the story of two people, Asher and Mission. Asher lives on High Earth, where everyone basically lives in a vacuum sealed bubble after the fall of Earth as we know it. They have their food prepared in nifty little bars that taste like whatever you like, programmed showers and their own VORA, or virtual assistant. She turns on the TV for them and sends them into whichever virtual world they want to visit that day. They can spend the entire day visiting virtual realities where they can eat, sleep, play, fight, etc. Asher spends most of his time on Ignus Live, a reality program about a group of people who believe they are travelling through space and that they are the last living people from Earth, headed to a place where they can live safely after the people on Earth destroyed it and themselves. This is where Mission lives: on this ship, which is actually just sitting in the same place while the programmers for the reality show make the inhabitants think that they are moving. Sounds a little complicated, but it really isn't. The kicker is, Asher has spent his entire life watching Mission, and has even devoted himself to the show, becoming a director for it. When he finds out that Mission may be in danger by the programmer and owner of the show, he tries to save her. But, how do you save someone who doesn't even know you exist? Great story. Great characters. They really stuck with me. I have actually listened to two other books since this one and I can't help but wonder what they are doing now! Check it out, you will be glad you did!
Thanks to #NetGalley for the chance to listen to the audiobook. And thanks to the publisher for sharing #Vicarious with us. All opinions are my own.

Most sci-fi fans will find Vicarious is an interesting and captivating story of life in the future.

I listened to the audio version, narrated by celebrities: Wil Wheaton and Katherine McNamara.

The narration is great and I enjoyed the premise of a group of people who are cast in a reality show. However, the members of the group actually thought they were the last people on earth and believed they were on a space pilgrimage to a new world.

Vicarious stays relevant, with true-to-life emotional human characterizations. The story pulled me in, and kept me engaged, with interesting plot twists and thought-provoking ideas and situations.

Vicarious read by Wil Wheaton and Katherine McNamara, reminds me of another Audiobook I’ve accessed through NetGalley recently: The Salvage Crew by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne, read by Nathan Fillian. There seems to be a growing cohort of sci-fi audio read by voices familiar to fans of 90s sci-fi movies and television. I find it more natural to group these two audiobooks with great shows or movies I’ve watched recently, than to compare it to other books I’ve read. That works for me though. It feels quite natural to have Wil Wheaton narrate this High Earth future world, and his experience gives nuance to his reading style. The storyline itself was also intriguing and different from traditional sci-fi storylines. I found it a bit more linear than The Salvage Crew but I’m quite enjoying this familiar narrator, sci-fi audiobook trend.

Rhett C. Bruno has been on my list of authors to read for quite some time but I just have not had the chance to read anything from him until now. I am glad this is my first experience with this author. I don't know if this is his "best" book, I know he has an extensive catalogue, but it just felt like the perfect fit for me to start with. This very much feels like The Truman Show with a good mix of Ready Player One and some splashes of Monsters Inc. I wont divulge why I feel there are some similarities to Monsters Inc since I don't want to spoil anything, but it is there on some key plot points. If you are a fan of that movie, you shouldn't have a hard time finding what I am talking about. I absolutely loved The Truman Show and Ready Player One (the book more than the movie, but I enjoyed the movie as well. And, I love Monsters Inc. Although this book is not perfect, this was the perfect blend of those movies, excitement, humor and great story and characters for me.

I found the cast of characters to be very likeable and to have substance. What really brought his together for me was the performance by Wil Wheaton and Katherine McNamara. I've heard a number of audiobooks narrated by Wil Wheaton (Ready Player One, Ready Player Two, The Martian, Lock In to name a few) and he is always amazing at bringing characters and story to life with high energy and emotion. Katherine McNamara was just as amazing and holds her own on bringing the right amount of energy and emotion to breath life to this very cool story.

I look forward to reading more from this author. I recently downloaded The Roach with my Kindle Unlimited subscription and look forward to reading it. I know there are other books from this author that are more popular but I want to work my way up to those. I know I will not be disappointed. I highly recommend this audiobook. It was such a fun, entertaining and thrilling story.

I want to thank Rhett C. Bruno, Wil Wheaton, Katherine McNamara, Podium Audio and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

The more I think about this book, the more I like it. Vicarious is a sci-fi/fantasy/dystopian version of The Truman Show. It's quality writing, vibrant characters, excellent and concise world building, and a great ending all delivered by two PERFECT narrators. Wil Wheaton is a delight to listen to and perfectly matched for this character and story. And likewise, Katherine McNamara has a beautiful voice that easily managed the emotions of Mission, the main female character.

It's such a genre bending story that even knowing though the plot isn't a new idea in a sense, the story is twisty and unpredictable. All the details that make up the action and relationships are full and brilliant. Especially having since read some clunky books, the memory of this one and it's gorgeous style is refreshing. Really, I mean it, the more I think about this book, the more I like it.

Stories and writing like this are so inspiring. I was so transported into Bruno's strange, gritty world. Thank you NetGalley and Podium Audio for a copy of this audiobook for my honest review!

Vicarious was a very interesting read, the audiobook was read by Wil Wheaton and Katherine McNamara (are they the sole purpose why I wanted to read this book? I won't tell!). And I think they are a very dynamic duo and did a great job on this work! High Earth is a futuristic, dystopian world, where virtual reality and tv shows are a huge thing. And Asher, our protagonist #1, is a director of Ignis: Life, one of the most famous shows, where Mission, our protagonist #2 lives, without knowing that her entire life is broadcasted to High Earth and only serves for their entertainment. Everybody is obsessed with her and so is Asher. And when he realises that her life is in danger, he tries everything to save her and pays a high toll for it himself.

This whole story felt like a The 100 meets Ready Player One world-setting and it was fascinating from the very beginning. I can't say that I'm a big fan of the ending, it's not the usual happy ending that one would expect, but then again this is a dystopian science-fiction novel, so what did I think might happen? I'm pretty sure, that this book will make a lot of readers re-think a lot of passages and anecdotes that the story tells, so it's definitely worth a read. But it definitely isn't one of my favourite sci-fi books either.

Then again, I might just need to re-listen to the audiobook to fully get the entire story again. At times, it felt hard for me to concentrate and listen, because I just can't sit still and listen to an audiobook and do nothing else. So I'm bound to miss some important parts.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars, here rounded up.

Imagine you’re watching an episode of Chopped. The mystery ingredients are Ready Player One, The Truman Show, Children of Men, The hand maids tale, and Michael Bay’s portrayal of women. One contestant decides to make a smoothie, and they serve it on a plate, then try to save it with a clever description like “It’s a deconstructed rustic soup”. That was my experience listening to the vicarious audiobook (Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy).

What was good: The concept. Truman Show meets Ready player one!? Yes please!

Also, the narrators, both Wil Wheaton and Katie McNamara did a nice job adding texture to this story, but they couldn’t save it.

What was bad: Pretty much everything else. I struggled with this one right from the beginning. I saw a lot of reviews commending the world building but while the elements of the world seemed cool enough, I felt like I was getting a tour on Zillow, not living within the world, and I think there were two reasons why.

1. Definitely too much tell, not enough show
2. I realize this is nitpicky (and I swear I’ve never disliked a book for this before) but the dialogue tags were a mess. Someone giving me writing advice once said that when a writer uses said as a dialogue tag it’s invisible. I didn’t realize how right they were until now.

Because of those 2 things, I felt at distance with the world, but that wasn’t the worst part of the book. The worst thing was the characterization and uses of women. The female lead, Mission, isn’t really developed and it feels a lot like those terrible romantic comedies where some dreamboat guy is like “you were beautiful and you didn’t even know it”. Asher, the main character falls in love with her instantly, then fetishizes her for 15 years even working to get to a position where he can kind of control her life (even if his influence is minimal). It’s all super creepy and in EXTREMELY poor taste. I walked away wanting to take a shower.

The last major problem is Asher. He wasn’t likable, and his actions/motivations seemed forced. Add in the whole creepy stalker vibe and I was glad to be done with him when I finished the book.

Would have given it a 1 star but thought the narrators deserved credit for their solid work.

In exchange for an honest review, NetGalley provided this audiobook ARC. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It reminded me of a sophisticated/technological version of The Truman Show/The Matrix. Set in the future, the story is told from both Asher and Mission viewpoints. Asher is the Chief Director of the most popular Virtual Reality TV show called Ignis: Live. The show streams constantly the lives of the people who live on a colony spaceship because there is not enough inhabitable space left on earth due to global warming.

Mission is one of the residents on the ship and doesn’t know that their lives on the asteroid turned ship orbiting Earth going to Tau Ceti are being watched by those on High Earth. The shipmates are strictly watchful about reproduction and those violating this mandate are severely punished. Their daily struggles are nothing but entertainment until Asher gets too involved.

I look forward to reading more from Rhett C. Bruno.

In the mostly drowned Earth of the future, the privileged live in High Earth spending their lives watching reality shows. Others are relegated to the Outskirts where they scramble to survive in a lawless world, scrounging for enough data to watch those reality shows. Orbiting Earth is an asteroid outfitted as a starship that is the subject of the most popular reality show, Ignis Live.

Billed as The Truman Show meets Ready Player One, it's not hard to see all the other influences -- Big Brother (although Ignis doesn't know it's being watched); The Expanse (the starship being an Ark meant to take refugees to a distant star system); The Handmaid's Tale (the girls of Ignis chosen to be mothers, whether they want it or not); The Water Knife (a mostly drowned Earth after a climate apocalypse with haves living the high life and dregs scratching out a miserable existence); The Hunger Games (a dystopia where haves live in a beautiful high mountain city until a have-not girl arrives to upset their world).

To go back to the Ready Player One comparison, yes, we have a similar world of haves and have-nots divided between slums and luxurious cities, spending their meaningless lives distracted by virtual worlds. But Vicarious relies on a more passive form of voyeurism rather than the active participation that makes RPO so much fun.

But the real comparison to RPO, given that NetGalley was kind enough to provide an ARC of the audio edition, is the narration of Wil Wheaton. The former Star Trek TNG kid star is without question the best audio narrator, bar none. I won't even qualify that by narrowing it down to science fiction or humor, or calling him "one of", or hedging with "arguably" -- he is the only narrator I'd pay for without knowing anything else about an audiobook. I first heard him when I listened to RPO (a book I already read in print) and have since listened to him a LOT.

Problem is, he is co-narrating Vicarious with Kat McNamara, who comes to this with her own science fiction and audio narration bona fides. Unfortunately, her characterization of Mission, the Ignis resident who is the star of the show, is so understated and monotonous that I kept hoping the story would be more about Wil's character, the High Earth director of Ignis Live who falls in love from a distance with his star.

I don't blame Kat for this -- Wil is also underplaying his role, so clearly they were directed to do so. But Wil makes it work, even turning it into a positive by not being his usual uber-snarky self. Kat just seems disinterested -- which becomes even more problematic when she overacts her understated tone (sounds impossible but it's true). Luckily, after a Mission-critical start, we do get mostly Wil. Even more luckily, when the latter sections return to Mission, Kat leaves the ennui behind and delivers good narration. After a dreary start, things pick up the rest of the way.

Author Rhett C. Bruno's world building, plotting, and character development are all solid. Despite the many influences, he makes this his own world and delivers a good story, well balanced among its elements. Like the narration, it does take some getting used to -- it's not clear at the start what role digital entertainment plays in this dystopia. Bruno obviously wanted to make Ignis look like a real Ark before revealing that it is a highly controlled reality TV setting (not a spoiler, this is revealed in the first hour). But the story takes off once we understand that Ignis is a reality show.

In an Audible review, I'd be asked to rate the Story, Performance, and Overall. In this case, I'd give each four stars -- deduct one star from Performance because of Kat's overly understated narration at the start, deduct one star from Story for the delay in introducing the critical feature of this dystopian world, the TV show, and thus four stars overall. Which is my rating for GoodReads and NetGalley, which only allow for an overall rating.

This audiobook was great! The narration was top notch. Loved the world building and the story throughout as well as the message for us, honestly. not as huge a fan of the ending but the book definitely keep me engaged throughout.
thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you, NetGalley and Podium Audio, for the Advanced Audio Review Copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I am especially grateful that I got the audio version of this book, because it was narrated by Wil Wheaton and Katherine McNamara.

Plus, I’m always up for a bit of science fiction. And this book sounded like one of those easy, non-science heavy, endlessly entertaining stories that still manage to make you think about one or two important things and maybe even question your own stand on the matter.

This is a utopia/dystopia or something (it was described as perfect for fans of 'The Truman Show'). And I, like most bookworms around the world, got sick of those stories after reading so many of them a few years ago. I've been avoiding them all this time. But it's been so long since I read the last one - I kind of started to miss them.

Because of all of this, I was really looking forward to listen to Vicarious and get lost for a day or two in a world, sometime in a distant future, where virtual seems more real than actual life.

Vicarious had a really solid, entertaining premise. The setting, though not quite my thing, was done pretty well. The two main characters were mostly easy to understand and like. However, there were a few instances where their motives and decisions didn’t make much sense.

The story started out great, then got a bit lost and slowed down quite a bit, before speeding up again towards the end. I was struggling to push through the slow part, often loosing focus and going back to re-listen several bits. But the book managed to hold my attention for the most part.

There were many weird stuff going on. Mostly good weird, but it made me cringe a few times. And then, some things I just didn’t like. For example, there were several massive issues being featured in this book. The problem was – the story only brushed on them, failing to make a real impact. I wish they were left out altogether.

Also, this story was told from two points of view. But, one of them is in the first person and the other is in the third person. That was a bit confusing and kept pulling me out of the story.

I did like the ending, though. But I’ll keep it spoiler free, so that’s all I’m going to say.

his would make such a fun movie. I thank Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book.
the narration was spot-on. (WTG again, Wil Wheaton!).
I found the story intriguing, with the back-and-forth between the male MC who is involved in directing a reality show where the characters think it's real, and the female MC who is on the show/ship, and has a very interesting life, starting out by being hidden in a space in the floor, since she is an illegal birth.
Bad things happen, good things happen, action and adventure. Very enjoyable.

This is like Ready Player One meets The Truman Show. It's an interesting idea and I enjoyed the story and main characters. In a future Earth where people are split into those living a rich, virtual life and those who are poor and outcast in the real world, a television show has been developed with characters who don't know they're on a show. Mission thinks she's on a spaceship bound for another world after Earth was destroyed. Everyone has a purpose to keep the ship running and the population from depleting. In reality, the ship is going nowhere and is outfitted with cameras to show every moment of their lives.

Having characters who don't know they're on a show is an interesting idea and I liked seeing how people like Asher watched and cared for them and eventually try to get them out. Asher also has a lot of character development as he realizes what life is like for outcasts and decides that it's not okay to play with people's lives.

I did think a few parts of this were a bit slow which is why this got four stars. Most of it was entertaining, it just lagged in the middle. The ending is pretty open and not as happy as I normally like. I want more answers and think a sequel is possible. I wouldn't mind seeing what happens with the characters on their new journeys and if Earth is changed for the better.

The narrators are great, I always enjoy Wil Wheaton!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. Thank you to Podium Audio and NetGalley for the copy.

Want a book that's Ready Player One and The Truman Show and The 100, all rolled in one? Get set for Vicarious!

Asher Reinhart is a resident of High Earth, a futuristic earth set a few hundred years into the future. Global warning has destroyed most of the planet and the leftover denizens reside in this hi-tech piece of land left above water. In their AI and VR filled easy-going lives, the main entertainment comes from virtual reality shows. And Asher is the chief director of the best shows out there, Ignis Live.

Mission is born in hiding because as per the strict rules of her land, she is an "illegal" child. With her intelligence and beauty, she soon rises up the ranks until she finds herself struggling between her heart and her duty. All she knows is that she must do her part to ensure the future of humans. Earth has been decimated and the citizens around her are the last survivors of humankind, all aboard the spaceship named Ignis, and travelling to a safer unknown destination. What she and the others don't know is that what's routine life and a daily struggle for survival for them on Ignis is nothing but VR entertainment for citizens of High Earth, who are getting their adrenaline rush vicariously through the "show".

The concept of the book is amazing. Though the world is set in a distant future with technology we can't even imagine, you find yourself mesmerized by the story. The utter callousness and selfishness of the High Earth citizens is akin to that of the ultra-rich people who live in their wealthy abodes without a shred of sympathy for the less-privileged. You can't help feeling for Mission and her fellow survivors on Ignis, and how their lives are being commercialised for entertainment while they themselves do whatever they can for survival. It's horrendous to think of humans behaving this way; then again, it's completely believable too.

As the book is written from two perspectives: those of Asher and Mission, the story keeps you mostly engaged. It is a quick-paced plot until about the 55% mark. Then it seems to lose its way a bit with a lot of unnecessary secondary offshoots. The final 20% gets the narrative back on track and takes it to an unexpected finale that will leave you yearning for more. There are some things left unexplained, so it might be that the author is planning for a sequel. But even if it's a standalone, the story ties up the more important threads of the tale and our imagination is enough to fill in the rest of the blanks the way we want.

The book would have done even better if the latter half had cut out on the fluff and kept the narrative as taut as in the first half. It was at least 50 pages longer than needed. Still, if for nothing else, it's worth a read for the sheer imagination of the author and the vast scope of the story. As a dystopian sci-fi book, it's scarily amazing. I’ll go with a 4.25 for this one. The haphazard middle is the main reason for the deduction in the rating, though a couple of minor plot points were slight irritants. This is my first Rhett C. Bruno work, and I have a feeling it won't be the last.

The audiobook is narrated by Will Wheaton and Katherine McNamara. Need I say anything else about the quality of the narration? They are supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! It's not just a narration, it's an outstanding performance. They make the 13 hours long audiobook go by in a whizz.

Thank you, NetGalley and Podium Audio, for the Advanced Audio Review Copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I don't think this book was bad, but it was derivative. Also creepy. The whole 'The Truman Show' vibe was disturbing enough, without throwing in the fact that the show was essentially voyeuristic towards the women involved. Also, I could feel no sympathy for Asher Reinhart, the Director of the show. Would he have done all the things he did if he wasn't in love with Mission? Why is he obsessed with Mission, in any case? It's like reading the film 'Passengers' where the guy ruins a woman's life because he wants to be with her. Just gross.

This book mostly lost me with the whole 'mother' and 'birth mother' pedestal that the ladies were put on. Why, in the 21st century, would you whittle down a person's worth to their reproductive organs and what can be done with them? What would happen if someone on this Ignis: Live program didn't want to be a mother? What would happen if someone was trans and wanted to have a child? I don't understand the point of creating science-fiction that remains regressive and perpetuates the same binary norms. There aren't any queer characters, barring one guy mentioning that he 'even' had relations with men because he was bored. Unbelievable how tired this book seemed.

The voice narrators were good. Katherine McNamara was a little too demure and Wil Wheaton narrated a little too fast at times. The editors needed to include some silences when Wheaton was changing characters.

I think this book has good world-building, but it's so derivative and regressive that I couldn't enjoy it.

I am still on my READING BAN, but still listening to audiobooks! So I can’t get through any of my physical or e-ARCs, but I was lucky enough to get Vicarious on audio on Netgalley and was excited to listen to it. It has Will Wheaton narrating with Katherine McNamara. The last thing I listened to that Will Wheaton narrated was the uber-popular Ready Player One. Although I enjoyed it, my reading tastes have evolved since then. I was interested to see what kind of stuff he has been narrating lately.

So in a nutshell and without spoiling the plot, it focuses on the characters Asher and Mission. Set in the distant future, Asher is the director of an extremely popular VR entertainment show called Ignis: Live. The show is a continuous stream of the lives of a colony on a space ship. Mission is one of the residents aboard, but she doesn’t realise her entire life is being played out for billions of people on earth to see in virtual reality. Mission doesn’t even realise there is an earth left!

I really enjoyed the two perspectives. The two totally different storylines and completely different PLOTS in this novel were really refreshing and engaging. I found it enthralling! The life of Asher on New Earth and his character development were exciting, and of course, the story of Mission aboard the Ignis was so completely different to Ashers, and even more compelling.

I don’t want to spoil anything by saying much more about the plot. But it has elements of The Truman Show and I couldn’t help but think of a short-lived tv show on Netflix I watched a few years ago called Ascension (actually really loved that show even though it had such a short run. It was really similar to the premise of this).

It delves into deeper themes especially class, equality and justice. As well as technology and addiction. It did remind me a bit of Ready Player One in that it had the emersion in technology. But it was very different – and in my opinion a lot more rich and enjoyable.

Overall, I really enjoyed the two narrators in the audio version. I can’t say anything negative about Will Wheatons performance, I found it extremely entertaining and he managed to create unique voices for each of his characters. MacNamara on the other hand – I found to be very monotone. Every character she narrated sounded the same and I enjoyed her parts a lot less. But then, after about halfway her narration improved quite a lot. However, she just didn’t have that knack for making her characters sound completely different. Maybe it is because I listen to a LOT of audiobooks and I am very fussy about narrators!

I also didn’t like the way the author used the word “whore”. He must have used that word 20 times in the book and it felt like he was just using it for the fun of it. I get that sometimes it was the right word. But when I swear like a trooper, and even I feel that the word was over-used... It was probably over-used.

I was also not too keen on the ending. HOWEVER, overall I really enjoyed it. I think that Vicarious is unique and I love the technology-rich setting in the world with all it’s morally grey people and circumstances. I think if you enjoy easy sci-fi with a good plot, you should enjoy this one!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the audiobook of Vicarious in exchange for my honest review.