Book description
Fluency by Jennifer Foehner Wells: A Linguist's Space Odyssey
Let's be honest - when you hear "alien encounter story," you probably think you've heard every possible variation. Dinosaurs in spaceships, sure. Teenagers saving the galaxy, absolutely. But a linguist getting drafted to chat with cosmic entities? Now that's refreshingly weird.
Dr. Jane Holloway's day job involves documenting languages that nobody speaks anymore, which is about as exciting as watching paint dry in slow motion. Then NASA shows up and ruins her comfortable academic existence by inviting her to decode alien chatter. Because obviously, when you find a mysterious spaceship hanging out in the asteroid belt, the first thing you need is someone who can conjugate verbs in extinct tongues.
Turns out the alien ship has been playing dead for decades while NASA figured out how to reach it. Oops. But Jane's real shocker comes when the ship starts talking directly into her brain with what can only be described as the universe's most awkward welcome message: "You are home." Try explaining that to your boss.
What follows is part linguistic puzzle, part survival thriller, and part "please don't kill us, we come in peace" diplomacy. Jane finds herself caught between her colleagues' growing paranoia and an alien presence that seems genuinely confused about why everyone's so jumpy. It's like being the translator at a really tense family reunion, except the family is from another planet and keeps making your head hurt.
Wells, who apparently spent her childhood in rural Illinois dreaming of ray guns and rocket ships, delivers exactly the kind of thoughtful science fiction that makes you glad audiobooks exist. This isn't your typical shoot-first-ask-questions-later space adventure. It's more like shoot-questions-first-ask-later-oh-wait-we're-all-going-to-die. But in a good way.
The real magic happens when Jane realizes that understanding alien communication might be the difference between humanity's survival and becoming space junk. Who knew that all those years of studying dead languages would prepare her for talking to the undead... I mean, the alien... I mean, whatever this thing is.
Perfect for listeners who enjoy their science fiction with a side of linguistic analysis and their alien encounters with a healthy dose of existential dread.
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Playing a wide variety of audio formats
Works on all devices with iOS 13 and newer
Huge amount of features for a small price
Frequent updates to add new features and improve existing ones
Advanced playback controls
Live sound processing
Changing the timbre of the reader's voice and noise reduction
Translated into more than 20 languages
If you love listening to fiction audiobooks, ListenBook has features to make the process easier.
Edit book data: title, author, cover
Use equalizer to make the sound comfortable for you
Adjust the playback speed
Enjoy dark and light app themes
Supported formats: MP3, M4B, AWB, FLAC, OGG audio files and many more (must be DRM free)
Auto-Bookmarks make it easy to find your place
AirPlay support allows redirection of audio output.
VoiceOver support
Dark mode for night owls
Convenient bookmarking system helps you mark the most important places.
Unlimited bookmarks for each audiobook
Put your own cover on the wager
Share your audiobook with friends
Lock-screen control
Customise app with extensive options
Sleep timer with shake to reset, set custom notification sounds, and a few unique options
Auto rewind depending on paused time, customize rewind times to your liking
Removing background noise from recordings made in classrooms and meetings
Changing the timbre of the reader's voice for a better listening experience