Book description
Hidden in Sight by Julie E. Czerneda: A Masterclass in Shapeshifting Shenanigans
Let's be honest - when you've been inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, you're probably allowed to coast a little. But Julie E. Czerneda? She's apparently too busy actually writing good books to collect her laurels. Hidden in Sight, the third installment in her Web Shifters series, proves that even established authors can deliver fresh chaos without breaking a sweat.
Our protagonist Esen-alit-Quar - let's call her Esen, because typing that full name is exhausting - returns to Picco's Moon, the cosmic equivalent of your childhood hometown that you visit only to discover everything's been ruined by developers. Except instead of strip malls, someone's mining Ersh's Mountain, which is apparently shapeshifter real estate's most prestigious address. It's like finding out someone's fracking your grandmother's grave - technically legal, but spiritually catastrophic.
The real genius here is how Czerneda takes the familiar "everything falls apart" plot and makes it feel genuinely surprising. Esen and her human partner Paul have built themselves a cozy little life, complete with business ventures and friends who don't immediately try to dissect them. Then - plot twist! - their carefully constructed world implodes. Friends become enemies, safe spaces become war zones, and suddenly they're playing intergalactic whack-a-mole with unidentified foes.
What elevates this from standard space opera fare is Czerneda's biological background seeping through every page. These aren't just aliens - they're carefully considered evolutionary possibilities. The shapeshifting isn't magical hand-waving; it's presented with the same attention to ecological balance you'd expect in a nature documentary. Though admittedly, the nature documentary would be significantly less likely to feature betrayals by former allies.
The audiobook format serves the material well, particularly in distinguishing between Esen's various forms and voices. Let's be real - any narrator tackling this material deserves a medal for keeping straight whether we're dealing with the philosophical shapeshifter, the business-savvy human, or the dozen other forms Esen might take in a single conversation.
Czerneda's optimism shines through even when everything's going sideways, which might be the book's greatest strength or its most annoying feature, depending on your tolerance for hopeful endings in increasingly cynical times. Either way, she's crafted something that feels both familiar and fresh - no small feat in a genre that sometimes recycles plots like they're oxygen tanks on a dying spaceship.
Hidden in Sight succeeds because it remembers that good science fiction isn't about the spectacle - it's about what happens when your carefully ordered universe decides to have an existential crisis.
Girl Brownie
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Cool Iris
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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