My original Rift audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.
The story starts 200 years after an event known as the Fall. Two nations foresaw the danger and migrated to the Moon. Years later, the next generation decided to come back to Earth and protect it from any other environmental disaster, using the few ‘English’ left to build their empire, creating new history and deleting the old one from the books and the memories of the survivors. The saying that ‘History is written by the victors’ cannot be more true than here. When reaching the age of eighteen, the English are ‘enlisted’ in one of the several jobs where they should serve for the next seven years and maybe gain the status of citizen. Many of them, the less lucky ones, will go to the Corps, where they will be enslaved and most probably will not survive the seven years. Sue and Dave are two of this enlisted people, but to two different services. Each one on their part of the Covenant will discover that the Moon people have told them lies, but they will need to find the depth of them, and if it is even possible to discover the truth and act upon it.
The first thing that caught my eye was the word ‘Rift’ in the title of the book. I have a soft spot for the mentioned word in a science-fiction context. And I love dystopian novels, it is something I cannot resist. They usually present a society which, in principle, does not make a lot of sense, and we need to discover, along with the main characters, the truth behind it all. It is like solving a mystery in a way, in which the pieces finally fall into place. And The Rift Saga is one of these stories. It caught my attention from the start, with well developed characters with real motivations in an upside down world. We slowly discover parts of the truth, but at the end of book one there is a twist that gives a lot more depth to it, allowing for more development in books two and three, and opens the possibility to other books.
Something that I would have liked when listening to the story were maps. I ignore if they are included in the eBook or paper editions, but I think it would have been a nice addition. I would just include one of the Covenant for the first book and a broader one for books two and three.
Michael Goldstrom did a superb job with the narration of this book, not only transmitting emotions but also giving distinctive voices and accents to the characters, and they were quite some. I liked that René’s accent was very very subtle, contrary to the other French’s. I really enjoyed the narration and the characters portraits by Goldstrom, and I think it was an added value to the book.
There is another series related to this one, ‘Exodus’, which I would love to listen too. I think Christensen has created a very interesting world, and his books are a must listen for any dystopian fan.
My name is Elena. Since I was a little child I loved science fiction and fantasy, and I can’t resist a good novel. In 2015, while wait I started to listen to audiobooks and I discovered the pleasure in being able to read while doing my daily tasks, so there’s always an audiobook playing on my phone. If you see me with my Bluetooth headphones on, please be gentle, I get easily startled.
I live with my boyfriend, which I met during my six-year stay in Belgium, four cockatiels, eight lovebirds, and a hamster in Madrid, Spain; and I like to spend my free time knitting and sewing while listening to audiobooks.
