The Actual Star cover art

The Actual Star

A Novel

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The Actual Star

By: Monica Byrne
Narrated by: Carolina Hoyos, Kareem Ferguson, Gisela Chipe
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About this listen

David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas meets Octavia Butler's Earthseed series, as acclaimed author Monica Byrne (The Girl in the Road) spins a brilliant multigenerational saga spanning two thousand years, from the collapse of the ancient Maya to a far-future utopia on the brink of civil war.

The Actual Star takes listeners on a journey over thousands of years and six continents—collapsing three separate timelines into one cave in the Belizean jungle.

An epic saga of three reincarnated souls, this novel demonstrates the entanglements of tradition and progress, sister and stranger, love and hate. The book jumps forward and backward in time among a pair of twins who ruled a Maya kingdom, a young American on a trip of self-discovery, and two dangerous charismatics in a conflict that will determine the fate of the few humans left on Earth after massive climate change.

In each era, age-old questions about existence and belonging and identity converge deep underground. Because only in complete darkness can one truly see the stars.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Monica Byrne (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers
Fiction Metaphysical & Visionary Science Fiction

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Not my thing

Look, it’s a lot of book with not a lot of payoff in my opinion. One of the narrators is really jarring which gets in the way of the story. But that aside, I just couldn’t find a reason to care about any of the people in the story.

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