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Thirteen Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Richard K. Morgan (Author), Simon Vance (Narrator), Tantor Audio (Publisher)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 2,067 ratings
See all formats and editions
Marsalis is one of a new breed...literally. Genetically engineered by the U.S. government to embody the naked aggression and primal survival skills that centuries of civilization have erased from humankind, Thirteens were intended to be the ultimate military fighting force. The project was scuttled, however, when a fearful public branded the supersoldiers dangerous mutants, dooming the Thirteens to forced exile on Earth's distant, desolate Mars colony. But Marsalis found a way to slip back and into a lucrative living as a bounty hunter and hit man before a police sting landed him in prison - a fate worse than Mars, and much more dangerous.

Luckily, his "enhanced" life also seems to be a charmed one. A new chance at freedom beckons, courtesy of the government. All Marsalis has to do is use his superior skills to bring in another fugitive. But this one is no common criminal. He's another Thirteen, one who's already shanghaied a space shuttle, butchered its crew, and left a trail of bodies in his wake on a bloody cross-country spree. And like his pursuer, he was bred to fight to the death. Still, there's no question Marsalis will take the job. Though it will draw him deep into violence, treachery, corruption, and painful confrontation with himself, anything is better than remaining a prisoner. The real question is: can he remain sane and alive long enough to succeed?

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  1. Listening Length
    22 hours and 29 minutes
  2. Author
    Richard K. Morgan
  3. Narrator
    Simon Vance
  4. Audible release date
    June 15, 2007
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Tantor Audio
  7. ASIN
    B000SAGZ1A
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 22 hours and 29 minutes
Author Richard K. Morgan
Narrator Simon Vance
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date June 15, 2007
Publisher Tantor Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B000SAGZ1A
Best Sellers Rank #187,758 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#324 in Genetic Engineering Science Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)
#2,175 in Military Science Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)
#2,690 in Genetic Engineering Science Fiction (Books)

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
2,067 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the writing style amazing, with good flow and dialogue. They also find the characters interesting and the story entertaining. Readers also describe the world building as great and the content as ultra violent. Opinions are mixed on the storyline, with some finding it brilliant and revealing, while others say it's overly complex and dull.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

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Writing styleCharactersStoryThemesViolent contentStorylineFuturistic settingsBook length
30 customers mention "Writing style"24 positive6 negative

Customers find the writing style amazing, well-described, and imaginative. They also say the book has a good flow and dialogue.

"...I read the 544 page well printed and well bound trade paperback published by Del Rey in 2008...." Read more

"...The novel is entertaining and the pacing is fast. Has just the right blend of sex, violence, and mystery that I like in a hard SF novel...." Read more

"...over and over again...however that said, at times, this was some of his best writing, bar none!..." Read more

"...of today's very best science fiction writers because he writes novels of clever ideas that are well-plotted and driven by compelling characters...." Read more

25 customers mention "Characters"19 positive6 negative

Customers find the characters interesting and human. They also say there are no heroes or villains.

"...they delivered great stories, interesting characters and served up valid and thought provoking social commentary...." Read more

"...certainly use more background development but definitely solid likable characters." Read more

"...of the neo-noir, weaving complex but tight plots and creating interestingly dark characters with well-hidden motives...." Read more

"...The characters barely had time to speak, they were so busy fighting, fleeing, or fornicating, and yet I had to force myself to slog through the..." Read more

19 customers mention "Story"19 positive0 negative

Customers find the story entertaining and fast paced. They also describe the book as a high octane thrill ride.

"...The novel is entertaining and the pacing is fast. Has just the right blend of sex, violence, and mystery that I like in a hard SF novel...." Read more

"...It is gritty, and dramatic, painful, but engaging...." Read more

"...Something about Carl Marsalis, the protagonist of Thirteen, is so compelling that I wish there were a trilogy devoted to him and his species...." Read more

"...This book is a high octane thrill ride, to steal the common move review phrase." Read more

11 customers mention "Themes"11 positive0 negative

Customers find the world building in the book great, interesting, and thought provoking. They also appreciate the sharp wit and keen understanding of human nature.

"...stories, interesting characters and served up valid and thought provoking social commentary...." Read more

"Oddly relevant to current times. This book remains a good social commentary that makes you think...." Read more

"...but morgan's world building was cool and the books were loaded with tons of neat concepts...." Read more

"...to not only tell an interesting tale, but also his mastery of revealing the human side of his characters and creating empathy with his readers...." Read more

10 customers mention "Violent content"7 positive3 negative

Customers find the violent content in the book incredible and ultra violent.

"...A fast paced thriller that has violence, sex, intrigue, and a really mean son-of-a-bitch protagonist...." Read more

"...It's dark, gritty, and brutal, with insights of society and mankind that ring all too true...." Read more

"...the case with previous books by this author, the plot involves lots of gratuitous violence - which is getting real old.. This is science fiction..." Read more

"...He is out there man. Cynical, incredible, and ULTRA VIOLENT!" Read more

54 customers mention "Storyline"35 positive19 negative

Customers are mixed about the storyline. Some find it brilliant, surprising, and crazy. Others say it's overly complex, dull, and long.

"...their individual characters, and their dialogues are often pointed, revealing, and thought-provoking...." Read more

"Beautiful work of SF action with deep philosophical questions to whip around in your head. Richard Morgan is brilliant. The man can write!..." Read more

"...My second impression was that the story was awfully dull for one that was filled with wall-to-wall sex and violence...." Read more

"...A fast paced thriller that has violence, sex, intrigue, and a really mean son-of-a-bitch protagonist...." Read more

7 customers mention "Futuristic settings"4 positive3 negative

Customers are mixed about the futuristic settings. Some mention great dystopian futures, while others say there is no fresh idea, new technology, or social concepts.

"Great book. Created an interesting take on the future. Hard to put down once the plot started moving. Not the easiest to read...." Read more

"...which is getting real old.. This is science fiction but there isn't a single fresh idea in this book...." Read more

"This is a highly credible, extremely well thought out dystopian vision of the future with vast technological progress used by a politically..." Read more

"...There is far less imagination in the 13 universe, the 13s themselves are horrifically dull killing machine, the 'racism' meme about how Marsalis has..." Read more

4 customers mention "Book length"0 positive4 negative

Customers find the book length to be a complete waste of pages. They also say the book is merely average.

"...This latest stand-alone, Thirteen, is merely average and because I hold Morgan in such high esteem, ultimately disappointing...." Read more

"...about how Marsalis has it all bad because he's black is both lazy and stupid...." Read more

"...Complete waste of pages and I found myself scanning ahead to get back to the point of the book...." Read more

"...Thirteen is crap. I could only get through a third of it before I wanted to ask for my money back and put it down, never to pick it up again...." Read more

Great Read -- little slow
5 out of 5 stars
Great Read -- little slow
Read this one and then realized Richard Morgan has written other Sci-Fi that I have loved.But, it is slow. It was depressing or my mood at the time.This one leaves itself open to another. Love to see how Carl does in the futureAll the best
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Top reviews from the United States

Andrew M. Klein
5.0 out of 5 stars Elaborate Exploration of Imagined Truly Separate Human Set
Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2021
Verified Purchase
I had to read this novel twice, missing much the first time around. It is complex and, in ways, quite subtle. Human weakness and strengths play out in what begins as a police procedural detective story and warps into an elaborate social/political tale against a background or what might be called "regular" human types and the genetically bred "13" variants and their different motivations and ways of dealing with power -- being subject to others exerting it and, in the case of the 13s, exerting their own and barely coping with power wielded by society through others -- in a dystopian, foreseeably near-future. The differences between regular humans and13s and relationships between them, their individual characters, and their dialogues are often pointed, revealing, and thought-provoking. The regular humans and the 13s have and cause trouble because of differences in their natures -- their wiring, as it were. Can they both ever hope to survive together? I wish the author had chosen to continue his primary 13 protagonist and a couple of the interesting, attractive side characters left sketchy here in another follow-on novel. To date he has not.

Thin Air is not it.
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Michael Lynn McGuire
4.0 out of 5 stars A standalone science fiction book, no sequel or prequel that I know of
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2021
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A standalone science fiction book, no sequel or prequel that I know of. I read the 544 page well printed and well bound trade paperback published by Del Rey in 2008. The eight point font was a little small for me but a larger font would have made the book huge, well over it's current one pound weight on Earth.

The Solar System of 2195 is a radically different place from today. There are over a million people living on Mars in several colonies. There are regular spaceships traveling between Mars and Earth, mostly in free fall with the humans in cryogenic sleep due to the average seven month journey each way. The USA has split into three countries: New England, The Rim States, and Jesusland.

You have to be tough to live on Mars. The surface air is almost non-existent and poisonous. The people are tough, so the lawmen have to be tougher. So, one of the governments on Mars created a genetically enhanced man, the thirteens, to be the lawmen. The Earthers immediately outlawed the "mutants" from coming back to Earth. So, of course, they snuck back to Earth.

Carl Marsalis is a thirteen on Earth. He is a bounty hunter for the COLIN (United Nations COLonial INitiative Authority). He hunts rogue thirteens. And the UNGLA (United Nations Genetic Legislation Authority) says that all people have rights to only share their genes when they want to so there is no testing, officially.

The newest thirteen to sneak to Earth is a doozy. Instead of docking the spaceship at the space station and coming down the nanostalk, he crashed the spaceship in an ocean. Plus, there is no food on the spaceships, only cryogenically sleeping humans. And the newest thirteen was awake for the entire trip.
2 people found this helpful
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Waverley
5.0 out of 5 stars Good
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2024
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Good
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James B.
4.0 out of 5 stars Eventually, the ideas gelled.
Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2007
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My first impression was that the story was almost a complete rip-off (not merely an homage) of Blade Runner/Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. My second impression was that the story was awfully dull for one that was filled with wall-to-wall sex and violence. The characters barely had time to speak, they were so busy fighting, fleeing, or fornicating, and yet I had to force myself to slog through the first hundred pages or so. I still don't know how the author managed to make sex and violence so boring.

It was only when I started to get a grasp on the interesting underlying concepts, which were either original or just new to me, that the sex and violence started to become compelling and meaningful. When I began to sort out who was dying and why they were dying, then the action propelled the story along. The author's comentary on evolution, and on how we tamper with it one way or the other, became a framework to hang the story on, and the action started to have a purpose. After all, our current state of evolution is built on an infinite progression of sex and death. Marsalis eventually becomes a memorable character, and I'm glad I struggled through the first hundred pages while the story came together.
2 people found this helpful
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Marwan Elnakeeb
5.0 out of 5 stars Effin’ Brilliant
Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2023
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Beautiful work of SF action with deep philosophical questions to whip around in your head. Richard Morgan is brilliant. The man can write! The story sucks you in from the first page and steals you inside a world that’s been meticulously created in the author’s mind.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Bob
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in Canada on September 8, 2019
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Great read, loved it
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Perceptive Reader
1.0 out of 5 stars Had A Great Fall!
Reviewed in India on February 25, 2019
Verified Purchase
Dull day followed by thunder-shaken night followed by another dull day. Time available with me had seemed to be customised for a 'blistering new thriller', as publicised by the cover of this hefty tome. 'Altered Carbon' had been a truly mind-altering read. Hence, I had gleefully accepted the challenge, and had taken the plunge.
What a crushing disappointment it was!
This book is nothing like the Takeshi Kovacs saga. It's a political, thematically disjointed and logically incoherent piece long on dialogues, and low on action. Whatever action we get to see is also of rather sloppy variety, raising serious questions about professional competence of the so-called enhanced male. The women characters are astoundingly two-dimensional. And the antagonist!
If you are in the mood for a proper noir-thriller set in a futuristic dystopian milieu, there are many BETTER books, starting with 'Altered Carbon'.
This book is only for politically motivated people looking for a book that fits their vision of social Darwinism. Hence, not recommended.
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Expat
5.0 out of 5 stars Everything he writes is well and truly worth reading. ...
Reviewed in Australia on October 6, 2017
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Everything he writes is well and truly worth reading. Just do it. If you don't know his other works, get onto them.
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Modus
5.0 out of 5 stars Ein Meisterwerk
Reviewed in Germany on June 17, 2013
Verified Purchase
Nach mehreren Anläufen habe ich jetzt endlich etwas Zeit und Muße gehabt, BLACK MAN von Richard Morgan zu lesen, einen weiteren SciFi-Einzeltitel, der in der US-Ausgabe als THIRTEEN erschienen ist, und in der deutschen Übersetzung als SCORPION.

Dieses Buch ist ein wuchtiger Klopper - die 500 Seiten der US-Ausgabe sind extrem klein und eng gedruckt, in der deutschen Übersetzung hat es über 800 Seiten. Von allen Büchern Morgans ist es meiner Meinung nach das am anspruchsvollsten zu lesende - weil der Start langsam, unglaublich komplex und dadurch mitunter verwirrend ist. Zugleich ist es aber auch eines der tiefschürfensten, emotionalsten und aufregendsten Bücher, die ich von ihm (und eigentlich auch überhaupt aus der SciFi) kenne.
Wie gesagt, auf den ersten ca. 150 Seiten ist Durchhaltevermögen angesagt, doch ich kann jeden nur ermuntern, weiterzulesen - man wird für die anfängliche Geduld tausendfach belohnt.

Wer Morgans Takeshi Kovacs Trilogie kennt (Das Unsterblichkeitsprogramm / Altered Carbon und Folgebände), wird die Welt in SCORPION zumindest ansatzweise vertraut finden: Der Roman spielt im späten zwanzigsten Jahrhundert. Seit ein paar Jahrzehnten versucht man unter größten Anstrengungen und unter Führung von Konzernen den Mars zu kolonialisieren, die Reise zwischen den Planeten ist allerdings lang und kompliziert und die Lebensbedingungen schwierig, ein Drei- oder Fünfjahresvertrag wird von den wenigsten verlängert.
Die USA sind entlang religiöser Trennlinien in eine spöttisch als 'Jesusland' bezeichnete 'Republik' (rassistisch, strengchristlich-religiös, fortschrittsfeindlich, tendenziell verarmend) zerbrochen und die fortschrittlichen 'RimStates', die ehemaligen Küstenstaaten.
Der Protagonist, Carl Marsalis, ist nicht nur schwarz, sondern auch ein sog. Variant Thirteen, eine genetisch veränderte Laborzüchtung. In mittlerweile umstrittenen Experimenten wurden vor Jahrzehnten alle möglichen 'Varianten' kreiert, jede auf ihre Weise von Problemen behaftet. Die Thirteens sind Super-Alpha-Männchen, physisch extrem widerstandsfähig, hochintelligent und kaum sozialkompatibel - man versuchte Supersoldaten zu erschaffen, doch scheiterte, weil sich Thirteens nicht unterordnen. Jahre später führten hysterische Reaktionen in der Öffentlichkeit zur Einstellung aller Thirteen-Programme; die Thirteens wurden entweder auf den Mars geschickt, oder in Internierungslager.
Carl kehrte nach Jahrzehnten legal vom Mars zurück und jagt nun als lizensierter Kopfgeldjäger für eine überstaatliche Organisation andere Thirteens. Nach einer schiefgelaufenen Operation, die ihn hinter Gitter bringt, bietet ihm der COLIN-Konzern, zuständig für die Mars-Transfers, einen Deal an: Er soll einen extrem gefährlichen Thirteen aufspüren, der über ein COLIN-Transportschiff illegal auf die Erde zurückgelangte und seither eine Spur Leichen hinterlässt. Dabei arbeitet er mit der Ex-Polistin Sevgi zusammen, die ihre eigenen Geister zu bekämpfen hat. Bald verbindet sie mehr als nur der Job. Und die Jagd auf den Flüchtling entpuppt sich als die Spitze eines gigantischen Eisbergs aus alten Verschwörungen, Lügen, Intrigen und Fehlinformationen, die zuletzt zu einer vollkommen unerwarteten und äußerst fesselnden Auflösung kulminieren.

Ich weiß gar nicht, wo ich anfangen soll.
Vielleicht damit, dass dieses Buch sich durch eine außergewöhnliche emotionale Bandbreite auszeichnet. Es verbindet das Mitfiebern bei vertrackter Ermittlungsarbeit mit den Adrenalinstößen phantastisch choreografierter Action und einer so emotionalen Tiefe, dass ich - ich gesteh's - an einer gewissen Szene erst nach einer Pause weiterlesen konnte, weil ich mir die Tränen aus den Augen wischen musste. So was passiert mir extrem selten bei Büchern, und erst recht nicht bei SciFi-Action-Krachern mit einer unterschwelligen politischen Botschaft.
Der Plot selbst ist in mehrerer Hinsicht großartig: wie der Autor es schafft, einen wieder und wieder auf die falsche Spur zu führen, in Verwicklungen, die nicht das sind, was sie scheinen, aber irgendwie doch mit der Lösung zu tun haben - das ist pure Meisterschaft und einfach nur großes Unterhaltungskino. Wie dieser Plot nahtlos-glaubwürdig in Morgans Weltentwurf eingebettet ist, und wie dieser Weltentwurf auf schmerzhafte Weise dem Leser die (hässlichen) Realitäten des Hier und Jetzt vor Augen hält, das ist atemberaubend. Vor allem ist es ein Plädoyer gegen Heuchelei, und in zweiter Instanz gegen Rassismus, gleich welcher Art.
Vor allem aber lebt dieses Buch - wie fast alle Bücher Morgans - durch seine lebendigen und vielschichtigen Charaktere, die nicht die Intelligenz des Lesers beleidigen, sondern die über Ecken und Kanten verfügen, die wandlungsfähig sind und sich dennoch glaubwürdig im Rahmen ihrer charakterlichen Prägung bewegen. Carl Masalis ist mit Sicherheit kein weißer Ritter, er ist oft nicht einmal sympathisch, aber dafür ungeheuer faszinierend - und das gilt auch für die meisten anderen Figuren im Buch.

Klare Leseempfehlung!
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K. Charlton
5.0 out of 5 stars You can't please all the people... except maybe me.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 29, 2008
Verified Purchase
As an avid fan of Altered Carbon and Mr Kovacs I was looking forward to getting hold of The Black man/Thirteen but was concerned and surprised at the amount of negative or non-plussed comments on Amazon.
However now I have read the book I am pleased to say it is well worth a read.
Comparisons with Altered Carbon (which I rate as one of my favourite books) are largely pointless, as brilliant as it was Altered Carbon for me was a perfect mix of two books Gibsons Neuromancer and Clarkes Caves of Steel ie:hard cyberpunk and pure Sci Fi/detective novel and possibly an outstanding one off.
Thirteen although perhaps a little less in your face and with not as much shock value is a more realistic story with some real good plot twists. The impression of subdued sometimes emotionless narrative gave me great empathy with the shark like Marselis and the slight change of style during various different scenes especially the death of a character really sucked me in. The cynical all too realistic background of altruistic international organisations, big business, politics and human greed being a realistic future or indeed a mirror of the present.
I think Morgan is really starting to get his own style now although I couldn't help suddenly remembering Besters The Demolished Man shortly after finishing!
I'm not going to spoil the plot or go through the whole book as enough people have done that already I will just say buy this book if you like Sci fi or even thrillers as I read nearly 100 books a year and this rates as one of my favourites.
The only downsides being the poor intro on the back of the book and the God-awful cover on the UK version.
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