The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.: A Novel
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The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.: A Novel Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Neal Stephenson (Author), Nicole Galland (Author), Laurence Bouvard (Narrator),
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 8,406 ratings
Editors' pick Best Science Fiction & Fantasy
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From best-selling author Neal Stephenson and critically acclaimed historical and contemporary commercial novelist Nicole Galland comes a captivating and complex near-future thriller combining history, science, magic, mystery, intrigue, and adventure that questions the very foundations of the modern world.

When Melisande Stokes, an expert in linguistics and languages, accidently meets military intelligence operator Tristan Lyons in a hallway at Harvard University, it is the beginning of a chain of events that will alter their lives and human history itself. The young man from a shadowy government entity approaches Mel, a low-level faculty member, with an incredible offer. The only condition: She must sign a nondisclosure agreement in return for the rather large sum of money.

Tristan needs Mel to translate some very old documents, which, if authentic, are earth-shattering. They prove that magic actually existed and was practiced for centuries. But the arrival of the scientific revolution and the Age of Enlightenment weakened its power and endangered its practitioners. Magic stopped working altogether in 1851, at the time of the Great Exhibition at London's Crystal Palace - the world's fair celebrating the rise of industrial technology and commerce. Something about the modern world "jams" the "frequencies" used by magic, and it's up to Tristan to find out why.

And so the Department of Diachronic Operations - D.O.D.O. - gets cracking on its real mission: to develop a device that can bring magic back and send Diachronic Operatives back in time to keep it alive...and meddle with a little history at the same time. But while Tristan and his expanding operation master the science and build the technology, they overlook the mercurial - and treacherous - nature of the human heart.

Written with the genius, complexity, and innovation that characterize all of Neal Stephenson's work and steeped with the down-to-earth warmth and humor of Nicole Galland's storytelling style, this exciting and vividly realized work of science fiction will make you believe in the impossible and take you to places - and times - beyond imagining.

Full cast of narrators includes Robert Fass, James Foster, Tavia Gilbert, Arthur Morey, David Stifel, Charlie Thurston, and Kate Udall.

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  1. Listening Length
    24 hours and 27 minutes
  2. Author
    Neal Stephenson, see all
  3. Narrator
    Laurence Bouvard, see all
  4. Audible release date
    June 13, 2017
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    HarperAudio
  7. ASIN
    B06Y5VDJPY
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 24 hours and 27 minutes
Author Neal Stephenson, Nicole Galland
Narrator Laurence Bouvard, Shelley Atkinson, Laural Merlington, Joe Barrett, Will Damron, Luke Daniels
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date June 13, 2017
Publisher HarperAudio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B06Y5VDJPY
Best Sellers Rank #12,748 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#54 in Time Travel Science Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)
#159 in Contemporary Fantasy
#160 in Time Travel Fiction

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
8,406 global ratings
Great book.
5 Stars
Great book.
Love the way Stephenson symbolizes the physics of multiple universes as strands on magical instruments carried by witches.
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Top reviews from the United States

Charles C. Edwards
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly entertaining yet thought provoking read
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2017
Verified Purchase
I was not dropped on my head as an infant (as far as my parents tell me), and my mother didn't smoke crack while I was in utero (as far as my parents tell me)... and I never smoked styrofoam rolled up in tin foil (as far as I can recall), and I therefore have absolutely no excuse for what I am about to come out of the closet and admit:
I am a natural born idiot (NaBI).
For so very many reasons, I am a living, breathing dunce with just barely enough knowledge and self-awareness to recognize the fact.
Case in point - I delayed a few seconds before pushing the 1-click purchase button on D.O.D.O. at Amazon.com for the simple reason it was co-authored by Nicole Galland.
I'm a dolt.
Of course I was going to read it... it has Neal Phreaking Stephenson's name on it!
So I pushed the button, remembering I had enjoyed the first three books of the Mongoliad which he also co-authored with 'others'. Little did I know or care who the 'others' were {shame on me for that; but remember - I'm an idiot and should not really be expected to think complex thoughts}.
This book does not disappoint in any way; it is is just as technical, mind-expanding, humorous and well written as every N.S. book is. Highly enjoyable and very entertaining. The acronyms alone were worth the price of the book. {DOOSH?! Ha!}. In fact, I could never tell who was writing what in the book, or that it was co-authored at all - which is as high a compliment for Nicole Galland that I might offer. I felt like I could tell what parts of the Mongoliad were written by N.S. based on presence or absence of humor / fascinating historical insights, etc.
Alas, and not to be redundantly redundant... I am an idiot.
Having just finished D.O.D.O. I looked up more by N.G. figuring 'if she was chosen by N.S. To co-author a book, and I couldn't tell who was writing what, that her own works must be great too'.
And, Yeah, she was one of the 'others' on the initial Mongoliad trilogy. And I skipped volumes 4 and 5 because N.S. wasn't a contributor... but now I learn v.5 was authored by N.G. under a pseudonym E.D.dB.
{sigh}
Sometimes I wonder if I am even alive; or just a moldy alpaca hand puppet at the bottom of some slobbering infants' toy box?
Another reason I know I'm stupid in the literal sense is that reading N.S. makes me realize how little I know, or even have the ability to think and dream, about the Nature of Things... like History, or Commerce, for two quick examples.
It's as if all my useful knowledge, deep thoughts and dreams have been piped in to my cranial vault by N.S.'s books; and without which information I'd never be able to chat at dinner parties.
Which I never attend anyway, because... who invites an idiot to their dinner party? Harlequins are decidedly non-PC; so no free finger foods or cocktails for me. Perhaps on another Strand there is no PCness? Or perhaps on another Strand I'm not a dolt?
Hey! My first autogenerated deep thoughts.
27 people found this helpful
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Rusty Dalferes
4.0 out of 5 stars Smart, funny, great plot -- everything you expect from Stephenson
Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2020
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This was as enjoyable a book as most of Stephenson's other books, and I recommend it for any fans of near-future sci-fi mixed with fantasy elements. Slight editing problems and a somewhat unsatisfying conclusion aside, this was a really fun and smart book to read.

The novel follows Melisande Stokes, a post-doc lecturer in a range of ancient and obscure languages, who literally bumps into Tristan Lyons, a plain-clothed enigmatic man with a military air about him. Tristan recruits Mel away from the less-than-lucrative world of academia into a shadowy government operation whose intentions, it is ultimately revealed only after some time, are to restore magic to the world (for the exclusive use of the US government/military) after magic had inexplicably disappeared from the world in 1851. Using a mixture of technology and research into historical documents from many ages of and places in the world, the two build an organization that has the ability to use a witch named Erzsebet (preternaturally preserved through slowed aging for nearly two centuries with a spell cast just before the magical curtain came down) to conduct magical operations in a controlled environment, most notably the ability to Send people backwards in time to before the magic ended. Using Sending missions to develop a network of historical witches and other contacts, the newly formed Department of Diachronic Operations (DODO) runs into various roadblocks and foes along the way, all the while dealing with the bureaucratic quagmire that naturally forms in large, especially governmental, organizations.

The plot was smart (including lots of technical descriptions of networks, history, military procedures, and even quantum physics), funny (in every possible way, most notably in the all-too-true descriptions of organizational doublespeak and bureaucratic nonsense that anyone in an office environment will know and hate), and engaging (containing lots of action, tension, twists, and even a little romance). It's written in the style of a series of found personal communications (diary (or "diachronicle") entries, intracompany memoranda, emails, handwritten letters, and even a hilarious "Lay of Walmart"), which allows for a pleasant change of narrative voice in each section. I do wish that the novel -- which spans more than 700 pages -- had concluded with a bit more of a resolution of all of the various plot threads, as it sort of stops on a cliffhanger, which makes me wonder if this is just volume 1 of a series a la Stephenson's Baroque Cycle. I can definitely see this continuing in later installments, so if it doesn't, the reader might be left slightly wanting at the end of this one. But the ride to get to that point was a good one, so I definitely recommend this book.

There were a few instances of editing mistakes that I wish had been caught (misspelled words, missing or misplaced punctuation, pronoun confusion, etc.) and that couldn't reasonably be ascribed to the "diary entry" narrative style, but in a novel that's as long as this, I was mostly impressed with the mechanics of the writing and editing.

I have previously read most of Stephenson's works, but this is my first time reading anything by co-author Nicole Galland, and I will definitely be seeking out her other novels. Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and hope that there might be a sequel to continue the magico-scientific time-travel shenanigans. Big recommendation to fans of magical near-future sci-fi, funny speculative fiction, and satires of organizational structures.
9 people found this helpful
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Dennis Miller
5.0 out of 5 stars D.o.d.o.
Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2023
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I know reviews are important...maybe not so much for a great like Neal Stephenson but still...if I read it and I liked it,where which I did I should write something...I have 12 books out myself and no one knows I'm alive.
There is a snarky and deep intelligence in most of me Stephenson work that I find seductive and fun...he often rides that middle ground between sci to and...something else, which what he and Me Galland have done, and done with flair, brilliance...and a knowing smirk.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Louise Lalande
5.0 out of 5 stars dodo
Reviewed in Canada on October 26, 2022
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Really fun read. You will be enthralled and won’t want to put it down! Loved it. Stephenson and Nicole created a masterpiece.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely incredible book, great story, fun characters!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 21, 2024
Verified Purchase
I used it for a long journey. And it made me hooked onto the concept of time, time lines. Its just such a cool concept put into a Sci-fi semi romantically structured story.

Incredible read!
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Eric B
5.0 out of 5 stars Nice story with an interesting narration
Reviewed in France on June 18, 2022
Verified Purchase
The authors really had much fun switching between different forms of storytelling, from first-person diary to administrative memos ! The writing is lively and the story has a new take to a sci-fi standard, since time travel is possible with the help of technology and magic, including a real witch !
You'll get stuck until the last page, wanting for more, and you'll order the second book ;-).
Enjoy !
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felina
5.0 out of 5 stars Physics, magic and time travel!
Reviewed in India on May 3, 2021
Verified Purchase
As usual, any book with Neal Stephensen as author, is a brilliant read. The combination of physics and magic is unusual but he and his co-author pull it off and that too intertwined with time travel, powerful women and a simmering romance.
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Juano
5.0 out of 5 stars Neal Stephenson es un genio de la ciencia ficción, otra vez
Reviewed in Spain on May 4, 2019
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Neal Stephenson, yo ya :)
Historia de ciencia ficción como solo él sabe, recomendable y muy "disfrutable"
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