I really enjoyed this book, burning through it in just a few days. Titan straddles genres blending realistic science fiction and a political thriller in a very believable way. The characters are all exceptionally human–real believable people struggling to make it a world facing extreme versions of themes that are very recognizable in the real world today. There are no true heroes or villains here, just believable characters chasing what they believe is the best course of action. Even though the hero/main character is a tech billionaire, he comes off as a real person chasing a dream, and even though the forces working against him are portrayed as clearly being in the wrong, often chasing political motivations, they come off just as real and believable. The narration is excellent and engaging, and the narrator does a solid job of bringing the personalities of many different characters to life. My only criticism of this book (giving the story itself 4 instead of 5 stars) is some parts of the story got a little “teach-y”. The character Jian who appears in the second half of the book explains a lot the economic details in explanations that could have been illustrated through action or circumstance in other ways or parts of the story. The book though engaging is a 13 hour set-up for what comes next, It doesn’t exactly end with a cliffhanger leaving the listener dying to know what happens next, but rather sets the stage for Act II of this saga by putting all the pieces in place. I hope Robert Kroese can keep it up with the next book and possible beyond. I look forward to learning what happens next.