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METAtropolis

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METAtropolis

By: Jay Lake, Tobias Buckell, Elizabeth Bear, John Scalzi, Karl Schroeder
Narrated by: Michael Hogan, Scott Brick, Kandyse McClure, Alessandro Juliani, Stefan Rudnicki, John Scalzi
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About this listen

Welcome to a world where big cities are dying, dead - or transformed into technological megastructures. Where once-thriving suburbs are now treacherous Wilds. Where those who live for technology battle those who would die rather than embrace it. It is a world of zero-footprint cities, virtual nations, and armed camps of eco-survivalists.

Welcome to the dawn of uncivilization.

METAtropolis is an intelligent and stunning creation of five of today's cutting-edge science-fiction writers: 2008 Hugo Award winners John Scalzi and Elizabeth Bear; Campbell Award winner Jay Lake; plus fan favorites Tobias Buckell and Karl Schroeder. Together they set the ground rules and developed the parameters of this "shared universe", then wrote five original novellas - all linked, but each a separate tale.

Bringing this audiobook to life is a dream team of performers: Battlestar Galactica's Michael Hogan ("Saul Tigh"); Alessandro Juliani ("Felix Gaeta"); and Kandyse McClure ("Anastasia 'Dee' Dualla"); plus legendary audiobook narrators Scott Brick (Dune) and Stefan Rudnicki (Ender's Game).

John Scalzi, who served as Project Editor, introduces each story, offering insight into how the METAtropolis team created this unique project exclusively for digital audio.

©2008 Joseph E. Lake, Jr., Tobias S. Buckell, Elizabeth Bear, John Scalzi, Karl Schroeder (P)2008 Audible, Inc. Anthologies Anthologies & Short Stories Science Fiction Science Fiction Anthology

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Critic reviews

  • 2009 Hugo Award nominee, Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
  • 2009 Audie Award nominee, Original Work

“Each story shines on its own; as a group they reinforce one another, building a multifaceted view of a realistic and hopeful urban future.” (Publishers Weekly)
“Scalzi and his contributors/collaborators have created a fascinating shared urban future that each of them evokes with his or her particular strengths.... This stellar collection is a fascinating example of shared world-building.” (Booklist)
"This impressive group of writers imagines what happens when the world moves beyond cities as a locus of human civilization. The range of narrators...brings a unique narrative style to the production. Of the five narrators, all well chosen for the stories, Allessandro Juliani proves to be the best with his rendering of Scalzi's piece." (AudioFile)
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It's an anthology series so to call it a mixed bag of quality is not surprising. I do think the first story was a poor choice to start off as it's introducing the concepts of the shared world and I think it was the worst of the five. the second, fourth and fifth were all engaging and interesting. presenting different elements of the world concepts in different manners and genres. The third story did not really introduce anything different and to be honest almost nothing happened other than the protagonist being shown a commune, there were so few stakes or interesting ideas as to make it forgettable though nicely written.

Overall: good if you like Sci-Fi concepts and want to see some predictions about the future closer to our current timeline's direction than the classics of the 20th century. It was a slog to get through at times though and that can never be a good sign of a story's quality.

Interesting takes on the near future but weak

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I, like so many, am new to sci fi audio books, I like to get reading books that are relevant to me. Also the same is true with audio books. I need something to fill the gaps of my imagination that have been untouched by tv or movies, or need rekindling. The audio book METAtropolis is a great read for the reason that its several smaller stories well spoken and tied together in a very good use of an audible credit.

I personally, specfically chose this audio book, because I was going to London to meet Kandyse McClure ('Dee' in Battlestar Galacticas reimagined series). She ended up being a very nice woman and this is evident in her reading of the character in METAtropolis.

I very much enjoyed the audio book.

An amazing audio

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I didn’t love every story in this, but I did love a few. They all stuck with me long after I’d listened… mark of craftsmanship in writing and narration to be sure!
Would definitely recommend this.

Fascinating ideas skillfully explored

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In The Forests of tge Night by Jay Lake
Stochasti-city by Tobias Buckell
The Red in the Sky is Our Blood by Elizabeth Bear
Utere nihil non extra quiritationem suis by John Scalzi
To Hie from Far Cilenia by Karl Schroeder

All of the stories are preachy to a greater or lesser degree, but first 3 are almost bordering on ecoterrorism manifestos. Lake, Buckell & Bear really seem to be using this book as a podium for their agenda. Scalzi beings his usual sense of humour to green issues. Schroeder has the most traditional sci-fi contribution.

The narration wasn't bad, the performances were all solid. Like I say, it's not that they were bad, Michael Hogan & Kandyse McClure are talented but not quite right for these tales.

1-3 = very preachy 4 = funny 5 = intriguing

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I loved a couple of the stories. Not all. But as a group they mostly worked well. I loved the collaboration.
Didn't like all the readers but mostly good. What I really liked was the combined feel of the whole thing. A possible future.

Mix of stories

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This is a brilliant piece of work with several authors in different ways writing about a shared earth of the future.

As each story is about 2 hours and independently set in the same world as the other stories, I have listened to all but one twice. It means a journey in the car can be a whole story and not leave you wanting more commuting ;-)

I love this take on our future and how given this ground rules it can be seen in such different ways - from technology altering lives for the better to harsh realities of post oil survival.
Great book.

Almost perfect

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The nature of a short story collection is always that some are better than others. In less than ideal fashion, I felt that the first and last stories in this anthology were the weakest, while the stories in between (most notably by Elizabeth Bear and John Scalzi himself) were stronger. The uniting concept was interesting and even the stories which didn't resonate with me so well were undeniably well written. I was glad that the narrator changed for each short story, and John Scalzi giving his own introductions to each one was a nice touch too.

An interesting collection

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5 Novellas, all a little boring tho. The stories are based on the same world but range from OK to why bother. You need a far more interesting basis to do this well if the Cities an world is drab and depressed then you get drab and depressed no matter how good the author is. Not my scene but some may like this.

OK But not Brilliant

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Two stories unreadable, two okay and one really good. Depends whether you prefer Edgar Rice Burroughs or William Gibson

A mixed bag

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A loose shared world of the near-ish future. Generally dystopian, but not without a fair bit of hope that people want to improve the world for themselves and others.

My favorite was the one by Elizabeth Bear.

See my reviews of the individual stories.

5 interesting stories

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