Metrophage

By: Richard Kadrey

Narrated by: Peter Ganim

Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Welcome to Los Angeles - where anger, hunger and disease run rampant. Jonny is a black-market dealer in drugs that heal the body and cool the mind. All he cares about is his own survival. Until a strange new plague turns L.A. into a city of death, and Jonny is forced to put everything on the line to find the cure... if it can be found on Earth.

©1988 Richard Kadrey (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

The End of Cyberpunk

Mandatory reading for cyberpunk fans.
Distopian LA is a great setting.
The book feels like the next step in cyberpunk, or the last step- as it doesn’t have the cliches one might expect.

Classic Cyberpunk

Great narration and story. Would like to listen again. Story complex, rich with detail, honed with a sweet edge of pulp sci-fi. Beautiful writing.

This is how Cyberpunk should be done!

What did you love best about Metrophage?

It is just archtype cyberpunk. I'd put this up there with William Gibson or walter Jon Williams. It seems a bit dated now, but he nails the genre so perfectly you can't help but love it.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Metrophage?

Just the imagery throughout the story is worth a listen all by itself. The story and characters are great but the author pays such attention to every little detail. It's mind-boggling.

Have you listened to any of Peter Ganim’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not heard any other performance of Mr. Ganim's previously. He has a rich smooth voice and has a good range of voices. I'd love to hear him on some other books.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Metrophage. LA is in flames.

Any additional comments?

This is a great book. Be advised this is not Sandman Slim. The tone and writing are much different , but excellent nonetheless. The story has a few explict sex scenes and lots viloence and drug use (staples of cyberpunk literature). So, definitely not for the kiddies. I strongly recommed this book if you love cyberpunk.

Bot Sandman Slim

Purchased to complete all of the author's Audiobooks; Sandman Slim without snark or redemption (or any likeable qualities for that matter). Supporting characters killed or written out Ending ambiguous.

Cyberpunk to the core

This book eats, sleeps, bleeds the cyberpunk aesthetic. With a lot of references to classic sci-fi, intersposed with relatively poetic writing. I enjoyed the story, and the setting and characters were all wonderfully stylized and functional. The only complaint I have is that the overarching plot I found hard to follow.

I don't see the appeal. There's very little story

The whole book is a pretty good tour through an atopic future LA, but the main character is useless and never really gets any better. The plot makes little sense and tries to come together at the end but mostly fails. The book wanders from one violent event to another with little to hold it together. Kadrey tries to be William Gibson and doesn't get there.

A Clear World

Kadrey etches the futuristic world, the picture becomes ever more clear and detailed as the tale moves forward.

I've seen this called Cyberpunk, it fits.

Continuity isn't the easiest when it comes to a believable futuristic story.

Points for Kadrey.

Peter Ganim was, as always, fantastic.

Mispronouncing Narrator

While reading along I noticed that the narrator mispronounces words regularly, throughout the whole book and not just a couple

Way Unimpressed

Would you try another book from Richard Kadrey and/or Peter Ganim?

I have read all of the Sandman Slim Series and the Butcher Bird novel. Crazy about about them all.

Has Metrophage turned you off from other books in this genre?

No.

Would you be willing to try another one of Peter Ganim’s performances?

No. Not a fan of his delivery at all.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment. I wasn't impressed with the writing (oy vey the number of times the phrase "You really don't know" was used to set-up exposition) or the narration. I found Peter's performance too monotonous.

Any additional comments?

If this is your first Richard Kadrey novel, buy it. Because you will find all the rest of the author's work to be a ridiculous improvement.

Just can't get into to.

Let me start by saying I love Richard Kadrey. I have all the Sandman Slim Novels so far and love them. However, this title does not hold my interest. I have never been a big fan of the cyberpunk genre. But I thought I would give this a try since I love a lot of his other work. Unfortunately, I do not like this one. I think the most annoying thing about this book is that it is a dystopian society (which is fine) but nothing is explained. There is apparently a war going on between what is left of the US and the Middle East, there is a group called the committee (are they the police, I don't know), and different criminal groups. All of these elements are fine, however, nothing has been really explained. Maybe this is not germane to the story but I find it annoying, it is like walking in on the middle of the movie and trying to figure out the plot. Maybe it will be explained later, but frankly, I don't care to listen to the rest of it to find out. So I returned this one without finishing it.