The Grand Dark

By: Richard Kadrey

Narrated by: Vikas Adam

Length: 16 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

“A stand-alone heavy hitter that’s more in line with recent deviants like Chuck Wendig’s upcoming Wanderers (2019) and Daniel H. Wilson’s The Clockwork Dynasty (2017). Tonally, this lush novel is closer to Scott Lynch’s pirate fantasy The Lies of Locke Lamora (2006), but technologically it resembles the near-future dystopias of Cory Doctorow or China Miéville [...] Wildly ambitious and inventive fantasy from an author who’s punching above his weight in terms of worldbuilding - and winning.” (Kirkus (starred review)

From the best-selling author of the Sandman Slim series, a lush, dark, stand-alone fantasy built off the insurgent tradition of China Mieville and M. John Harrison - a subversive tale that immerses us in a world where the extremes of bleakness and beauty exist together in dangerous harmony in a city on the edge of civility and chaos.

The Great War is over. The city of Lower Proszawa celebrates the peace with a decadence and carefree spirit as intense as the war’s horrifying despair. But this newfound hedonism - drugs and sex and endless parties - distracts from strange realities of everyday life: Intelligent automata taking jobs. Genetically engineered creatures that serve as pets and beasts of war. A theater where gruesome murders happen twice a day. And a new plague that even the ceaseless euphoria can’t mask.

Unlike others who live strictly for fun, Largo is an addict with ambitions. A bike messenger who grew up in the slums, he knows the city’s streets and its secrets intimately. His life seems set. He has a beautiful girlfriend, drugs, a chance at a promotion - and maybe, an opportunity for complete transformation: a contact among the elite who will set him on the course to lift himself up out of the streets.

But dreams can be a dangerous thing in a city whose mood is turning dark and inward. Others have a vision of life very different from Largo’s, and they will use any methods to secure control. And in behind it all, beyond the frivolity and chaos, the threat of new war always looms.

©2019 Richard Kadrey (P)2019 HarperAudio

Good Book

I listened to another book by the same narrator and couldn't stand him. I think he was perfect for this book though. The protagonist is written as a kind of dim "useful fool" character. Instead of twisting and become a brainiac by the end of the book, he basically stays the same (with a few character improvements). This is the perfect way to write a book like this, IMO, as it allows the reader to see the world through a neutral eye. Early on, we understand what's happening in the city, and the corruption, but Largo is blissfully unaware until the 3rd act. Good writing, good narration, good book.

Great world building falters in the end.

Great world building. Story really loses steam in the last 3rd of the book. It lost all of the interesting subtleties the made the 1st 2/3 great. I really enjoyed living in that world for a while but it fumbles in the endzone. Too precious at the end.

Richard Kadrey at the top of his game

amazingly realized world that will be a welcome balm for anyone missing the gritty noir of Sandman Slim - but taken in an entirely different direction with a protagonist who feels like he could have started as any of us. IMHO his best standalone novel.

Very interesting, and voicing is good no problems

it was very interesting to listen too, the setting was the best part. but the plot helped to take the readers all over the city.

wow!

it's one of my all-time favorite stories. it's half the writing and half the narration but God the depressing overview of life in this war-torn City tale is just magnificent almost like I can picture living there and it's not necessarily a good thing but you get what good you can out of it I don't know amazing book definitely listen to it I've already given it five goes

Useful idiot turned heroic

I got a couple hours into this book and then read every single review looking for a reason to keep going. I realized there is no review for people like me, so this review is for readers who are not Kadrey followers, have not read the Sandman Slim series, and are not into steampunk (I legit had to google steampunk - no shade, please).The phenomenal reviews from Kadrey fans kept me hanging in there, but the story was slow moving. I decided I’d give it five hours and then DNF if it didn’t get better, but right around the five hour mark, I became interested enough in Largo to keep going.

I’m not sure how I made it through 16 hours of this. I was so annoyed at the 13 hour mark, but so close to the end, that I had to continue, so I bumped up the speed and plodded along.

All in all, the writing and narration were good, but the story was either 3 hours too long, or 3 hours too short. Some plot lines should have been left out or expanded.

If you’re not a fan of Kadrey, Steampunk, or Sandman Slim, I would skip it.

Great narration, mediocre story

Story wasn’t bad, just not great. Super narration, hats off to a great performance - great voices.

Kadrey does it again!

Like most of Kadrey's stand alone novels, The Grand Dark manages a tone so unique that it immediately differentiates itself from all previous one-offs, and leaves the reader with a sense of something brand new. That thought that sometimes arises in the early stages of reading a book where you find yourself thinking "I've never read anything quite like this before." The Grand Dark is at times melancholic and drowning in ennui, while soaring to ecstatic heights of wild abandon at others.

And, as is usual for Kadrey, the landscape of the story (in this case, a city) is described in such detail that it feels more like a character than a backdrop (see his descriptions of LA in the Sandman Slim series-- eventually it just seems a part of the cast). I admire his ability to intertwine the events of a characters life with the places they occur, almost as if they're dependent on one another, inextricably linked. Regardless of whether you love or hate this book, you'll likely agree that The Grand Dark could not have taken place in any other setting. The city feels alive, and crawls with just as much suppressed existential dread and chronic boredom as do the characters.

As for plot, there's not much I can say that will adequately describe the heart and soul of the story. Essentially, this book follows Largo, a young man working as a bicycle courier in a city grappling with the aftermath of what is referred to as "The Great War". Never ambitious, Largo is content to spend his days trying to keep his boss happy, and his nights trying to do the same for his girlfriend, Remi, via the alcohol soaked, drug induced haze of a perpetual party that has most of the city in it's grip. But, as usual, Kadrey's character development is brilliantly subtle and we get to watch as Largo slowly realizes his world is not what he thought it was-- people don't always show you their true face, you can be used and not even realize it, and nasty things can happen to good people at any the time, even if you don't see it. It's fascinating and a little heartbreaking to watch him slowly shed his naivety. In some ways, it's a coming of age story, as well as a love story. Now just add in some dystopian future tech, hint at some pseudo-magic spiritualism, toss in biting social commentary and the gritty urban fantasy we've all come to expect from Kadrey, and you've got The Grand Dark.

The narrator, Vikas, was really successful at bringing the story to life as well. Definitely not one of the ones that puts you in a coma mid-way through chapter one.

Overall-- this was a killer read. Hauntingly beautiful, scary as hell, thought provoking, and full of an interesting blend of existential dread, languid hedonism, and genuine hope for a better future. Read it now. Thank me later.

Travel guide to a low fantasy steam punk city

it's a very intriguing story but it takes a long time to set up for the real action. But if you tend to find yourself fascinated by well build worlds and descriptions of cities and history, done so well that it's just as important as any character in the book, then this is definitely a book for you.

Fun read.

Like Weimar era thrillers set in a slightly dieselpunk world? Then you'll love this. It has the murky atmospheric feel of Babylon Berlin, Going to the Dogs, Lang, Murnau, Remarque, and Berlin Alexanderplatz, combined in dark underground laboratories with Perdido Street Station and then set loose to wander a fog filled metropolis as believable as Isherwood's Berlin. Worth a listen.