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[0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title METAtropolis: The Dawn of Uncivilization [author] author Scalzi, John * [isbn] isbn [isbn13] isbn13 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 9 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.54 [num ratings] num ratings 1,988 [date pub] date pub Oct 20, 2008 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition 2009 [rating] Lucas's rating 4 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 0 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started Jan 13, 2015 [date read] date read Jan 23, 2015 [date added] date added Jan 13, 2015 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Audiobook [29] actions view [review] 
review I read a lot of new urbanism oriented non-fiction earlier this year, and the idea of taking a lot of it an incorporating it into near future settings I read a lot of new urbanism oriented non-fiction earlier this year, and the idea of taking a lot of it an incorporating it into near future settings for fiction seemed interesting- it turns out that had already been done and this shared universe novel was the result. The dystopian aspect is cranked up a bit, proximity to the Great Recession probably helped there, and it is helpful for dramatic purposes. The setting of the shining city surrounded by a literal wall and suburban savages makes an appearance here, that seemed really popular a few decades ago despite trends then running in the reverse- inner cities were decaying and donut rings of suburbs prospering. Other than that everything functions like cyberpunk without the over-focus on virtual reality. Except for the Karl Shroeder story, some of that seems similar in ideas to his Lady of Mazes. It's not clear why virtual nations he describes would strive so hard for material independence, it seems like functioning more as parasites/symbiotes makes a lot more sense, requires less effort. Setting two of the stories in Detroit seems too obvious. The first story in the audio book has what sounds like the alocholic #2 from BattleStar Galactica narrating it, which sounds great but is harder to understand over road noise. The second story has a narrator I remember from the audio book of a Dune novel (which was kind of a crappy attempt to mix up original notes from Frank Herbert with input from his son and Kevin J. Anderson, as if to sow confusion so that the awfulness of the latter might take on some of the brilliance of the former)- this one enunciates very clearly. The other narrators weren't familiar but were mostly fine (male narrators doing female voices and vice versa were annoying in places, why do they have to change their intonation like that?). ...more
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