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Editorial Reviews
Five original tales set in a shared urban future—from some of the hottest young writers in modern SF
A strange man comes to an even stranger encampment...a bouncer becomes the linchpin of an unexpected urban movement...a courier on the run has to decide who to trust in a dangerous city...a slacker in a "zero-footprint" town gets a most unusual new job...and a weapons investigator uses his skills to discover a metropolis hidden right in front of his eyes.
Welcome to the future of cities. Welcome to Metatropolis.
More than an anthology, Metatropolis is the brainchild of five of science fiction's hottest writers—Elizabeth Bear, Tobias Buckell, Jay Lake, Karl Schroeder, and project editor John Scalzi—-who combined their talents to build a new urban future, and then wrote their own stories in this collectively-constructed world. The results are individual glimpses of a shared vision, and a reading experience unlike any you've had before.
Related Reviews
Stunning Stories about a Possible Future
As usual, Scalzi's story was the one I liked the best. I got the feeling the book was arranged from weakest to strongest, definitely. With the exception of the Jay Lake, every story in this collection is great. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone interested in reading a collection of same-universe stories by different authors.
My thoughts on the world: I find the notion of the city-states intriguing. They feel somewhat artificial, but the concept is more-or-less sound. Whether or not they'll actually come to fruition? Well... that depends on how the political winds blow. Great read, though.
My thoughts on the world: I find the notion of the city-states intriguing. They feel somewhat artificial, but the concept is more-or-less sound. Whether or not they'll actually come to fruition? Well... that depends on how the political winds blow. Great read, though.
Metatropolis is one of only a few anthologies I have ever read where it is hard to pick a favorite story as most were superb. Five of the brightest voices working in Science Fiction today have come together to create a shared future focusing on cities, which was originally envisioned as a audio only piece for audible.com. Included are stories from Jay Lake, Tobias Buckell, Elizabeth Bear, Karl Schroeder, and John Scalzi who also edited the whole project.
Scalzi has done something I don't think has been done before: created a shared world which all of the contributors helped develop and sometimes working in unison sharing their stories with one another as they were writing so things tied-in together as best as possible. Nearly every story is a winner and stands alone in its own right yet together they build a tapestry world where nations have toppled and communities are organized loosely as city-states with anarchy reigning most other places. Metatropolis is about as Green Punk as it can get with its zero-footprint enclaves and green fanatic cults. It is even more so Green Punk than Bacigalupi's The Windup Girl, plus it is a bit more approachable and not so desolate.
Jay Lake starts off the anthology with "In the Forest of the Night." Lake's story is placed in Cascadiopolis, which is a anarchistic closed-collective in the wilds between Seattle and Vancouver. This was the bleakest story of the bunch. Even though this group of people has advanced technology they are still distrusting of outsiders. Two newcomers get into the city and cause havoc. Green leaves you guessing a lot up until the end. The pacing was very slow and I wanted some more backstory for a few characters, but given the structure I understand why they weren't included.
Tobias Buckell's story "Stochastic-City" is next placed in a run down Detroit, which gives you a broader view of how the world of Metatropolis came about mixing in some of the events that culminated in the downfall of society. Buckell's story focuses on a future Detroit where a movement to remove cars from the city is taking hold of the populace who are not necessarily for it. Sort of a forced greening of a city. This story easily had my favorite main character who goes to great lengths to get what he thinks he deserves only to find a direction for his life. This was my first taste of Buckell's writing and it has made me eager to finally crack his novel Crystal Rain, which I hope to get to in the near future.
Elizabeth Bear's contribution is "The Red in the Sky is Our Blood," which follows Buckell's setting in Detroit, but takes a very different tact for a similar goal. One running theme in all the stories is people trying to live through each day without thinking about tomorrow and finding a purpose. I enjoyed Bear's story, but found it difficult to connect with the protagonist Cadie, but that was as designed in many ways.
John Scalzi story is the Latin titled "Utere Nihil Non Extra Quiritationem Suis," which if I shared the translation would ruin part of the joke to the funniest story in the anthology. Unlike the other stories Scazli focused on a main character who grew up in a closed cities and who doesn't understand what life was like before society changed and does not appreciate what the world outside safe cities has become. Benji ends up taking a very low level job under threat of expulsion from New St. Louis as everyone must contribute to the betterment of the city in some fashion. Benji is a character drawn to be disliked, but in the end he becomes endearing and finds his place in the world even if it smells funny.
Karl Schroeder finish the book strong with the most meta story in the bunch with "To Hie From Far Cilenia." It involves steampunk and a cyber world experience similar to that of Snow Crash, but more enmeshed in reality. Yet it oddly reminds me of The City & The City with worlds beyond worlds and a detective like format of an agent in search of something and finding more than he ever thought existed. Really well done.
My biggest disappointment was it was over before I was ready to leave and that we only saw one story outside of North America. This definitely ranks among the best anthologies of the year now. Longer works could certainly be made from what they have and there are a lot more cities to visit and stories to tell in Metatropolis. Sub Press's did the limited edition hardcover release which I read with a trade hardcover recently released from Tor.
It was recently announced that there will be a second Metatropolis volume. This time Jay Lake is taking editing duties with all stories being placed in his Cascadia. It will be called Metatropolis: Cascadia and will contain stories by the returning Jay Lake, Tobias S. Buckell; Elizabeth Bear; Karl Schroeder; and newbies to the world Ken Scholes and Mary Robinette Kowal. Now that is quite a lineup. Also, the audio version will be narrated by various Star Trek cast members. I would have preferred to see another book from different cities around the world again instead of one locale, but the lineup more than makes up for it.
Scalzi has done something I don't think has been done before: created a shared world which all of the contributors helped develop and sometimes working in unison sharing their stories with one another as they were writing so things tied-in together as best as possible. Nearly every story is a winner and stands alone in its own right yet together they build a tapestry world where nations have toppled and communities are organized loosely as city-states with anarchy reigning most other places. Metatropolis is about as Green Punk as it can get with its zero-footprint enclaves and green fanatic cults. It is even more so Green Punk than Bacigalupi's The Windup Girl, plus it is a bit more approachable and not so desolate.
Jay Lake starts off the anthology with "In the Forest of the Night." Lake's story is placed in Cascadiopolis, which is a anarchistic closed-collective in the wilds between Seattle and Vancouver. This was the bleakest story of the bunch. Even though this group of people has advanced technology they are still distrusting of outsiders. Two newcomers get into the city and cause havoc. Green leaves you guessing a lot up until the end. The pacing was very slow and I wanted some more backstory for a few characters, but given the structure I understand why they weren't included.
Tobias Buckell's story "Stochastic-City" is next placed in a run down Detroit, which gives you a broader view of how the world of Metatropolis came about mixing in some of the events that culminated in the downfall of society. Buckell's story focuses on a future Detroit where a movement to remove cars from the city is taking hold of the populace who are not necessarily for it. Sort of a forced greening of a city. This story easily had my favorite main character who goes to great lengths to get what he thinks he deserves only to find a direction for his life. This was my first taste of Buckell's writing and it has made me eager to finally crack his novel Crystal Rain, which I hope to get to in the near future.
Elizabeth Bear's contribution is "The Red in the Sky is Our Blood," which follows Buckell's setting in Detroit, but takes a very different tact for a similar goal. One running theme in all the stories is people trying to live through each day without thinking about tomorrow and finding a purpose. I enjoyed Bear's story, but found it difficult to connect with the protagonist Cadie, but that was as designed in many ways.
John Scalzi story is the Latin titled "Utere Nihil Non Extra Quiritationem Suis," which if I shared the translation would ruin part of the joke to the funniest story in the anthology. Unlike the other stories Scazli focused on a main character who grew up in a closed cities and who doesn't understand what life was like before society changed and does not appreciate what the world outside safe cities has become. Benji ends up taking a very low level job under threat of expulsion from New St. Louis as everyone must contribute to the betterment of the city in some fashion. Benji is a character drawn to be disliked, but in the end he becomes endearing and finds his place in the world even if it smells funny.
Karl Schroeder finish the book strong with the most meta story in the bunch with "To Hie From Far Cilenia." It involves steampunk and a cyber world experience similar to that of Snow Crash, but more enmeshed in reality. Yet it oddly reminds me of The City & The City with worlds beyond worlds and a detective like format of an agent in search of something and finding more than he ever thought existed. Really well done.
My biggest disappointment was it was over before I was ready to leave and that we only saw one story outside of North America. This definitely ranks among the best anthologies of the year now. Longer works could certainly be made from what they have and there are a lot more cities to visit and stories to tell in Metatropolis. Sub Press's did the limited edition hardcover release which I read with a trade hardcover recently released from Tor.
It was recently announced that there will be a second Metatropolis volume. This time Jay Lake is taking editing duties with all stories being placed in his Cascadia. It will be called Metatropolis: Cascadia and will contain stories by the returning Jay Lake, Tobias S. Buckell; Elizabeth Bear; Karl Schroeder; and newbies to the world Ken Scholes and Mary Robinette Kowal. Now that is quite a lineup. Also, the audio version will be narrated by various Star Trek cast members. I would have preferred to see another book from different cities around the world again instead of one locale, but the lineup more than makes up for it.
Very worth an Audible Credit...still hot and cold but fun
I completely enjoyed this listen. In fact I might also grab the Kindle version to read it. I wish there were Kindle/Audible bundles as mentioned on Mobileread.com never thought of that before. But I won't spend the money on the Kindle version as long as the Agency Model Price fixing model in in place by the Price-Fix 5 publisher cabal. Still that has no affect on my rating of this book in general, that's a separate matter
Anyway, the story(ies) are captivating as well as missing the mark. I felt like it was sort of a dystopian Twilight Zone anthology. The stories which worked for me, really worked and even those which were not quite a fit for me, at least exposed me to writers I might never have been aware of prior to this listen.
The reading of the stories is great and I was quite pleased with Scalzi's interjections throughout the Audible version. He has a wonderfully conversational manner in his speaking. I guess that could be assumed as I find his writing quite accessible without being trite and banal. In many ways he reminds me of what could have come from Edward Abbey and Robert Heinlein had a love child. I know, heck of an image, huh? I might never sleep again!! hahahaha...
I liked this well enough to use another credit on the sequel. Though I need to listen to this version a couple more times as there are always times when you tune out an audiobook or use them to fall asleep. Not saying these are cures for insomnia just that the readers are quite relaxing though the stories require "active/engaged listening".
I don't want to add any spoilers other than is you like speculative-societal science fiction you should enjoy either the Audible listen or the print edition...just don't support the over-priced price fixed Kindle versions until the publishers come to their senses. I am sure over time the Kindle editions will drop in price but this books might be a case of the printed editions also paying the celebrity readers of the audiobook which might explain the higher than normal price for the print version...oops, a rant...hahaha...seriously though this is a book worth breaking that vow to read if reading s your preferred option. ;)
Anyway, the story(ies) are captivating as well as missing the mark. I felt like it was sort of a dystopian Twilight Zone anthology. The stories which worked for me, really worked and even those which were not quite a fit for me, at least exposed me to writers I might never have been aware of prior to this listen.
The reading of the stories is great and I was quite pleased with Scalzi's interjections throughout the Audible version. He has a wonderfully conversational manner in his speaking. I guess that could be assumed as I find his writing quite accessible without being trite and banal. In many ways he reminds me of what could have come from Edward Abbey and Robert Heinlein had a love child. I know, heck of an image, huh? I might never sleep again!! hahahaha...
I liked this well enough to use another credit on the sequel. Though I need to listen to this version a couple more times as there are always times when you tune out an audiobook or use them to fall asleep. Not saying these are cures for insomnia just that the readers are quite relaxing though the stories require "active/engaged listening".
I don't want to add any spoilers other than is you like speculative-societal science fiction you should enjoy either the Audible listen or the print edition...just don't support the over-priced price fixed Kindle versions until the publishers come to their senses. I am sure over time the Kindle editions will drop in price but this books might be a case of the printed editions also paying the celebrity readers of the audiobook which might explain the higher than normal price for the print version...oops, a rant...hahaha...seriously though this is a book worth breaking that vow to read if reading s your preferred option. ;)
Metatropolis: A story of cities
Metatropolis does a wonderful job of describing the possible nature of the future's cities, and its inhabitants. Each author's individual point of view on the various kinds of cities and cultures that could arise are fascinating and have a real basis in reality. The only downside to this book is that I want to read more of each story.
Unique and (mostly) high quality collection of connected stories.
Metatropolis is an interesting book, to say the least: in addition to being a "shared world" anthology, featuring stories from five authors working in the same "collectively-constructed" future setting, it's also (as far as I know) unique in that it was released first as an audio book (reviewed below by Kat) and only subsequently as a traditional "paper" book, first as a limited edition by Subterranean Press, and now in a shiny new edition by Tor.
The concept of the book's shared world is equally interesting: due to environmental change and political upheaval, the idea of national government has been superseded by something akin to city states, often self-governed or in partnership with other cities across the world, while outside the city walls the situation may be more similar to what you'd find in a post-apocalyptic novel. Each of the five stories collected in Metatropolis explores the concept of what such a city or society might be like in interesting, different and (mostly) successful ways.
If you're not sold yet, the list of authors reads like a veritable All Star team of current, interesting SFF authors: Jay Lake, Tobias Buckell, Elizabeth Bear, Karl Schroeder and John Scalzi, who also served as editor for the entire project.
"In the Forests of the Night" by Jay Lake opens Metatropolis with a powerful story about a mysterious and charismatic stranger arriving in Cascadiopolis -- a hidden city situated in the Cascades area that stretches from Portland up to Vancouver. As the first story in the anthology, it unfortunately bears the burden of having to include some world-building information, which is (more or less gracefully) handled by including extracts from economics and sociology texts that draw up the anthology's shared world future in a few quick strokes. Passing over those necessary info dumps, you'll find a beautiful story, effectively displaying a number of different perspectives, written in gorgeous, dense prose that just begs to be reread. The story lays on the William Blake a bit too thickly -- the main character's name Tygre is one thing, but naming part of the city Symmetry was a bit much for me. Still, filled with characters that have the raw power of archetypes, this is nothing short of an excellent story. (Four stars.)
Tobias Buckell's entry, with the groan-inducing title "Stochasti-City", switches us over to a drastically changed Detroit, and to Reginald, an ex-military bar bouncer who becomes involved in a unique urban rebellion. The story has a not-quite-here-yet future realism that reminded me of Cory Doctorow, with several elements that seem as if they could be happening today -- but not quite. I enjoyed Reginald's story of gradual personal awakening, the more subtly handled world-building touches, and especially the sense of real social change occurring in the story. (Three stars.)
Next up is Elizabeth Bear's "The Red in the Sky is our Blood," the gripping story of Cadence Grange and her not-quite-stepdaughter Firuza. It describes another unique social experiment, cleverly hinted at in Tobias Buckell's story, and also refers back to the Cascades setting of "In the Forests of the Night," which pulls the entire anthology so far into a coherent whole and helps its fictional world become more real. This story also contains the most beautiful prose in the entire anthology (which is saying a lot, given that it also features Jay Lake). Just read this gem of a sentence: "Cadie could picture the conversation like intersecting fingers, locked at the base but pointing in incompatible directions, pushing against one another." (Four stars.)
John Scalzi's story "Utere Nihil Non Extra Quiritationem Suis" (which, I believe, is Latin for "Look, I'm smart and know impressive quotes") just didn't work for me. Its protagonist Benjamin has the smarmy, sarcastic sense of humor of almost every character in the author's novels, and the plot, involving a slacker forced into gross manual labor, somehow manages to be improbable at first and predictable towards the end. It also involves large amounts of pig excrement. There are some interesting looks at people living in a city-based society, contrasted effectively with life outside in the wilderness, but aside from this, I could have done without it. Still, if you generally enjoy John Scalzi's style and sense of humor, you will probably like this story too. (One star.)
Thankfully, Karl Schroeder's "To Hie from Far Cilenia" closes out Metatropolis with a sizzling mind-bender of a story about technology-enhanced "virtual" levels of society that overlay -- and influence -- everyday reality. The ending rattles a bit, but there are enough stunning ideas (cyranoids!) to make "To Hie from Far Cilenia" a story that's almost impossible to summarize, but also one you're guaranteed to remember for a long time. (Four stars.)
Taken all together, Metatropolis is a unique and mostly high quality collection of connected stories by some of today's most exciting authors. On one level, the anthology has an important and relevant message about the state of our present society and the direction we're heading in. On another, it's just a great read with some truly memorable stories. Check it out
The concept of the book's shared world is equally interesting: due to environmental change and political upheaval, the idea of national government has been superseded by something akin to city states, often self-governed or in partnership with other cities across the world, while outside the city walls the situation may be more similar to what you'd find in a post-apocalyptic novel. Each of the five stories collected in Metatropolis explores the concept of what such a city or society might be like in interesting, different and (mostly) successful ways.
If you're not sold yet, the list of authors reads like a veritable All Star team of current, interesting SFF authors: Jay Lake, Tobias Buckell, Elizabeth Bear, Karl Schroeder and John Scalzi, who also served as editor for the entire project.
"In the Forests of the Night" by Jay Lake opens Metatropolis with a powerful story about a mysterious and charismatic stranger arriving in Cascadiopolis -- a hidden city situated in the Cascades area that stretches from Portland up to Vancouver. As the first story in the anthology, it unfortunately bears the burden of having to include some world-building information, which is (more or less gracefully) handled by including extracts from economics and sociology texts that draw up the anthology's shared world future in a few quick strokes. Passing over those necessary info dumps, you'll find a beautiful story, effectively displaying a number of different perspectives, written in gorgeous, dense prose that just begs to be reread. The story lays on the William Blake a bit too thickly -- the main character's name Tygre is one thing, but naming part of the city Symmetry was a bit much for me. Still, filled with characters that have the raw power of archetypes, this is nothing short of an excellent story. (Four stars.)
Tobias Buckell's entry, with the groan-inducing title "Stochasti-City", switches us over to a drastically changed Detroit, and to Reginald, an ex-military bar bouncer who becomes involved in a unique urban rebellion. The story has a not-quite-here-yet future realism that reminded me of Cory Doctorow, with several elements that seem as if they could be happening today -- but not quite. I enjoyed Reginald's story of gradual personal awakening, the more subtly handled world-building touches, and especially the sense of real social change occurring in the story. (Three stars.)
Next up is Elizabeth Bear's "The Red in the Sky is our Blood," the gripping story of Cadence Grange and her not-quite-stepdaughter Firuza. It describes another unique social experiment, cleverly hinted at in Tobias Buckell's story, and also refers back to the Cascades setting of "In the Forests of the Night," which pulls the entire anthology so far into a coherent whole and helps its fictional world become more real. This story also contains the most beautiful prose in the entire anthology (which is saying a lot, given that it also features Jay Lake). Just read this gem of a sentence: "Cadie could picture the conversation like intersecting fingers, locked at the base but pointing in incompatible directions, pushing against one another." (Four stars.)
John Scalzi's story "Utere Nihil Non Extra Quiritationem Suis" (which, I believe, is Latin for "Look, I'm smart and know impressive quotes") just didn't work for me. Its protagonist Benjamin has the smarmy, sarcastic sense of humor of almost every character in the author's novels, and the plot, involving a slacker forced into gross manual labor, somehow manages to be improbable at first and predictable towards the end. It also involves large amounts of pig excrement. There are some interesting looks at people living in a city-based society, contrasted effectively with life outside in the wilderness, but aside from this, I could have done without it. Still, if you generally enjoy John Scalzi's style and sense of humor, you will probably like this story too. (One star.)
Thankfully, Karl Schroeder's "To Hie from Far Cilenia" closes out Metatropolis with a sizzling mind-bender of a story about technology-enhanced "virtual" levels of society that overlay -- and influence -- everyday reality. The ending rattles a bit, but there are enough stunning ideas (cyranoids!) to make "To Hie from Far Cilenia" a story that's almost impossible to summarize, but also one you're guaranteed to remember for a long time. (Four stars.)
Taken all together, Metatropolis is a unique and mostly high quality collection of connected stories by some of today's most exciting authors. On one level, the anthology has an important and relevant message about the state of our present society and the direction we're heading in. On another, it's just a great read with some truly memorable stories. Check it out
I just finished Metatropolis, an Science Fiction anthology edited by author John Scalzi ( Agent to the Stars, The Android's Dream ). Unlike a lot of anthologies out there this one has a little twist to it. The various author's involved - Elizabeth Bear, Tobias Buckell, Jay Lake, Karl Schroeder, and project editor John Scalzi - got together and built the principles of the world first before starting on their individual stories. After that they would share what they had written so far and continue to build on the idea.
And what is the idea you ask? A world in the future. Were life as we know it has changed. For the better? That is up to you to decide. Each story showing people having to deal with the effects of climate change and what each of these areas of the world do to cope with their environment and live.
From the Pacific Northwest to Sweden, each story brings it's own unique perspective on the world of the future.
Story one, In the Forests of the Night, set in the Pacific Northwest, features a city were Anarchism, in the true since, rules and governs a zero footprint - self-sustaining society. Were scientist and activist work together to feed and protect a community living off the grid so to speak.
Two, Stochasti-city, set in Detroit is a story of a man who gets caught up in a life he did not expect to be in. A bouncer who gets involved with a movement of people, very much like the folks in the Pacific Northwest, who want to change Detroit but come up against against a Blackwater type private military force that polices the city.
The Red in the Sky is Our Blood, also set in Detroit of a women who is asked to help a group of where every individual's personal wealth, so to speak, is based on their actions. The more they contribute the more personal wealth they have.
Utere nihil non extra quiritationem suis, John Scalzi's contribution is set in a eco-friendly city/state. The story of a slacker making his way through in life in a city where, if you do not take an aptitude test by the time you are 20 you get shown to the city border. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. I think the idea is awesome. The idea that each individual is given a job that is in there skill level but is very much a part of how the whole community works together. It is a coming of age story too. This one was probably my favorite story out of the bunch - but I am Scalzi fan so what can I say.
And last, To Hie from Far Cilenia, a story of a investigator is asked to help Interpol track down some plutonium and how this leads him into a new society built on an "online economy" that also helps the individuals of the real world. Pretty intreging story but I felt it the ending was little abrupt.
All in all it was a great set of stories. It was a fascinating read. Stories of survival, society and people working together to help make humanity about the WORLD community again and not the individual.
I highly recommend this book!
And what is the idea you ask? A world in the future. Were life as we know it has changed. For the better? That is up to you to decide. Each story showing people having to deal with the effects of climate change and what each of these areas of the world do to cope with their environment and live.
From the Pacific Northwest to Sweden, each story brings it's own unique perspective on the world of the future.
Story one, In the Forests of the Night, set in the Pacific Northwest, features a city were Anarchism, in the true since, rules and governs a zero footprint - self-sustaining society. Were scientist and activist work together to feed and protect a community living off the grid so to speak.
Two, Stochasti-city, set in Detroit is a story of a man who gets caught up in a life he did not expect to be in. A bouncer who gets involved with a movement of people, very much like the folks in the Pacific Northwest, who want to change Detroit but come up against against a Blackwater type private military force that polices the city.
The Red in the Sky is Our Blood, also set in Detroit of a women who is asked to help a group of where every individual's personal wealth, so to speak, is based on their actions. The more they contribute the more personal wealth they have.
Utere nihil non extra quiritationem suis, John Scalzi's contribution is set in a eco-friendly city/state. The story of a slacker making his way through in life in a city where, if you do not take an aptitude test by the time you are 20 you get shown to the city border. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. I think the idea is awesome. The idea that each individual is given a job that is in there skill level but is very much a part of how the whole community works together. It is a coming of age story too. This one was probably my favorite story out of the bunch - but I am Scalzi fan so what can I say.
And last, To Hie from Far Cilenia, a story of a investigator is asked to help Interpol track down some plutonium and how this leads him into a new society built on an "online economy" that also helps the individuals of the real world. Pretty intreging story but I felt it the ending was little abrupt.
All in all it was a great set of stories. It was a fascinating read. Stories of survival, society and people working together to help make humanity about the WORLD community again and not the individual.
I highly recommend this book!
This is definitely worth a second listen through. I didn't much care for the first story in the anthology, but the others got increasingly better. The 4th and 5th especially appealed to me in different ways. The 4th appealed because the character seemed the most "down to earth" and easy to relate to sort. The 5th appealed to me because the concept of worlds within worlds and RPGs on a whole new level was neat.
If you're a science fiction fan, this is one collection that you'll find something that appeals to you. That said, know that becuase of the very nature of the work not everything will be completely to your liking. 5 different authors, 5 different readers = one mixed bag of stories.
What a bleak look most science fiction writers take of the future. The first three focus a lot on the hard-knock sort of life it is. The 4th struck me as a whimsical, happy-go-lucky sort of tale and the 5th was mainly a description of a cool idea, not really much in the way of action to the story.
If you don't want to spring for the $20 yourself, at least make your local library consider buying it.
If you're a science fiction fan, this is one collection that you'll find something that appeals to you. That said, know that becuase of the very nature of the work not everything will be completely to your liking. 5 different authors, 5 different readers = one mixed bag of stories.
What a bleak look most science fiction writers take of the future. The first three focus a lot on the hard-knock sort of life it is. The 4th struck me as a whimsical, happy-go-lucky sort of tale and the 5th was mainly a description of a cool idea, not really much in the way of action to the story.
If you don't want to spring for the $20 yourself, at least make your local library consider buying it.
A Fantastic Joint Effort in Short Fiction
No spoilers.
I read and review novels pretty much constantly, but I rarely discuss any short fiction. The thing to be wary of when reading short fiction, in my opinion, is that you can't treat it like a novel. Where novels have several fully developed ideas that all contribute to the plot, setting, and characters, short stories and novellas typically only have one or two fully developed (sometimes) ideas. If you go into a collection of short fiction with the right mind-set, you will find that it can be a refreshing change from the novels that you have been reading.
All of this brings us to the collection of novellas METATROPOLIS, edited by John Scalzi. Included in this collection are five stories about the world's (mostly, however, in the USA) future cities in a post-apocalyptic setting where all the eco-crazies and capitalism-haters were right. Each story was written by a different author: Elizabeth Bear, Tobias Buckell, Jay Lake, Karl Schroeder, and John Scalzi (who, as we mentioned before also acted as the project editor). METATROPOLIS is different from most collections of short fiction. In most anthologies or collections, you get a handful of stories that all include one common theme (vampires, zombies, robots, etc.), but are otherwise unrelated. METATROPOLIS came together through the collaborative communication of the five previously mentioned authors. They brainstormed together. They read each others work during the process so they could give feedback and figure out how to connect the five stories. To me, this sounds like an ideal creative situation.
As individual stories, each of these novellas could be considered average. However, by putting them together, the old saying is completely true where the finished product is far greater than the sum of its parts. Each story brings something new to the table while building on the ideas introduced in the prior story. We get deeper ideas like one man's attempt to overthrow and entire society (Jay Lake's "In the Forests of the Night"), and a look at the evolution of networking and gaming theory (Karl Schroeder's "To Hie from Far Celenia"). The other stories give us pieces of how societies and their components evolved in the created future of METATROPOLIS. Want to know about the way people are placed for work, and a cities ability to deal its responsibility to the dying (literally) suburbs? John Scalzi has you covered in "Utere Nihil Non Extra Quiritationem Suis." How about ecological protests, and the future of micro-transactions? Tobias Buckell's "Stochasti-City" gives you the details. Lastly, an economy built on reputation alone? Elizabeth Bear tackles this subject (as well as the aftermath of the events from Buckell's novella) in "The Red in the Sky is Our Blood."
As you can see, it is an impressive list of ideas and themes that blend together extremely well. I have to assume that good editing and project managing by Scalzi helped the effort, but I also imagine that five incredible authors working together from step one through completion had serious beneficial impact on METATROPOLIS.
I will be the first to admit that I prefer novels as opposed to short fiction. I like seeing a big, developed story. However, METATROPOLIS won me over. The writing was fabulous in each story, as well as extremely accessible. There were moments where the casual reader might feel some of the stories were preachy, and I have one thing to say to those readers: Stop thinking so hard. Read the stories for the enjoyment of them. Not everything has to be profound and earth-shattering. For me, the cool factor of METAROPOLIS is in the execution of the fantastic ideas.
What do I want now? How about direct sequels to the novellas? I can't think of it having been done before, and these five authors would be the perfect people to pull it off. How bout it Scalzi? Get the gang together again!
The one thing that is tough about this collection is that it isn't widely available. I paid $30 for my copies from the amazing Subterranean Press, but they are currently sold out. Amazon says they have some copies available, but I don't really trust the listing (I've been burned before...). At one point, Scalzi mentioned to me in an email that he would have an announcement on the future availability of METATROPOLIS shortly. Hopefully (for you) this means a paperback release (or a hardback re-print at the very least) is coming soon.
Regardless, however you can get it, do it now.
Recommended Age: 15 and up. Some deeper material at times that may go over the head of some younger people.
Language: Some, but nothing excessive.
Violence: Not really. This is more about the evolution of ideas and society. Violence wasn't really needed to get the points across.
Sex: Some light innuendo.
I read and review novels pretty much constantly, but I rarely discuss any short fiction. The thing to be wary of when reading short fiction, in my opinion, is that you can't treat it like a novel. Where novels have several fully developed ideas that all contribute to the plot, setting, and characters, short stories and novellas typically only have one or two fully developed (sometimes) ideas. If you go into a collection of short fiction with the right mind-set, you will find that it can be a refreshing change from the novels that you have been reading.
All of this brings us to the collection of novellas METATROPOLIS, edited by John Scalzi. Included in this collection are five stories about the world's (mostly, however, in the USA) future cities in a post-apocalyptic setting where all the eco-crazies and capitalism-haters were right. Each story was written by a different author: Elizabeth Bear, Tobias Buckell, Jay Lake, Karl Schroeder, and John Scalzi (who, as we mentioned before also acted as the project editor). METATROPOLIS is different from most collections of short fiction. In most anthologies or collections, you get a handful of stories that all include one common theme (vampires, zombies, robots, etc.), but are otherwise unrelated. METATROPOLIS came together through the collaborative communication of the five previously mentioned authors. They brainstormed together. They read each others work during the process so they could give feedback and figure out how to connect the five stories. To me, this sounds like an ideal creative situation.
As individual stories, each of these novellas could be considered average. However, by putting them together, the old saying is completely true where the finished product is far greater than the sum of its parts. Each story brings something new to the table while building on the ideas introduced in the prior story. We get deeper ideas like one man's attempt to overthrow and entire society (Jay Lake's "In the Forests of the Night"), and a look at the evolution of networking and gaming theory (Karl Schroeder's "To Hie from Far Celenia"). The other stories give us pieces of how societies and their components evolved in the created future of METATROPOLIS. Want to know about the way people are placed for work, and a cities ability to deal its responsibility to the dying (literally) suburbs? John Scalzi has you covered in "Utere Nihil Non Extra Quiritationem Suis." How about ecological protests, and the future of micro-transactions? Tobias Buckell's "Stochasti-City" gives you the details. Lastly, an economy built on reputation alone? Elizabeth Bear tackles this subject (as well as the aftermath of the events from Buckell's novella) in "The Red in the Sky is Our Blood."
As you can see, it is an impressive list of ideas and themes that blend together extremely well. I have to assume that good editing and project managing by Scalzi helped the effort, but I also imagine that five incredible authors working together from step one through completion had serious beneficial impact on METATROPOLIS.
I will be the first to admit that I prefer novels as opposed to short fiction. I like seeing a big, developed story. However, METATROPOLIS won me over. The writing was fabulous in each story, as well as extremely accessible. There were moments where the casual reader might feel some of the stories were preachy, and I have one thing to say to those readers: Stop thinking so hard. Read the stories for the enjoyment of them. Not everything has to be profound and earth-shattering. For me, the cool factor of METAROPOLIS is in the execution of the fantastic ideas.
What do I want now? How about direct sequels to the novellas? I can't think of it having been done before, and these five authors would be the perfect people to pull it off. How bout it Scalzi? Get the gang together again!
The one thing that is tough about this collection is that it isn't widely available. I paid $30 for my copies from the amazing Subterranean Press, but they are currently sold out. Amazon says they have some copies available, but I don't really trust the listing (I've been burned before...). At one point, Scalzi mentioned to me in an email that he would have an announcement on the future availability of METATROPOLIS shortly. Hopefully (for you) this means a paperback release (or a hardback re-print at the very least) is coming soon.
Regardless, however you can get it, do it now.
Recommended Age: 15 and up. Some deeper material at times that may go over the head of some younger people.
Language: Some, but nothing excessive.
Violence: Not really. This is more about the evolution of ideas and society. Violence wasn't really needed to get the points across.
Sex: Some light innuendo.
Really inspired
This is a great collection of original inspired work. I have grown increasingly more impressed with the work of John Scalzi and I now plan to check out the other authors who contributed to the work. This is top notch SF writing. It is original, thought provoking and filled with hope and sadness. My chief complaint is that the book could have been bigger thus giving me more but that's just me being selfish. This gets my highest recommendation. Bravo, keep up the excellent work.
This is a great collection of original inspired work. I have grown increasingly more impressed with the work of John Scalzi and I now plan to check out the other authors who contributed to the work. This is top notch SF writing. It is original, thought provoking and filled with hope and sadness. My chief complaint is that the book could have been bigger thus giving me more but that's just me being selfish. This gets my highest recommendation. Bravo, keep up the excellent work.
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The first story in the series started off a little slow, but they had a lot of info to get out to the listeners. These five stories take place about fifty years in the future, countries have collapsed and the lucky live in a loosely aligned system of city states. To live outside isn't good. The second story picks up the pace and it continues through out.
At times the authors were just a tiny bit preachy about being green, but it didn't offend me and being green in these stories fits in. The future painted here is a bit bleak, but I could imagine myself living in it. These authors have woven a set of stories into a future that drew me in. They, with the help of the readers, made the whole think believable.
If you're into science fiction, you'll enjoy this and even if you're not, I think you'll find more here to like then you might think and you'll certainly find a lot to think about.