METAtropolis:The Wings We Dare Aspire

METAtropolis #4

by Jay Lake

In a near future Pacific Northwest, the mysterious Tygre Tygre shows up unannounced at the hidden city of Cascadiapolis, and sets events in motion that lead to the destruction of that city—and the ultimate surfacing of an end-game millennium in the making.
Who are the shadowy Bull Dancers? What part does the high-powered J. Appleseed Foundation play in their secret work? And how will a legendary security specialist, a dying billionaire, a disgraced cop, a minister who’s lost his faith, and a keen-eyed nonprofit accountant work together to prevent what looks suspiciously like … the end of the world?
From the award-winning Audible series, METAtropolis
First time in print!

Genres: Science Fiction, Audiobook

361 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 7, 2014

About the author

Jay Lake lived in Portland, Oregon, where he worked on multiple writing and editing projects. His 2007 book Mainspring received a starred review in Booklist. His short fiction appeared regularly in literary and genre markets worldwide. Jay won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, Endeavour Award, and was a multiple nominee for the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.

Reviews

[Ravay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably more like a 3.5, but rounded down, as my Kindle edition had some weird editing errors.

The overall story is a bit disjointed, and the author really does start things right in the middle of the action, but each subsection is very well-written. I wasn't familiar with the overall METAtropolis idea, but enjoyed this collection of vignettes that all were woven together into a successful whole. It did take a bit of work and concentration to wangle out the world that was being built in the story, but in the end, it was worth it.

Reader's note: There are quite a few long technical words, so make sure to use a dictionary and/or Wikipedia, as there are references to things as diverse as ancient bull-riding cults and AI.

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quite a long slow read and at times you don't know where it's going (or even what type of book it is) but well worth it in the end. The last 2 novellas are much more intense and interesting, which helps knit the whole collection together much better - mid way through the stories feel less connected.

[Brandon Mehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every story in this collection. A glimpse of possible close futures, on the back of hope and despair for how our environment and societies could turn out.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started slow in what was seemingly multiple disconnected stories, but after about halfway into the book, all of these stories came together and actually provided a nice foundation and backstory for the second half of the book. If I had to just rate the first half of the book, I would have probably given it just 2 stars, but the second half really saves the day

[Kimberly Hughes · Rating 2 out of 5]

The last 20% of this book was really enjoyable, but it really didn't make up for the fact that most of the 80% was pretty boring with a lot of undeveloped, yet still unlikable characters. It shouldn't take 300 pages to get to the good stuff and some character development. Also, the two main parts of the story line that you are curious about from the beginning of the book are never answered.

[Charl]

Almost 20% in, and so don't understand what's going on. Maybe it's because it's not the first book in the series, but if that's so, then we're not getting enough background info to understand the story.

I'm done and moving on.