science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...
audiobook collections.
In 2008, Audible.com released the audiobook anthology ''METAtropolis'', edited by
John Scalzi
John Michael Scalzi II (born May 10, 1969) is an American science fiction author and former president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He is best known for his ''Old Man's War'' series, three novels of which have been no ...
Tobias Buckell
Tobias S. Buckell (born 1979) is a New York Times Bestselling author and World Fantasy Award winner born in the Caribbean. He grew up in Grenada and spent time in the British and US Virgin Islands, which influence much of his work. His novels an ...
Karl Schroeder
Karl Schroeder () (born September 4, 1962) is a Canadian science fiction author and a professional futurist. His novels present far-future speculations on topics such as nanotechnology, terraforming, augmented reality, and interstellar travel, ...
. ''METAtropolis'' was planned from the beginning to be released as an audio anthology prior to any print edition. The audiobook featured the voices of Battlestar Galactica actors Michael Hogan,
Alessandro Juliani
Alessandro Juliani (born July 6) is a Canadian actor and singer. He is notable for playing the roles of Tactical Officer Lieutenant Felix Gaeta on the Sci-Fi Channel television program ''Battlestar Galactica'', Emil Hamilton in ''Smallville'', J ...
and
Kandyse McClure
Candice McClure (born 22 March 1980), known professionally as Kandyse McClure, is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles as Anastasia Dualla in the SyFy series '' Battlestar Galactica'' and as Dr. Clementine Chasseur in the Netflix ser ...
. In 2009 Subterranean Press released a limited edition print run of ''METAtropolis'', which was subsequently published by Tor in a standard hardcover edition, in 2010.
In 2009 ''METAtropolis'' received nominations for the
Audie Award for Original Work The Audie Award for Original Work is one of the Audie Awards presented annually by the Audio Publishers Association (APA). It awards excellence in narration, production, and content for an audiobook not recorded from a pre-existing book or play re ...
and the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form.
In 2012 the Audie Award for Original Work was given to ''METAtropolis: Cascadia''.
In 2015 ''METAtropolis: The Wings We Dare Aspire'' was a finalist for the Endeavour Award (for the best book by a writer from the Pacific Northwest).
Several stories of the series were selected for various "Best of" and other anthologies.''METAtropolis: The Wings We Dare Aspire'', Introduction, by Steve Feldberg, 2014,
METAtropolis series
# 2008: ''METAtropolis: The Dawn of Uncivilization''
Charlie Jane Anders
Charlie Jane Anders is an American writer and commentator. She has written several novels, published magazines and websites, and hosted podcasts. In 2005, she received the Lambda Literary Award for work in the transgender category, and in 2009, ...
"Metatropolis Is The Best Kind Of Urban Renewal" a book review
##Jay Lake,"In the Forests of the Night"
##Tobias Buckell,"Stochasti-city"
##Elizabeth Bear,"The Red in the Sky is Our Blood"
##John Scalzi,"Utere nihil non extra quiritationem suis"
##Karl Schroeder, "
To Hie from Far Cilenia
Gennady Malianov is a fictional detective from a cycle of science fiction / techno thriller stories by Canadian writer Karl Schroeder set in the near future."METAtropolis: Cascadia" a review at
LibraryThing
LibraryThing is a social cataloging web application for storing and sharing book catalogs and various types of book metadata. It is used by authors, individuals, libraries, and publishers.
Based in Portland, Maine, LibraryThing was developed b ...
##Jay Lake, "The Bull Dancers"
##Mary Robinette Kowal, "Water to Wine"
##Tobias S. Buckell, "Byways"
##Elizabeth Bear, "Confessor"
##Karl Schroeder, "
Deodand
A deodand is a thing forfeited or given to God, specifically, in law, an object or instrument that becomes forfeited because it has caused a person's death.
The English common law of deodands traces back to the 11th century and was applied, on ...
"
##Ken Scholes, "A Symmetry of Serpents and Doves"
# 2013: ''METAtropolis: Green Space''
## "Rock of Ages", by Jay Lake
## "Green and Dying", by Elizabeth Bear
## "The Desire Lines", by Karl Schroeder
## "Midway Bells & Dying Breeds", by Seanan McGuire
## "Tensegrity", by Tobias S. Buckell
## "Forest of Memories", by Mary Robinette Kowal
## "Let Me Hide Myself in Thee", by Ken Scholes
# 2014: ''METAtropolis: The Wings We Dare Aspire''
## Foreword, by Kevin J. Anderson
## Introduction, by Steve Feldberg
## "In the Forests of the Night", by Jay Lake
## "The Bull Dancers", by Jay Lake
## "A Symmetry of Serpents and Doves", by Ken Scholes
## "Rock of Ages", by Jay Lake
## "Let Me Hide Myself in Thee", by Ken Scholes
The stories from ''METAtropolis''-1 are set in the cities of a shared near future
postapocalyptic
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; ast ...
world, whose common setting was worked out by the contributors together. Unlike most postapocalyptic tales, the ones in the anthology are optimistic: from the chaos of a collapsed civilization a better way of life may arise.
While ''METAtropolis''-1 is set in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
, its continuation, ''METAtropolis''-2, is set in the new city-state of Cascadia emerging in the Pacific Northwest of the former United States and Canada,Cascadia is a reference to the Cascade Range stretching in the area originated in Jay Lake's story "In the Forests of the Night".
The stories in ''METAtropolis'' 1 and 2 are prefaced with the editor's commentary on the origin of the story and its place within METAtropolis.
Publisher's summary for ''METAtropolis: Green Space'':"METAtropolis: Green Space" at audible.com
As ''METAtropolis: Green Space'' moves into the 22nd Century, human social evolution is heading in new directions after the Green Crash and the subsequent Green Renaissance. Nearly everyone who cares to participate in the wired world has become part of the "
Internet of things
The Internet of things (IoT) describes physical objects (or groups of such objects) with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other com ...
", a virtual environment mapped across all aspects of the natural experience. At the same time, the serious back-to-the-land types have embraced a full-on paleo lifestyle, including genetically engineering themselves and their offspring. At the same time, a back-to-space movement is seeking the moon, a green Mars, and even the stars, with the eventual goal of leaving a pristine and undisturbed Earth behind.
In the foreword to the ''METAtropolis: The Wings We Dare Aspire'', Kevin J. Anderson, the operator of the small publishing company WordFire Press which published the book, explained that since Jay Lake was dying of cancer, there was no time to wait for major publishers to process the print edition of ''METAtropolis'', hence the release by WordFire.''METAtropolis: The Wings We Dare Aspire'', Foreword, by Kevin J. Anderson, 2014, The volume represents a kind of a "
story within a story
A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes ...