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    The Grand Dark
    The Grand Dark
    The Grand Dark
    Audiobook16 hours

    The Grand Dark

    Written by Richard Kadrey

    Narrated by Vikas Adam

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    “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 bestselling 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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJun 11, 2019
    ISBN9780062931603
    Author

    Richard Kadrey

    Richard Kadrey is the New York Times bestselling author of the Sandman Slim supernatural noir books. Sandman Slim was included in Amazon’s “100 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books to Read in a Lifetime,” and is in development as a feature film. Some of his other books include The Wrong Dead Guy, The Everything Box, Metrophage, and Butcher Bird. He also writes the Vertigo comic Lucifer.

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    Reviews for The Grand Dark

    3.5/5

    87 ratings5 reviews

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    • 3/5
      The Grand Dark
      by Richard Kadrey
      Dystopian Science Fiction
      Scribd Audio

      After The Great War, in Lower Proszawa those with money do drugs, throw endless parties, and have as much fun as they can. There are 'robots' doing the human's jobs, and man-made creatures that are pets and used in war. The police are free to arrest and beat anyone they think is doing wrong, and people disappear daily, but some come back, their personalities opposite of what they were.

      The story was okay but a lot different than Kadrey's other books. There was only a little humor in this book, and that was disappointing. The MC, Largo, was relatable, but the drug use was over the top, but at least the sex wasn't graphic.

      The theater, The Grand Dark, was interesting, but I feel as if it needed more since it was, after all, the title of the book. It just didn't feel very connected. But a story branching off from the man-made pets/animals could be very interesting, as would one centered on the 'puppets'.

      The story wasn't bad, there were some interesting parts, but I didn't really enjoy it.

      3 Stars
    • 3/5
      The setting and atmosphere of this science fiction/urban fantasy novel really captured my imagination, although I liked the actual story considerably less. The author clearly put a lot of work into worldbuilding, as this novel features a very gritty city grappling with the aftermath of war, unequal social classes, and frivolity concealing deep despair. The central character Largo is a bicycle courier who struggles to navigate his job and the entanglements it causes while also concealing a drug addiction. He wants to have a better life and much of the tension in the book comes from Largo's striving towards the possibility of a something better. Overall, however, I just couldn't really get into this book and I struggled to like the characters as the story's pace only slowly proceeded forward.
    • 3/5
      While I did finish The Grand Dark in its entirety, I have to first and foremost agree with all the other reviews out there that say this book is a bit of mess. It felt like Richard Kadrey wanted so badly to fit so many things into this story, that it became tangled. Post-war hedonism, class systems, pervasive drug use, secret government plots, and vivid violence are only a few of the things that are wrapped up in this book. It took me a lot longer than I expected to make it through, because this all makes this a very plodding read.Now, on to the parts that I did enjoy. First off, I loved the idea of The Grand Dark. Remy's world of puppets and plays, of violence and vice, was a fascinating place to be lost in. Even before Largo's messenger adventures began, I was completely in love with the idea that he and Remy were together. There's something painfully stunning about a couple that holds one another together. These two were both so broken. Their relationship was one that bordered on explosive. Yet, there was something beautiful about the way that they found even a minute amount of happiness in a world that was torn to ribbons by war.I also appreciated the fact that Kadrey doesn't shy away from the realities of that post-war world. From the Iron Dandies, who are casualties of that war, to the copious drug use that fills the lower class, he shines a light on the gritty parts of Largo's world. As a bike messenger, Largo sees both halves of that post-war haze. The elite, who lost essentially nothing and are untouched. The lower class, who are broken, battered, and addicted. I thought it was a great way to show that duality, because Largo had to be the one to bridge the gap. The whole idea of being a pawn for the government was only the icing on the cake.So why the lower rating? Mainly the plodding pace, but also that the ending of this book didn't feel at all complete. For how long it took for that ending to finally arrive, I felt so unsatisfied with the way that things wrapped up. Pity, really, but I'm still in the Kadrey fan camp and will await the next book.
    • 5/5
      Really enjoyed this book set in an alternate post-Great War city where a bicycle messenger and a puppeteer actress become entangled in intrigue, as war profiteers dealing in eugenics and automata turn to a new battleground... It is dark and strange but in the end, hopeful, and always interesting.
    • 4/5
      Steampunk Weimar Republic. The protagonist is an opium addict/bike messenger whose girlfriend performs in creepy puppet shows while mechanical servitors and animals with human features roam the streets and the politicians prepare for the next war, despite the fact that the last war left many ordinary soldiers horribly injured and rendered the High City toxic to life. He gets swept up in political machinations and then has to save his girlfriend from mortal peril. Definitely had the steampunk noir vibe down.