Eutopia

A Novel of Terrible Optimism

By: David Nickle

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman

Length: 15 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

The year is 1911. In Cold Spring Harbour, New York, the newly formed Eugenics Records Office is sending its agents to catalogue the infirm, the insane, and the criminal - with an eye to a cull, for the betterment of all. Near Cracked Wheel, Montana, a terrible illness leaves Jason Thistledown an orphan, stranded in his dead mother's cabin until the spring thaw shows him the true meaning of devastation - and the barest thread of hope. At the edge of the utopian mill town of Eliada, Idaho, Doctor Andrew Waggoner faces a Klansman's noose and glimpses wonder in the twisting face of the patient known only as Mister Juke. And deep in a mountain lake overlooking that town, something stirs, and thinks, in its way: Things are looking up.

Eutopia follows Jason and Andrew as together and alone, they delve into the secrets of Eliada - industrialist Garrison Harper's attempt to incubate a perfect community on the edge of the dark woods and mountains of northern Idaho. What they find reveals the true, terrible cost of perfection - the cruelty of the surgeon's knife - the folly of the cull - and a monstrous pact with beings that use perfection as a weapon, and faith as a trap.

©2011 David Nickle (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Eugenics is always horrifying

This book was beautifully written and the horror was twofold - the horror one feels when delving into the ideas of eugenics and the strange places that these ideas took the author. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I enjoyed the western horror, the characters, and the monsters.

Eutopia: A Terrible Novel

What disappointed you about Eutopia?

The reader did his best, but the story is confusing; the characters without substance; and the scenes of racial prejudice more in line with myths of the Old South rather than frontier Idaho. First time in 20 years of audio book listening that I failed to finish a novel. Skip it.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Already listening to the Anne Rice novel about the werewolves.

Did Oliver Wyman do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

I have no complaints about the reader - a nice, trained voice and good story teller.

What character would you cut from Eutopia?

As many as you'd let me.

Any additional comments?

Nope.

Waste of a credit!

Any additional comments?

Terrible....slow....muddled.....confusing. The description is totally misleading. This is a horror story completely lacking any sci fi or social issue elements. I couldn't finish it.

Irritatingly meandering

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The performance was as good as could be expected. However, the story itself was difficult to stay tuned to. The first half of the story left me confused and uncertain about the direction of the story. As the second half evolved, it clearly wasn't something in which I had any interest.

Has Eutopia turned you off from other books in this genre?

I wouldn't have chosen this if I'd understood the true nature of the story.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Not much the narrator could do with the story,