World Running Down

De: Al Hess

Narrado por: Cooper North, Calvin Joyal

A transgender salvager on the outskirts of a dystopian Utah gets the chance to earn the ultimate score and maybe even a dash of romance. But there's no such thing as a free lunch…

Valentine Weis is a salvager in the future wastelands of Utah. Wrestling with body dysphoria, he dreams of earning enough money to afford citizenship in Salt Lake City—a utopia where the testosterone and surgery he needs to transition are free, the food is plentiful, and folks are much less likely to be shot full of arrows by salt pirates. But earning that kind of money is a pipe dream until he meets the exceptionally handsome Osric.

Once a powerful AI in Salt Lake City, Osric has been forced into an android body against his will and sent into the wasteland to offer Valentine a job on behalf of his new employer—an escort service seeking to retrieve their stolen androids. The reward is a visa into the city and a chance at the life Valentine’s always dreamed of. But as they attempt to recover the “merchandise,” they encounter a problem: the android ladies are becoming self-aware and have no interest in returning to their old lives.

The prize is tempting, but carrying out the job would go against everything Valentine stands for and would threaten the fragile found family that’s kept him alive so far. He’ll need to decide whether to risk his own dream to give the AI a chance to live theirs.

©2023 Al Hess (P)2023 Podium Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Calvin Joyal and Cooper North give an emotional performance of this dystopian sci-fi audiobook.... Joyal and North's performance engrosses listeners with the story's high stakes." (AudioFile)

Odd

Okay, so a female who identifies as male/he and sexually prefers other male/he, falls in love with an AI who has mistakenly been placed in a male android body. I did enjoy the character of Valentine, he was so good hearted. Also enjoyed the concept of androids becoming sentient (sorry, should I put spoiler alert here?) Otherwise, I had to force myself to keep reading the first half of the story. I had a hard time determining the difference between the two narrators.

A gay story

a love story of futuristic gays, always listen till the end. not a story I usually listen to. but interesting.
kinda ridiculous

it's okay but confusing

just not my type of story. I finished it but it was hard to keep interested. just not quite my type of story. I will stick with the Infinity series

Good until the last 20 minutes

I enjoyed the conversation. a lot of tone of this novel which involves alternate life and trans characters. although the main characters were nicely done, many of the supporting characters were rather superficial and almost caricatures. nonetheless, I enjoyed the book until the last 15-20 minutes. when as often happens, it felt as though the author just said okay. time to close. I've written enough words. goodbye and the book was finished.

Fantastic

This was an amazing representation of transness and the subtle yet accurate representation of neurodivergence was heartwarming.

very good book

this is a new topic for me and I was a bit confused but by the end it made complete sense. I would love to read more in the world, I want to know about what happens to cinnamon and the girls.

Gentle but Important

without getting gory or graphic, this novel uses a science fiction setting to explore identity and gender. highly recommend.

Great story and narration

I really loved this book! It had a solid story with good characters and narration. I've been expanding my library for queer sci-fi/fantasy, and I'm glad I put this book in the queue. I had a good time getting to know the world, and I hope there is more to come.

the story line

how the characters, especially valentine, made the reader/ listener question their own beliefs. gives the reader a lot to ponder

This is a romance

Well written, great representation, but this is less of an adventure and more of a romance. If romance isn’t your thing (it’s not mine) this will be hard to get through.