Archangel

By: William Gibson, Michael St. John Smith

Narrated by: Josh Hurley, Victor Bevine, Elizabeth Jasicki, Gabriel Vaughan, Inés del Castillo, Eric Yves Garcia, Graeme Malcolm, Jonathan Todd Ross, Neil Hellegers, Scott Aiello, Mark Boyett

Length: 2 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's Summary

An original dramatic presentation, cowritten by William Gibson, national best-selling author of Neuromancer and other classics, and Michael St. John Smith. 

The year is 2016. Not our 2016. Theirs. Earth is dying, the result of a worldwide nuclear holocaust caused by America’s dictatorial President-for-Life Lewis Henderson, a man who will use any means necessary to maintain power and survive. 

Enter: The Splitter. A machine capable of splitting off an exact replica of Henderson’s world. A world where the cataclysmic events causing its destruction have yet to occur. 

That world is ours. 

In August of 1945, our postwar Europe becomes the battleground for Henderson’s operatives - led by his sociopathic son - as they engineer a complete redo of their history. By changing ours. Their mission is to take over our world and rule it absolutely - again. 

The only obstacles in their way are a disabled rebel colonel in an underground bunker; a Marine pilot who pursues Henderson’s men across time; and a British secret weapons analyst who must accept that the impossible is, in fact, possible. 

And that the fate of two worlds hangs in the balance.

The cast of Archangel includes: 

• Neil Hellegers as PROF. JACK DAVIS 
• Inés del Castillo as MAJ. GUADALUPE “LUPE” TORRES 
• Mark Boyett as VP JUNIOR HENDERSON/ALOYSIUS HENDERSON 
• Eric Yves Garcia as PILOT 
• Liz Jasicki as LT. NAOMI GIVENS 
• Josh Hurley as FRITZ 
• Jonathan Todd Ross as CAPT. VINCE MATTHEWS 
• Scott Aiello as PRES. LEWIS HENDERSON 
• Graeme Malcolm as AIR COMMODORE GORDON TULLY 
• Gabe Vaughan as MR. BABY 
• Victor Bevine as COL. YERMAKOV

Experience this title in immersive 3D audio by setting your download quality to High within the app. Headphones recommended. For more, browse our entire collection of 3D audio listens. 

©2018 William Gibson, Michael St. John Smith (P)2018 Audible Originals, LLC.

Under three hours

I appreciate the effort with the full cast but will never overlook over the length of a title when purchasing again. Paying full price or using a credit for what amounts to a podcast length is a little underwhelming in my opinion.

Great Performances All Around

I was about halfway through the book when I looked it up on Goodreads to find out that the original version was a graphic novel.  It makes sense to me (especially given the length of it) but I didn't once feel confused or feel like something was missing.  Quite the opposite.  Due to the "full-cast" performance with sound effects and everything - this book felt different than my average audiobook.  I don't listen to many dramatic presentations like this but it was just what I needed.

Short and full of grit - Archangel was a story that I enjoyed from beginning to end. Gibson and St. John Smith tell a story of a world where the President-For-Life is trying to find another world/realm to go back and "fix". We find out as the story progresses what happened to Baltimore (and then again later what really happened).  And we are introduced to some really cool and interesting tech that our characters are in charge or (or get help from).

The story itself jumped around a little bit, but it translated well to audio.  I thought that the cast did a wonderful job - along with the sound/audio editors.  Every sound effect felt like it belonged without being distracting or overwhelming.  The audio was easy to hear and the background noises made the scenes more realistic instead of stealing their thunder.

Overall, I found myself enjoying Archangel and as I said above - it was the perfect book for the mood that I was in. I requested a free copy of this audiobook - it has not affected my review in any way.

First time I feel RIPPED OFF by Audible!

Pre-ordered this book which was listed as ~6+ hours in length which turned into 2.5 hours on delivery. The story at best is an old time radio type broadcast, very little plot and zero imagination. $17 to listen to a bad radio show is unsatisfactory!! I’m a big fan of this Audible medium, but this was a rip-off plain and simple!!

Good stuff!

Phenomenal story, and most of the voice acting was great. A few quirks here or there, but overall a fantastic experience. Would definitely recommend reading if you're into dystopian scifi.

great listen

really like hearing a radio drama with actors and sound effects. and this was a good entertaining story. kept my attention through the whole book, which doesn't always happen

Weird at best, agenda driven for sure

The story premise was odd- could have been enjoyable if it weren’t for the plot, the narration and the political agenda.

fun. kinda short.

Went by fast. Borrows from the Peripheral for it's main sci-fi concept so don't expect the usual William Gibson level of creativity and innovation. Fun, light short story. Not sure it's worth the money, but I'm a WG fan-boy so I had to try it. No regrets.

Fun adventure!

I enjoyed the full cast and sound effects. Adds another dimension. Good story. Wish it was longer.

Cool reading with cast and music

Story was pretty good, took some leaps on imagination but that's ok for a sifi book. It was a little light on some details IMO. The reading with a full cast was really cool. Easy to tell what character was what, non eof the he said she said.

Great audio drama based on a comic - well worth it

From reading the other reviews it seems people don't understand that not everything on Audible is an unabridged audiobook. This is an audio drama based on William Gibsons first foray into comics this last year. I have the comics and the collected graphic novel version. I also wish it was longer, but given the source material im surprised it was as long as it is. I love these Audible Original Dramas and wish they would make a lot more sci-fi related. But they cost a lot more to produce then a standard audiobook where your paying a single narrator or two. You have a full cast of actors, sound design and score. People compare it to old radio shows, and well duh, that's basically what an audio drama is. So If you expecting some super long audio book either your blind and didn't see what your buying (hard to believe because its pretty clear this was only a 2.5hr audio drama from the start, and when I preordered it) or your illiterate. This is great and well worth a credit.

Shock to the System!

I haven't actually read a lot of Gibson's work but what I did read was books like Neuromancer; gritty, grim, hard cyberpunk novels that played with the mind and gave it a good workout. I had a go at this curious as to how such a thing would be dramatised. Turns out that there is another side to Gibson and if the gritty, grim, cyberpunk style is what you are seeking then this isn't the audio you were looking for!

What GIbson and Michael St John Smith have come up with is classic, good old-fashioned sci-fi cheese and if you take it on those terms you'll likely love it. Amazing technology such as plastic surgery capable of exactly replicating someone's face, even a machine that can replicate the entire world precisely at a given time and date, there's teleporting, the works! There are cliched accents, gunfights, stealth suits, corny lines and classic sci-fi ideas, in fact if you listen carefully I am sure at one point you can hear a kitchen sink making a crash landing!

I really enjoyed it, the acting is upbeat and being less than three hours long it simply barrels along. Good old fashioned sc-fi excitement that doesn't concern itself with much in the way of any kind of reality.

Substandard radio play

This cheesy radio play is so bad, I'm returning it. I've been a Gibson fan for a long time - but this was very disappointing. Hammy acting, tissue thin plot and little of interest. I couldn't finish it. (and it's under 3 hours long)

A radio play not an audio book

I didn't listen to the sample before I purchased the book but in reality is an audio radio play not an audiobook as such all the action is sound effects followed by a description of what just occurred by one of the characters not my cup of tea

Returning. Too short.

2 hours and 45ish worth of radio play.
I'm a massive fan of Gibson, but this is getting returned..

kept me hooked

great story, kept me hooked throughout. brilliant actors and superb writing. would recommend to anyone.