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

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

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.

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.

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.

Not a fan of the story, but production kept me

I kept deliberating on whether to finish it, but it wasn't a hard choice as I was driving a long distance. As a book, I would have stopped reading it. Plot was wanting, dialogue was sub-par, and voice acting could have been better but it was an ambitious effort... The verbiage of the "book" was a bit rudimentary. Could have been smarter and/or more clever. Nothing stood out to me as impressive where literature is concerned.

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 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

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.

I am a Gibson fan

But THIS this is not Gibson. This is some crap that the publisher passed off as William Gibson. Whoever Michael St John Smith is should look into another line of work because I’ve seen better “story” out of high school sophomores.

OMG amazing book

Wished for a longer one. The author stirred so much emotion in me. And the ending my God. It feels like I am living the book right now.

Great performance, marginal story

The actors did the best they could with the material and storyline they were given. Felt like I was hearing a jr high school space adventure book, the plot was so mediocre.

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)

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.

Returning. Too short.

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

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

kept me hooked

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