Moxyland

By: Lauren Beukes

Narrated by: Nico Evers-Swindell

Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's Summary

What's really going on? Who's really in charge? You have NO. F***KING. IDEA. In the near future, an art-school dropout, an AIDS baby, a tech-activist, and an RPG-obsessed blogger live in a world where your online identity is at least as important as your physical one. Getting disconnected is a punishment worse than imprisonment, but someone's got to stand up to Government Inc. - whatever the cost.

©2008 Lauren Beukes (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Strange and Interesting

First, a comment about the audio book version...the narrator was good and his South African accent made the narration seem legit. However, this book uses a lot of new world slang developed by the author. The combination of the accent and slang made it tough to follow the book in the beginning. In my case, I also had the Kindle verison, so using Whispersync made this easy to overcome.

A frighteningly persuasive, high-tech fable, this novel follows the lives of four narrators living in an alternative futuristic Cape Town, South Africa. Kendra, an art-school dropout, brands herself for a nanotech marketing program; Lerato, an ambitious AIDS baby, plots to defect from her corporate employers; Tendeka, a hot-headed activist, is becoming increasingly rabid; and Toby, a roguish blogger, discovers that the video games he plays for cash are much more than they seem. On a collision course that will rewire their lives, this story crackles with bold and infectious ideas, connecting a ruthless corporate-apartheid government with video games, biotech attack dogs, slippery online identities, a township soccer school, shocking cell phones, addictive branding, and genetically modified art. Taking hedonistic trends in society to their ultimate conclusions, this tale paints anything but a forecasted utopia, satirically undermining the reified idea of progress as society's white knight.

Moxyland - terrible SA accent

Thoroughly enjoyed the story but the narrator's attempt at a South African accent is terrible and his pronunciation of South African names e.g Mpho and phrases e.g. kief really grates the ear. Pity!

Dystopian South Africa, brought to you with corporate sponsorship

Lauren Beukes has started to make a name for herself in the world of weird literature, and Moxyland is where it all started. The telling of a world so ingrained with technology, being disconnected is a jail sentence, Moxyland follows several characters through dystopian South Africa. The plot peaks and valleys, but overall, the ride is enjoyable. Like 1984 or Brave New World, this also feels like a precursor of things to come.

Accent and poor pronunciation

Would you try another book from Lauren Beukes and/or Nico Evers-Swindell?

A book with South African characters, set in South Africa should be read by someone with a South African accent and capable of pronouncing names of South African places/people

What other book might you compare Moxyland to and why?

NA

What three words best describe Nico Evers-Swindell’s performance?

Australian

Do you think Moxyland needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

NA

Any additional comments?

There are many South Africans who could have read this book in the appropriate accent

hard to follow and God awful Australian accent

I'm going to have to get a refund for this book. I just can't get into it - the plot is confusing and the accents which are supposed to be South African are extremely Australian. I loved the author's "Shining Girls", but this is a major miss for me

Amazingly relevant and on point

This novel was firts published in 2008 and yet it's amazingly relevant and on point for all kinds of current issues. The main characters come from quite different places and experiences but they end up intersecting and collaborating in the fight against a repressive system. Influencers are enrolled to be injected and to then advertise experimental nanotech, while video-gamers end up actually killing people. The futuristic technological devices embedded in everyday life and physically part of people's bodies are systematically exploited by the goverment/corporation to control and suppress dissenting voices, to the point of erasing identites and of spreading dangerous poisons to identify rioters. A neverending series of surprising objects, techniques and ideas is presented and deeply connected to the plot and the characters' lives. A whirlwind of devices and people and fast narration captures the reader and makes this a remarkable novel.

Hopefully life will not imitate art...

This is Lauren Beukes' first novel. I've read / listened to many of her others and this seems to be her at her most raw. The narrator is okay, possibly not the best choice for all the novel's perspective characters, which shift from chapter to chapter. Might have been better to use multiple narrators here. The story I found hard to follow at the beginning, mainly as it was difficult to discern the differences in voice of the reader, yet after a while I got on board with it. Many interesting ideas postulated in this dystopian cyberpunk world, and I sincerely hope none are appropriated by real world governments!

Wow

This definitely sits well with We, 1984, Brave New World et al. A great set up, interesting characters, unexpected ending, richly textured world. Will be recommending to others.


The narrator's SA accent didn't bother me, but I wouldn't know if it was a bad SA accent anyway. It's consistent, which is good. His posh accents are a bit long on the Os, but okay. It is well narrated, he has good tone and pace.