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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy meets Eurovision in an over-the-top galactic science fiction spectacle from bestselling author Catherynne Valente where sentient races compete for glory in a universe-wide musical contest—where the stakes are as high as the fate of planet Earth. A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented—something to cheer up everyone who was left and bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity, and understanding. Once every cycle, the civilizations gather for the Metagalactic Grand Prix—part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part continuation of the wars of the past. Instead of competing in orbital combat, the powerful species that survived face off in a competition of song, dance, or whatever can be physically performed in an intergalactic talent show. The stakes are high for this new game, and everyone is forced to compete. This year, though, humankind has discovered the enormous universe. And while they expected to discover a grand drama of diplomacy, gunships, wormholes, and stoic councils of aliens, they have instead found glitter, lipstick, and electric guitars. Mankind will not get to fight for its destiny—they must sing. A band of human musicians, dancers, and roadies have been chosen to represent Earth on the greatest stage in the galaxy. And the fate of their species lies in their ability to rock.
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Summary
Summary
Finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Novel of 2018
Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented—something to cheer up everyone who was left and bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity, and understanding.
Once every cycle, the civilizations gather for the Metagalactic Grand Prix—part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part continuation of the wars of the past. Instead of competing in orbital combat, the powerful species that survived face off in a competition of song, dance, or whatever can be physically performed in an intergalactic talent show. The stakes are high for this new game, and everyone is forced to compete.
This year, though, humankind has discovered the enormous universe. And while they expected to discover a grand drama of diplomacy, gunships, wormholes, and stoic councils of aliens, they have instead found glitter, lipstick, and electric guitars. Mankind will not get to fight for its destiny—they must sing.
A band of human musicians, dancers, and roadies have been chosen to represent Earth on the greatest stage in the galaxy. And the fate of their species lies in their ability to rock.
Editorial Reviews
Editorial Reviews
Reviews
Reviews
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A most remarkable book
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When you start a book by Catherynne Valente, you are always in for a treat. Whether it is a girl going to Fairyland on the back of a magical flying leopard or a clever peasant girl encountering Koschei the Deathless (stepping out of Russian folklore) as his bride and then his destruction. But here, you get the epic tale of two aging rock stars as the last hope for humanity in a sing-for-your-world's-salvation contest.
Decibel Jones (born Danesh Jalo) and Oort St. Ultraviolet (born Omar Calisșkan), are the surviving members of the glamrock band "Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeros" and find themselves on the short list to represent Humanity in the Metagalactic Grand Prix - a way for the galactic civilization to avoid any more intergalactic wars. Humanity has few allies (including the representative of the sponsoring race, something like a blue flamingo), but also many potential enemies, since losing means Humanity is not deemed sentient and will be eliminated from the universe.
The story (inspired by live-tweeting the Eurovision song contest) is more than a little bit like something Douglas Adams might have written. But Cat Valente's use of language is wholly unique to her works: every sentence is hand crafted and dense with alliteration, florid adjectives, or the occasional profanity, depending on the need. All of the common tropes of both science fiction and rock music are pulled out, tried on, altered, and fitted just right, all to drive the story's varied needs. It's also a huge amount of fun.
The narration, by Heath Miller, matches the text beautifully. He manages the dense text wonderfully, using his facility for accents to highlight the different characters. And when the story calls for it, he sings (I presume he dances too, but it's hard to tell because it's an audiobook). Between the hilarious story and the excellent narration, there is always the risk of driving off the road laughing, so be careful if listening on your commute.
Details
Details
Available Formats : | Digital Download, CD |
Category: | Fiction/Science Fiction |
Runtime: | 9.77 |
Audience: | Adult |
Language: | English |
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