FEBRUARY 2023 - AudioFile
Alan Medcroft's soothing narration suits this dark retelling of BEOWULF. Yorick left Ymir two decades ago after a traumatic encounter with his brother left him without his lower jaw. When a hostile alien machine threatens Ymir's mines, his employer forces him to return and hunt it down. Medcroft's consistent leisurely pace allows listeners to savor the rich, intriguing world-building. His vocal versatility differentiates several characters, and his depiction of Yorick is especially poignant. Medcroft's voice is appropriately rough and deep, perfect for depicting a man who must use a mechanical lower jaw to communicate. Medcroft's emotional connection conveys Yorick's trauma and cynicism, which are poorly managed with alcohol and drugs. This immersive sci-fi audiobook presents a grim, unique story sure to capture listeners' attention. A.K.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2023 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
05/09/2022
Drawing inspiration from Beowulf, Larson (Annex) weaves a tense far-future story of powerful technology, family trauma, and complicated politics. Yorick Metu, “the butcher,” fled his frozen home planet of Ymir after massacring a group planning a rebellion against the company that controls Ymir, earning himself a terrifying reputation. After 20 years away, Yorick is called back to kill a grendel, a dangerous, sentient technological relic from an alien civilization. While doing reconnaissance, he discovers his estranged brother, Thello—who once shot Yorick’s jaw off—has survived the recent attacks and has somehow learned to communicate with the grendels. Thello forces Yorick to swallow a machine that Thello can detonate remotely if Yorick does not do as he’s told: namely to help Thello and the grendel’s plot to topple the company. When the scheme falters, Yorick, who relies on a cocktail of intoxicants and stimulants to cope, discovers unsettling truths about the past and faces a test of loyalties. The connection to the classic is thin, but Larson layers the plot with dreams and flashbacks that create a deep sense of his characters, and the nonstop action and violence keep the pages flying. Fans of finely crafted, high-intensity sci-fi stories will enjoy this. Agent: John Silbersack, Bent Agency. (July)
From the Publisher
An astonishing SF thriller with whiplash surprises and an ending that resonates…Ymir gets all over you and won’t come off.”—James Patrick Kelly, winner of the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards
“Larson is a writer who can do just about anything, and in his second novel he splices Iain M. Banks with Alastair Reynolds…This is brain-busting sci-fi for the hardcore crowd.”—Nick Wolven, author of "Snowflake"
“Original, unpredictable, and starkly beautiful. A screaming dirge of a story.”—Ted Kosmatka, author of The Flicker Men
“Cyberpunk as fuck…I loved every gritty, punishing page of it.”—Tim Miller, director of LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS and Deadpool
“Endlessly inventive, richly textured, and pricked with poignant beauty. If Alien met Neuromancer, and the mutant progeny was birthed in the amniotic fluid of pure myth, Ymir would be the result.”—Alvaro Zinos-Amaro, Hugo and Locus finalist
"[Ymir] hurtles forward at dizzying speeds on an engine of jagged gorgeous writing. I adored Yorick, with his broken heart and his bad attitude and worse decisions...I ached with every twist and turn of his hideous beautiful journey." -Sam J Miller, Nebula-award-winning author of Blackfish City—Sam J. Miller, Nebula award-winning author of Blackfish City
"Phenomenal, visceral, high-octane scifi... Altered Carbon unsleeves in a dystopian Beowulf."—Derek Künsken, Aurora-award-winning author of The Quantum Magician
“Icy, dangerous, yet darkly hopeful. An exhilarating journey that left me awed.”—Hugo finalist Sheree Renée Thomas, author of Nine Bar Blues: Stories from an Ancient Future
“Sci-fi thriller at its ice-cold coolest... Propulsive, terrifying, and human.”—Tamsyn Muir, New York Times best-selling author of the Locked Tomb series
FEBRUARY 2023 - AudioFile
Alan Medcroft's soothing narration suits this dark retelling of BEOWULF. Yorick left Ymir two decades ago after a traumatic encounter with his brother left him without his lower jaw. When a hostile alien machine threatens Ymir's mines, his employer forces him to return and hunt it down. Medcroft's consistent leisurely pace allows listeners to savor the rich, intriguing world-building. His vocal versatility differentiates several characters, and his depiction of Yorick is especially poignant. Medcroft's voice is appropriately rough and deep, perfect for depicting a man who must use a mechanical lower jaw to communicate. Medcroft's emotional connection conveys Yorick's trauma and cynicism, which are poorly managed with alcohol and drugs. This immersive sci-fi audiobook presents a grim, unique story sure to capture listeners' attention. A.K.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2023 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
