Customer Reviews

Metropolitan

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've read quite a few Walter Jon Williams stories, generally with considerable enjoyment, but the only novels I've read by him are the first two Drake Majistral "entertainments". Those are fun, but light. For more serious Williams, people strongly recommended Metropolitan. And, indeed, this book is really good.

It fits in that genre called "Science Fantasy", in that it involves the use of magic, but that that magic is understandable and given a quasi-scientific backing. This seems to be set on Earth, possibly very far in the future or perhaps an alternate Earth. Millennia previously, the Ascended Ones have placed a "shield" around Earth. No one can escape. However, a source of (essentially magical) energy called "plasm" is available, and it is used for power generation, telepresence, and other uses both "magical" and "scientific" (also commercial). Plasm use is regulated and taxed, and the protagonist, Aiah, is a lowly functionary at the Plasm Authority. She is a talented member of the oppressed Barkazil ethnicity in an area dominated by the Jaspeeri. As such it has been a struggle for her to attend university and graduate to this job, and to get a decent apartment with her Jaspeeri lover, another functionary. One day she witnesses a burning woman, a manifestation of unregulated plasma gone out of control. She is assigned to the team tracking down the illegal plasma source. She's sent on what she thinks is a wild goose chase, but as it happens she finds the source, and on an impulse decides to hide her find and try to sell plasma on the black market. She has some difficulty finding a buyer, and finally stumbles on the notion of selling it to the prestigious, rich, former rebel Metropolitan (i.e. something like a mayor), Constantine. She finds herself far more involved with Constantine than she ever intended, and soon she is embroiled in his plans for engineering a coup and implementing his dream of the "New City".

It's an exciting novel, and it's built on a fascinating, original, SF/Fantastic notion. Some of the plot machinations were a bit creaky, I thought: I didn't quite buy the ease of her approach to Constantine, or his attraction to her. But all this leads to an end which asks some difficult moral questions, and doesn't provide answers either to the reader or to Aiah. She remains sympathetic, but many of her actions remain questionable. I thought this was very well handled.

This is a very fine book. There is a sequel, which I will have to seek out, but Metropolitan works very well on its own.

I just finished Metropolitan, and I really didn't think old W.J. could write such a cool tome.His previous books are good reads, but this thing is seriously excellent, creating a world that reflects ours through a dark and weirdly curved glass. Class, race, personal and cultural history shape many, many of the characters in interesting ways. Even the people that exist only for a page or two have more depth to them than you will find in most nebula winning novels

I recently re-read both these books, and I was again impressed with the quality of WJW's writing. I've read and enjoyed most of his other books (some notable ones being Aristoi, Voice of the Whirlwind, Angel Station, etc) and love the way he paints such a large landscape beyond the edges of the story. In Metropolitan, in particular, the descriptions of the world-city are a fascinating blend of hard-boiled urban noir, chrome-finned retrofuturism, and gritty realistic detail. Some parallels could be drawn to stories like "Perdido Street Station" by China Mieville.

All the main characters progress and grow over the story arc. The Aiah at the end of City on Fire is not the same girl we meet in the begining of Metropolitan.

Finally, I appreciate that WJW actually made his main characters have distinct and interesting ethnicities. The majority of american writers have no problem including all sorts of incredible aliens, but rarely have anyone who is not caucasian as a protagonist in the story. And race is actually a factor in the story line, not just a PC sop, ala Star Trek.

Highly recommend anything by this author.

What a world! Plasm (magical energy) seeps up and imbues human structures with magical potential. This plasm is metered and controlled by a large, inefficient bureaucracy where our main character works. I loved this world! I read tons of fantasy and sf and always enjoy being immersed in a universe totally different than anything I've seen before. The characters are fully realized, flawed humans struggling in an all too real conflict. I eagerly await the final book in this series!

By the time I'd read the first paragraph of this story, Williams had sucked me into his world, where magic is channneled with technology, and architecture is energy -- and working for a bureaucracy is still sheer drudgery. It's done through judicious application of details, from the kidney-jarring subway rides to the racial tension of Williams' world. Unfortunately, the plot struck me as rather spare for a book which is so well-fleshed in other areas, and the way the protagonist treats her husband in the end didn't sit so well with me either. Still, worth a read if only to watch a master at work

A poor woman, struggling to get by, comes to the notice of the overlord
of the city, and sees in her a useful aide, to help him in his
political struggles and control of the power source that runs
everything, plasm. She is struggling to support herself and her family
before this, so it at least helps her financial situation, if not her
longevity.

I love Aiah. She is one of the great overacheiving heroines of SF. And she does it all with just a to-do list, a business degree, and the occasional killer pedicure!

This books needs to become a movie. Alec Baldwin as Metropolita

I really am a big W. J. Williams fan, but this book was a major dissapointment. I hope the sequel to this poor work shows some of the old Williams' style. The concept of Plasma as the means to power in this world is UNrealized. Constantine is a particularly UNimpressive hero in an UNhappy world of petty power mongers struggling UNmightily to conquer only each other while the rest of the planet watches UNinterestedly. You will also read without interest. A lot of UNs is the best way to summarize this UNmemorable work from a writer who used to produce compelling plots and characters that meant somthing to the reader. The female protagonist follows Williams' now common formula of the person who acts primarily in their own self interest until they reach the moment when they are forced to choose between themselves and someone they love. Mr. Williams' work has not been crisp lately, read the excellent Voice Of The Whirlwind for a glimpse of Williams at his most powerful

I enjoyed CITY ON FIRE so much that I want to read METROPOLITAN. I suspect the reviewer of it here has misjudged the quality of the book, unless there is a huge departure from that of the next one. The concept of Plasma works for me, and I consider the characters and situations well drawn in CITY ON FIRE. It would be a shame if someone believed this reviewer and didn't give M. a try. S