World Running Down Audiobook By Al Hess cover art

World Running Down

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World Running Down

By: Al Hess
Narrated by: Cooper North, Calvin Joyal
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A transgender salvager on the outskirts of a dystopian Utah gets the chance to earn the ultimate score and maybe even a dash of romance. But there's no such thing as a free lunch…

Valentine Weis is a salvager in the future wastelands of Utah. Wrestling with body dysphoria, he dreams of earning enough money to afford citizenship in Salt Lake City—a utopia where the testosterone and surgery he needs to transition are free, the food is plentiful, and folks are much less likely to be shot full of arrows by salt pirates. But earning that kind of money is a pipe dream until he meets the exceptionally handsome Osric.

Once a powerful AI in Salt Lake City, Osric has been forced into an android body against his will and sent into the wasteland to offer Valentine a job on behalf of his new employer—an escort service seeking to retrieve their stolen androids. The reward is a visa into the city and a chance at the life Valentine’s always dreamed of. But as they attempt to recover the “merchandise,” they encounter a problem: the android ladies are becoming self-aware and have no interest in returning to their old lives.

The prize is tempting, but carrying out the job would go against everything Valentine stands for and would threaten the fragile found family that’s kept him alive so far. He’ll need to decide whether to risk his own dream to give the AI a chance to live theirs.

©2023 Al Hess (P)2023 Podium Audio
Adventure LGBTQIA+ Creators Literature & Fiction Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Fiction Dream
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Critic reviews

"Calvin Joyal and Cooper North give an emotional performance of this dystopian sci-fi audiobook.... Joyal and North's performance engrosses listeners with the story's high stakes." (AudioFile)

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Okay, so a female who identifies as male/he and sexually prefers other male/he, falls in love with an AI who has mistakenly been placed in a male android body. I did enjoy the character of Valentine, he was so good hearted. Also enjoyed the concept of androids becoming sentient (sorry, should I put spoiler alert here?) Otherwise, I had to force myself to keep reading the first half of the story. I had a hard time determining the difference between the two narrators.

Odd

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a love story of futuristic gays, always listen till the end. not a story I usually listen to. but interesting.
kinda ridiculous

A gay story

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Loved the queer complications that extended past transness and embodied it nonetheless.

Would love a spinoff of the machine women and the saints lol

A nuanced apocalyptic slc

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just not my type of story. I finished it but it was hard to keep interested. just not quite my type of story. I will stick with the Infinity series

it's okay but confusing

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I enjoyed the conversation. a lot of tone of this novel which involves alternate life and trans characters. although the main characters were nicely done, many of the supporting characters were rather superficial and almost caricatures. nonetheless, I enjoyed the book until the last 15-20 minutes. when as often happens, it felt as though the author just said okay. time to close. I've written enough words. goodbye and the book was finished.

Good until the last 20 minutes

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