The Extra

By: Michael Shea

Narrated by: William Hughes

The Extra is set in a future California where members of a desperate populace sign contracts to participate in reality death films, knowing that less than 20% of them will survive. It’s a view of the future—and Hollywood—as delightfully cynical as Kurt Vonnegut with sympathetic characters, Hollywood executive sleazeballs and much more.

©2010 Michael Shea (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Awesome adaptation

This expansion of a short story from Polyphemus - also by Shea - adds a lot without losing the feel of the original. Would be great to see more of his short stories receive this treatment.

Great Story

The storytelling is enjoyable and makes the novel worth listening to. The only problem is the actor's whispering in parts of the narrative. Yes, the characters are whispering but the result is missing the words. This detracts from the full telling. Great characters to care about. Expert telling from multiple points of view. Look foreword to reading the next book.

Proto-woke garbage

Immensely disappointed after reading Shea's remarkable Nifft trilogy, and other fantasy works. This is just proto-woke garbage.
I was stunned that the same genius that penned Nifft could produce this drivel. The same sentiment I felt after watching Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.