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Madlands
Presents an unreal realm resembling Los Angeles, where Trayne, a d-ranger, embarks on a murderous quest, and Nora, a fabrication of the Madlands, develops her own iden5ity
- GenresScience FictionFiction
247 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1991
3 people are currently reading
116 people want to read
About the author
K.W. Jeter
97Ìýbooks358ÌýfollowersKevin Wayne Jeter (born 1950) is an American science fiction and horror author known for his literary writing style, dark themes, and paranoid, unsympathetic characters. He is also credited with the coining of the term "Steampunk." K. W. has written novels set in the Star Trek and Star Wars universe, and has written three (to date) sequels to Blade Runner.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 4, 2014
Madlands starts out fun and stylish, and stays fast and interesting through the end. It’s one of the more deeply phildickian novels I’ve read, not just in its themes and ideas, but in its improvised and discontinuous story structure. It’s also one of the better hard-boiled pastiches I’ve seen lately. and the ruminative, profane tough-a-guy voice is, especially in the first half of the book, a real pleasure to read. The second half has a certain amount of palpable flopsweat as Jeter tries to figure out where he’s going.
It’s nominally SF in that “a reality-distorting bomb in the distant past meant that random impossible shit happens in this patch of the desert� sort of way. The rules are both overexplained and irritatingly arbitrary (big chunks of undigested and barely-digested exposition were bad enough that they had me jotting down notes-to-self to let the reader be confused if that’s what it takes to not have to sit them down and lecture them on made-up magical systems for pages at a time) but since they allow a midcentury LA with a permanently-burning Hindenberg illuminating its streets, one is disposed to be forgiving.
In a short afterword to the ebook edition, Jeter concedes the book is kind of a hot mess, but pats himself on the back, quite fairly, for big style and atmosphere wins.
It’s nominally SF in that “a reality-distorting bomb in the distant past meant that random impossible shit happens in this patch of the desert� sort of way. The rules are both overexplained and irritatingly arbitrary (big chunks of undigested and barely-digested exposition were bad enough that they had me jotting down notes-to-self to let the reader be confused if that’s what it takes to not have to sit them down and lecture them on made-up magical systems for pages at a time) but since they allow a midcentury LA with a permanently-burning Hindenberg illuminating its streets, one is disposed to be forgiving.
In a short afterword to the ebook edition, Jeter concedes the book is kind of a hot mess, but pats himself on the back, quite fairly, for big style and atmosphere wins.
October 20, 2012
This was the first K.W. Jeter novel I read. It is a very Dickian reality-distortion piece set in a Los Angeles literally ripped from old movies and told for the most part in a first-person prose owing a lot to the hardboiled detective stories of Chandler et al. I like it. According to the afterword it failed to reach a large distribution in print but the author considers it one of his best.
What is it about? The Madlands are a hole in reality that has been filled with a B-movie version of Los Angeles where the Hindenburg is continuously burning in the sky and people are prone to "multi-cancer" which can mutate them into a mass of jelly in a matter of momets. And there is this televangelist called Identrope whose broadcasts are luring a constant stream of followers into his web. But when the narrator Trayne, who works for Identrope choreographing his show, gets an offer from another party, things are set in motion. Etc.
What is it about? The Madlands are a hole in reality that has been filled with a B-movie version of Los Angeles where the Hindenburg is continuously burning in the sky and people are prone to "multi-cancer" which can mutate them into a mass of jelly in a matter of momets. And there is this televangelist called Identrope whose broadcasts are luring a constant stream of followers into his web. But when the narrator Trayne, who works for Identrope choreographing his show, gets an offer from another party, things are set in motion. Etc.
December 2, 2018
A surreal story set versions of LA as envisioned by people post some sort of war with strange future tech. Part noir, part exploration of weirdness.
It was very interesting, somewhat difficult to describe, and certainly strange. I found the last third a bit... baggy - as the world changes around the main characters, the story became quite drawn out and slow rather than a rush to a conclusion. I found the explanation of the main character's motivations a bit iffy, and some of the underlying issues of his survival in the weird zone introduced a bit late with a bit of an info dump, but one of the best framed info dumps I've read. I think some of my problems with it might be because the main character is a bit of a bastard, so it's hard to feel too sympathetic towards him.
I feel it has flaws, but was enjoyable and one of the most surreal, yet internally consistent, stories I've read since Vurt. Very much worth a look if you like oddness.
It was very interesting, somewhat difficult to describe, and certainly strange. I found the last third a bit... baggy - as the world changes around the main characters, the story became quite drawn out and slow rather than a rush to a conclusion. I found the explanation of the main character's motivations a bit iffy, and some of the underlying issues of his survival in the weird zone introduced a bit late with a bit of an info dump, but one of the best framed info dumps I've read. I think some of my problems with it might be because the main character is a bit of a bastard, so it's hard to feel too sympathetic towards him.
I feel it has flaws, but was enjoyable and one of the most surreal, yet internally consistent, stories I've read since Vurt. Very much worth a look if you like oddness.
April 25, 2021
Un romanzo cyberpunk veramente interessante, volutamente spiazzante. In un paio di momenti il ritmo sembra calare, ma subito dopo un paio di colpi di scena a raffica rialzanno l'attenzione.
Chiaramente vuole essere anche una metafora della società americana degli anni '80, dove la TV e l'intrattenimento erano tutto o quasi, dove l'edonismo dominava a prescindere dalle conseguenze.
Il linguaggio è estremamente barocco e sboccato, i momenti cinici abbondano, tutto come dev'essere nei topoi del cyberpunk. Mi sono reso conto, a un certo punto, che non ho più l'età per un certo tipo di linguaggio, Non dico che mi disgusti o mi colpisca, semplicemente mi annoia.
Le Madlands sono una specie di realtà ricostruita dalle menti coscienti di umani legati in una rete psichica di qualche tipo e che si rifanno alla mitica Los Angeles degli anni '70 e '80. Come questo sia possibile non è spiegato nei dettagli, si fa riferimento a una guerra mondiale e il protagonista, alquanto antipatico come tutti i comprimari, ha una sua teoria ma semplicemente segue i suoi desideri. Chi resta nelle Madlands sviluppa una malattia, il multicancro, che porta a una trasformazione quando la persona non riesce a mantenere intatta la propria identità .
Tra cambi di corpi, co-protagonisti dall'improbabile esistenza e un cambio della realtà quasi inspiegato verso la fine, con un ritorno a un ambiente di inizi anni '30 da grande depressione, il romanzo giunge ad un finale che lascia molte domande senza risposta.
3 stelle
Chiaramente vuole essere anche una metafora della società americana degli anni '80, dove la TV e l'intrattenimento erano tutto o quasi, dove l'edonismo dominava a prescindere dalle conseguenze.
Il linguaggio è estremamente barocco e sboccato, i momenti cinici abbondano, tutto come dev'essere nei topoi del cyberpunk. Mi sono reso conto, a un certo punto, che non ho più l'età per un certo tipo di linguaggio, Non dico che mi disgusti o mi colpisca, semplicemente mi annoia.
Le Madlands sono una specie di realtà ricostruita dalle menti coscienti di umani legati in una rete psichica di qualche tipo e che si rifanno alla mitica Los Angeles degli anni '70 e '80. Come questo sia possibile non è spiegato nei dettagli, si fa riferimento a una guerra mondiale e il protagonista, alquanto antipatico come tutti i comprimari, ha una sua teoria ma semplicemente segue i suoi desideri. Chi resta nelle Madlands sviluppa una malattia, il multicancro, che porta a una trasformazione quando la persona non riesce a mantenere intatta la propria identità .
Tra cambi di corpi, co-protagonisti dall'improbabile esistenza e un cambio della realtà quasi inspiegato verso la fine, con un ritorno a un ambiente di inizi anni '30 da grande depressione, il romanzo giunge ad un finale che lascia molte domande senza risposta.
3 stelle
August 16, 2023
Jeter has stated Philip K. Dick was a major influence on his writing.
This book definitely hits some Phildickian notes, not just in terms of the wild, reality-warping storyline, the noir trappings, or the nefarious influence of corporations. Its the way the characters talk to one another. The humor laced through the horror and dingy ugliness of the pseudo-world the characters live in.
And also the fact that, like nearly all PKD's work, there's a surface level, but just underneath is a boiling cauldron of subtext. Same with "Badlands".
On the surface its a late 80s/early 90s cyberpunk/psychonaut trek through a fake-yet-real Los Angeles, projected by a being from another reality, pulling as many people into his literal web as possible, growing the illusion of a California that only ever existed in movies. If that description sells you, the book is for you.
But underneath that float all the wonderful questions the best speculative fiction poses: How solid is "reality" if one being can alter it so easily? Do the shades of reality we create have more substance to us than what truly happens? If a mind leaves one body and enters another, how is the ego maintained?
There are also more than a few decent moments of social commentary. And it was nice to see some truly horrible authoritarian murderers get exploded, turned into bugs, and have their skulls cave in on themselves.
4/5
This book definitely hits some Phildickian notes, not just in terms of the wild, reality-warping storyline, the noir trappings, or the nefarious influence of corporations. Its the way the characters talk to one another. The humor laced through the horror and dingy ugliness of the pseudo-world the characters live in.
And also the fact that, like nearly all PKD's work, there's a surface level, but just underneath is a boiling cauldron of subtext. Same with "Badlands".
On the surface its a late 80s/early 90s cyberpunk/psychonaut trek through a fake-yet-real Los Angeles, projected by a being from another reality, pulling as many people into his literal web as possible, growing the illusion of a California that only ever existed in movies. If that description sells you, the book is for you.
But underneath that float all the wonderful questions the best speculative fiction poses: How solid is "reality" if one being can alter it so easily? Do the shades of reality we create have more substance to us than what truly happens? If a mind leaves one body and enters another, how is the ego maintained?
There are also more than a few decent moments of social commentary. And it was nice to see some truly horrible authoritarian murderers get exploded, turned into bugs, and have their skulls cave in on themselves.
4/5
November 30, 2012
This is an ambitious book that falls short in a lot of ways.
The book follows the adventures of Trayne, choreographer for the boss of the Madlands' religious broadcasts. At the same time, he's running his own games and scams on the side.
The Madlands themselves are a strange zone of altered reality in the ruins of post-disaster LA. Historical and theatrical Los Angeles has come to life, driven mainly by a large archive deep in the Madlands themselves. Unfortunately, spending too much time in the Madlands has unpredictable effects.
For most of the book, this is a fine mixture of science fiction, noir crime novel, and off the wall weirdness. However, the ending is weak and there are a few things that never get explained on which the rest of the book hinges.
The book follows the adventures of Trayne, choreographer for the boss of the Madlands' religious broadcasts. At the same time, he's running his own games and scams on the side.
The Madlands themselves are a strange zone of altered reality in the ruins of post-disaster LA. Historical and theatrical Los Angeles has come to life, driven mainly by a large archive deep in the Madlands themselves. Unfortunately, spending too much time in the Madlands has unpredictable effects.
For most of the book, this is a fine mixture of science fiction, noir crime novel, and off the wall weirdness. However, the ending is weak and there are a few things that never get explained on which the rest of the book hinges.
June 7, 2014
So this was really strange and surreal, not super entertaining but the writing style was interesting so I wouldn't write it off as a complete loss. The ideas were pretty fresh too, it just didn't enrapture me.
February 15, 2016
Interesting but jumbled
The book seemed more like a sketch of ideas for a novel rather than a fully realized work. Every character could and should have been fleshed out in greater detail. I liked the idea, but overall it was a disappointment.
The book seemed more like a sketch of ideas for a novel rather than a fully realized work. Every character could and should have been fleshed out in greater detail. I liked the idea, but overall it was a disappointment.
July 14, 2013
Another great bit of pulp downtown LA cyberpunk. This fits in nicely with other Jeter cyberpunk novels like themGlass Hammer and Farewell Horizontal
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