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The PopCult Bookshelf

utopiates_v1The folks at AudioComics have a Kickstarter initiative to fund a very cool and ambitious adaptation of “The Utopiates,” a 2012 graphic novel Written by Josh Finney and drawn by Kat Rocha with her co-artist Josh Finney. This is a great science fiction story about a drug that gives the person who takes it the memories of someone else. This can be a better life, or a much worse one. Let’s quote from the Kickstarter page…

“In the near future, science is able to distill human personalities into a drug-form. Called utopiates—a merging of the words utopia and opiate—these drugs allow users to swap personalities with the “mental imprints” of other people. Every user has his or her own reasons for seeking chemical escape, but all soon learn the high price of “soul swapping.” At its core, Utopiates is an unflinching portrayal of human behavior at its most extreme. The first chapter of the Utopiates graphic novel can be read free online HERE.

“Created in the spirit of William Gibson and Phillip K. Dick, Utopiates portrays a gene-spliced tomorrow that falls in a dark territory between Blade Runner and The Wire. Based on the hit graphic novel by Josh Finney and Kat Rocha, the Utopiates audio drama will be a full-cast adaptation of the book, produced by AudioComics and starring Denise Poirier, best known as the voice of MTV’s Æon Flux.”

In the past, AudioComics has released some terrific audio recreations of comic books and graphic novels that basically turn them into high-quality, modern versions of the types of radio dramas that listeners thrilled to in the 1930s and 40s. I’ve raved about their recordings of “The Perhapnauts,” “The Battle For L.A.,” and “Starstruck” here in PopCult, and it’ll be great to hear what they do with “The Utopiates.” Check out the promo video…

If that sounds like something you’d like to hear, kick in to the campaign. There are a variety of reward levels with plenty of goodies available…