I am grateful for the opportunity to read this book early from NetGalley! I listened to the audiobook and give it 3 stars. This sci-fi novel is really interesting but that is unfortunately also it's demise as there are too many things going on.

The three main storylines are as follows:
1-There is a multiverse aspect but the story takes place in a universe where the world is one giant building with thousands of floors connected by many elevators and stairs, each floor being a different biome and a different home to different species.
2-There is the political part of the story, where there is an association that has control over most of the floors. There are also some battles between the different species trying to eliminate eachother.
3-The other main storyline is that of how some people are creating the floors and the universe as it goes and can travel through time and predict / control the future.

The story follows three protagonists, of different species, going through these storylines and you get all their different perspectives. It is a lot to take in and I must admit that until about the 60% mark I barely had an idea of what was going on.

I had a hard time growing attached to the characters especially considering how you were only with each protagonist for a short amount of time before there was another perspective switch.

The audiobook had its flaws with the volume going up and down and the characters having such uncommon names it made it hard to follow, names were such as Allegory, Rindasay, Epiphany, etc. I am positive it would not have been an issue if someone were to read those names instead of hearing them.

Now, onto the good! I saved the best for last; this story is actually interesting!!! All the ideas were unique and captivating and the characters have cool powers. I would definitely follow a series of stories happening in the building! This story would make a great tv series as well!

Like Battle of the Linguist Mages this seemed to be the perfect book for me. I was looking forward to the audiobook ARC and when I got to it I basically listened to the whole book in one very long session. For one, the book is massive. Also, I was certain should I put it down, I wouldn’t pick it up again.

It was interesting and I kept waiting for the weird to unfold and make sense, but –here’s the rub- the ending unfolded the weird but left me unsatisfied. All that – slow info-dumps to get the world-building across and fast paced action scenes – for a rather lame ending. I wish there had been a tiny bit “more” here, though I am not sure how this more could have looked liked.

To sum this up: It’s a wild ride with Sci-Fi and Fantasy elements and I have the feeling that I didn’t truly understand what this genre-bender was about, or that I missed some critical information.

Aunque mi primera experiencia con Scotto Moore fue decepcionante, le reconozco la extraordinaria capacidad imaginativa que puebla sus páginas, ya que es capaz de lanzar ideas aparentemente inconexas y conseguir un discurso más o menos coherente. Me lo imagino cogiendo esos dados para crear historias y lanzando toda su colección a la vez para luego meterlo todo en la batidora, a ver qué sale.


En el caso de Wild Massive, el experimento sale bien. Toda la novela se emplaza en un edificio de dimensiones desconocidas, en el que cada piso es un reino distinto, a los que se va accediendo por los ascensores. Es un multiverso ad hoc, para uso y disfrute del autor. Moore utiliza mucha tecnojerga para darle una pátina de ciencia ficción pero estamos ante una novela claramente fantástica, donde la magia tiene un importante papel en el desarrollo de la trama. También lleva a cabo un juego metaficcional interno, ya que en los parques de atracciones en los que se desarrolla gran parte de la novela también se está ficcionando eventos que ocurrieron realmente en el pasado, dando lugar a una reconstrucción de la realidad de la mano de la ficción. Es un “la historia la escriben los vencedores” supervitaminado.

Desde luego, hay que entrar en el juego del autor desde el principio y encender la suspensión de la incredulidad para poder disfrutar de una novela tan alocada como esta. Y eso que, a pesar de todo, también tiene sus mensajes contra el totalitarismo y en general contra las intervenciones armadas, pero todo se diluye un poco ante el aluvión de cosas sorprendentes que nos bombardean desde cada página (máquinas del tiempo portátiles, poderes psíquicos, adivinación del futuro al escribir un diario, cambiaformas… por poner unos ejemplos).

La labor de la lectora del audiolibro, Suzy Jackson, es encomiable, dando voz propia a la panoplia de personajes que desfilan por sus páginas y sin dejarse llevar por la vorágine en la que se convierte en ocasiones el libro.

Es difícil condensar una novela tan repleta de contenido como es Wild Massive y no engañaré a nadie si indico que hay que entrar en su juego para poder disfrutarla. Así que, si te apetece leer algo bastante alocado, que en ocasiones recuerda a Jasper Fforde desatado, este es tu libro.

thank you to netgalley, the author and publisher for an advanced audio version for a unbiased review

3.5 out of 5 stars
i loved the tone and prose of the story however... its waaay too stuffed with interwoven plot threads and characters to the point there were many times i had only the vaguest idea of who what doing what for X reasons. character names, while quirky and unique, also made it hard to remember one entity from another. also the rules for the world built seemed to swing wildly not staying consistent.

that said the parts i did follow i enjoyed greatly and the narrator does a fabulous job with the material. probably this work would be best served as a 500 page anthology of different characters and situations set in the wild massive world rather than trying to tie them all together as done here.

By the description of the book, I thought I was going to love it. However, I’m afraid that wasn’t the case here.
The story is a mix of sci-fi and fantasy, and it has some interesting ideas. But my main problem is that it was way too much. In some parts, it felt like the author used all of his ideas and wanted to pack them in just one book. Unfortunately, I don’t think it worked well. The narrative felt disconnected in parts, and it didn’t allowed the characters to have a proper development.
Still, the author somehow managed to keep me reading until the end, even though sometimes I was lost and wondering what was going on.
Despite all of this, I don’t think it’s a terrible book. But I wish the author would have focused on less ideas instead of throwing them all in the plot.

A true melting pot of science fiction and fantasy concepts. The plot tackled a ton all at once, and I didn’t get a good handle on it while listening. Characters were fun, but some of their arcs were underdeveloped or unresolved (even for a book that seems like it will be a series). This felt a bit like a first draft to me, a think a lot could have been iron out in editing. So much creativity went into this story. Moore shows incredible talent, if a bit raw, and I’m excited to see what they produce in the future.

Thank you Scotto Moore, NetGalley, and RB Media for my audio advanced review copy. My opinions are my own.

Wild Massive was published on February 6th, 2023.

Plot - 3
Writing and Editing - 4
Character Development - 3
Narration - 5
Personal Bias - 4
Final Score - 3.8

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Scotto Moores book Wild Massive is capturing and mindblowing! The world building (it has multiple of them!) is really detailed and complex. Readers get introduction to different worlds, species, political agendas and even time/space travels. This book kept me on my toes since plot twists were appearing one after the other and the story line was always in action. I especially enjoyed that we got a lot of backstories-even the minor characters seemed to be well developed. My only issue was that at some points the writing was a bit too complicated and such I had to re-listen to sections multipe times.

A great choice for sci-fi lovers that want adventure and amazing worldbuilding!

Obvious that the author is a great writer with a creative mind, but they attempted to squeeze too much into one novel. Might have been more effective to tease out some of the ideas and make this into a series of some sort. Also, I understand the need for story/plot jumps to provide supporting details and history, but there was so many jumps in addition to constantly having to explain a new concepts. It was really hard to keep up, especially as an audio. Perhaps better if reading a hard copy book so one could go back and reference ideas and visualize peculiar words and names?

Example: the idea of the various elevators, levels, worlds and theme parks within levels was abstract but manageable. Then throw in how they open and don’t open; mapped and unmapped, hidden elevators and their operators… still a little bit of a headache to picture, but again, manageable. Now add in a slew of characters with unique names, new species with various magical abilities, multiple agencies in conflict, time jumps… it was just too much. I was bogged down with far too much information, but not in a way that ever gave full clarity to a concept.

Another critique is the how things were explained. Yes, concepts were explained and details were given, but always seemed after the fact. They would use something like The Association or Wild Mega a few times before explaining what it was. Very confusing and far too complex to be smashed into one book.

I was unfortunately unable to finish given my above points. If the novel was shorter I would have powered through, but having completed almost 5 hours of listening (with 11 hours to go) and still not fully grasping a plot, I just could not commit to finishing amongst all the confusion and frustration I was feeling.

Nope. I could NOT get into this one. Too much information thrown at you all at once. Interdimensional skyscraper and people live in elevators? WHAT??
Then add in the xer xe kinda pronouns mixed in with normal pronouns and a forced romance that made zero sense while basically infiltrating and/or avoiding the mob?

In an amusement park?
With a cloudlet?

Dude...my brain hurts. No.

This was a strangely genre-bending story. A dystopia sci-fi fantasy multiverse. I enjoyed the audiobook, but I think without it I may have ended up DNFing it.

I found that there were far too many perspective characters, and because there was only one narrator, it was hard to keep track of who was who. It definitely would have benefited from multiple voice actors.

But the characters themselves were fascinating to follow, complex people with complicated motivations that all interlocked so well. It was really nice to see a sci-fi that followed female characters who were actually interesting -- not intentionally overwhelmingly feminine, just good well-written characters who happen to be female.

The author was very skilled at breaking the fourth wall and discussing narrative elements, which as a writer myself, I definitely enjoyed that.

However, the writing style was overly pretentious and complicated, and was at times hard to understand.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Wild and fresh, I enjoyed this Pratchett-esque Scifi romp way more than I thought I would.

Set mainly in a building that essentially is a limitless skyrise for connections between planes of existence on the multiverse (if you're still here, it makes sense...), there is a little bit of everything for diverse readers... action, adventure, mystery, shapeshifters, intruige, prophecy (in the form of a Pulp novel being written)... I could go on.

Or, just read it. This one is almost impossible to describe!

My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Scotto Moore has become a narrative force. He first was on my radar from his music-blogger based horror novella Your Favorite Band Cannot Save You which struck a strong chord with me as a former music blogger myself. So I was a bit taken aback with the experience of reading his prior release Battle of the Linguist Mages which was a crazy glitter-punk-MMORPG slash world-ending-interdimensional-apocalyspe story. The way he consistently twists and turns the narrative is equal parts disorienting and compelling and Wild Massive is no different.

The sections of the book are broken into ‘Seasons’ and the chapters into ‘Episodes’ (fun-fact, author Scotto Moore spent many years as a playwright prior to writing) so you’ll see the story from multiple perspectives and storylines, and things move fast.

Our crew of characters include the ‘Building’ first of all. Carissa, who is an elevator dwelling loner-telepath searching for her long lost brother. Rindasay, a shape shifing Shai-Manak sorcerer. The Association, who maintain parts of the Building and are enemies to the Shai-Manak, and a team of narrative designers for a fictional hit-tv series called Storm and Desire.

The books opens as Carissa befriends Rindasay – a defector who wants to meet with the Association. We travel through the eponymous Wild Massive amusement park and learn about the elevators and the ‘cloudlets’ that operate them. What evolves as the book progresses are threats of war and unrest amongst the people of the building.

What transpires is difficult to put in any simple terms. This story will challenge the readers to grapple with the constant flow of shifting narratives and expansive settings while also sprinkling you with rewarding dialog, action, and enjoyable characters.

It’s all quite fitting as the story feels like it’s been plucked from the grounds of some trans-dimensional mega-amusement park. You enter a mysterious never-ending building, buckle in, and while you’re content speeding through the twist and turns filled with glee when suddenly the bottom drops out from under you, you’ve gained someone else’s despairing memories, and the person sitting next to you is now an amorphous shapeshifting winged android with a bomb inside it.

In the words of famous spacetime explorer Nicholas Solitude: “Life is wasted if you always know what happens next.”

Wild Massive is an outlandish inter-dimensional sci-fi fever dream and lives up to it’s title in every way and sure to be unlike anything you’ve read before.

Wild Massive is a really appropriate title for this book. There are so many big, crazy ideas in this book that it definitely lives up to the name. Unfortunately that's also part of the problem. Too many big ideas all smushed together and forced to coincide in a single novel so none of them gets room to breathe. I think the author had the ability to tell a good story for all these ideas, but didn't have the room. It ended up just not being enough of anything, and overall a disappointment. But for the ideas and the obvious writing talent behind them, I'm comfortable bumping my rating up to 3.5