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Docile
- Narrated by: Mark Sanderlin, Vikas Adam
- Length: 16 hrs and 32 mins
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Docile
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Summary
K. M. Szpara's Docile is a science fiction parable about love and sex, wealth and debt, abuse and power, a challenging tour de force that at turns seduces and startles.
There is no consent under capitalism.
To be a Docile is to be kept, body and soul, for the uses of the owner of your contract. To be a Docile is to forget, to disappear, to hide inside your body from the horrors of your service. To be a Docile is to sell yourself to pay your parents' debts and buy your children's future.
Elisha Wilder’s family has been ruined by debt, handed down to them from previous generations. His mother never recovered from the Dociline she took during her term as a Docile, so when Elisha decides to try and erase the family’s debt himself, he swears he will never take the drug that took his mother from him.
Too bad his contract has been purchased by Alexander Bishop III, whose ultra-rich family is the brains (and money) behind Dociline and the entire Office of Debt Resolution. When Elisha refuses Dociline, Alex refuses to believe that his family’s crowning achievement could have any negative side effects - and is determined to turn Elisha into the perfect Docile without it.
Content warning: Docile contains forthright depictions and discussions of rape and sexual abuse.
A Macmillan Audio production from Tor.com
Critic reviews
"Don't call K.M. Szpara's Docile a dystopia. This book is something much stranger and yet closer to our own reality. Szpara has an amazing gift for immersing us in a world of exploitation and unbearable tenderness, and making it feel familiar and inescapable. Reading Docile changed me and left me with a new awareness of the structures of oppression that surround me. This book is an unforgettable story of human connection and the struggle to remain yourself in a world of debtors and creditors." (Charle Jane Anders)
"If you're not careful, this disturbing, sexy, disturbingly sexy book will infect your brain, and you'll start wondering whether its miserable world is very different from our own, and how much choice any of us really have in this capitalist hellscape where so many of our options are set at birth. And then you might want to do something about it." (Sam J. Miller)
"An unputdownable scifi dystopian erotica human rights masterpiece reminiscent of The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty - but this time, the beauty fights back." (Delilah S. Dawson)
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What listeners say about Docile
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Alison
- 06-07-20
Absolutely brilliant!
I was worried at first about the reviews but so glad I gave it a go! This was fabulous! Excellent writing, lovely story telling and an interesting way of talking about consent, capitalism and relationships. Would definitely recommend and Ill probably re-listen at some point. try it!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lisa
- 09-03-20
Brilliantly Unique Story
Docile is unlike any book I've read before. A dual narrative following the story of Elisha Wilder as he tries to pay off his families debt by becoming the docile of Alex Bishop III, CEO of the company who made dociline, a medication used to sedate dociles and make their terms "easier". However, when Elisha refuses dociline, Alex must find other ways to ensure control.
An interesting and encapsulating narrative on capitalism, consent and society. I couldn't stop listening to Docile, engaged completely in both of the characters journeys. Would strongly recommend reading!
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Peter
- 26-05-20
Not to my taste
Promising storyline but explicit gay sex scenes not to my taste. Couldn't finish the book.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- dreamyescapist
- 21-04-21
A waste of great narrators
I am not saying it isn't an enjoyable listen, as the narrators do a fantastic job, but the story they must convey is trite and simplistic at best and their performance can salvage only as much. The premise is promising and interesting, but its complexity proved too much for the author, who slipped to two dimensionality and simplistic dichotomies, and who just can't write a genuinely good prose. The depths of an intriguing concept remain unexplored, butchered even, and a handful of sweet moments when you are tempted to feel for the characters do not make up for it. If you want a real dystopia, go for a Margaret Atwood, if you want a sweet m/m romance, go for The Binding or a Natasha Pulley, if you want a shameless m/m smut, go for your favourite fanfiction - you will get it there for free. Will not relisten, as I would probably have to stab my ears.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Andrew
- 26-04-20
Unbelievable premise
Gave up. Storyline too weak for me SPOILER : Wealthy man buys a toy boy for 30 years, for millions. Why not employ someone or get a rental..you going to keep a 50 year old toy boy?
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