In an exciting development that honestly we did not expect, Dream Theater‘s groundbreaking 1999 concept album “Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory” is set to be transformed into a full-length novel. Author Peter Orullian has taken on the task of adapting the album’s intricate narrative into prose form, working closely with the band to ensure the story’s integrity is maintained.
The novel’s release is timed to coincide with the album’s 25th anniversary, scheduled for October 26. Preorders are now open for two versions of the book—a rare collector’s edition, and a trade paperback edition. Note, the rare collector’s edition will be a very limited run, and only available through pre-order, which will run until the end of July 2024 or until we’ve maxed the print run, whichever comes first. Also, for those who would like a copy of either edition signed by the author, those are likewise only available via pre-order.
Details about the novel’s contents are still scarce, and we can’t help but wonder how certain musical elements will translate to the written word, as they might present a unique challenge in literary form.
Here’s a summary about the novel:
“Nicholas Santori, a sound engineer who specializes in audio recovery, has had troubling dreams all his life. With the anniversary of his daughter’s death, those dreams have gotten worse, threatening the stability of his family and perhaps his own safety. After receiving cryptic messages about his dreams from his clairvoyant son, Nicholas seeks help from an eccentric hypnotherapist with questionable intentions. During regression, Nicholas learns that in a former life, he was a young girl named Victoria Page, that she was murdered, and that her case was never truly solved. Believing he can end his nightmares if he can solve Victoria’s murder, he finds retired detective Colin Murphy, who’s been obsessed with Victoria’s case since he saw her lying dead seventy years ago in the house where Murphy now lives. Together, they hope to solve the cold case, while someone is desperately trying to stop them.”
“But solving the murder is only half the story. Who was Victoria Page? Who were the brothers who vied for her attention—one an addict, gambler, and idealist; the other a politician with connections to the mob and the infamous Bugsy Siegel? Who was their father—Metropolis’s most ruthless industrialist? And how did all these inextricably and dangerously connected lives lead to the murder of a caring young girl who did nothing but share her artistic gift and treat others with an uncommon grace?”
“Orullian deftly weaves the two sides of this interconnected story across the twentieth century. From nightmares, to zeppelins, to anechoic chambers, to train heists, to mafia hits, to speakeasies, to heartfelt conversations about loss, Orullian’s propulsive imagining of Dream Theater’s critically acclaimed album Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory is by turns thrilling, suspenseful, and poignant.”
