A Non-Blurby Book Description
Yeah, we all know book blurbs, designed to grab your attention and get you to hit the BUY button. I've got a good blurb-writer, but maybe you want something a bit less blurby to help you understand this book. Read on!
This book is not a fluffy bit of escapist science fiction. It's not mile-a-minute action-packed thriller. Stylistically, it is more of a work of modern, mainstream fiction in the Dystopian paradigm.
What do I mean by that?
It means that the book is about the journey of the main character, Kim, as she changes and evolves in response to her experiences. The more she learns about her world and the life she is forced to live, the less content she becomes, and the less able she is to conform to its diktats. By the end of the story, she is at a very different place than when she started.
It is also about the society, and a corrupt power structure dominated by two all-powerful forces: the corporations and the UCE movement. The corporations are monopolies, each within their own industry: The Transportation Company. The Food Company. The Chit-Chat Company. They ruthlessly suppress competition, cooperating with each other to maintain their death-grip on the economy. The other power center the is UCE, a fanatical pseudo-religious movement with a corrupt, self-serving leadership that has long since abandoned the once-noble “Great Principles” of Unity, Community, and Equality, twisting them and turning them into a means of oppression.
At the heart of it all are the AIs, enigmatic beings who exist within the omnipresent virtual reality system, and who control every aspect of this technological society. They run the trains. They run the elevators. They even run your refrigerator. They know everything, see everything, and control everything. And they are obedient. Or are they? Everyone has heard about the ancient AI wars…
Did I mention that Kim works for The Artificial Intelligence Company?
The book is divided into three sections, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Each of them stands on its own as something of a self-contained novella, telling the story of a phase in Kim's journey.
Spring is a portrait of Kim as she is at the start of the book, and a portrait of the world through the eyes of an ordinary person. It seems comfortable enough, but starting on page 1 there will be things you should find disquieting. We learn a lot about Kim and the scars she bears. We learn a lot about society.
Summer is the start of the main plot arc. Kim is drawn into the proverbial belly of the beast. I can promise you some mind-bending experiences, with unique takes on Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, and the nature of existence itself. We see the world as it truly is, full of lies, illusion, tyranny, and cynicism.
Fall is the conclusion of it all. Kim continues to evolve, becoming less and less able to conform to what society demands of her. She finally reaches the breaking point, and the slide into the abyss begins.
Cheerful? No. This is dystopian fiction, and if you don't find parts of this book disturbing I haven't done my job. But this novel is a fundamental affirmation of the indomitable human spirit and our right to think for ourselves and define who we are. In the end, I think you will find it uplifting and inspirational!