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The Escapist
The Escapist is set in an indeterminate future. Space travel seems to exist, but most of the action takes place on Earth. And there's plenty of action, too. From page one, the book races along with scarcely a pause for breath, and by the time you've finished you've been around the world, met numerous bizarre competing factions, and uncovered the plot behind the mysterious Mind Invasions. The storyline takes in locations as far afield as Egypt, Malaysia, Israel, Las Vegas, New York, and London. It almost seems like a travelogue of all the places the author has been in his life, except seen through a warped lens of cyberpunk fiction.
In fact, the story seems almost arbitrary, like it was written as a stream of consciousness. Think Beat Generation, but penned by a Jack Kerouac who's fascinated by computers rather than drugs, jazz and driving. Bentley Dean is carried along by the increasingly frantic stream of events, each one hitting him sideways. All is revealed at the end, but you still get the feeling that many situations occur with no rhyme or reason -- a bit like real life, only with more explosions.
The ideas about future technology in The Escapist can vary from insightful to mundane. The central theme of cryogenic sabbaticals is rather amusing, though. These could be described as "holidays on ice." And though this is clearly a cyberpunk novel, not much of it actually takes place in cyberspace --that's more of a recurring theme in the background. Most of the action occurs in the flesh. This is maybe a good thing, as the novel's description of using virtual reality to explore the human mind is a bit 20th century, perhaps as a deliberate lampoon of how dated films like The Lawnmower Man seem today.
But that doesn't really matter. Most of the time, this is a very funny book. It's full of one-liners which take the present day and twist it to its logical extremes, so you can see just how ridiculous it is. The moon, with its low gravity, becomes a refuge for the overweight. Pandas are saved from extinction by being genetically re-engineered to like eating hamburgers. A strip club is named after Pee-Wee Herman. Bentley buys a fashionable suit made of paper, only to find it too noisy for creeping around at night.
Some of these ideas will have you laughing out loud, although a few of the gags are very much for the geeks in the audience, like the Windows Bar and Grill which takes three attempts to get your order right. There are also plenty of embedded cultural references for film buffs to spot, including HAL, Yoda and even James Bond quotations. You cant help feeling at times that the plot is just there to serve the jokes.
But the book also has a serious side. There's a deeper theme about artificial intelligence, and each chapter is headed by a quasi-philosophical statement. Some of these will really get you thinking, and some are deliberately silly, just to catch you out. If you're interested in the whole question of whether or not computers could ever think like us, and what that would mean, theres food for thought here, hidden among the humour. The Escapist is a book which just doesn't stop hitting you with idea after idea, some of them serious and some intended entirely for darkly comic relief.
The Escapist's main fault is just this -- it tries to do too much in too few pages. It's so fast that at times you have trouble keeping up, and sometimes you wish the characters would just slow down and admire the scenery. And if you need a truly sympathetic character to relate to in your novels, you might find Bentley Dean is just too mean. He's also too much like a cross between James Bond and Kevin Mitnick. But if you have a perverse streak, and a penchant for satire, you'll like The Escapist. You may even wish it was a bit longer.
As well as being available in printed form, The Escapist can also be bought as a PDF direct from the website. And since the novel is published under a Creative Commons license, once you've got hold of one of these PDFs, you can share it around and print it out as much as you like. The cover art is well worth seeing on a real book, though -- it has an evocative mystery all of its own.
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This reveiw doesn't make me want to get it, I'm sure of that though.
My other car is a Popemobile
Reading this review is like seeing too many previews from a movie! you know you've seen all the good thing and it's pretty pointless to go see the movie.
In this case read that book!
O'Reilly has a number of good books that satisfy that requirement.
They arrested the code dudes in an operation sweeping the entire city. My Pocket Assistant beeped impetuously as Rodriguez dialled the tip-off pager number. Something heavy was going down. Nobody used those digits unless it was a dire emergency. I flipped the cover off the Phoenix handheld and studied the holographic touch screen. The message flashed across in chiselled 3D text:
Reading that doesn't fill me with any desire to read farther. I prefer my fiction to be about the people and the plot, not the gadgets and the buzzwords.
" Bentley Dean. He brings a certain charm to being a hacker with a cold-blooded killing streak." "
Sounds like a ripoff of Howard Dean, but a lot nicer.
"antihero" == "not remarkable", "not heroic".
An antihero would be a milquetoast everyman who doesn't do heroic things, or who has every good thing he tries to do turn out badly.
An example: "The cover art is well worth seeing on a real book, though -- it has an evocative mystery all of its own."
Care to describe that "evocative mystery" for us? I'm surprised that a review would mention something like that instead of just describing it. IMHO, this "review" reads more like a sales pitch, dancing around everything but saying nothing.
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"But you still can't help liking Bentley Dean. He brings a certain charm to being a hacker with a cold-blooded killing streak."
Yeah, there's nothing more charming than "being a hacker with a cold-blooded killing streak." Seriously, it's a real hit with the ladies and it's great for parties. I would know...I mean I wouldn't know. Shoot! They're on to me!
[sirens and breaking glass]
*escapes*
So, I agree: Sounds like a big "skip" to me. Which is too bad -- I've been looking for some new SciFi to read ever since I finished reading through the various works of Vernor Vinge earlier this year.
I read the Dan Simmons "Hyperion" series and found it extremely unsatisfying (a strong start followed by weaker and weaker storytelling). Read "Forge of God" by Greg Bear and it was decent, although the sequel was, in my opinion, lousy. I read "Forever War" by Joe Haldeman and found it entertaining enough, although "Forever Peace" was a struggle to even finish. Also read through a couple of other one-hit-wonder authors whose second and third books were rather Wachowski Brothers, if you catch my meaning.
I don't really know where to go from here. Once you polish off the classics and the hits, you're left with a couple of shelfs of books at Barnes and Noble that all have interesting looking covers and rave reviews on the back, but probably aren't all that good...
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
.. the first thought that came to my mind was that this is a book about vi, the editor.
It's just a nomenclature problem.
He said "...a hacker with a cold-blooded killing streak", but he meant "...a sysadmin with a cold-blooded killing streak", which is, of course, perfectly understandable and quite common.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
First, the protaginists name, Bentley Dean, leads me to believe that a prequal will at some point be writeen about this man's previous career in the adult film industry.
Two, this book is trying to be a movie. Morris cunningly creates a universe where space travel seems to exist, but most of the action takes place on Earth so he can have a future, cyber-punk, technothriller action movie without the big budget requirements that a space travel flick would demand.
Three, one area I wish the book would have explored more was Bentley Dean's (shudder) emotional side; what is driving this wonderful and delightfully animated character? Clearly he's been hurt in the adult film industry... used by so many men... that you'd think this subject matter would lay an interesting foundation and rationale for Dean's cold-blooded killing streak. I can understand how the author wouldn't want to cover some of the details of Dean's exploitation as they may be too close to some of his own experiences in the underground Mexican adult film industry.
One thing is clear, without RTFB I was able to see just how ridiculous it is and provide insightful karma-building comments to the rest of the community. I was however thrilled to read that
So, got out and buy it, spread it like a weed, and when you're done reading it feel free to read another wonderful book that is slightly more coherent and literarily pure.
"a hacker with a cold-blooded killing streak" - killed the whole idea of reading this book. It gave me the same feeling as when I heard Vin Deisel was going to be in a kids movie, it's just too far of a stretch for my imagination to take.
Ave Molech Setting
Tron? :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberpunk has plenty of other authors (most of which I've never read, since I'm pretty limited to gibson & stephenson myself for that genre).
Apparently computers are not a prerequisite so much as technology. In that case the Phillip K Dick I've read would fit (though it borders on regular Sci Fi). His work is stupendous in its abilities to create magnificent twists of philosophical (and not just technological) profundity.
The author(s) of that Wikipedia entry don't seem to require dystopia as a theme in cyberpunk; however can anyone think of any examples which aren't dark in their portrayal of technology's impact on the future?
digital artist, 3D animator, web designer, and otherwise technological creative type....
How about tad Williams's otherland!
He's not Super Hardcore geek guy! but i thought that his 4 books on VR gone crazy was good! it's a sci-fi fantasy novel though, not just techie stuff.
I really like this book, but since it was written in the 70's, the "hacking" may not be what you expect. However, this brings up a problem. Because these books have to envision a "cyberspace" of the future, it often ends up being more like the "holodeck" in Star Trek. And realistic "hacking" is really boring to read, even when writer knows anything about the subject. Have you tried the wikipedia? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shockwave_Rider
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signature_bloc
The best cyberpunk novel I have found is reality. My grandson tipped me off to the hellholes that are the GameFAQs.com discussion forums, so I started reading the postings there out of curiosity. Indeed, what I found there startled me.
The moderators were your average schoolyard bullies. The thugs who attack innocent people in the night. I'm thinking more along the lines of Clockwork Orange here. Not just physical attacks, but they partake in the worst sort of psychological perversions.
They are the stereotypical "cyberpunks": nerdy teens with the mentality of 12 year olds who are physically unable to be anything of importance in the non-Internet world, thus they become the punks of the Internet. And their presence really destroys the quality of the forums. But while the quality of the forums as a place for discussion is shitshot, the entertainment value rises immensely.
The best part is that I don't have to chip out a pence to read such novelry. The GameFAQs forums take the best of cyberpunk novels and combine them with an ever-changing reality.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
I am left with the distinct impression that there cannot be much depth (or character development) in the 167 pages that comprise this book. By the time you load it "full of one-liners" and punny place names all you probably have left is room for a dash of seriousness.
The story seems almost arbitrary...tries to do too much in too few pages
Virtual reality...artificial intelligence...technology ranging from insightful to mundane. And more explosions. Yea. Is the author hoping for a movie-rights deal?
One, your review does not encourage me to run out and grab this book. Two, why did you give this an 8?
There are plenty of books out there that are both short and good but, based upon your review, it seems that the author should have spent more time exploring one theme in a modicum of detail than attempt to pass off a screen-play treatment as a novel.
As well as being available in printed form, The Escapist can also be bought as a PDF direct from the website. And since the novel is published under a Creative Commons license, once you've got hold of one of these PDFs, you can share it around and print it out as much as you like.
This smacks of self- or vanity-publishing particularly when combined with the fact that "Ad Libbed, Ltd.", the listed publisher, has no web-presence that I could easily find. Sometimes self-publishing is the right way to go - most of the time it means you couldn't get anyone else to pick up your stuff. Based upon your review, it seems the reader would have been better served had the author turned his novella into a serial short and got it published in a sci-fi magazine or something.
If you're either looking for cyberpunk books to read, or have expert opinions about the genre, head over tow riters_and_works
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberpunk#Cyberpunk_
This book, The Escapist was self-published here. This site actually has an interview w/ the author (or hack whichever you prefer). Here are a few choice tidbits from the interview. My comments are added in italics
/.?
...send me some money...viral marketing ...
...I've had one review on a popular computing news website as well so far. Oh really, and where would you find editors of a popular computing news website lazy enough to publish said review... oh... sorry, silly question
What is the Escapist about?
It's an epic, picaresque tale, which I've somehow managed to squeeze into 168 pages. which the author later revealed took him 13 years to write... roughly 13 pages per year on the average.
Why did you decide to self publish your book?
I had tried sending The Escapist to a few agents. I'm sure if I'd carpet bombed all the relevant agencies I would eventually have found representation and some form of publishing deal. Sure you would have... well considering what they publish... you acutally might have But it could have taken ages, and I was confident my book was good enough for prime time. By prime time... you mean posting your own review on
You've taken a Creative Commons license. Why did you do that?
How are you going to market your book?
Well, I hope someone likes it. Read the PDF, burn a copy... to a CD or otherwise... and send this guy some money, but not enough to make him think about writing a follow up.
Tad needs to fire his editor. His novels tend to ramble on and on pointlessly. He has some really good ideas that translate fairly well on book form (although at times it feels like reading a summer action movie), but his books tend to bog down rather badly in the middle.
I read the internet for the articles.
As a fine art graduate student, I know something about art. That cover looks like what any 17-year old kid with access to softcore pr0n images and photoshop could produce in about 15 minutes.
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What drives me nuts about most sci fi, and one of the big reasons I stopped reading sci fi for a long time, is how they absolutely insist on putting little "look, it's future technology, see" signifiers on absolutely everything. Characters in sci fi novels never just take a piece of toast out of the toaster which, the writing somehow casually reveals, is for some dumb reason based on nanotechnology. No, they take a piece of toast out of the NanoToast.
It's like all the authors seem to be trying really hard to outline differences between the present and future in a casual and subtle way, so as to make the future seem simultaneously alien but immediate and real... but then they do it so bluntly and unsubtly it's just painful, jarring, and entirely anathemic to the idea of suspension of disbelief. And then they make this even worse by slapping stupid brand names on everything, brand names that would never catch on in real life. Like, "Phoenix handheld". Or "holographic touch screen". In a future where PDAs had holographic touch screens, nobody would ever, ever call them this except the manuals for the actual PDAs. We'd just call them screens.
Nobody in normal fiction insists on mentioning the brand name of every single product that passes before the reader, or adding adjectives to every object to make to note some specific new technology of the last ten years which they utilize. Why must science fiction? It's like trying to watch a movie where all the characters are walking around with NASCAR-style logos plastered all over their clothing.
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
For Christ's sake.
Could we please (and by "we", I mostly mean "you") stop complaining about grammar until we are innocent ourselves?
I seriously do not care, but:
"Antihero" in your sentence is missing an article; add an "an". "Scooby Doo" is a proper noun and thus requires capitalization. You use the wrong form of "sight".
Next, "Tragic Hero" is also missing an article. The article following the parentheses should not be capitalized. The word "villanious" really wants to be the word "villainous". Finally, "justify" does not agree with its third-person subject, "the end"; it should be "justifies".
I am a graduate student of English and I mispell words, too, whether through haste, substance abuse, distraction, whatever. Sometimes I use the incorrect words. Generally, though, when I try to lord my knowledge over someone, I try to be as correct as possible.
My point? Let he who is without blame...
Eventually (probably in a few decades) the new meaning comic books invented for "anti-hero" may have become prevalent enough that is becomes accepted as a standard definition. Currently it only exists in subculture.
If you want to prove I'm wrong, please site an actual academic source.
Well, if you check his email address, you'll see that the domain name is the publisher's domain name (tzero.demon.co.uk). So, yeah, pretty much.
This tough-but-fair reviewer apparently shares an e-mail address with the fabulous novelist James Morris, widely hailed author of The Escapist. I'm sure this is merely a coincidence and not the result of someone so completely lame that he had to review his own book in order to get anyone to say something positive about it.
The reviewer *is* the author ... it's just sad, isn't it?
Antihero: A protagonist who lacks one or more of the conventional qualities attributed to a hero. Instead of being dignified, brave, idealistic, or purposeful, the antihero may be cowardly, self-interested, alienated, or weak. Although instances of the antihero are sprinkled throughout literature since ancient times -- for instance, Cervantes' Don Quixote (1605) and Byron's Don Juan (1819-24) -- the antihero in the current sense is essentially a twentieth-century character. Their antiheroism tends to reflect the spiritual or social afflictions of modern man and woman -- atheism, loneliness, mistrust of authority, disillusionment with Western ideals. Posing a satiric or frank contrast to traditional portrayals of idealized heroes and heroines, antiheroes are figures of moral and psychological waywardness, and also of social and ethical criticism. Their oppositional nature stems not simply from within, but from the interaction of self and society; hence their failings point to themselves and to the worlds they inhabit. Modern examples range from Arthur Miller's Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman (1949) to the sex-crazed Jewish adolescent in Philip Roth's Portnoy's Complaint (1969).
From "Handbook of Literary Terms: Literature, Language, Theory." X.J. Kennedy et al. 2005.