Book Review: Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
One of the things I want to do more of this year is read, so here I am, reviewing a book! It's short, and I read it on my phone, so I don't know the correct page count.
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom (Download link here). Cory Doctorow allows free downloads of this story, and several others, through Creative Commons, which he (clearly) enthusiastically supports.
Anyway, on to the actual book.
So, the book is good, but it left me feeling unsatisfied. It's short, which isn't bad, especially given the current trend towards 500 pound page monstrosities, each part of a trilogy of trilogies. A nonology? Whatever.
In this story, Doctorow postulates a Post Scarcity society, one in which clone bodies can be, and are, force grown and personalities can be, and are, transferred from one body to another - so if your body dies, say, or if you have a cold, you can simply have a clone grown and change bodies. There is a fully-integrated network, including mental connection, so sensible people back themselves up all the time.
The other important part of the world is that everything is run by adhocracy rather than the standard current bureaucracies. This has led to a merit based society, with a 'currency' that's based exclusively on Whuffie. Whuffie is, essentially, points a person has based on what other people think of them. There's a lot online about Whuffie and how it's set up and how it works. Everyone in this society can get food and transportation and shelter. Just, if you have high Whuffie levels, you get the better stuff and you get faster access. If you have low Whuffie, you, well, don't.
Anyway, Julius, the main character, who's not always likeable, lives and works at Disney World in Florida. He's part of the ad hoc group which works on the Haunted Mansion. His girlfriend, a girl who's much younger than he, works in the Hall of Presidents, which has worked hard to remain animatronic and resist being re-created as a purely electronic experience.
Julius gets murdered (and refreshed) and is convinced he was murdered by a rival ad hoc, which has taken over the Hall of Presidents during the confusion surrounding his death. This ad hoc is led by Debra, who was friends with Julius's girlfriend Lil's parents, who were part of the original ad hoc in Disney World. In his attempts to protect the Haunted Mansion from "hostile takeover", he damages his personal network interface, ruins most of his personal relationships and loses everything.
Then, suddenly, there's Happy-ish Ending.
The thing is, there's no lead up to the ending, there's no set up for it, it just ... happens. Which is, well, disappointing. I love the ideas given; the post-scarcity society is something I've read a few books about and set in, and everyone has a different take on it, which is good. Whuffie currency is thought provoking, given our current social-media culture.
The characters, unfortunately, don't support the worldbuilding. I wanted them to be much stronger. Their 'bones' were fine, but they seemed thin to me. As the viewpoint character, Jules is most familiar to us. Some of his characterization makes me think he's got Aspergian traits, but they're not explored. Also, there's tension between Lil and her parents, especially her mother, and it's again, not explored. In an odd way, that tension is a large part of the denouement of the story and it's ... not discussed.
I've written successful NaNoWriMo stories, though, and this felt like it suffered from the common issue at the end of a NaNo - there's a period at the beginning, where you set up the story and you spend lots of time on the Ideas, then somewhere about the middle, you start rushing and skipping things and then, at the end, in the last few days, you just end it. Whatever it takes, you'll do it, just to get to the end.
Don't get me wrong, I like the story and I think it's interesting and I enjoyed reading it and I'll read more of his stories, but this one left me frustrated.
There. My first review. *pats it* I'm so proud.
Stasia
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom (Download link here). Cory Doctorow allows free downloads of this story, and several others, through Creative Commons, which he (clearly) enthusiastically supports.
Anyway, on to the actual book.
So, the book is good, but it left me feeling unsatisfied. It's short, which isn't bad, especially given the current trend towards 500 pound page monstrosities, each part of a trilogy of trilogies. A nonology? Whatever.
In this story, Doctorow postulates a Post Scarcity society, one in which clone bodies can be, and are, force grown and personalities can be, and are, transferred from one body to another - so if your body dies, say, or if you have a cold, you can simply have a clone grown and change bodies. There is a fully-integrated network, including mental connection, so sensible people back themselves up all the time.
The other important part of the world is that everything is run by adhocracy rather than the standard current bureaucracies. This has led to a merit based society, with a 'currency' that's based exclusively on Whuffie. Whuffie is, essentially, points a person has based on what other people think of them. There's a lot online about Whuffie and how it's set up and how it works. Everyone in this society can get food and transportation and shelter. Just, if you have high Whuffie levels, you get the better stuff and you get faster access. If you have low Whuffie, you, well, don't.
Anyway, Julius, the main character, who's not always likeable, lives and works at Disney World in Florida. He's part of the ad hoc group which works on the Haunted Mansion. His girlfriend, a girl who's much younger than he, works in the Hall of Presidents, which has worked hard to remain animatronic and resist being re-created as a purely electronic experience.
Julius gets murdered (and refreshed) and is convinced he was murdered by a rival ad hoc, which has taken over the Hall of Presidents during the confusion surrounding his death. This ad hoc is led by Debra, who was friends with Julius's girlfriend Lil's parents, who were part of the original ad hoc in Disney World. In his attempts to protect the Haunted Mansion from "hostile takeover", he damages his personal network interface, ruins most of his personal relationships and loses everything.
Then, suddenly, there's Happy-ish Ending.
The thing is, there's no lead up to the ending, there's no set up for it, it just ... happens. Which is, well, disappointing. I love the ideas given; the post-scarcity society is something I've read a few books about and set in, and everyone has a different take on it, which is good. Whuffie currency is thought provoking, given our current social-media culture.
The characters, unfortunately, don't support the worldbuilding. I wanted them to be much stronger. Their 'bones' were fine, but they seemed thin to me. As the viewpoint character, Jules is most familiar to us. Some of his characterization makes me think he's got Aspergian traits, but they're not explored. Also, there's tension between Lil and her parents, especially her mother, and it's again, not explored. In an odd way, that tension is a large part of the denouement of the story and it's ... not discussed.
I've written successful NaNoWriMo stories, though, and this felt like it suffered from the common issue at the end of a NaNo - there's a period at the beginning, where you set up the story and you spend lots of time on the Ideas, then somewhere about the middle, you start rushing and skipping things and then, at the end, in the last few days, you just end it. Whatever it takes, you'll do it, just to get to the end.
Don't get me wrong, I like the story and I think it's interesting and I enjoyed reading it and I'll read more of his stories, but this one left me frustrated.
There. My first review. *pats it* I'm so proud.
Stasia