Official Blurb
Jules is a young man, barely a century old. He's lived long enough to see the cure for death and the end of scarcity, to learn ten languages and compose three symphonies...and to realize his boyhood dream of taking up residence in Disney World.
Disney World! The greatest achievement of the long-ago twentieth century. Now in the keeping of a network of "ad-hocs" who keep the classic attractions running as they always have, enhanced with only the smallest high-tech touches.
Now, though, the "ad-hocs" are under attack. A new group has taken over the Hall of the Presidents, and is replacing its venerable audioanimatronics with new, immersive direct-to-brain interfaces that give guests the illusion of being Washington, Lincoln, and all the others. For Jules, this is an attack on the artistic purity of Disney World itself.
Worse: it appears this new group has had Jules killed. This upsets him. (It's only his fourth death and revival, after all.) Now it's war...
My Review
I'm writing this just a few minutes after completeing this audio book. I've been in audio heaven. Firstly I really dig Cory Doctorow's sci fi stories, and secondly the reader is one of my all time fave's.
For blurb above gives you the idea of the story. Need has been defeated and the same with death itself. Cory has written a great novel while exploring the implications of no hunger and no death. He shows us what many would think of as a paradise, but he shows us the drama and pettiness that is still driving the human race.
The book starts very well, with introducing the environment and characters and then promptly killing the main character. Don't fret, he gets restored from a back up into a clone! So from this odd situation he dives into the human story and this is what really drives the story. Yes they are in the future and yes they do constantly engage with high tech gear but that is not the basis of the story.
The lead character finds himself driven to carry out some rather unfortunate actions but you the reader/listener are pulled along with him, and you totally understand why. Thats the heart of this excellent story, the characters, thier adventures and their journeys in a world gone sane!
Reading 3/3
Production 2/3
Story 3/3
Total Score 8/9
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