The Escapist 197
| The Escapist | |
| author | James Morris |
| pages | 167 |
| publisher | Ad Libbed Ltd |
| rating | 8 |
| reviewer | Stanislav Blingstein |
| ISBN | 1905290055 |
| summary | Cyberpunk with a darkly satirical edge |
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.
Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
What was the recommendation? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:What was the recommendation? (Score:2)
Sometimes I wish my head had ctrl-z.
Cyberspace? (Score:1)
Books such as SnowCrash and Neuromancer were great but other 'cyberpunk' books i read have very little to do with cyberspace and more to do with the dystopian future. Yes yes i know thats the cyberpunk theme, but really i want books that involve hacking etc that wont cost 80 bucks.
Here you go. (Score:3, Funny)
O'Reilly has a number of good books that satisfy that requirement.
Re:Here you go. (Score:5, Informative)
Mindplayers by Cadigan (sort of)
Islands in the Net by Sterling
Holy Fire by Sterling
Burning Chrome (short story) by Gibson
Cyberpunk (short story) by Bruce Bethke
City Come A Walkin' by John Shirley (if by "cyberspace" you mean a proto-network comprised of anthropomorphised city-AIs, and if by "hacking" you mean said city-AIs messing around with the real world via this network)
Eclipse trilogy by John Shirley (a lot of dystopian, but a fair amount of "hacking" and man-machine interfaces, which might interest you)
That's all I've got for now.
Where's Neuromancer (Bruce Sterling) !? [nt] (Score:2)
Re:Here you go. (Score:2)
Honestly, the only novel of Cadigan's I've enjoyed is Mindplayers. Synners is sitting on my shelf somewhere, and I've got a short story collection of hers collecting dust as well.
Re:Here you go. (Score:2)
Agreed, but very little hacking, and not everyone's cup of tea.
Re:Here you go. (Score:2)
Re:Here you go. (Score:2, Informative)
FWIW, she did the novelization of the Lost In Space movie as well, but I've not read it.
Re:Here you go. (Score:3, Informative)
John Brunner: Shockwave Rider, sort of... (Score:2)
Re:Here you go. (Score:2)
Crash Park by Lasiter
Electrons Never Sleep and Neither Do I by Buldonsol
Control Protocol by Charles
Sunspot Redux: 2098 by Charles
The Coretropic Analysis Trilogy by Nevels (book 1 is slow, book 3 is worth it)
Crime is not Crime in Cyberspace by Terry
Love is still Love in Cyberspace by Terry
Death Undone by Terry (a fave of mine)
Reduction Chronicles by Mulstoy
All of these are fictional works... literally.
Re:Cyberspace? (Score:2)
Re:Cyberspace? (Score:2)
Re:Cyberspace? (Score:2, Insightful)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberpunk [wikipedia.org] 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 do
Re:Cyberspace? (Score:2)
But generally, you're right. If a novel takes a positive approach to technology, chances are it's run-of-the-mill sf rather than CP.
Re:Cyberspace? (Score:2)
Great, I just started reading this. Where was the spoiler alert! ;)
Re:Cyberspace? (Score:2)
Re:Cyberspace? (Score:2)
Re:Cyberspace? (Score:3, Insightful)
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.
Re:Cyberspace? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Cyberspace? (Score:2)
Trust me, this book is exactly what you are looking for.
Re:Cyberspace? (Score:2)
Vernor Vinge's novella "True Names".
Re:Cyberspace? (Score:2)
This alien Shore (Score:2)
Re:Cyberspace? (Score:2)
Here's a great sample short story [kithrup.com] to get an idea of how he writes. Here [kithrup.com]'s a bunch of links to other free-to-read fiction of his.
too much (Score:3, Insightful)
In this case read that book!
Gadget Filled (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:Gadget Filled (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Gadget Filled (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Gadget Filled (Score:2)
Re:Gadget Filled (Score:3, Funny)
Images of screwing a pager fill my head. Shocking, really.
"An urban legend come true. You complete the jigsaw puzzle to discover it is a picture of yourself, finishing that same puzzle. A mad, green-eyed killer behind you."
Re:Gadget Filled (Score:2, Insightful)
>
> Reading that doesn't fill me with any desire to read farther. I prefer my fiction to be about the people and th
Looks familiar (Score:2)
What you quoted could have been an excerpt from that, except for the first-person narrative and no reference to anything Japanese.
Re:Looks familiar (Score:2)
Re:Looks familiar (Score:2)
Right. The audio book was a "novelization" of the screenplay. That means they added a bunch of descriptive narration to the screenplay that the movie didn't need, because it had pictures.
I think it's still in the car
"Johnny Mnemonic
Re:Looks familiar (Score:2)
Re:Looks familiar (Score:2)
I think it's still in the car ... ah, yes.
That's handy. It saves time when you finally decide to drive over it.
Re:Gadget Filled (Score:4, Informative)
In the first sentence, the narrator knows what is "going down," but in the third he does not. The second sentence is a mess. Is Rodriguez right there in the room dialing up the narrator's pager? And by the fourth sentence, Rodriguez has been demoted from token minority programmer to "nobody." Then in the fifth sentence, "Pocket Assistant" confusingly turns into "Phoenix handheld." Presumably, back in sentence two, he meant "pocket assistant" and not "Pocket Assistant."
What drives me nuts about most sci fi (Score:3, Insightful)
It's like all the authors seem to be trying really hard
Re:What drives me nuts about most sci fi (Score:2)
I would think journals or even stories give more clues to non hip/techies what a blog is...
I thought podcasts were some sort of wireless thingy for iPods for a long time, till someone suggested adding it to Opera and I finally asked what the heck it was, to find out it's a radio program...
Re:Gadget Filled (Score:3, Interesting)
The Deliverator belongs to an elite order, a hallowed subcategory. He's got esprit up to here. Right now, he is preparing to carry out his third mission of the night. His uniform is black as activated charcoal, filtering the very light out of the air. A bullet will bounce off its arachnofiber weave like a wren hitting a patio door, but excess perspiration wafts through it like a breeze through a freshly napalmed forest. Where his body has bony extremities, the suit has s
Re:Gadget Filled (Score:2)
Re:Gadget Filled (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Gadget Filled (Score:2)
Worse still, 'activated charcoal' is the stuff they use in Odor Eaters(!)
Was this meant to be funny?
Re:Gadget Filled (Score:2)
As far as I'm concerned, "The message flashed across in chiselled 3D text" was bad enough on its own.
Cheesey, derivative sci-fi always has to have cheesey, derivative sci-fi stylings. I mean, aren't people going to want to read using a "normal" typeface in the future? Anyone with half a brain will have figured out that stylised typefaces like that will be a PITA to use for any length of time. Heck, I don't even like reading novels that use s
Re:Gadget Filled (Score:4, Insightful)
Not necessarily, but that's not the point. It's not the exact content of the first paragraph, it's the way it's written. It seems that the author isn't very good. What I mean is, he doesn't know how to describe things. Therefore he just throws adjectives and names all over the place without any thought as to the result.
You can describe things, and you can mention doing things, but when you combine them the result is often a disaster. No offence to the author, but it's like the sort of think you get from a 10 year old who's learning to write stories, and has just been taught about adjectives:
"Bob got up from the big black chair. He walked across the blue carpet and opened the small wooden door with the shiny brass handle. He walked into the wide long dark corridor with a wooden floor..."
Also the use of 'impetuously' is completely incongruent. The style of the writing seems to be a very casual one, i.e. the narrator isn't exactly eloquent, he uses a lot of slang, probably with some sort of strong accent. But then someone like that wouldn't say 'impetuously'. When you're writing from the perspective of the narrator, you have to keep the style of writing congruent with the character. Otherwise someone reading it will feel that something isn't right, even if they don't know what it is. Like a bacon sandwich with coffee on it.
I'm afraid that the reason this author is effectively giving the book away is that it's no good. You can't judge a book by its cover, but you if the writing in the first paragraph is of a schoolboy level, the rest probably isn't going to be any better.
Re:Gadget Filled (Score:2)
One of the funniest examples of this was Marvin Minsky's attempt at fiction the "Turing Option" which actually came out in the 90's I believe.
Re:Gadget Filled (Score:2)
"Impetuously [reference.com]" is not really a supportable adverb, here, regardless of characterization. Would a telephone in this world ring recklessly? Would a siren have a cavalier wail?
Another thing that bugged me was the way the narration insisted on explaining the "pocket assistant" so much -- just refer to "my Phoenix hand-held" as though it's really something the character would be carrying around as a matter of course. Context makes it clear that it's a
Like Howard Dean? (Score:4, Funny)
Sounds like a ripoff of Howard Dean, but a lot nicer.
Re:Like Howard Dean? (Score:2)
"It's best not to know how laws, or sausages, are made."
-
Re:Like Howard Dean? (Score:2)
"antihero" != "evil" (Score:3, Informative)
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.
Re:"antihero" != "evil" (Score:3, Informative)
Still right. (Score:2, Informative)
Eventuall
Re:Still right. (Score:2)
Def of Antihero from "Handbook of Literary Terms" (Score:3, Informative)
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 reflec
Re:Still right. (Score:2)
When it comes to language democracy really does rule the roost, regardless of what a few of the self-important types would like to think.
Max
Re:"antihero" != "evil" (Score:2)
Antihero != "average person protagonist" (Score:2)
I'd have to disagree with you. Antihero is not defined as an "average person." There are many antiheros in literature who would be anything but average. The central notion of the antihero is the lack of some heroic qualities, which is not the same as saying they are average.
I referenced a literature book over here [slashdot.org] because you wanted something more academical than Wikipedia. People could rightly apply "antihero" to some renditions of Batman, and that character is anything but average.
summary or sales pitch? (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:summary or sales pitch? (Score:3, Informative)
cover image? (Score:3)
Re:summary or sales pitch? (Score:3, Insightful)
It's an "evocative mystery" because, according to the author interview [pabd.com], it was the author's wife that did the cover.
This "review" looks more and more like astroturfing. The "novel" is self-published with a cover done by the author's wife; given the high rating this "novel" received, it is likely the review was written by either the Author or a friend.
At least it is released under an open license...
Very True (Score:2, Funny)
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*
What I took from the review... (Score:3, Interesting)
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...
Re:What I took from the review... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:What I took from the review... (Score:5, Informative)
'Broken Angels', the sequel, borrows the main character from Altered Carbon, but little else. It's primarily a future war novel where the main character and his small group face off against military and corporate interests during a planetary civil war. Both novels contain plenty of violent and sexual content.
There's a third book in the series called 'Woken Furies', just recently released.
Re:What I took from the review... (Score:2)
Re:What I took from the review... (Score:2)
I've heard good things about Charles Stross as well - that's next on my list to pick up. Some other good authors I've found in the past couple years a
Authors to try (Score:2)
Re:Authors to try (Score:2)
Iain Banks-pretty much anything he writes is top shelf.
Seconded. The Bridge was a bit odd, and I couldn't get through Wasp Factory, but all his stuff is high quality.
When I saw the title.. (Score:4, Funny)
Re:When I saw the title.. (Score:2)
Re:When I saw the title.. (Score:2)
My review of The Escapist (Score:5, Funny)
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 [lulu.com].
Sounds like the kind of mangling that I (Score:2)
The book was called "Gone To Be Snakes Now" and I wish I still had a copy or could find a copy.
It was utterly incomprehensible to my then young mind. Either the writing was an act of wanton arboricide or it was as brilliant as 'The Iluminatus Trilogy" which I encountered later in my lfe and was able to appreciate.
Re:My review of The Escapist (Score:2)
Sounds to me like a play on another author's name, Bradley Denton. He writes GOOD anti-hero stories, look for Blackburn or One day closer to death.
Sounds like a Travis Tea novel... (Score:2)
Um No Thanks (Score:3, Insightful)
The best novel is often reality. (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Re:The best novel is often reality. (Score:2)
or... (Score:2)
And watch the hilarity ensue.
And no one complained about the OP's gramemener? (Score:2)
A main character in a dramatic or narrative work who is characterized by a lack of traditional heroic qualities, such as idealism or courage.
Antihero is someone like scoobydoo who runs at the first site of danger.
Tragic Hero
A literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedy
Tragic Hero's (classic Macbeth) A hero who is villanious because he believes the end justify the means.
Re:And no one complained about the OP's gramemener (Score:2)
That's a pretty simplistic example.
Now, you want a real anti-hero, try on the character of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever (author: Stephen R. Donaldson). That guy was a fantastic anti-hero.
Re:And no one complained about the OP's gramemener (Score:2, Funny)
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"
167 Pages?! Self-published? (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
Cyberpunk on wikipedia (Score:2, Interesting)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberpunk#Cyberpunk_
Interview with the author (Score:4, Informative)
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.
Re:Interview with the author (Score:3)
---
What is the Escapist about?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 consi
Reviewer doesn't know a thing about "Cyberpunk" (Score:2)
Escapist Firction... Try Star Trek... (Score:2)
Kavalier and Clay (Score:2)
Damn. K&C is a great book, and I was hoping someone would try their hand at "The Escapist", the fictional 1930s comic book described in it.
Now some hack has used the name for cyberpunk, a genre that's clearly showing its stretch marks. And is showing them much earlier than, say, 1930s comic books.
(Sigh.)
The Mysterious Stanislav Blingstein (Score:3, Informative)
Oh, *that* Escapist (Score:2)
Wasted genre (Score:2)
While I suppose there is a market for such material, it certainly doesn't add anything to the literary sphere of our culture.
The last thing we need is for people to abuse the Internet, and speak in bastardized, acronymical english, to be glorified in novel form.
Re:A Question (Score:3, Informative)
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.
Re:Promotional fluff? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Promotional fluff? (Score:2, Informative)