Reviews and Comments

This is the (almost) perfect update to Jonathan Zittrain's "The Future of the Internet" which was published in 2008 and predicts almost precisely what Tarnoff describes as the current state of affairs.

There are some differences, however. Where Zittrain focuses on markets and technology, Tarnoff leaves technology a little behind and brings social dynamics and politics more into play. The two books together provide a pretty well rounded picture.

Then, Tarnoff's focus on social dynamics also permit for a better "way out" to be described. Unfortunately, this is left somewhat vague - an approach which is consistent with the view he puts forward that many differing views are required to shape the future, but also an approach that may seem a little unsatisfying at times.

Overall, if you wanted to pick up one book on the state and future of the Internet, this is it. There are tons of references for further exploration in the last section of the book.

The Minus Faction is what won me over to Rick's writing. Feast of Shadows is the same, but more of it.

Thematically, of course, it's very different. Where Minus Faction might be Rick's take on Comic book superheroes, this book is his take on ... what do they call it? Urban fantasy? With a dose of horror, cosmic and otherwise.

With the second part now out, it's easier to understand this as a whole work.

Each course is a relatively self contained story with an overarching connecting plot, and each is told from the perspective of a different character. Consequently, Rick has the freedom to play with different storytelling styles and matches them perfectly to the respective protagonist.

The actual main character, the focal point of the overarching plot, is not each course's protagonist. That makes the entire work a tad less accessible; you have to keep switching out of the comfortable, worn-in pair of shoes into a new pair. However, walking in so many different characters' shoes for a few miles is certainly making for an interesting read.

The last course turns what started as more urban fantasy into a cosmic horror-fantasy epic. It fits the protagonist like a glove, but feels as if the special perspective she brings to the book allows a massively larger world than the other protagonists could even imagine to explode onto the scene. My biggest complaint and compliment here is that the world painted in this course is too large even for the extraordinary length of this part.

But while that feels at times as if Rick simply lost control of his imagination here, he manages to collect all of the important threads from all courses into a truly stunning symphony where, in the end, they form the puzzle pieces to a complete picture.

Other authors would have chosen a simpler setup, and there are good arguments to be made for that. For example, the Wheel of Time series is infamous for spinning off ever more characters and story threads and losing itself completely in that. While it occasionally seems as if Rick might veer in that direction - and apparently he has been battling with that a bit - the end makes it worthwhile. There's something exceedingly satisfying in having been a bit confused, only to realise that no, it actually all makes sense together, it was just too large to easily see.

At the end of the day, Feast of Shadows is darker than your average Fantasy, and heavier due to its structure. But the characters' individual, momentary concerns are convincing and pull you easily through the pages. It's only when setting the book down to ask yourself what it is you're actually reading that this issue raises its head. With both volumes now out, luckily you won't need to have that problem until the very end.

I consider this masterful. One can consider mastery when you avoid issues by understanding how to keep things simple, and that's a choice. But to purposely wade into a complex plot and character arrangement and then pull it off is a different, more daring kind of mastery.

Those are books that explode when handled improperly.

At the risk of being quotable: this is the post-cyberpunk book a post-cyberpunk world needs.

I'm not sure I should go into plot here. The blurb on the book page is enough of an introduction, and plot details might spoiler something.

What compels me to write is genre and subtext.

In terms of genre, the easiest comparison to make is Cyberpunk, and if anyone would ask me for a modern Cyberpunk recommendation, this book is easily at the top of my list. But various people have called it Biopunk, and Dave Higgins called it "hard weird" - as in weird fiction, but also hard sci-fi.

The thing is, all of these are apt descriptions. You do have your ubiquitous 'net and artificial limbs - but they're not shiny neon and chrome. You do have gene manipulation, which in some ways is actually a central theme to the book - but you will not find much mention of commercialized genetic enhancement. You do have megacorporations with questionable amounts of political influence, but they do not feature more in the plot than Unilever does in your life - i.e. being both ubiquitous and almost entirely invisible. You do have weird fiction elements - which I won't spoiler - but they're plausible nuisances in the setting rather than things of wonder.

Finally, yes, there is a very hard sci-fi angle to the book, and having spoken to Rick at length about it, it is in some senses the core of the novel. But at the same time, there is nowhere a huge "what if?" question posed on which the entire setting and plot are tenuously balanced.

As usual for him, Rick delivers a novel that is incredibly hard to categorize, because even in checking off a ton of genre markers, it just refuses to slot neatly into place. And that is the reason for it's 5-star rating; I'd give it more if I could.

In my opinion, it is this unwillingness to conform that makes the setting so compellingly plausible. I mean, look around where you are. BookWyrm users tend to love books. We know we can escape into some world in one book, and an entire other in yet another. We go to work or school, which is one world in which we play a particular kind of role. We have family, where we play another. In our circle of friends we may be in the role of the person that holds everything together, or is on the fringes.

Each one of us occupies multiple worlds every day in our lives, sometimes simultaneously. So how can we expect our futures to be as easy to grasp as other novels would lead us to believe?

What Rick has created is a setting and genre that permits for all of those different worlds to coexist, in parallel as well as intersecting. Because that is what the things are like right now, so that is how they should be in the future. Life does not generally get simpler.

Of course, something like this could become an unholy mess. What ties it together is the interaction between the protagonist and sidekick. Each occupies a slightly different world, and having to band together to solve the plot's central mystery means they each have to explain their complexity to the other. In doing so, Rick provides a thread for the reader to follow. Rick's skill is that this does not translate into chapters full of exposition, but weaves seamlessly into the overall narrative.

What you're left with in the end, is the central mystery on the one hand finding a solution, in a very engaging and entertaining format. And on the other hand, you'll likely go away thinking that of course this is what the future will look like, because all alternative options seem frustratingly naive in comparison.

I'm a huge fan of Cyberpunk - there's something that taps straight into a part of my brain about it. Back in the 80s, I was imagining all the ways computers could change our future that Cyberpunk tropes satisfy. These days, the neon, chrome and chiptune soundtrack are pure nostalgia indulgment - but I'm old enough to admit to that and enjoy it anyway.

But if I'm asked what Cyberpunk should be - because it's supposed to make us a little uncomfortable with the near future, and it's supposed encourage something of a punk attitude towards it - then this book is the definite answer. It's just not a simple one.

I can't wait for #2.

(Oh, he's @rickwayne@bookwyrm.social )