McAtrix Derided, The

Inhoud

"Gordon (or 'Nemo' as he's known in the internet chatrooms) finds himself rudely awakened to the reality of his mundane existence. Far from being a workaday Database Coordinator, he is the inadvertent slave of Evil Machine Intelligencesâ„¢ who are keeping his body sealed in a virtual-reality pod whilst distracting his mind with an elaborate virtual world. He, like the bulk of humanity (but not you, because you're reading this book which is about this world being a virtual world and how could that happen?!), is trapped in the McAtrix.

Are you looking for Nemo? Or are you looking for No One?

Let's face it, these days, when thrilling, ideas-driven SF epics turn into lame action movies at the flick of a sequel and books like The Soddit by A.R.R.R. Roberts become bestsellers, it's hard to be sure.

Is this life, this bizarre matrix we're all caught up in, beyond parody now?

Ooh no we don't think so...

Bespreking

A humorous snack

There once was a guy named Nemo, at least that was his internet-alias. The bloke lead a quiet and rather ordinary life. That is, until he became aware that he was actually rather notorious in being exceptionally not exceptional. He was so plain and bland that people refused to notice him while walking in the street. This capability of turning invisible became his most unique gift. Regrettably this again made him not so common anymore, which led him to lose his only talent. Ah, it all has something to do with a cat in a box and a guy named Schrödinger not being all that happy about it because he could never tell if he needed to feed the animal or not. But that is a totally different story.

As with many spoofs, you won’t enjoy The McAtrix Derides that much if you haven’t seen the original film. Even so, you should have watched actually the complete trilogy to understand all the jokes. The Robertski Brothers (alias of the author Adam Roberts) follows the three films rather closely, just interpreting the essence a bit differently. This leads to sometimes rather hilarious episodes that can easily be visualized by the reader just because it’s so easy to imagine Keanu Reeves getting stuck in those silly situations. The pace never really drops and keeps the story enjoyably fresh. But do not expect major literature or deep insights. This book is pure entertainment and has no other aspirations.