The Not So Brave, Not So Far Future

The Erased by Grant Piercy

Disclaimer: I received this book from the author in exchange for a review. 

Summary: You’ve been imprisoned by a shadowy government project and your identity has been erased; the only question is why. Welcome Home.

In a dystopian society where severe laws are in place to regulate the media you’re allowed to view, anyone and anything can be erased. Most people get their information and entertainment from the Knowledgebase -- a computer network dubbed the “sum total of human knowledge.” But forces are at work to edit and shape the Knowledgebase as they see fit -- suppressing dissident thoughts and behaviors. Their clear target: a group of rebels who hide in plain sight and call themselves the Transhumans -- people who remote into androids illegally, and whose goal is to eventually transplant a human consciousness into an android.

In the middle of this stands 77, a prisoner who’s been asked to repair a broken android for his captors. Once he solves the mystery of this android, he may find the truth behind the Transhumans, the elusive Knowledgebase architects, and the erased.

The Erased presents a near-future parable for the media age, where the march toward merging with technology comes at a terrible price.

Review: A science fiction story set in the near future with a good deal of dystopian elements.

Since this book is told through many viewpoints, it is hard at first to get a handle on what is happening in the story. Luckily, the characters are quick to tell us their stories and I was able to get an idea of what is going on. From what I gathered, the characters are in a 1984 sort of world where information is controlled and the past is slowly being erased. Then they are the androids and gynoids. The idea of Transhumanism is especially scary since it is something that could easily become a reality in a number of years.

It was a bit hard keeping track of all the characters at first. Most of the characters are kept in the dark as to why they are in the Home and so is the reader. Even those in the know, revel very little. I understand that this book is supposed to be a commentary on society, the government, and technology. It was a good commentary as far as that goes. As for the plot, while I enjoyed it, I found myself very confused by the end of the book. I know what happened, but I don’t know how it’s supposed to fit into the larger world or will it even have any effect on the larger world.

Rating:

Recommendation: I would recommend this to those that enjoy science fiction with dystopian elements.