| Title | : | Theocracide |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781620071465 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | ebook |
| Number of Pages | : | 296 |
| Publication | : | First published December 28, 2012 |
Nobody really cares.
Jason, like everyone else, lives in a fantasy facilitated by computer glasses that project images right over the parts of the world he doesn’t like. With a sports scholarship and an amazing new girlfriend, he leads his college team from one victory to another. As long as they ignore the constant barrage of terrible news, their lives would turn out to be perfect.
Until the government discovers his father’s secret. Until his artificially perfect world comes crashing down.
Will Jason and his allies survive the manhunt long enough to finish his father’s work – to commit theocracide and set the world right?
Theocracide Reviews
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I had the distinct honor of being one of the first to read James Wymore's Theocracide. It's rare in literary fiction to find so many themes explored within the same book but to attack those same themes within a sci-fi genre is something to behold. Wymore weaves a fantastic tale while taking a good hard look at religion, politics, immortality, entertainment, and technological advancement.
If you're looking for a thrilling sci-fi adventure that beautifully mirrors current real-world issues and advancements then this is the book for you. Go! Get it now! Why are you still reading this?
Alright, since you're still here. Check out this
podcast interview with James Wymore to learn more about him and his latest work! -
Theocracide is a timely dystopian tale about a hyper-virtual world where people rarely leave their homes and live their lives virtually through computer glasses.
Full of clever world-building and detail, I found several passages that really struck me. Here is one of my favorites that I would like to share. Jason is speaking of his father's house in the woods.
"Of course, he only went there every other weekend, but those weekends were the only time in his life when he actually did anything real. The other days he spent on the computer doing schoolwork, playing games, or watching vids. Those other days all blurred together as a single insubstantial memory. Spending time on the computer had consumed most of his life, but here at Jay’s house he had lived.
Even living here only four days a month Jay realized it had been all the important parts. Nothing else significant had ever happened to him. The momentary feelings of success when he finished a long video game paled by comparison to his time spent here camping and fishing. For a few precious days each month, he had been in the real world. The rest of the time, he had hibernated in a virtual world of stimulation, which amounted to nothing."
Theocracide is beautifully written and the perfect dystopian premise for our age. My only criticism is that I wished the plot moved a little faster. He spends a lot of time world-building, and does it well, but it took a while to get to the inciting incident that started Jason on his journey.
On the whole, I highly recommend this book to all fans of sci-fi and dystopia. -
The idea behind this whole thing is mind boggling. The scariest thing is I can see this happening. We are already addicted/attached--whatever you want to call it--to the internet and the social world it provides us.
Imagine a world where people rarely leave their apartments. Why leave when they have everything they need at an eyeblink? Everyone wears computer goggles that keep them connected to everything all the time. They can even impose their own world views on everything around them.
This means that although everyone wears the same grey sweats, you can make people's clothes look like anything you want. Some people have Greek world views. Others pirates, or renaissance, or whatever. The point is, NO ONE sees the world for what it really is.
How do you learn to live again after living so connected? It's like the human version of a hive mind in a way.
Wymore spins a great story of one man's journey from half-awake to fully cognizant of his world situation. And his decisions no longer affect just his life. He digs into real issues humanity needs to come to grips with: our dependence on entertainment, computers, governments to tell us what to do, think, eat, etc. If we don't watch where we're headed, we will end up complacent gear heads that live solely for the next vid, feed, game, whatever and lose the things that really make up life. Friendship, touch, sight, smell, truth, wisdom. -
Theocracide follows Jason Hunt, a rising star athlete with a girlfriend who he adores and a promising life. Except the world isn't right and he's the key to fixing it.
I liked Jason. He felt very real and honest. He's been trained by Jay his 'father' whom he believes is a paranoid conspiracy nut but he learns Jay is so much more than that. As a result of this training, he is hardened and adapts easily, and often surprises himself how easily, to what he finds himself facing.
There were a few inconsistencies where I was like, what? But once the world was established it seemed to smooth over.
I'd really be interested to see if Wymore does a sequel to this. Although it concludes nicely, it does have an open ending.
Not being a sci-fi girl, I did actually enjoy this. There was a steady flow of action and plot development, and a hint of romance... my particular weakness! -
First of all, this book was slightly outside my comfort zone. I tend to go more fantasy than sci-fi, and I admit I was a little intimidated by the level of tech stuff I thought I would encounter, but the idea of an Undying Emperor drew me. I liked the idea of a romantic element, too. Turns out I was right to read it--this is a fast-paced, fun read for anyone who likes action and a good solid MC. Di, I thought, could possibly use some fleshing out, but overall I think it was a pretty sweet book, and I'm glad I stepped outside my genre a bit and read it.
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If only there was a 5+...! I think of this book often as we steer more and more to being completely dependent on computers. The writing is gripping and I can't wait to read more!
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Disclaimer: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. I listened to the audiobook version on Audible.
Performance: It was bad guys. Really, really bad. The production itself wasn't great: there were times where the narrator repeated a sentence multiple times, I could hear the breathing and swallowing of the narrator, at the beginning of each chapter there was a "news" bit where an anchorman basically gives the headline and during that there was this weird noise that made it hard to hear. The narrator was boring, had no differentiation between characters. Regardless of age or sex they all sounded the same.
Story: The story had aliens, immortal beings, government conspiracies, dystopian technology, clones, and I could go on and on. It was all just too much. The characters were boring, predictable, and lacked depth and development. There were logical inconsistencies throughout the book. And the plot fell flat. The climax was absolutely boring and it seemed as if the most fun parts were skipped over completely.
Overall: Bad, bad, bad. Zero out of five stars. Do not recommend at all. I am so surprised this book has over 4 star rating overall. -
This story is like Ready Player One meets Minority Report. It’s set in a world where virtual reality has replaced meaningful life experiences and combines extraterrestrial warfare, futuristic technology, dystopian governments, and fabricated religions in an interesting plot. The protagonist spends a lot of time on various journeys, a fun mode of exploring all sorts of facets of life in the world that Wymore created. The author has such a clean, entertaining style. I listened to this on a road trip. It’s the kind of book the whole family could listen to and enjoy.
I was given a free audiobook by the publisher. -
Hmmn....not what I pictured this was going to be like.Nerve jangling 'breaking news'like intros every chapter,whole sentences repeated at times and a very fast narrator.It just had me turned off.I think the book along with Mr Biovins narration is meant for a younger crowd. I understand the old crunchy dad guy,the cars on rails and police harrassment.I get the tech taking over.The rest just left for some confusion.Maybe if I'd have read it instead of listened to it. I was given this book by the narrator,author or publisher free for an honest review.
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*I was given a free copy of this book from netgalley.com for a fair and unbiased review*
I am not really sure what to say about this one. It was great, but I was rushed in reading it and feel that meant I did not get to enjoy it as much as I otherwise would have. It was fairly simple to read and I enjoyed it a lot, but I wish I didn’t have to read it in a rush. I would recommend it to those who love stories in this genre. -
This thought provoking novel argues on the dystopian side of Aldous Huxley rather than George Orwell. Wymore creates a world in which people are held in a state of apathy by the powers that be using computer-stimulated addiction. One character rises above the minutia of digital-enhanced living by taking off the glasses and exploring the non-computer enhanced world around him. This is a fast-paced book that will leave you thinking for a long while after you finish reading.
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You can read our short review
over here. -
I received access to the pre-release version of the audiobook of Theocracide by James Wymore. My review contains my own thoughts, and I'm not getting paid to say anything nice.
Having said that, though...
This story is awesome, and James does a good job of ending each chapter on an appropriate cliffhanger. Each of my reading sessions was limited in time, so I usually couldn't go on to the next chapter, but I sure wanted to.
The world he has created is very much bipolar, so much so that it seems like two stories for the longest time. When everything comes together, the two stories makes sense for the most part. The questions I have after listening to the whole thing are the only reason I'm giving it a 4.5 on the Masq Scale instead of a full 5.0. Which doesn't really matter since that rounds up to a 5 on Amazon.
On the one hand, people live their lives out in their apartments, barely leaving to visit the outside world. When they do visit the outside world, they are unaware of the dystopian civilization around them. Because they don't see it. They aren't blind, nor are they retarded or stupid. They literally don't see it. They see something else instead.
Think Snapchat filters. Imagine if technology continued to improve, and during a future time, we have the technology to turn the filters on all the time, living in an augmented reality. You wouldn't see a dirty building. The computer turns it into a pirate ship instead ... or one of a thousand other things you can choose from.
Then on the other hand there is a world war taking place with aliens from another planet. Yes, the two sides of this story seem like they don't mix at first glance, which had me wondering for a while. It all does come together, though.
And there's more to the two sides than simply this. I haven't even mentioned the president that is now the Emperor of the United States and is more than 200 years old. Yeah, there's a lot going on in this story. But I think that's the charm it brings.
It is a world similar to our own, a future which seems eerily possible (except maybe the aliens, depending on your world view). I definitely recommend this for any fans of sci fi, dystopia, and the like.
