Vicarious by Rhett C. Bruno

Vicarious Reviews

• 
  Dennis

  A mixed bag.Asher Reinhart, a young man and one of the two main POVs, is born into a post apocalyptic world where not much inhabitable space is left and people spend most of their time in VR and are obsessed with several entertainment programs. The most popular of those being Ignis: Live, a reality tv show that is set on an asteroid turned spaceship that is orbiting Earth. While its inhabitants actually believe they have left the blue marble behind for good and are on their way to the Tau Ceti system for about half a century.Asher is the chief director of the show and is obsessed with its star, a young woman called Mission who is the second main POV of this book. Mission is chosen to become a birthmother in a world that has placed strict limitations on reproduction, for obvious reasons, but is someone who herself was born illegally. Asher’s obsession with her starts to interfere with his job and threatens to reveal Ignis’ real purpose to its inhabitants.I thought this premise was quite interesting and it, along with the mostly good world building, carries the book for about half its length. Unfortunately, characterization is a clear weak point and there is just not enough plot to justify this being 400+ pages long.The characters and the writing are the main reasons I can’t rate this higher. In the beginning I thought that Asher was just somewhat unlikeable, but problems are adding up in his arc. His and other characters’ motivations and actions are often either immature, not believable, only benefitting the plot’s progression instead of being in line with the actual character’s personality, or – especially in the last 25% of the book – are just plain stupid. Mission on the other hand is a rather bland character. She’s only special because the author is telling us that she is. I don’t see why Asher, and the whole world basically, would become obsessed with her.The last quarter of the book almost brought my rating down even further, because of extensive eye rolling (see my updates for a few examples – serious spoilers though). But I think there are enough parts here that warrant a two star rating. It feels like a missed opportunity, though. Thanks to NetGalley and Aethon Books for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.
• 
  Ziggy Nixon

  Rhett C. Bruno is an author who is without doubt at the top of his game, continually putting out work that simply stuns and thrills in so many ways and is as varied as you can imagine. "Vicarious"** is no exception as we are treated to an amazing tale where we are constantly on the razor's edge between utopian and dystopian realities in a future Earth existing "only" at the highest points where mankind has managed to avoid catastrophic, global sea level rise. And yet throughout, we must question exactly what constitutes reality through so many layers of misdirection, deception and even outright cruel and even deadly lies."Vicarious" is a decidedly deliberate read where I found myself making slower no, that's not right CAREFUL progress than any other book of any genre in quite some time. It certainly wasn't for lack of thrills or interest in the eclectic cast or shocking reveals. Instead I realized it was because I was constantly scanning for clues as to what was truly there. We're never quite sure what we're seeing is what's really, well, real. And every single part of this book can be taken as a clue as to what is truly happening or going to happen next. But whereas this book may not have the visceral anger and accelerated sense of violence or even the all too present smell of raw sewage and blood pouring from it as it frantically did in "The Roach", it is no less of an emotional journey. And I'll tell you this upfront as well: it is not an uplifting book per se and truth be told I found myself in tears at the ending but the feelings we have for these players are no less powerful and no less sympathetic. What would any of us do when faced with these decisions or actions? Would we even want to open our eyes or be satisfied to continue to live a seemingly sterilized existence merely in the name of existing? Can any of us deny that part of our daily lives can be construed as already being on this path of instant gratification without true fulfillment or even any concern whatsoever for anything vaguely resembling truth? I'll conclude here because I would not want to reveal any parts of the book to future readers. I will add this somewhere I read that the book could be compared to "Ready Player One" (not even close and I'll only acknowledge the mildly entertaining book in this regard) or even "The Truman Show" (meh, not really, but if it helps to imagine that multiplied by a million then sure, go for it). Obviously I don't agree with this synopsis but if that helps you move ahead, then fine. Personally I think it was as unique as the very naming of Mission and all the others that we meet including Helix, Asher and so many . Oh to be witness to whatever the future holds for our "star" and all the others. I'd watch that any day.**[I received an ARC of this book in exchange for honest reviews incl. goodreads and France once the book is released there (they only accept reviews for foreign language books once these are released and proven to have been purchased)]
• 
  Scott

  Great Scifi Thrills at its bestRhett has always done well with the main characters of his stories and this is no different, especially for a single book. The story is simliar to the 100 as it showcases the thin line that a colony of survivors live with strict rules on population and freedoms. Unfortunately it is a Truman show esqe betrayal of their struggles as every moment is recorded and manufactured to give better ratings to a VR addicted culture on Earth who love the manipulation of this population who are unaware they are in a carved out asteroid made into a Ark. Only getting by narrowingly on its way to populate another world creating plenty of tensions and thrills as we live their journey with only the Show director to stand up for them, especially one particular illegally conceived child who is their rising star that he is engrossed with.An excellent journey from both these two main characters and worryingly something we can only imagine in a elite jaded world who care nothing for their fellow humanity and what it may cost these unwillingly actors.
• 
  Geoff Parker

  Many years ago what seems like a lifetime ago, I bumped into Rhett C. Bruno when he was a burgeoning writer and still a practicing civil architect. I will always remember how stunned I was at how well he was able to pull off the short story This Long Vigil. I was so impressed that I wrote a review and I wrote to him, telling him how impressed I was. That was in 2015, and from there Rhett has consistently and constantly impressed me with his development as a writer, his storytelling abilities, his evocative imagery, his powerful narrations, and his characters that seem true to life. Like you actually know them. The emotions he evokes are real.Vicarious is the latest jewel in his crown. I was fortunate to read an early draft of Vicarious some time ago, and I was just stunned by how well written it was, and I remember telling Rhett that he absolutely HAD to finish and publish this book. I am so overjoyed that he did just that. It has gotten immeasurably better since that early draft, and it is a book you should read particularly in these trying times.This book is full of hairpin plot twists, Tesla accelerations that will throw you back in your chair, and it will grip you with enough g force that you cannot put it down. I don't want to go into plot details because it is the nature of the live action seeming book that giving away a part of it will give away too many spoilers.What I can say is that I agree with the other reviewers, the book description is accurate, and the book description does not capture one whit of this absorbing gem. Trust me. You're going to be sleep deprived. This one sucked me in like a Hoover run amok.Asher Reinhart and Mission, our two main characters and protagonists, are on a collision course from the opening paragraphs. Asher has known the show Ignis Live all his life. It has been his dream to work on it, and now he directs it. Mission, a beautiful near genetically perfect young woman, thinks she is on the last generational Ark ship of humanity, searching for a new Earth. But in reality, they are in High Earth orbit, and they are living out their lives to satisfy the addicted entertainment needs of the privileged few who live their own version of near perfect (and meaningless) lives in High Earth. Earth is now a "haves and haves not" world, between the perfection and unattainability of High Earth, and the Breakers in the Outskirts, where the VR addicts and desperate struggle to survive.This is a book of the highest of emotions. Love, hate, anger, angst, fear, passion, longing the book is a constant and heavy emotional roller coaster. It is so worth the read that I cannot recommend this book highly enough. If you are looking for some real distraction from your own life and an experience that will get you even involved than GOT, you really should read this book. You are pulled along as Mission discovers that the perfectly balanced and regimented lives of the Ignis crew are not as perfect as they seem. Nor as balanced. As this brilliant woman begins to see that the world is not quite as she has been taught it is, and Asher begins to and insinuate himself into her world, cataclysmic events are nothing you could expect or are prepared for.As for me, I can't wait to see what Rhett brings us next. Whatever it is, I'll be reading it.
• 
  Loring

  Asher wakes up in High Earth, an apparent utopia built on the remains of a derelict Earth. But as you read on, you notice cracks in the utopia residents have wrist bands that deliver meds to flatten out anxiety or other extreme emotions, preventing authentic experiences. This is a world of VR and streaming shows. "I had very little concept of how it felt to lie still for five minutes, or even an hour, with no content to watch or VRs to engage in," Asher later says. Asher never leaves his apartment because VR gives him everything he needs in his apartment. With all needs provided for, data is the coin of the realm. There are no network gatekeepers but instead the show budgets come from data donations from fans.. This is a cool idea that reminds me of relegation and promotion between soccer leagues in Europe compared to the monopoly that major league baseball has in the US. In Europe, anyone can start a soccer team and it needs to play well to move up to better and better leagues while in the US there are a set number of teams.in one league.The marketing blurb for this book references The Truman Show, a movie about a TV reality show where the star doesn't know they are in a reality show, but everyone around him does. The show Asher is obsessed with and works on, Ignis: Live, is about thousands of people who think they are on a colony ship but are really just orbiting the Earth. While The Truman Show messed with the mind of one person but never put him in physical jeopardy. Ignis: Live is a much dystopian version that lets draconian punishments be meted out and creates situations that puts scores of people at risk to get ratings..The book starts slowly in a disappointing way.. There is an overly long description of Asher waking up which seems repetitive without grabbing my interest. It reminds me of the "another author" test, which I won't think about in a well written and edited book, but this makes me wonder how much better this introduction would be if written by John Scalzi or William Gibson but also would this idea be good enough to be written by one of those authors? Usually, if a book is engaging enough, you aren't thinking about how much better it would be written by someone else..There is a lot of good stuff here, but the book is over 400 pages and should have been cut drastically. I usually plow through books quickly, but this book took me weeks to read. There were a few speed bumps that slowed my reading of this book, but finally at half way through it started getting interesting. At that point you realize the author isn't afraid of drastically mixing up where the characters are in an interesting way. I just wish we had gotten to that point quicker.I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
• 
  Loring

  Asher wakes up in High Earth, an apparent utopia built on the remains of a derelict Earth. But as you read on, you notice cracks in the utopia residents have wrist bands that deliver meds to flatten out anxiety or other extreme emotions, preventing authentic experiences. This is a world of VR and streaming shows. "I had very little concept of how it felt to lie still for five minutes, or even an hour, with no content to watch or VRs to engage in," Asher later says. Asher never leaves his apartment because VR gives him everything he needs in his apartment. With all needs provided for, data is the coin of the realm. There are no network gatekeepers but instead the show budgets come from data donations from fans.. This is a cool idea that reminds me of relegation and promotion between soccer leagues in Europe compared to the monopoly that major league baseball has in the US. In Europe, anyone can start a soccer team and it needs to play well to move up to better and better leagues while in the US there are a set number of teams.in one league.The marketing blurb for this book references The Truman Show, a movie about a TV reality show where the star doesn't know they are in a reality show, but everyone around him does. The show Asher is obsessed with and works on, Ignis: Live, is about thousands of people who think they are on a colony ship but are really just orbiting the Earth. While The Truman Show messed with the mind of one person but never put him in physical jeopardy. Ignis: Live is a much dystopian version that lets draconian punishments be meted out and creates situations that puts scores of people at risk to get ratings..The book starts slowly in a disappointing way.. There is an overly long description of Asher waking up which seems repetitive without grabbing my interest. It reminds me of the "another author" test, which I won't think about in a well written and edited book, but this makes me wonder how much better this introduction would be if written by John Scalzi or William Gibson but also would this idea be good enough to be written by one of those authors? Usually, if a book is engaging enough, you aren't thinking about how much better it would be written by someone else..There is a lot of good stuff here, but the book is over 400 pages and should have been cut drastically. I usually plow through books quickly, but this book took me weeks to read. There were a few speed bumps that slowed my reading of this book, but finally at half way through it started getting interesting. At that point you realize the author isn't afraid of drastically mixing up where the characters are in an interesting way. I just wish we had gotten to that point quicker.I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
• 
  Cmadler

  Although the blurb might have you thinking about reality TV and The Truman Show, early on this book put me in mind of one of the underrated classics of science fiction: Non Stop (published in the US as Starship) by Brian W. Aldiss. As Vicarious developed, however, it unfolded into a much complex and dare I say interesting story than the one Aldiss told 62 years ago. It also reminded me somewhat of Wool which is a doubly appropriate comparison given the notability at the time of Hugh Howey self publishing it ( Vicarious is published by Aethon Books, of which Bruno is a co owner) and although it's not as tightly written as the original "Wool" short story, Vicarious certainly does not suffer by the comparison. The last comparison I'll make is to Ready Player One, and here I'll say that where Ernest Cline went primarily for a retro kitsch appeal to Gen Xers who look back fondly on the pop culture of the 1980s, Bruno has gone full steam ahead in envisioning a new world set hundreds of years in the future. Again in this comparison, Vicarious comes out on top.I don't give 5 star reviews often or easily, but from beginning to end this book did not let up and it did not disappoint. I had in mind that I would say that Vicarious is Rhett Bruno writing at the top of his game, but he could have something better still in store for us next, so instead I'll close by saying this is a damn good work of science fiction that I would not hesitate to put up against any of the science fiction "grand masters". I received a complimentary advance copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. Feel free to peruse my other such reviews if you have any doubt as to the authenticity of this one!
• 
  Rebecca Veight

  In the future on what remains of Earth, now called High Earth, where data is currency and entertainment is everything, Asher is a content director of Ignis: Live. It is a reality show where people on an interstellar ark are supposed to be the last of humanity. Mission who was born there in secret has now turned of age to receive her Birthmother assignment, not knowing she is on a show.When Mission is put in danger, Asher has to decide if he should help the girl he's been watching all his life or jeopardize the show that has been his life.This is such a cool premise. The intrigue is naturally potent due to the Truman show aspect of Mission's reality and the mystery of who knows what. A melancholy of loneliness threads through the narrative and a strictness permeates the atmosphere of both worlds.The worldbuilding is a feat in itself, with every little detail thought out and so creative, making it so believable. Also that the author has practically created 2 worlds, one of the futuristic High Earth and one of the Ignis. The contrast adds to the emotional depth. The anticipated clash between the 2 worlds and the hope of the protagonists actually meeting adds to the excitement.It's ironic that the less advanced Ignis does not have the great divide between the haves and have nots the technological wonder of High Earth does. Makes us think of the direction in which humanity seems to be heading and what we should do about it.Both protagonists have the feeling of not really belonging. Everyone needs human connection in whatever form, even an introvert like Asher. Everyone can and needs to love.A little too slow at certain points in the first half of the book, in my opinion the superior second half was tighter. There was so much info to absorb that it did get overwhelming at parts, but it was always interesting.The story presents moral ambiguities concerning the use of technology. It also poses the question of how far should entertainment be able to go to be successful. A testament to the power of love and human resilience. A query into what is real when it comes to life, when it comes to feelings.Suspenseful and full of jaw dropping surprises and revelations, you will never predict what happens at the author gifts us with an engrossing turn of events. Everything is turned on its head. leading to an unbelievable finale. Sequel anyone?
• 
  Monique

  This novel is set in a dystopian future where the polar icecaps have melted with only a small inhabitable landmass. On this land is a city called High Earth. Asher Reinhart lives in a perfect, safe city where he works on a TV show called Ignis: Live which follows a real 10 000 person crew that believes they are traveling to a new star to continue humanity. Asher eventually realizes his life isn’t as perfect as he initially thought as tries to change it. My favorite part of the novel was the settings. There are three primary locations that are varied, unique and I could easily get lost in them. Ignis (the ship) was harsh with strict rules that could often lead to death, however there was genuine hope there too. High Earth was cold, sterile yet safe. The Outskirts (inhabitations outside the High Earth) were dirty, poor and addicted to finding ways to experience VR at any cost (commentary on our media addicted lifestyles today?). They all hit me in different ways as Ignis was dangerous but people actually had hope in the future. The Outskirts reminded me of people who are glued to social media or TV shows. And High Earth residents weren’t really living and instead were just functioning as they didn’t have anything to achieve or fight for (no goals). The characters were good but this wasn’t the strongest element in the novel. Asher was well written but I found his motivation a little underwhelming. Mission was the stronger character as she was better written with complex personality. The conclusion was great, especially when Craig Helix l realizes what is happening and how that will affect him. I loved seeing his empire fall. Overall a great dystopian novel by one of my favorite authors. A must read for fans. Thank you to NetGalley and Aethon Books for the ARC.
• 
  Brian's Book Blog

  ExcellentThis isn't the first glowing review of a Rhett C. Bruno book that I've written, he has a way of captivating me in every story he tells. Vicarious was no different. From the first few minutes of it I was intrigued. I needed to know and know who these characters where and what made them tick.The description calls it The Truman Show meets Ready Player One, and I definitely see that, but I would throw in a bit of The Island as well. A lot of the pretense around their lives reminded me a lot of what the characters in The Island were going through. Especially because the characters in Vicarious were meant to be almost perfect human specimens because of the specific breeding and procreation they were doing.One of the hardest things to do about a book that has twists and turns like this one does is write a review and talk about it. I can't really mention anything about the book because it will likely give away a twist or a turn that someone didn't see coming. I think The Truman show is definitely the "best" comparison, but in the future and in a really unique setting.Normally, I can take or leave a Wil Wheaton narration. I've never hated them, but I haven't loved them either. I loved him in this. I thought he was perfect for Asher even to the point where I could sort of see Wil playing him in a movie/tv version of this. And the same goes for Katherine McNamara, I thought she absolutely nailed becoming Mission. There were a few times where I had to remind myself that this was a book and not a retelling of their life story. The narration was that good.Overall, I really really enjoyed Vicarious. I think that Bruno knocked this one out of the park and this might be his most ambitious book along with being the best one I've read so far.