We don’t typically overview books at TechCrunch, not to mention fiction, however typically a piece comes alongside that’s simply so rigorously tuned to the ecosystem we cowl that it justifies a fast put up. And so right here we now have “Exadelic,” a sci-fi novel by erstwhile TC contributor Jon Evans, who does his stage finest to match the reference density of “Prepared Participant One” within the Bay Space tech neighborhood, however fortuitously additionally units his sights a bit increased than that.
Now, allow us to first admit that this isn’t a comparability that’s solely complimentary. Ernest Cline’s breakout hit was wealthy in reference however poor in different methods, although maybe its largest drawback was its most ardent proponents, who couldn’t understand how narrowly the e-book was tailor-made to their life expertise and the way which will render the expertise hole for others.
So if “Prepared Participant One however Silicon Valley” feels like layering horror upon horror, that’s comprehensible — and in a method it’s correct. However whereas “Exadelic” is actually liberal with its name-dropping and nostalgia properly past the purpose of building the setting, the plot shortly outgrows its early reliance on insidery nods and winks.
On the threat of spoiling just a bit greater than you’d discover on the mud jacket, think about when you and your group of mates discovered yourselves central to an AI-driven deep tech conspiracy which will outline the destiny of the planet. It’s not probably the most unique premise, however imagine me once I say the scope does broaden repeatedly and unexpectedly.
The early chapters play out like a potboiler techno-thriller — a tech exec has to outlive by his restricted wits after being focused by a rogue AI — and albeit I used to be afraid it could proceed that method. Happily the plot begins taking turns early and by no means actually stops, permitting Evans to exert his creativeness rather more successfully.
To say rather more would rob the possible reader of the pleasures of a twisty e-book rooted deeply in at the moment’s technological and moral zeitgeist. Uncontrolled AI, unscrupulous VCs, and questioning the character of actuality information the plot — in different phrases, the identical ideas you’d discover in any week of reporting right here at TechCrunch. There’s even a contact of the occult!
(It have to be talked about that sexual assault of a form is central to part of the e-book, one thing on reflection I really feel didn’t need to be that method, even when it’s type of an ecstatic-philosophy reference.)
And though I feel Exadelic is a superb e-book to take with you to a flight or seashore, I feel the place it falls down is in its over-reliance on the Bay Space-tech-heyday zeitgeist. It is a benefit as properly — it’s primarily based in Evans’s apparent familiarity with the startup, tech, and funding worlds, to not point out flip of the century San Francisco, all issues that many readers will acknowledge and respect.
However there’s a sure solipsism inherent to the method of extrapolating such an expansive story from what quantities to a single second and perspective. Like a science fiction work of the ’60s that imagines a future extrapolated from tube televisions and analog computing, the imaginative and prescient appears bounded by the know-how and attitudes of at the moment. Think about having a pc within the 12 months 3000 depend on a mouse and keyboard — it jars as being out of sync with the creativeness on show elsewhere.
In fact many traditional works of sci-fi transcend this, however “Exadelic” appears content material to be a product of its time, discovering worth in imaginatively mixing and matching these ideas to kind an unique permutation, if not an unique mixture. For those who can tolerate a little bit of nostalgia and a cypher of a fundamental character (his companions are much more fascinating), Exadelic is a enjoyable trip.
