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DISCUSSION ON SHOVEL READY
Spademan used to be a garbage man. That was before the dirty bomb hit Times Square, before his wife was killed, and before the city became a bombed-out shell of its former self. Now he’s a hitman.
In a New York City split between those who are wealthy enough to “tap into” a sophisticated virtual reality for months at a time and those left to fend for themselves in the ravaged streets, Spademan chose the streets. His clients like that he doesn’t ask questions, that he works quickly, and that he’s handy with a box cutter. He finds that killing people for money is not that different from collecting trash, and the pay is better. His latest client hires him to kill the daughter of a powerful evangelist. Finding her is easy, but the job quickly gets complicated: his mark has a shocking secret and his client has an agenda far beyond a simple kill. Now Spademan must navigate the dual levels of his world-the gritty reality and the slick fantasy-to finish the job, to keep his conscience clean, and to stay alive.
So there were some really interesting concepts and technology included in this novel. One that plays a huge role in the story is kind of like a virtual reality bed. People spend a majority of their lives now “tapping in”. This is referring to the act of going into the this virtual world and living out a different life or fantasy/made up reality. It reminds me of like what happens in the movie Avatar except you dont have an actual avatar body to sync up to, it is you just like all in your head (if that makes sense) It makes me think of Second Life which is that virtual world that people can get into via the computer. They create avatars and live out faux lives. A couple years ago this was a big thing in the U.S. and I had watched a tv thing on it which many people spend a majority of their time online in these fictional worlds living out fantasy lives. While reading this is what I kept being reminded of, but the book takes it to a whole new level because it is actually something that you, yourself participates in with wires and everything hooked up to your body. People have to hire nurses to make sure they are healthy and feed via a bag because they spend so much time tapped in.
So to get to the discussion part of this. I felt like this was a really interesting thing to think about while I was reading. When the rest of the world in ruins, with much of what you knew as life destroyed, would you choose to live in a virtual reality world? Why or why not? If yes, what are some things that would be in your fantasy/virtual world? Are there anythings you wish you could do (different profession, living in different place, married to a celebrity) that would be greatly different from your current life? Do you think that this will be a real option in the near future? If it does become a technology that is introduced into our society, what do you think will happen to our world and society?
I felt like the book took me longer to read because I kept stopping and thinking about all the things that were happening in the book. I have to say that although it would be interesting to “tap in” every once in awhile, I think I would be one of those ones who gets so sucked into the virtual world that it would be the end of me. I feel like that is like reading for me now. Sometimes the world and reality are tough and it is nice to escape into a fantasy world, like books. For me I need reality to ground me and I would feel like I was just running away. There are many things that I would make true in my fantasy world, I mean who doesn’t think about that every now and then. There are so many celebrities and fictional characters I am obsessed with (probably to an unhealthy extent haha). I think I would want to travel the world and try everything, dabble in a few different professions just because I can. I think I would also have a pet unicorn because that would be fun! There are just too many options! I think it could be a real possibility, but still has at least 50 or so years before anything close to it could start to be developed.
I hope this all makes sense and that you take the time to add to the discussion. I would love to hear other peoples thoughts about this topic because it is so intriguing. I would love to have other people to talk to about this book as well so check out the giveaway!
Giveaway Rules:
♠ Must be at least 16 years of age or have parents permission
♠ Must be living in the U.S (sorry)
♠ Must be willing to give me your mailing address