Booklife Review

Lane’s provocative near-future but of-its-moment novel, the followup to The Beatin’ Path, makes the case for humanity itself, suggesting that no, matter how advanced, computers can never fully replace human thought—as a gamer is determined to use that weakness to take them down. In a future where human gluttony has destroyed the world, most of the humans left are mindless near-zombies known as Goners, controlled by a computer system known as the Network. Thinking, learning, and especially reading has been outlawed, and anyone caught meets a slow, very public death. Only a small chosen group of humans have the honor of being gamers, entertaining the Goners who watch them play. Not allowed to be “litter-rats” (literates) either, one gamer, known as the Kid, hides his ability to read until he meets the one woman, Juniper, whom he will risk everything to protect.

In this terrifying but convincing future, Lane explores resonant questions of not only how close humanity is to destroying the world, but also how dangerous it would be to depend on computers to fix it. The Network believes learning is dangerous, and that humans prefer not to have to think on their own anyway. Goners spend every moment of their days roaming the streets, staring at screens (called slabs, just one of many striking coinages), watching shows that reiterate the terribleness of learning and reading.

Lane holds off until late in the novel revealing how our civilization descended to this, or how the Network and Goners came about, questions that haunt a narrative that deftly keeps readers drawn into this fallen future, seen through the eyes of the Kid (Roscoe), Juniper, and the few true humans left in Denver, who understand that learning shouldn’t be outlawed. Written with assured power, the result is gripping, scary, and surprisingly empathetic: even the Network strives to be more human and have something like a soul.

Takeaway: A gamer and friends fight against the Network in a dystopian future.

Comparable Titles: Linsey Miller's The Game, Conor Kostick's Epic.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-