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出體宇宙 上部
43 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 3, 2013
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December 3, 2013
Originally posted at Daniel J. Weber Creates
One night can change the world, and one man can save it.
Mature-Content Rating: A-14 (Lots of sexual content and some coarse language).
What would you do if one night changed your life? What if 15 years changed your world? What if one man could change it back? O.B.U. is a story about one man who has one horrible night, and wakes up 15 years later. The world is not what it once was, and no one is who they seem to be. What has happened to the world is yet to be discovered, and what will happen is soon to be revealed. Unlock the mystery and wonder behind the world that Martin Chushui has created.
The Review:
Normally, when I review a book, I like to point out what I liked and what I didn't like. This book proved challenging for me in this respect. There are probably some things that were done well in O.B.U, but there were so many glaring obstacles to my enjoyment of the book, that it is difficult for me to identify the good.
It would be difficult to identify the number one big issue with this book, but the biggest problem that I noticed within the first couple pages is that O.B.U. needs a lot of editing. It surprised me to reach the end and see the author thanking his editor in the acknowledgements. If I had not read that, I would have thought that a spell-checker was the only editor consulted. There are missing words, incorrect verb conjugation, tense mix-ups, and everything else you can think of that a spell-checker wouldn't catch. Though I found no misspelt words, the glaring editorial errors are so prevalent (almost every page) that it was hard to even read the book.
The next biggest problem I encountered was a classic case of tell vs. show. There is a lot of tech in this book, and it can potentially be confusing to wrap your head around. In order to battle this, it is explained in such painstaking detail that you will have no doubt how everything works. At the outset, our protagonist knows nothing about this world in which he has awakened, which is a great set-up for him to learn it slowly, allowing the reader to follow along as he journeys through the world. Instead of this, extended dry dialogue sections are thrown at him (and the reader) so that he understands how things work. It is so bad that a number of times throughout the book a character might say something like, "I agree, these talks are getting a bit boring." If even the characters know that tell vs. show is boring, perhaps this glaring issue needs some attention.
The dialogue is choppy and unflavourful. It sounds like poor RPG scripting, except instead of your choice of uninteresting dialogue option, the protagonist chooses for you.
Note: Not a true representation of the dialogue, but a made up interaction to show how it flows.
"What is this place?"
"It is the place where we train with guns."
"Tell me more about guns."
"Guns are those things that shoot the enemy. You will need to learn how to use them in order to not die."
"Tell me more about this enemy."
There is no prose in this book at all. Certain scenes are introduced with a few sentences of description, and then we are thrown right into the dialogue. Some scenery is even described through dialogue, but not because the narrator is a character. There isn't really a narrator, save for the odd "he said" and "she questioned" following dialogue. This is action and dialogue on a blank slate.
I won't say that there is no character development, but it was hard to identify because I really didn't care what was happening. I could not empathize with any of the characters because they hardly seemed to care about themselves. All development is based on a single scene near the beginning that is mostly brushed over. The idea is to keep the mystery of why our protagonist was suddenly transported 15 years into the future. Because the characters hardly seemed to care about this jump in time, it was hard for me, as a reader, to care. Without internal monologue, prose, or description of any kind, it proves difficult to discern what the characters care about and what they don't.
One of the primary moral issues in this book is sexism. The world has changed for the better, and now people can experience freedom sexually. It seems like the author is trying to speak out against sexism, and in fact the main characters says that he hates sexism, but is in fact, himself, sexist (not the author. The character). On the one hand he says that he hates when women are mistreated, and then he says things like, "why can't women just remain in the kitchen." Then he switches back to telling about how his dad brought him up right, teaching him to treat women well, yet at the same time being offended when women don't act the way he wants. This glaring character discrepancy is repeated throughout the book, and even the way some of the women characters talk about themselves almost made me feel like they were being sexist toward themselves.
Sometimes when a book is written poorly, I have given it 2 stars because it had great potential, intriguing concepts, or a fresh plot. O.B.U. sadly has none of this. The plot is a classic case of "this is the prophesied one who will save the world." If you have seen The Matrix, you know the plot of this book. It follows the main plot points of that movie so closely that instead of seeing the scenes written about while I read (the lack of prose may be a contributor), my mind was replaying the parallel scenes from the Matrix. I saw Neo falling from the battery-soup when our protagonist gets introduced to O.B.U. I saw him sitting in the chair learning how to fight, fly, etc. when our protagonist did 7 years of training in one night. I saw Neo dodging bullets on a rooftop when the odds are working against him and there were too many enemies for him to face alone. (I will not spoil what the main character in O.B.U. actually does instead of dodging bullets, as it would be a spoiler. Suffice it to say, it was similar). I kept waiting for the scene where he was going to stop bullets in mid-air. Though the final encounter isn't exactly that, it is basically the same. Change some minor points, mix in some mask wearing from Mission Impossible and you have O.B.U.
Conclusion:
I wanted this book to get better as I kept reading, and read it to the very end. Sadly, it is a carbon copy of The Matrix without all the special effects. Its only redeeming quality is that there were not too many POV changing issues, and if it weren't for the poor editing, I could almost know what was going on. If you enjoy putting your palm to forehead a lot, this book is for you.
One night can change the world, and one man can save it.
Mature-Content Rating: A-14 (Lots of sexual content and some coarse language).
What would you do if one night changed your life? What if 15 years changed your world? What if one man could change it back? O.B.U. is a story about one man who has one horrible night, and wakes up 15 years later. The world is not what it once was, and no one is who they seem to be. What has happened to the world is yet to be discovered, and what will happen is soon to be revealed. Unlock the mystery and wonder behind the world that Martin Chushui has created.
The Review:
Normally, when I review a book, I like to point out what I liked and what I didn't like. This book proved challenging for me in this respect. There are probably some things that were done well in O.B.U, but there were so many glaring obstacles to my enjoyment of the book, that it is difficult for me to identify the good.
It would be difficult to identify the number one big issue with this book, but the biggest problem that I noticed within the first couple pages is that O.B.U. needs a lot of editing. It surprised me to reach the end and see the author thanking his editor in the acknowledgements. If I had not read that, I would have thought that a spell-checker was the only editor consulted. There are missing words, incorrect verb conjugation, tense mix-ups, and everything else you can think of that a spell-checker wouldn't catch. Though I found no misspelt words, the glaring editorial errors are so prevalent (almost every page) that it was hard to even read the book.
The next biggest problem I encountered was a classic case of tell vs. show. There is a lot of tech in this book, and it can potentially be confusing to wrap your head around. In order to battle this, it is explained in such painstaking detail that you will have no doubt how everything works. At the outset, our protagonist knows nothing about this world in which he has awakened, which is a great set-up for him to learn it slowly, allowing the reader to follow along as he journeys through the world. Instead of this, extended dry dialogue sections are thrown at him (and the reader) so that he understands how things work. It is so bad that a number of times throughout the book a character might say something like, "I agree, these talks are getting a bit boring." If even the characters know that tell vs. show is boring, perhaps this glaring issue needs some attention.
The dialogue is choppy and unflavourful. It sounds like poor RPG scripting, except instead of your choice of uninteresting dialogue option, the protagonist chooses for you.
Note: Not a true representation of the dialogue, but a made up interaction to show how it flows.
"What is this place?"
"It is the place where we train with guns."
"Tell me more about guns."
"Guns are those things that shoot the enemy. You will need to learn how to use them in order to not die."
"Tell me more about this enemy."
There is no prose in this book at all. Certain scenes are introduced with a few sentences of description, and then we are thrown right into the dialogue. Some scenery is even described through dialogue, but not because the narrator is a character. There isn't really a narrator, save for the odd "he said" and "she questioned" following dialogue. This is action and dialogue on a blank slate.
I won't say that there is no character development, but it was hard to identify because I really didn't care what was happening. I could not empathize with any of the characters because they hardly seemed to care about themselves. All development is based on a single scene near the beginning that is mostly brushed over. The idea is to keep the mystery of why our protagonist was suddenly transported 15 years into the future. Because the characters hardly seemed to care about this jump in time, it was hard for me, as a reader, to care. Without internal monologue, prose, or description of any kind, it proves difficult to discern what the characters care about and what they don't.
One of the primary moral issues in this book is sexism. The world has changed for the better, and now people can experience freedom sexually. It seems like the author is trying to speak out against sexism, and in fact the main characters says that he hates sexism, but is in fact, himself, sexist (not the author. The character). On the one hand he says that he hates when women are mistreated, and then he says things like, "why can't women just remain in the kitchen." Then he switches back to telling about how his dad brought him up right, teaching him to treat women well, yet at the same time being offended when women don't act the way he wants. This glaring character discrepancy is repeated throughout the book, and even the way some of the women characters talk about themselves almost made me feel like they were being sexist toward themselves.
Sometimes when a book is written poorly, I have given it 2 stars because it had great potential, intriguing concepts, or a fresh plot. O.B.U. sadly has none of this. The plot is a classic case of "this is the prophesied one who will save the world." If you have seen The Matrix, you know the plot of this book. It follows the main plot points of that movie so closely that instead of seeing the scenes written about while I read (the lack of prose may be a contributor), my mind was replaying the parallel scenes from the Matrix. I saw Neo falling from the battery-soup when our protagonist gets introduced to O.B.U. I saw him sitting in the chair learning how to fight, fly, etc. when our protagonist did 7 years of training in one night. I saw Neo dodging bullets on a rooftop when the odds are working against him and there were too many enemies for him to face alone. (I will not spoil what the main character in O.B.U. actually does instead of dodging bullets, as it would be a spoiler. Suffice it to say, it was similar). I kept waiting for the scene where he was going to stop bullets in mid-air. Though the final encounter isn't exactly that, it is basically the same. Change some minor points, mix in some mask wearing from Mission Impossible and you have O.B.U.
Conclusion:
I wanted this book to get better as I kept reading, and read it to the very end. Sadly, it is a carbon copy of The Matrix without all the special effects. Its only redeeming quality is that there were not too many POV changing issues, and if it weren't for the poor editing, I could almost know what was going on. If you enjoy putting your palm to forehead a lot, this book is for you.
July 28, 2025
書評：《出體宇宙》
劇透慎入
一、總體印象
這是一部野心極大的近未來驚悚／哲思小說，把意識出體、虛擬實境、道家哲學、反恐諜戰與青春成長縫合在同一條敘事線，節奏明快，畫面感強，閱讀體驗接近觀看一部高概念美劇。前半像《黑鏡》＋《駭客任務》，後半則滑向007式的硬漢浪漫；情感線則在凱西、艾米、瑪麗之間擺盪，形成三角張力。整體完成度高，只是篇幅過長，部分重複的酒吧／派對場景略顯拖戲。
二、世界觀與設定
「出體宇宙」的技術邏輯——EMRT、面具經濟、跳機、時間擴展——作者下足了功夫，既能自洽又留有想像空間。最妙的是把「環保」與「人口崩潰」兩條看似不相干的危機綁在一起：人類躲進虛擬世界以逃避暖化，結果虛擬世界反噬生育力；這比單純的「AI 統治」更新鮮，也更貼近當下對元宇宙的焦慮。
三、人物與主題
1. 內森：典型的「被選中者」弧光，但作者用道家「無為」給他開了金手指，讓「不抵抗」反而成為最強招式，頗具東方味。
2. 瑪麗：從恐怖分子到革命領袖再到可能利用愛情的策士，層次豐富，但後期魅力略被「聖母／魔女」二元框住。
3. 艾米：最動人的角色。她的暗戀、臥底身份與最終犧牲，讓整個故事在硬科幻之外有了溫度。
4. 凱西：前任變成反恐特工的設定很戲劇化，但用來辯論「環保 vs 生育」時稍顯工具人。
主題層面，小說其實在問：當科技解決了舊問題，卻帶來更致命的新問題時，人類是否還有能力踩剎車？答案看似悲觀，卻透過艾米的遺言留下一線溫柔：「愛」可能是唯一能穿透虛擬與現實的病毒。
四、節奏與敘事
開篇三章極其抓人：十五年一跳，失憶、父親去世、世界變天，一氣呵成。中段「非洲學校—部落衝突—法式派對」略鬆散，但功能上是讓內森練級與建立團隊。最後十章回到倫敦諜戰，張力回升，決鬥與爆炸場面乾淨俐落。遺憾的是，部分解說式對話稍長，若能刪 10% 字數會更緊湊。
五、文筆與翻譯腔
作者用英文思考痕跡明顯（槍俠、牛仔等暱稱，以及大量「夥計」「老兄」），但中文敘述流暢，偶爾夾雜港式粵語或愛爾蘭口音，讀來有電影感。性愛描寫直白卻不低俗，符合成人科幻定位。
六、瑕疵
1. 時間擴展五年＝現實三小時的設定雖酷，但後續缺乏副作用描寫，顯得過於無敵。
2. 救世人的「病毒」到底是什麼、如何瞬間癱瘓全球，技術細節留白過多，略影響說服力。
3. 艾米的臥底身份反轉精彩，但前期伏筆稍弱，回頭翻找只能找到「她從未提過跳機」一類暗示，略不夠公平。
七、結論
《出體宇宙》以高概念包裝哲思，用動作愛情驅動劇情，在中文科幻裡罕見地將道家思想與賽博朋克嫁接。若精修刪繁，完全有潛力改編為影集。讀罷掩卷，最難忘的不是槍戰，而是艾米那句：「我終於吻到你了……」——提醒我們：在無限擴展的虛擬天堂裡，真實的一秒擁抱仍勝過永恆的數位永生。
評分：4.5 / 5
劇透慎入
一、總體印象
這是一部野心極大的近未來驚悚／哲思小說，把意識出體、虛擬實境、道家哲學、反恐諜戰與青春成長縫合在同一條敘事線，節奏明快，畫面感強，閱讀體驗接近觀看一部高概念美劇。前半像《黑鏡》＋《駭客任務》，後半則滑向007式的硬漢浪漫；情感線則在凱西、艾米、瑪麗之間擺盪，形成三角張力。整體完成度高，只是篇幅過長，部分重複的酒吧／派對場景略顯拖戲。
二、世界觀與設定
「出體宇宙」的技術邏輯——EMRT、面具經濟、跳機、時間擴展——作者下足了功夫，既能自洽又留有想像空間。最妙的是把「環保」與「人口崩潰」兩條看似不相干的危機綁在一起：人類躲進虛擬世界以逃避暖化，結果虛擬世界反噬生育力；這比單純的「AI 統治」更新鮮，也更貼近當下對元宇宙的焦慮。
三、人物與主題
1. 內森：典型的「被選中者」弧光，但作者用道家「無為」給他開了金手指，讓「不抵抗」反而成為最強招式，頗具東方味。
2. 瑪麗：從恐怖分子到革命領袖再到可能利用愛情的策士，層次豐富，但後期魅力略被「聖母／魔女」二元框住。
3. 艾米：最動人的角色。她的暗戀、臥底身份與最終犧牲，讓整個故事在硬科幻之外有了溫度。
4. 凱西：前任變成反恐特工的設定很戲劇化，但用來辯論「環保 vs 生育」時稍顯工具人。
主題層面，小說其實在問：當科技解決了舊問題，卻帶來更致命的新問題時，人類是否還有能力踩剎車？答案看似悲觀，卻透過艾米的遺言留下一線溫柔：「愛」可能是唯一能穿透虛擬與現實的病毒。
四、節奏與敘事
開篇三章極其抓人：十五年一跳，失憶、父親去世、世界變天，一氣呵成。中段「非洲學校—部落衝突—法式派對」略鬆散，但功能上是讓內森練級與建立團隊。最後十章回到倫敦諜戰，張力回升，決鬥與爆炸場面乾淨俐落。遺憾的是，部分解說式對話稍長，若能刪 10% 字數會更緊湊。
五、文筆與翻譯腔
作者用英文思考痕跡明顯（槍俠、牛仔等暱稱，以及大量「夥計」「老兄」），但中文敘述流暢，偶爾夾雜港式粵語或愛爾蘭口音，讀來有電影感。性愛描寫直白卻不低俗，符合成人科幻定位。
六、瑕疵
1. 時間擴展五年＝現實三小時的設定雖酷，但後續缺乏副作用描寫，顯得過於無敵。
2. 救世人的「病毒」到底是什麼、如何瞬間癱瘓全球，技術細節留白過多，略影響說服力。
3. 艾米的臥底身份反轉精彩，但前期伏筆稍弱，回頭翻找只能找到「她從未提過跳機」一類暗示，略不夠公平。
七、結論
《出體宇宙》以高概念包裝哲思，用動作愛情驅動劇情，在中文科幻裡罕見地將道家思想與賽博朋克嫁接。若精修刪繁，完全有潛力改編為影集。讀罷掩卷，最難忘的不是槍戰，而是艾米那句：「我終於吻到你了……」——提醒我們：在無限擴展的虛擬天堂裡，真實的一秒擁抱仍勝過永恆的數位永生。
評分：4.5 / 5
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