Chi: A Novel of Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality #3

by Alexander Besher

In the third novel in the "Rim" series, the head of a drug cartel in the year 2038 controls the world's supply of chi-essence, derived from human slaves

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Speculative Fiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published July 7, 1999

Reviews

[Leah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book on a bench in the woods. It was left by the "Outside Book Club." It's absolutely wild. Just to give a brief gist of the story - someone is extracting chi from humans to sell on the black market; orangutans are stolen from the forest and genetically modified and then adopted into families and raised as human children; oh, and there's a sort of collective animal consciousness (kind of like the internet but for animals' thoughts) that humans can tap into. What ensues is an interwoven story about greed, love, and humanity.
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I was taken in the first half, I'm not going to lie. Everything seemed so exciting and odd and unpredictable, but somewhere along the way it was lost on me. The end was interesting in that we began to see how the large cast of characters fit into each others' lives, and understand where their stories weaved into one another.
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When the bloke having an affair with his private elevator is the least weirdest part of a story, you know you've read an exceptionally strange book. I'm glad to have stumbled on this in the way that I did, and I'm always open to branching out and exploring things I might never have otherwise come across. Overall this is about a 2.5⭐

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wild science fiction that both skewers new-age and western ideas and takes them (or their ancient bases), along with cybertechnology, to wild and hilarious extremes.

[Kristian Jensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Den bedste i serien.

[Dark-Draco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another weird novel from this author! In this one, Frank and Tara Gobi are tracking down reports of illegal Chi smuggling operations in Thailand, while in America, Paul Sykes stumbles onto a story that could make his career, if it doesn't change his life, and his existance, first. Tommy is regressing to his Orang-u-tan heritage and needs to finds Nita, his missing love, before it is too late, and Wing Fat, obese lord of Chi, continues his affair with his sentient elevator.

There are lots of little stories weaving through this, all coming together right at the end. Of the three books in the series, I found this the most complete, if maybe not that enjoyable in places. I think that is because I am a huge animal lover and some of the scenes in this book make uncomfortable reading. Bit I do like the idea of Green cyberspace and the possibility that everything in and of this world could communicate on some level.

Overall Verdict - an ok read, if a bit weird. Something to enjoy and pass on.

[Lysergius · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ah, this started out well and had all the right things in the mix, but somehow the spark was missing. "Mir" was not much better so I gave "Rim" a miss.

[Scott Avery · Rating 3 out of 5]

did I realy read this? Yes, I'm afraid so