Xtremus: A Bionican Quest in the Wake of Cybergeddon

by Peter Wiesner

Xtremus is a dystopian satire about the aftermath of a cataclysmic demise of technology that takes place in post-apocalyptic Southern California. Eco terrorists have unleashed a computer virus killing the ruling class whose power and life force were dependent on sophisticated brain implants through which they communicated and held sway. The story follows the quest of Condor, leader of a group of “hackers” who survived Cybergeddon because of the immunities they received, albeit without the firepower of the halcyon days of techno splendor. Condor and other “hackers” are sworn to protect The Well, the only remaining database from the high-technology past that now resides in brains of the Bionicans. Condor’s mission is to determine whether The Well’s secret database could be hacked by other survivors outside of Bionica to develop weapons of mass destruction and wreak havoc again. Condor’s quest obliges him to deal with all three surviving clans in Southern California, each bent on imposing their unique ideology in this post-apocalyptic his fellow Bionicans, a drug besotted lot who communicate telepathically through The Well; the crude and romantic Goths, who love gladiatorial combat and motorcycles, and treat bad poetry as a capital crime; and the decadent Greeks whose work to revive of the Classics from Homer to Plato is supported by slavery and guided by sexual politics. Condor’s quest is transformed many times by the women he conquers and manipulated by the woman who finally conquers him. His exploits turn into a power-grabbing adventure of murder, intrigue, and betrayal. By the time he learns about the true nature of his quest, it is too late for our hero to prevail. Xtremus is a morality tale and a satire of the Information Age, as we now know it. It pokes fun at the ideological mélange of the 1960's that gave rise to environmental awareness, consumerism, sexual freedom, gay liberation, vegans, Eastern religion, mythology, New Age healing, motorcycle-based rebellion, and drug-induced alternate states of consciousness. It also takes on those whose blue-sky tunnel vision of technology is painting our future into a corner where wildlife and civil society cannot thrive.

612 pages, Paperback

First published April 27, 2015

Reviews

[Marcin Dolecki · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was a child, I used to imagine that in the future some of the famous ancient civilisations would be restored, and only slighty changed by technical developement: Romans, Greeks, Aztecs, and so forth. I loved to entertain myself this way.
Peter did quite the same thing, yet he went essentially further - he described it.
This book would be a very good choice for people claiming that history repeats itself.

Condor - alias Siegfried, alias Jason - is a man shaped by three different cultures: Bionicans, Goths, and Greeks, all living in California after a Great Plague, entangled in a net of troubled relations. He is also a person firmly believing in the importance of his mission; therefore Xtremus could be also regarded as a study of the totalitarian mentality, when a mission seems to be more real than other people, and many of them are just reduced to obstacles - when an inner voice, awakened and formed by propagandists, becomes more powerful than any reasonable arguments. This voice whispers: you already know the truth, you "possess" it, and you should subdue other people with it, with your truth: "Pain and only pain, makes people feel real, and that is when you can get their attention. Sometimes you have to use thugs and goons to convince people what is good for them [...]." (p. 81)

Xtremus is a brilliant dystopian story - skillfully written, with an intriguing and unusual plot, and a subtle sense of humor. It should be also pointed out that the cultural background is masterfully depicted.

[Alana Capria · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's the end of the world and all that's left of civilization are a few clans of survivors desperate to gain control of what is left of the Internet. Pets are named Google and Yahoo. Birkenstocks are sacred footwear. The Internet is a religion, a cult, a monolith. Mostly naked, tattooed hackers act as priests while the few remaining web users are cyber drug addicts. Connecting to the remains of the Internet (now called The Well) gives some of the users ideas of their own, which goes against this new society's rules—users only connect to the Internet to share information with the hackers who preserve and protect the net from competing clans and prevent the creation of weapons of mass destruction. A battle rages between Bionica—a telepathic society of drug-addled hippies in the ruins of Southern California—and two other clans: the Goths (a group of poetry-loving bikers) and the Greeks (a slave-using Hellenic society focused on cultural pursuits). Each group wants to gain unrestricted access to The Well in the hopes of controlling what is left of the world.

Peter Wiesner's Xtremus: A Bionican Quest in the Wake of Cybergeddon is a technological fable about what happens in the wake of generations born to the Cyber Age. Before the cybergeddon, the Internet became accessible through chips implanted in the brain. When terrorists released a computer virus, most of society was killed leaving only a few survivors to put the Internet—and themselves—back together. Xtremus works as a satire based on society's inability to disconnect from the Internet—we are consumed by what is happening online (Wikipedia black holes, social media, community forums, the constant stream of minute-by-minute news). Because we are always connected to a steady stream of information, the question is raised: Can anyone really control the Internet?

Xtremus is not only a cautionary tale about modern society's dependence on technology, but also a road-tripping comedy. Condor, a Bionican hacker with animated tattoos covering his body, embarks on a quest given to him by his long-dead mother. He travels from the Goths to the Greeks, slaughtering any friends, lovers, and enemies who try to keep him from his quest. In order to integrate himself in the various clans, Condor must change his name to Siegfried, then Jason, then Condor once more. With each new identity, he believes he is a different person but his violent rages are ever-present. In the midst of Condor's quest, he enters into a tumultuous, unhappy marriage; rises to power among the Goths; becomes party to a drug war against the Christian missionaries seeking to stop the use and distribution of a drug called Daytrain; and suffers an estrangement from his son that brings Condor back to where his quest began. At the end, Condor must face his murderous doings and accept the person he has always been.

[Jonathan Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Xtremus is a dense book, plain and simple. There is a lot to digest here, but what a meal! While satirical, the book cannot be classified in a single genre; there are many at play here. Part science fiction, part morality tale, part adventure, and part comedy, this book takes you all over the place, and while it is long, your interest remains throughout the journey. I had flashes of "Blade Runner," flashes of "Slaughterhouse 5" along with many other stories I've enjoyed in the past. The writing is sharp and intriguing. It is definitely a book I would recommend for a person that wants to get lost in a unique world.