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The God Complex: My Adventures in a 300 Year Last Man Standing Competition
"Check out this visceral, sci-fi mind trip. Narrator stamp of approval!" Luke Daniels, narrator extraordinaire (Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles, Scott Meyer's Magic 2.0 series) Get the Luke Daniels' audiobook for just $7.49 after purchasing the Kindle e-book! In 2021, a worldwide Competition of seven billion people -- every man, woman and child on earth -- begins. In strange...often comic…sometimes frightening…ultimately lethal Events, participants battle against each other. M would love to give up. After 300 years of desperately trying to survive the crazy, always surreal Events, he is finally done. The only thing that has sustained him until now is the dream of being reunited with his beloved wife and two young children, whom he hasn't seen since the Competition unexpectedly began. But slowly he has come to realize this is pure fantasy. Now in his 45th Q&A Event, he is ready to give the wrong answer to the random, obscure question and take a dive. But then Jonathan appears. A stranger, who’s really not a stranger at all, prevents M's fatal exit from the Competition. Jonathan’s relationship to M began long before the start of the Competition, something that only he knows. It is this deeply personal connection to M that becomes the driving force in Jonathan's quest to reunite M with his wife and children.
- GenresScience FictionHorror
229 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 13, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 11, 2017
I try not to swear, but ... what a weird-ass book.
The Matrix meets The Running Man meets one of the goofier episodes of Supernatural meets Gilgamesh meets Evil Dead 2 meets ... well, you get the idea. The basic premise is a gigantic game with billions of contestants, leading eventually to a winner, but no idea of what the prize is. Every contest is different, but the result is a culling. Survivor(s) move on, loser(s) removed gruesomely from the competition. There are rules, but contestants generally have to learn them by watching others die.
After 300 years, protagonist "M" has gotten good at surviving. He's tired, but persists because of his wife and two kids. In his corner - maybe? - a mysterious fellow whose path keeps intersecting with his, motivations unknown.
Whole lot of R-rated splatstick humor - some of which is genuinely funny, some of which is just morbid. It can feel as interminable as the contestants' centuries-old progress through the competition, and at times you'll wonder if there's a point to it all. Whether, at the end, you feel the payoff was worth the trip, is up to you. I'm still not sure.
It's undeniably clever. The premise lets the author come up with endless ways to kill people. This may be a self-selecting audience.
The Matrix meets The Running Man meets one of the goofier episodes of Supernatural meets Gilgamesh meets Evil Dead 2 meets ... well, you get the idea. The basic premise is a gigantic game with billions of contestants, leading eventually to a winner, but no idea of what the prize is. Every contest is different, but the result is a culling. Survivor(s) move on, loser(s) removed gruesomely from the competition. There are rules, but contestants generally have to learn them by watching others die.
After 300 years, protagonist "M" has gotten good at surviving. He's tired, but persists because of his wife and two kids. In his corner - maybe? - a mysterious fellow whose path keeps intersecting with his, motivations unknown.
Whole lot of R-rated splatstick humor - some of which is genuinely funny, some of which is just morbid. It can feel as interminable as the contestants' centuries-old progress through the competition, and at times you'll wonder if there's a point to it all. Whether, at the end, you feel the payoff was worth the trip, is up to you. I'm still not sure.
It's undeniably clever. The premise lets the author come up with endless ways to kill people. This may be a self-selecting audience.
July 19, 2017
Two pages Anne and couldn't get past the totally unnecessary profanity
A possibly great storyline ruined by extraneous vulgarity. Some people seem to think it is necessary, I guess, I don't.
A possibly great storyline ruined by extraneous vulgarity. Some people seem to think it is necessary, I guess, I don't.
March 26, 2018
Based on the blurb for this one, I wasn't sure if I was walking into an over-the-top, offense-driven farce, or a too-proud-of-itself comedy. I'm very glad that it ended up being neither of these.
As other reviews have said, it is very difficult to talk about the plot of this book without spoiling it. This is because its core driving theme is an ontological mystery. I love those. I also love when characters are put into games with discrete rules and the creative manipulation or sequence breaking of those rules comes up. The 'games' in this story frequently feel like the creation of dream logic fears, but there is also that cunning manipulation.
To help those who would like to know 'how far' the narrative goes, the death descriptions are generally less gratuitous than darkly humorous. The description mentions that this is an elimination competition involving all living people, which makes the prospective reader wonder whether violence against children is a theme. It isn't, except in the fact that children are participants in the challenge, which is largely treated less directly than the adults. The competition also isn't generally a deathmatch scenario, but rather a series of different events, so, again, while occasionally there is blood, not a gore-fest.
There were two parts which I felt a bit uncomfortable with, both involving the primary male protagonist potentially being put in a questionable sexual situation. Both situations are written in a way that feels like it is supposed to invoke unease in the reader. Without giving spoilers, I'll just say that:
A) The first one could've used more subtext in the writing (the anxiety-inducing possibility is evident from the get-go, but is mentioned directly a distracting number of times).
B) I had a much longer comment typed out here, but couldn't find a way to properly address my feelings on it (especially without an extended spoiler section). In brief, the sensitive subject of sexual assault survivors is brought up in a scene that is specifically intended to invoke the feeling of anxiety over stupid things one shouldn't have said. However, I feel the author could have handled it a bit better.
These aren't deal-breakers, but, along with semi-frequent references to male genitalia, may turn some readers off.
That being said, because of the aforementioned mystery-driven plot, I have effectively spent far more time talking about some of the blemishes of the book than how engrossing it was. I listened to the whole thing in one day, and I was constantly engaged. The narrative is non-linear, but thankfully begins each chapter with the time difference relative to the previous chapter (e.g. "X days before/after").
Overall, I would definitely recommend this to those who like an unusual narrative with an ontological mystery and don't mind some crass humor.
As other reviews have said, it is very difficult to talk about the plot of this book without spoiling it. This is because its core driving theme is an ontological mystery. I love those. I also love when characters are put into games with discrete rules and the creative manipulation or sequence breaking of those rules comes up. The 'games' in this story frequently feel like the creation of dream logic fears, but there is also that cunning manipulation.
To help those who would like to know 'how far' the narrative goes, the death descriptions are generally less gratuitous than darkly humorous. The description mentions that this is an elimination competition involving all living people, which makes the prospective reader wonder whether violence against children is a theme. It isn't, except in the fact that children are participants in the challenge, which is largely treated less directly than the adults. The competition also isn't generally a deathmatch scenario, but rather a series of different events, so, again, while occasionally there is blood, not a gore-fest.
There were two parts which I felt a bit uncomfortable with, both involving the primary male protagonist potentially being put in a questionable sexual situation. Both situations are written in a way that feels like it is supposed to invoke unease in the reader. Without giving spoilers, I'll just say that:
A) The first one could've used more subtext in the writing (the anxiety-inducing possibility is evident from the get-go, but is mentioned directly a distracting number of times).
B) I had a much longer comment typed out here, but couldn't find a way to properly address my feelings on it (especially without an extended spoiler section). In brief, the sensitive subject of sexual assault survivors is brought up in a scene that is specifically intended to invoke the feeling of anxiety over stupid things one shouldn't have said. However, I feel the author could have handled it a bit better.
These aren't deal-breakers, but, along with semi-frequent references to male genitalia, may turn some readers off.
That being said, because of the aforementioned mystery-driven plot, I have effectively spent far more time talking about some of the blemishes of the book than how engrossing it was. I listened to the whole thing in one day, and I was constantly engaged. The narrative is non-linear, but thankfully begins each chapter with the time difference relative to the previous chapter (e.g. "X days before/after").
Overall, I would definitely recommend this to those who like an unusual narrative with an ontological mystery and don't mind some crass humor.
March 20, 2021
M participates in a competition to the death which has lasted 300 years against the billions of other humans on Earth.
2.5 stars This was a mind trippy idea for a book but it was too short, too jerky (we'd see a few pages from the perspective of a different character who would never show up again - looking at you, shopping cart lady), unnecessarily foul mouthed, and I am not a fan of the ending. If you like 'Running Man', you might give this one a try.
2.5 stars This was a mind trippy idea for a book but it was too short, too jerky (we'd see a few pages from the perspective of a different character who would never show up again - looking at you, shopping cart lady), unnecessarily foul mouthed, and I am not a fan of the ending. If you like 'Running Man', you might give this one a try.
October 24, 2024
DNF about half-way though. got this back in 2018 soon after it came out, on the strength of >4★ rating here on GR (author's friends and relatives? probably not reputation, as i don't think he published anything before - or since, i wonder why?), for SF. made a valiant effort, but finally DNF-ed, which is extremely rare for me. sorry, life's too short for this...
May 17, 2017
Words
20 words must be entered. I enjoyed the story. It had a good flow and interesting ideas. I would recommend to others, especially after Luke Daniels gets his vocal cords ahold of it.
20 words must be entered. I enjoyed the story. It had a good flow and interesting ideas. I would recommend to others, especially after Luke Daniels gets his vocal cords ahold of it.
April 19, 2018
Unusual storyline
This was definitely an unusual story. I had a lot of "WTH" moments and was confused through a lot of it, but still entertaining enough for me to read through to the to find out whst happened.
This was definitely an unusual story. I had a lot of "WTH" moments and was confused through a lot of it, but still entertaining enough for me to read through to the to find out whst happened.
August 7, 2018
Almost good. It was interesting reading, but the end reveal too quick and easy. And I think it needed to be more thorough to be believable since you spend most of the book saying wtf. 2.5. A hard to rate book.
February 1, 2018
so good
February 3, 2018
What... what was that? This was a very weird book. It wasn't necessarily bad, nor was it really good. Just, strange.
February 3, 2018
The Story was fine, until the author got lazy and finished the book in a couple of paragraphs with a stupid ending.
March 31, 2019
Just wished it was longer....
June 11, 2021
👍👍🤗😆😂
Wow my only complaint is that this is to short. Would love to have explanation on how the competition was actually executed.
Wow my only complaint is that this is to short. Would love to have explanation on how the competition was actually executed.
October 31, 2016
Over the weekend I bought and read “The God Complex: My Adventures in a 300 Year Last Man Standing Competition” by Michael Suskind, based on Amazon’s suggestion.
Turns out the machines are getting closer to taking over because they were spot on with this suggestion.
So what’s it all about. That’s a tricky one.
In The God Complex, everyone on earth has been forced into competing into a “last man standing” event. Yep, all 7 billion people regardless of age or abilities must participate. Over the course of hundreds of years the total population is slowly reduced by means of ridiculous and lethal game shows.
I must say I was hooked from the preview. I downloaded the sample and was so engrossed I forgot it was just a sample and was peeved I had to stop reading to go buy the full version.
The story alternates between the characters and their experiences as well as a previous time the event was run. This story follows the events of the 282nd, with flashbacks to the 281st. I did get a little confused with for a while until I realised the flashback to the previous competition. True, it was right there in the chapter heading, I just missed it.
I can’t say too much more about it without giving stuff away. Suffice it to say I enjoyed the book and look forward to seeing what else Mr Suskind puts out. It was an original spin on a particular idea (which I won’t say here, because that’ll give away some of the ending). It’s annoyingly difficult to say anything about this book without giving things away.
TL;DR Version
A unique look at the absurdity of reality. Bizarre, funny, entertaining. I was hooked from the start.
Turns out the machines are getting closer to taking over because they were spot on with this suggestion.
So what’s it all about. That’s a tricky one.
In The God Complex, everyone on earth has been forced into competing into a “last man standing” event. Yep, all 7 billion people regardless of age or abilities must participate. Over the course of hundreds of years the total population is slowly reduced by means of ridiculous and lethal game shows.
I must say I was hooked from the preview. I downloaded the sample and was so engrossed I forgot it was just a sample and was peeved I had to stop reading to go buy the full version.
The story alternates between the characters and their experiences as well as a previous time the event was run. This story follows the events of the 282nd, with flashbacks to the 281st. I did get a little confused with for a while until I realised the flashback to the previous competition. True, it was right there in the chapter heading, I just missed it.
I can’t say too much more about it without giving stuff away. Suffice it to say I enjoyed the book and look forward to seeing what else Mr Suskind puts out. It was an original spin on a particular idea (which I won’t say here, because that’ll give away some of the ending). It’s annoyingly difficult to say anything about this book without giving things away.
TL;DR Version
A unique look at the absurdity of reality. Bizarre, funny, entertaining. I was hooked from the start.
September 21, 2016
This is an awesome book. It is difficult to describe without giving too much away, so I'll just say it is incredibly unique, creatively written, and filled with characters that you want to know better and grow to care about.
The story is told via a competition that is preposterous on its face. Amidst the consequences, the events in the competition are funny, in a very dark way.
This book asks the question that we all ask ourselves at some point in our lives (no, not that one), and, in this case, the answer is ...
Read the book!
The story is told via a competition that is preposterous on its face. Amidst the consequences, the events in the competition are funny, in a very dark way.
This book asks the question that we all ask ourselves at some point in our lives (no, not that one), and, in this case, the answer is ...
Read the book!
October 16, 2016
The writing is excellent, the story is weird. One of those that make ya think. I even did research about it after I finished reading to see if it was even possible. Really enjoyed this book. Different but fun. Great characters.
October 24, 2016
Great premise
The ending feels contrived and weak. The personalization of the simulated people was a nice perspective on the vr thing.
The ending feels contrived and weak. The personalization of the simulated people was a nice perspective on the vr thing.
April 9, 2017
Enjoyed it but the ending was a little weak.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews