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Cerebellix: A Dystopian Novel
For thirty years, the Cerebellix computer chip has stifled the emotions of nearly every Omnividian citizen.
In a bleak routine-driven existence, they committed no crimes, formed no human bonds, and waged no resistance to the tyrannical rule of Henry Irvine.
As an underground dissident group emerges, a mother embarks on a quest to find her children, friendships are crafted, and -- with some unlikely help from the highest echelons of power -- the seeds of a global resistance movement are planted.
In his debut fiction novel, Neal Larson crafts a thrilling tale of oppression, struggle, adventure, hope and love.
In a bleak routine-driven existence, they committed no crimes, formed no human bonds, and waged no resistance to the tyrannical rule of Henry Irvine.
As an underground dissident group emerges, a mother embarks on a quest to find her children, friendships are crafted, and -- with some unlikely help from the highest echelons of power -- the seeds of a global resistance movement are planted.
In his debut fiction novel, Neal Larson crafts a thrilling tale of oppression, struggle, adventure, hope and love.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 6, 2021
23 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 23, 2022
I love the premise of this book. The mystery and intrigue.
Having listened to the author every morning for years, on my car radio here in eastern Idaho, I very much look forward to delving deeper into this story.
Cerebellix is far from perfect, though. Here are some observations and comments, for the uninitiated and/or the curious:
1. I counted the number of times the author tells us specifically that the Cerebellix chip, by name, is the cause of everyone's stunted emotions: 6 times in Chapter 1, 3 times in Chapter 2, 4 times in Chapter 3, 4 times in Chapter 4, and so on. It would've been better to simply explain the nature of the chip once, and then to later describe stunted emotions without repeatedly pointing out that the Cerebellix chip was, specifically, to blame. Trusting your readers is almost always better than restating, again and again, ad nauseum.
2. Likewise, we're told that "Omnivida" means "all life" no fewer than 6 times in the first 3 chapters. Once would've been enough.
3. Multiple typos suggest that a better editor would've done a better job: the word "whoattempted" appears in Chapter 1; "look over" in Chapter 4 should be "looked over," and so on.
4. When Henry addresses the Planners, we're told 5 different times that they noticed that there was something different about his tone. And we're told 3 times that Warren had been lied to about his work on the new chip being only experimental in nature. In each case, once would've sufficed.
5. The society is sometimes called "Omnivida" and sometimes "Omnividia." Of the first 50 occurrences of this term, half are the first, and half are the second. Which is it? How could a decent editor not have caught this?
6. The plot raises some significant questions of logic and continuity, including the following:
- The society is devoid of strong emotions, religion, fashion, books, and even parents. Yet instead of simply disposing of their deceased via the cost-effective method of cremation, they bury everyone, even the commoners, in caskets, at funerals, complete with paid sermonizing. To what end? Who decided this? The opening scene strikes me as entirely inconsistent with all other aspects of the society.
- Omnivida (or Omnividia?) is, apparently, the only country in the world. As such, why are its citizens called "Omnividians," instead of just "people?" Who are they being differentiated against, if there isn't anyone else?
- Garrison's classroom students are puzzled and shocked to learn that people were formerly raised by mothers and fathers (replicators), yet all of nature consists of creatures with parents who rear their young. How could these kids not have known that? Wouldn't they wonder why humans were the parent-less exception to the rule, rather than the other way around?
- With no parents, why do the people even have names? Why not just numbers? Who gives them their names, and for what purpose?
- Every character is presented on a first-name basis, except for Henry Irvine. In the first 72 mentions of his name, it's given as "Henry Irvine," rather than just "Irvine," 30 times. Why repeatedly present his whole name? It feels like a mistake, or an oversight. There doesn't seem to be an underlying reason for it.
- Per Irvine, the evidence is that only six people out of 1.2 billion have been circumventing their chips, yet all these people had to do was think of the color black. Didn't anyone else ever consider thinking of black? Only 6 people figured it out?
- Irvine says there are "a couple of theories" on what people are doing to bypass their chips. All you have to do is think of black, right? So, is that one of the theories? Why was it so hard for Irvine's scientists to discover?
- Irvine ends his meeting with the planners because he needs to hurry to another appointment. But after the meeting's over, he lingers to have a discussion with Warren, then he stares thoughtfully out his window, and then he opens the box in his desk drawer and removes its contents slowly, reminiscing and whispering to himself. So much for the other meeting.
7. Much of the dialog is either unnecessary or unnatural, there are dangling modifiers, and some of the grammar is awkward or clunky:
- Nodding slightly showing agreement, Warren kept his eyes affixed . . .
- Nobody would ever think of Timothy ever again.
- . . . the dead and bloody bodies of his two greatest loves, their bodies butchered by a human monster . . .
- the complete obliteration of the special way she treasured and nurtured their little boy
- He felt the anger and loss of security he had enjoyed prior to the fatal brutality
- "I understand you're teaching my son, Tyson," Jarek continued the small talk
- . . . a voice called from a distance."Dad? Is that you?!" The two look over to see a teenage boy walking quickly toward them. "Tyson! How are you son?" responded Jarek, with arms outstretched and vigorously embracing the boy as he arrived. "I'm good, dad. How was your trip?"
- "Where's Renny? I just love that girl of mine."
The storyline, though intriguing, is also both highly cliched and relatively slow-moving. Here's a super-brief summary of what the first four chapters contain:
Chapter 1 - Garrison attends an uninteresting funeral and observes a girl from a distance
Chapter 2 - The narrator gives us a speech about the Cerebellix chip (expository backstory)
Chapter 3 - Garrison gives a speech to a bunch of kids (expository backstory)
Chapter 4 - Irvine gives a speech to a bunch of adults (mostly expository backstory)
It's not easy to write a novel. I know that, from personal experience.
I admire Neal Larson for actually doing it, and for creating something that, I believe, is truly worth reading.
I'm grateful that Cerebellix exists, and I hope that sequels will be forthcoming. Books don't have to be perfect to be entertaining and enlightening.
And Neal, if you decide you need to upgrade your editor with your second go, I'm here.
Having listened to the author every morning for years, on my car radio here in eastern Idaho, I very much look forward to delving deeper into this story.
Cerebellix is far from perfect, though. Here are some observations and comments, for the uninitiated and/or the curious:
1. I counted the number of times the author tells us specifically that the Cerebellix chip, by name, is the cause of everyone's stunted emotions: 6 times in Chapter 1, 3 times in Chapter 2, 4 times in Chapter 3, 4 times in Chapter 4, and so on. It would've been better to simply explain the nature of the chip once, and then to later describe stunted emotions without repeatedly pointing out that the Cerebellix chip was, specifically, to blame. Trusting your readers is almost always better than restating, again and again, ad nauseum.
2. Likewise, we're told that "Omnivida" means "all life" no fewer than 6 times in the first 3 chapters. Once would've been enough.
3. Multiple typos suggest that a better editor would've done a better job: the word "whoattempted" appears in Chapter 1; "look over" in Chapter 4 should be "looked over," and so on.
4. When Henry addresses the Planners, we're told 5 different times that they noticed that there was something different about his tone. And we're told 3 times that Warren had been lied to about his work on the new chip being only experimental in nature. In each case, once would've sufficed.
5. The society is sometimes called "Omnivida" and sometimes "Omnividia." Of the first 50 occurrences of this term, half are the first, and half are the second. Which is it? How could a decent editor not have caught this?
6. The plot raises some significant questions of logic and continuity, including the following:
- The society is devoid of strong emotions, religion, fashion, books, and even parents. Yet instead of simply disposing of their deceased via the cost-effective method of cremation, they bury everyone, even the commoners, in caskets, at funerals, complete with paid sermonizing. To what end? Who decided this? The opening scene strikes me as entirely inconsistent with all other aspects of the society.
- Omnivida (or Omnividia?) is, apparently, the only country in the world. As such, why are its citizens called "Omnividians," instead of just "people?" Who are they being differentiated against, if there isn't anyone else?
- Garrison's classroom students are puzzled and shocked to learn that people were formerly raised by mothers and fathers (replicators), yet all of nature consists of creatures with parents who rear their young. How could these kids not have known that? Wouldn't they wonder why humans were the parent-less exception to the rule, rather than the other way around?
- With no parents, why do the people even have names? Why not just numbers? Who gives them their names, and for what purpose?
- Every character is presented on a first-name basis, except for Henry Irvine. In the first 72 mentions of his name, it's given as "Henry Irvine," rather than just "Irvine," 30 times. Why repeatedly present his whole name? It feels like a mistake, or an oversight. There doesn't seem to be an underlying reason for it.
- Per Irvine, the evidence is that only six people out of 1.2 billion have been circumventing their chips, yet all these people had to do was think of the color black. Didn't anyone else ever consider thinking of black? Only 6 people figured it out?
- Irvine says there are "a couple of theories" on what people are doing to bypass their chips. All you have to do is think of black, right? So, is that one of the theories? Why was it so hard for Irvine's scientists to discover?
- Irvine ends his meeting with the planners because he needs to hurry to another appointment. But after the meeting's over, he lingers to have a discussion with Warren, then he stares thoughtfully out his window, and then he opens the box in his desk drawer and removes its contents slowly, reminiscing and whispering to himself. So much for the other meeting.
7. Much of the dialog is either unnecessary or unnatural, there are dangling modifiers, and some of the grammar is awkward or clunky:
- Nodding slightly showing agreement, Warren kept his eyes affixed . . .
- Nobody would ever think of Timothy ever again.
- . . . the dead and bloody bodies of his two greatest loves, their bodies butchered by a human monster . . .
- the complete obliteration of the special way she treasured and nurtured their little boy
- He felt the anger and loss of security he had enjoyed prior to the fatal brutality
- "I understand you're teaching my son, Tyson," Jarek continued the small talk
- . . . a voice called from a distance."Dad? Is that you?!" The two look over to see a teenage boy walking quickly toward them. "Tyson! How are you son?" responded Jarek, with arms outstretched and vigorously embracing the boy as he arrived. "I'm good, dad. How was your trip?"
- "Where's Renny? I just love that girl of mine."
The storyline, though intriguing, is also both highly cliched and relatively slow-moving. Here's a super-brief summary of what the first four chapters contain:
Chapter 1 - Garrison attends an uninteresting funeral and observes a girl from a distance
Chapter 2 - The narrator gives us a speech about the Cerebellix chip (expository backstory)
Chapter 3 - Garrison gives a speech to a bunch of kids (expository backstory)
Chapter 4 - Irvine gives a speech to a bunch of adults (mostly expository backstory)
It's not easy to write a novel. I know that, from personal experience.
I admire Neal Larson for actually doing it, and for creating something that, I believe, is truly worth reading.
I'm grateful that Cerebellix exists, and I hope that sequels will be forthcoming. Books don't have to be perfect to be entertaining and enlightening.
And Neal, if you decide you need to upgrade your editor with your second go, I'm here.
April 23, 2022
A good read
This book has a sliver of truth to it. There is something to be said of how the elites want to control our thoughts and actions. The fact that it is happening in 2022 speaks of our government and social structure. Although we do not have Chips, control is being accomplished by other means. This book is a scary thought, but a good lesson on preserving freedoms and rights. Do not give up your freedoms and rights for comfort and security that governments hope to provide.
This book has a sliver of truth to it. There is something to be said of how the elites want to control our thoughts and actions. The fact that it is happening in 2022 speaks of our government and social structure. Although we do not have Chips, control is being accomplished by other means. This book is a scary thought, but a good lesson on preserving freedoms and rights. Do not give up your freedoms and rights for comfort and security that governments hope to provide.
December 7, 2021
I read an advanced copy of the book so the final edit may be even better but I thought it was a good mix of elements from Brave New World and 1984 with an original storyline. I loved watching the characters grow from their initial awakening through the book. I can’t wait for the sequel.
June 21, 2022
It took me back to high school when I first read books of this genre. In the beginning I had a difficult time with the repetition. I know he's writing a sequel and will probably read it also. Not my favorite genre but worth reading.
February 21, 2022
A extremely good read
A very good read. Glad I got the book. Makes you think about what you could lose. I would recommend it to anyone.
A very good read. Glad I got the book. Makes you think about what you could lose. I would recommend it to anyone.
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March 10, 2022Cerebellix
I loved it, it was compelling and interesting and easy to follow,but, now need to find out the rest of the story :-).
I loved it, it was compelling and interesting and easy to follow,but, now need to find out the rest of the story :-).
August 4, 2022
Really interesting premise. First time author,- it was difficult to read. But I really want to see where this goes.
April 3, 2022
Most interesting and moving story of a society where all emotion has been suppressed by a computer chip implanted in the individual's brain. Neal Larson tells a moving and suspenseful story and an ending that leaves one hoping for a sequel to explain some of the back ground story. The villain in this story is most fascinating and more background on his history would be appreciated.
As a first time author I think that Mr Larson has a future in writing.
As a first time author I think that Mr Larson has a future in writing.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews