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Replika: Coherence
"...continues at breakneck speed from start to finish, with a plot that keeps pulling the rug out from under you."
- Reviewed by Pikasho Deka for Readers' Favorite.
Reality is slipping away…
Coherence is the second novel in the REPLIKA trilogy and picks up from where Sky's Mission ended.
Discovering the secrets of his mother's research, Morgan sets out to defeat Henry and rescue Aviva from the Red Masks.
When Aviva suspects the Red Masks are not the only ones trying to control the Virt, she must make a tough decision that may spark a deadly conflict in the city streets.
Hugo Bernard crafts another page-turning technothriller while offering an original outlook on how simulated realities can redefine our existence.
- Reviewed by Pikasho Deka for Readers' Favorite.
Reality is slipping away…
Coherence is the second novel in the REPLIKA trilogy and picks up from where Sky's Mission ended.
Discovering the secrets of his mother's research, Morgan sets out to defeat Henry and rescue Aviva from the Red Masks.
When Aviva suspects the Red Masks are not the only ones trying to control the Virt, she must make a tough decision that may spark a deadly conflict in the city streets.
Hugo Bernard crafts another page-turning technothriller while offering an original outlook on how simulated realities can redefine our existence.
260 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 11, 2023
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3 people want to read
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March 4, 2023
Possible Spoilers ahead!
Replika: Coherence is the sequel to Replika: Sky’s Mission, wherein Hugo Bernard introduced readers to a world dominated by the question of whether people will stay in a post-apocalyptic setting or enter the virtual reality of Replika. Whereas Sky’s Mission divided the narrative between deuteragonists Sky and Morgan/Hugo, Coherence focuses on the latter, exploring his powers and his significance in the world of VR.
Having been revealed in Sky’s Mission as Hugo, a boy modified outside of Replika to be able to control the simulated world (think Neo from the Matrix, though Bernard takes the story in very different directions from that franchise), Morgan explores the extent of his powers through Coherence as he tries to reunite with his girlfriend, the beautiful investigative reporter Aviva, who in Sky’s Mission went to France to investigate a mass killing of police officers in connection with the terrorist group, the Red Masks.
Whereas the previous book draws readers to the discovery of Morgan’s identity and powers, Coherence starts off from the beginning with exploring the implications of the discovery. Through the process, Bernard takes well-known tropes while introducing compelling limits on Morgan. The resulting tension not only avoids a superman paradox, but it sets up for the conflict of the final book of the trilogy while leaving readers (at least this one) wondering if and how Morgan will be able to beat the trilogy’s nemesis—a second modified child.
As with the previous installment, Bernard takes worlds in original, even self-aware directions (appropriate for the topic of worlds within worlds). One aspect that I found compelling was the way idealised VR versions of cities would lead to neglect and dicrepitude in their real-world counterparts; furthermore, more realistic virtual cities produce depressing (no pun intended) effect on peoples’ desires to escape reality for the idylls of VR.
This touches on one of the main eventual themes of the book: the interplay between VR worlds and human psychology, both in mutual causes and effects. The story examines and questions the desirability of removing all human conflict through what is, essentially, a simulated socialist utopia (complete with exaggerated claims by supposed philanthropists used to draw in crowds for unsuspecting enslavement). Whereas much science fiction often takes for granted the desirability of such Roddenberrian futures, Bernard’s writing examines the negative effects of such things—both on the world and, more importantly, on humans, themselves.
Cast against the topics is Morgan, himself, a Cincinnatus figure who, despite apparently having all power, just wants to go back to enjoy his life serving pizza, loving his girlfriend, and doing complex mathematics on the side. Through this dynamic Bernard seeks to find an answer to the almost ultra postmodern idea of an endless regression of simulated realities (hinted at in Sky’s Mission and made explicit in Coherence): something akin to existentialism and the value of the individual experience. Against the argument that the simulations, and the humans in them, are not really real, Morgan holds to the infinite reality of the individual’s experience, exploring from there possible paths to an objective terra firma, both philosophical and literal.
That Morgan never loses the tone of an average person when it comes to such philosophical subjects only makes the process of incorporating genuine virtue more genuinely human. In my opinion, such questions are long overdue in the asking regarding the supposed subjectivity of interpretations (whether in the interlayering of virtual realities in fiction or in postmodernism in general), and Bernard’s approaching them through Morgan makes for a compelling story.
There are, of course, areas where the book might be improved, one of which regards pacing. As it starts off with action, Coherence may best be read right after Sky’s Mission. This is a strength, and it sets the tone for the rest of the book. However, as I read it about a year after the previous book, I found I was about ⅓ of the way through the book before I felt acclimated to and once again invested in the plot. This could be remedied by more initial exposition, but as that might risk stifling the quick pacing, perhaps a synopsis of where things stand might have helped (what I’ll freely admit might be a me-problem).
Any other possible criticisms are either minor or involve trusting Bernard with his introduction and withholding of old and new characters until the proper time—which speaks to his ability to create characters that readers can become invested in. In Replika: Coherence, Bernard builds on the steady revelations of its prequel to make a transition volume that sets up both its world and its characters for the final installment of the trilogy. I am very much looking forward to seeing how he resolves the threads he lays out in this book.
*I received a digital review copy of Replika: Cohesion and, as a fellow writer, I am a professional friend with the author.
Replika: Coherence is the sequel to Replika: Sky’s Mission, wherein Hugo Bernard introduced readers to a world dominated by the question of whether people will stay in a post-apocalyptic setting or enter the virtual reality of Replika. Whereas Sky’s Mission divided the narrative between deuteragonists Sky and Morgan/Hugo, Coherence focuses on the latter, exploring his powers and his significance in the world of VR.
Having been revealed in Sky’s Mission as Hugo, a boy modified outside of Replika to be able to control the simulated world (think Neo from the Matrix, though Bernard takes the story in very different directions from that franchise), Morgan explores the extent of his powers through Coherence as he tries to reunite with his girlfriend, the beautiful investigative reporter Aviva, who in Sky’s Mission went to France to investigate a mass killing of police officers in connection with the terrorist group, the Red Masks.
Whereas the previous book draws readers to the discovery of Morgan’s identity and powers, Coherence starts off from the beginning with exploring the implications of the discovery. Through the process, Bernard takes well-known tropes while introducing compelling limits on Morgan. The resulting tension not only avoids a superman paradox, but it sets up for the conflict of the final book of the trilogy while leaving readers (at least this one) wondering if and how Morgan will be able to beat the trilogy’s nemesis—a second modified child.
As with the previous installment, Bernard takes worlds in original, even self-aware directions (appropriate for the topic of worlds within worlds). One aspect that I found compelling was the way idealised VR versions of cities would lead to neglect and dicrepitude in their real-world counterparts; furthermore, more realistic virtual cities produce depressing (no pun intended) effect on peoples’ desires to escape reality for the idylls of VR.
This touches on one of the main eventual themes of the book: the interplay between VR worlds and human psychology, both in mutual causes and effects. The story examines and questions the desirability of removing all human conflict through what is, essentially, a simulated socialist utopia (complete with exaggerated claims by supposed philanthropists used to draw in crowds for unsuspecting enslavement). Whereas much science fiction often takes for granted the desirability of such Roddenberrian futures, Bernard’s writing examines the negative effects of such things—both on the world and, more importantly, on humans, themselves.
Cast against the topics is Morgan, himself, a Cincinnatus figure who, despite apparently having all power, just wants to go back to enjoy his life serving pizza, loving his girlfriend, and doing complex mathematics on the side. Through this dynamic Bernard seeks to find an answer to the almost ultra postmodern idea of an endless regression of simulated realities (hinted at in Sky’s Mission and made explicit in Coherence): something akin to existentialism and the value of the individual experience. Against the argument that the simulations, and the humans in them, are not really real, Morgan holds to the infinite reality of the individual’s experience, exploring from there possible paths to an objective terra firma, both philosophical and literal.
That Morgan never loses the tone of an average person when it comes to such philosophical subjects only makes the process of incorporating genuine virtue more genuinely human. In my opinion, such questions are long overdue in the asking regarding the supposed subjectivity of interpretations (whether in the interlayering of virtual realities in fiction or in postmodernism in general), and Bernard’s approaching them through Morgan makes for a compelling story.
There are, of course, areas where the book might be improved, one of which regards pacing. As it starts off with action, Coherence may best be read right after Sky’s Mission. This is a strength, and it sets the tone for the rest of the book. However, as I read it about a year after the previous book, I found I was about ⅓ of the way through the book before I felt acclimated to and once again invested in the plot. This could be remedied by more initial exposition, but as that might risk stifling the quick pacing, perhaps a synopsis of where things stand might have helped (what I’ll freely admit might be a me-problem).
Any other possible criticisms are either minor or involve trusting Bernard with his introduction and withholding of old and new characters until the proper time—which speaks to his ability to create characters that readers can become invested in. In Replika: Coherence, Bernard builds on the steady revelations of its prequel to make a transition volume that sets up both its world and its characters for the final installment of the trilogy. I am very much looking forward to seeing how he resolves the threads he lays out in this book.
*I received a digital review copy of Replika: Cohesion and, as a fellow writer, I am a professional friend with the author.
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