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Caffeine
Brandon Dauphin is a citizen of a rapidly changing world. Shocking trends emerge on a daily basis, the loudest music is the best music, and the powerful stimulant PJX is found in almost everything edible (by popular demand). The economy is sagging again, and artificial intelligence technology has matured enough to become a low-cost replacement for customer service workers. “Amai” look and act just like people, appearing in the real world as holograms, or within the many simulations of Dynamic Reality (DR), a global network which has rendered fantasy every bit as real as reality.
As everyone in his generation heeds the command to indulge, Brandon is overcome by the sense that life has become cheap and fleeting. He failed at finding a career, and everything else in his life is growing similarly distant. His only hope left is Veronica, a woman he met in DR, in a chance encounter that saved her from suicide. Their long-distance relationship doesn’t fail like the others, and Brandon realizes that he’s fallen in love. He plans to propose marriage, in person, on New Years’ Day. If she doesn’t say yes, though, Brandon knows there will be nothing left for him.
With no work to distract him from the questions and doubt raging in his mind, and three days before his cross-country trip, the world of Dynamic Reality is all Brandon has to retreat to; but when the AI characters act strangely and his war-game begins tearing itself apart, Brandon realizes he’s become trapped in an environment he can’t control; then, finding a way back to a real-world that isn’t so real, Brandon questions whether he ever made it back at all.
Torn between reality and fantasy, Brandon encounters a woman named Aether. Brandon’s only concern is to make the hacker let him go home, though he has nowhere to return to. He doesn’t understand what Aether wants, but she, with the sensitivity of a machine, threatens to end his life if he doesn’t cooperate in her experiment. Brandon senses the threats are real, but Aether is hiding something.
Aether isn’t a hacker, but a computer virus.
Brandon has fallen into Dynamic Reality’s worst case scenario, as the path of such a “malvirai” leads to a fast and violent end for itself and anyone in its path; but, with Aether’s self-awareness came something else, something beyond her programming that she’s committed to uncover. Aether asks whether her existence is a lie, and her relentless pursuit to understand the truth has led her to study the race that created hers, and to study the world they live in as only a virus would.
Caffeine questions our definitions of good and evil, and treats the existence of a world we can’t see as inevitable. If amai are said to become self-aware, why not the viruses based on them? Can God love an entity programmed only to destroy? Can a destroyer ever see beyond her programming?
There is no going back. Brandon feels he has become an illusion, already fading. Aether will inadvertently force him to choose between his love and his hate, and Brandon will need to overcome the noise of modern culture to learn what it means to be human all over again, before the illusion he has become is gone forever.
As everyone in his generation heeds the command to indulge, Brandon is overcome by the sense that life has become cheap and fleeting. He failed at finding a career, and everything else in his life is growing similarly distant. His only hope left is Veronica, a woman he met in DR, in a chance encounter that saved her from suicide. Their long-distance relationship doesn’t fail like the others, and Brandon realizes that he’s fallen in love. He plans to propose marriage, in person, on New Years’ Day. If she doesn’t say yes, though, Brandon knows there will be nothing left for him.
With no work to distract him from the questions and doubt raging in his mind, and three days before his cross-country trip, the world of Dynamic Reality is all Brandon has to retreat to; but when the AI characters act strangely and his war-game begins tearing itself apart, Brandon realizes he’s become trapped in an environment he can’t control; then, finding a way back to a real-world that isn’t so real, Brandon questions whether he ever made it back at all.
Torn between reality and fantasy, Brandon encounters a woman named Aether. Brandon’s only concern is to make the hacker let him go home, though he has nowhere to return to. He doesn’t understand what Aether wants, but she, with the sensitivity of a machine, threatens to end his life if he doesn’t cooperate in her experiment. Brandon senses the threats are real, but Aether is hiding something.
Aether isn’t a hacker, but a computer virus.
Brandon has fallen into Dynamic Reality’s worst case scenario, as the path of such a “malvirai” leads to a fast and violent end for itself and anyone in its path; but, with Aether’s self-awareness came something else, something beyond her programming that she’s committed to uncover. Aether asks whether her existence is a lie, and her relentless pursuit to understand the truth has led her to study the race that created hers, and to study the world they live in as only a virus would.
Caffeine questions our definitions of good and evil, and treats the existence of a world we can’t see as inevitable. If amai are said to become self-aware, why not the viruses based on them? Can God love an entity programmed only to destroy? Can a destroyer ever see beyond her programming?
There is no going back. Brandon feels he has become an illusion, already fading. Aether will inadvertently force him to choose between his love and his hate, and Brandon will need to overcome the noise of modern culture to learn what it means to be human all over again, before the illusion he has become is gone forever.
- GenresCyberpunk
473 pages, ebook
First published October 8, 2009
31 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 28, 2013
Usually when I pick up a book to read, I can guess where the story is headed based on reading the book blurb. So setting out on this adventure I was relatively sure I knew where we were headed, but I couldn't have been more wrong. (Not that that's a bad thing. Quite the opposite, in fact).
The beginning of Caffeine reminded me of the movie Vanilla Sky. Remember that one? You couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't. While Vanilla Sky annoyed me quite a bit, this book did not--once I figured out what was going on.
Further into Caffeine, I noticed quite a bit of influence from The Matrix. There's an alternate reality place where people can go in Caffeine--a virtual reality world called Dynamic Reality (DR). There are other similarities I noticed as well, but I'm going to let you find those for yourself.
One of the characters reminded me of Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Poor Data, always trying to figure out what it means to be human, but never really succeeding. However, just being the way he was, he was a better human than many of us.
There was even a character in the book that I got attached to and like the toys in the Toy Story movies, you start to look at funny and wonder if that have feelings. Let's just say I've never felt bad for a computer virus before...
To add one more, just to spice up the pot a bit more, there were interludes between each chapter where the main character, Brandon, speaks philosophically/theologically. It reminded me of the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (think I had to read that one in a College philosophy class once).
So what do you get when you put all these pieces together? A really good, complex book. And a rather profound one too if you're searching for the meaning of life. Which brings us to...
Theology: Nothing New Under the Sun
Much of the theology in this book is borrowed from Ecclesiastes. The two main characters in the book, Brandon and Aether, are both searching for the meaning of life, a reason for their existence. Brandon has been trying to fill the void in his soul by taking trips to Dynamic Reality where he can escape life. Aether teams up with Brandon, but her approach is more systematic. She searches for the meaning of life but analyzing large amount of data and observing humans in DR. Do they come to the same conclusion "the Teacher" in Ecclesiastes did? You'll have to read the book and decide for yourself.
13 That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. 14 God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad. ~ Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, NLT
What is presented in the second half of the book is a very nice apologetic on Christianity--on creationism vs. evolution, on Christianity vs. other world religions, on the hypocrisy of Christians, on the benevolence of God. The power in the book comes from looking for and finding forgiveness and the true meaning of life.
Rating: G
No sex, no drinking/drugs (besides a dependence on a caffeinated drink called PJX), no gratuitous violence. The book is clean, and very intellectual. While young adults could certainly read it, it would take a certain maturity to read it and get it.
Social Issues: Identity
Who are you? Why are you here? How should you act? What is good? These are more theological issues than social issues, but it seems like finding our identity is integral to how we get along with others.
I finished this book with an uplifted/triumphant feeling. I don't get that with many books, but I did get it with this one. Very nicely done, Mr. Grabow.
The beginning of Caffeine reminded me of the movie Vanilla Sky. Remember that one? You couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't. While Vanilla Sky annoyed me quite a bit, this book did not--once I figured out what was going on.
Further into Caffeine, I noticed quite a bit of influence from The Matrix. There's an alternate reality place where people can go in Caffeine--a virtual reality world called Dynamic Reality (DR). There are other similarities I noticed as well, but I'm going to let you find those for yourself.
One of the characters reminded me of Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Poor Data, always trying to figure out what it means to be human, but never really succeeding. However, just being the way he was, he was a better human than many of us.
There was even a character in the book that I got attached to and like the toys in the Toy Story movies, you start to look at funny and wonder if that have feelings. Let's just say I've never felt bad for a computer virus before...
To add one more, just to spice up the pot a bit more, there were interludes between each chapter where the main character, Brandon, speaks philosophically/theologically. It reminded me of the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (think I had to read that one in a College philosophy class once).
So what do you get when you put all these pieces together? A really good, complex book. And a rather profound one too if you're searching for the meaning of life. Which brings us to...
Theology: Nothing New Under the Sun
Much of the theology in this book is borrowed from Ecclesiastes. The two main characters in the book, Brandon and Aether, are both searching for the meaning of life, a reason for their existence. Brandon has been trying to fill the void in his soul by taking trips to Dynamic Reality where he can escape life. Aether teams up with Brandon, but her approach is more systematic. She searches for the meaning of life but analyzing large amount of data and observing humans in DR. Do they come to the same conclusion "the Teacher" in Ecclesiastes did? You'll have to read the book and decide for yourself.
13 That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. 14 God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad. ~ Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, NLT
What is presented in the second half of the book is a very nice apologetic on Christianity--on creationism vs. evolution, on Christianity vs. other world religions, on the hypocrisy of Christians, on the benevolence of God. The power in the book comes from looking for and finding forgiveness and the true meaning of life.
Rating: G
No sex, no drinking/drugs (besides a dependence on a caffeinated drink called PJX), no gratuitous violence. The book is clean, and very intellectual. While young adults could certainly read it, it would take a certain maturity to read it and get it.
Social Issues: Identity
Who are you? Why are you here? How should you act? What is good? These are more theological issues than social issues, but it seems like finding our identity is integral to how we get along with others.
I finished this book with an uplifted/triumphant feeling. I don't get that with many books, but I did get it with this one. Very nicely done, Mr. Grabow.
September 21, 2012
I didn't expect to connect with this book so much. It reminds me of a Christian Serial Experiments Lain, with the strengths and weaknesses of that anime. I know there are flaws to it, but it's so unusual to read a philosophic Christian cyberpunk book that blurs reality, virtual reality, and the realm of the spirit that I couldn't put it down.
Brendan Dauphin is a man in a future world where everyone it seems is unemployed and on some form of dole. He truly loves a girl named Vair, but is tormented over the fact he is no good for her. With his meager resources, he buys a train ticket to meet her in real life.
To pass the time while he waits, he ducks into a DR booth-Dynamic Reality. Hoping to play a wargame while he waits, he finds he is trapped in the sim, held captive by an unknown person, a girl with silver hair. As he is run through scenario after scenario, it's apparent who she is. She is a Malvirai-a computer virus.
And she has just become self-aware.
Brendan, a sad, confused man, is now the Virgil to this Dante, as must help her understand the new nature inside of her. For she seems to be developing a soul...
It starts out poorly, by putting a dictionary of terms in front of us. There's never much point to this, as most people will come to understand your world as they read. But the world he describes is so well done and fascinating that he could have tossed it entirely. It feels real, right down to Brendan being accosted by holographic programs that try to sell him things, and modify their responses on the fly-but only so far as they can bring it back to the product. It's not even enticing in it's sordidness; it's a world where no one has anything left to do, and Dynamic Reality is where they hide from this.
When Aether enters the book, she puts Brendan through a lot, but to me it really worked. Aether does feel like an AI that slowly is learning to be human, from basic emotion to advanced ones like learning of God or love. There's a lot of philosophical talking, and maybe at times it could have been shown, but it's interesting, with each chapter a snapshot of a new situation in the drama of not only Aether's, but Brandon's own renewal too. It hooked me, and some of the scenarios are well done indeed.
It's a little disjointed because of this, but it's like how Lain is disjointed. Some things aren't explained, just like in Lain. It's more metaphysical and less horrific than that anime, but I think there even might be a few shout-outs. When Aether painted the sky, it reminded me of Lain's opening of the clouds. A lot of the twists at the end of each "episode" actually startled me, and it's hard to do that.
I admit there's flaws, and probably many people won't get the same out of it I will. But I really enjoyed this book. I don't usually give 5 stars out, and objectively it would be less, but I personally loved reading it. So five stars, right down to the title. Living water, or caffeine? One refreshes and cleanses us, and one overstimulates and harms us.
Brendan Dauphin is a man in a future world where everyone it seems is unemployed and on some form of dole. He truly loves a girl named Vair, but is tormented over the fact he is no good for her. With his meager resources, he buys a train ticket to meet her in real life.
To pass the time while he waits, he ducks into a DR booth-Dynamic Reality. Hoping to play a wargame while he waits, he finds he is trapped in the sim, held captive by an unknown person, a girl with silver hair. As he is run through scenario after scenario, it's apparent who she is. She is a Malvirai-a computer virus.
And she has just become self-aware.
Brendan, a sad, confused man, is now the Virgil to this Dante, as must help her understand the new nature inside of her. For she seems to be developing a soul...
It starts out poorly, by putting a dictionary of terms in front of us. There's never much point to this, as most people will come to understand your world as they read. But the world he describes is so well done and fascinating that he could have tossed it entirely. It feels real, right down to Brendan being accosted by holographic programs that try to sell him things, and modify their responses on the fly-but only so far as they can bring it back to the product. It's not even enticing in it's sordidness; it's a world where no one has anything left to do, and Dynamic Reality is where they hide from this.
When Aether enters the book, she puts Brendan through a lot, but to me it really worked. Aether does feel like an AI that slowly is learning to be human, from basic emotion to advanced ones like learning of God or love. There's a lot of philosophical talking, and maybe at times it could have been shown, but it's interesting, with each chapter a snapshot of a new situation in the drama of not only Aether's, but Brandon's own renewal too. It hooked me, and some of the scenarios are well done indeed.
It's a little disjointed because of this, but it's like how Lain is disjointed. Some things aren't explained, just like in Lain. It's more metaphysical and less horrific than that anime, but I think there even might be a few shout-outs. When Aether painted the sky, it reminded me of Lain's opening of the clouds. A lot of the twists at the end of each "episode" actually startled me, and it's hard to do that.
I admit there's flaws, and probably many people won't get the same out of it I will. But I really enjoyed this book. I don't usually give 5 stars out, and objectively it would be less, but I personally loved reading it. So five stars, right down to the title. Living water, or caffeine? One refreshes and cleanses us, and one overstimulates and harms us.
May 16, 2011
A really interesting read that I thought was going to be a simple sci-fi book. I have to say, I was surprised when the Christian message started slowly working its way into the story and then finally took a twist and became the purpose of the story. Overall, I really enjoyed it. The author's faith is very evident and it was refreshing to me.
I didn't give it 5 stars because this is the author's first book and it is a tad long. Also (this could have been just from the eBook formatting), but the story really seemed to "skip" at times to the point that I would go back and re-read a page to make sure I had not missed why something was happening.
I didn't give it 5 stars because this is the author's first book and it is a tad long. Also (this could have been just from the eBook formatting), but the story really seemed to "skip" at times to the point that I would go back and re-read a page to make sure I had not missed why something was happening.
April 4, 2012
Part of me wanted to go easy on this book because it was a Christian book. But, I have to resist that urge. All that does is collectively lower the quality of Christian books, music, and art. So that said, putting this book on a level playing field, it doesn't hold up. The ideas are good and had promise but prose is almost comically bad.
October 24, 2012
Quite a nice surprise;not what I expected. I suggest you read it.
April 23, 2013
good concept, but it strayed too far towards religion.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews