Book-a-book of the Month Club discussion

Feel free to discuss the story here

Unique delivery of story - about halfway through and still not quite sure what is real and actually going on.

Also, while it has a dystopian element to it, I am not sure if it can be called a dystopian as I am not quite sure if the dystopian wold is real!

There is definitely a surreal element to the story. I feel like he’s stuck in some sort Salvador Dali-esque painting.

Richard wrote: "There is definitely a surreal element to the story. I feel like he’s stuck in some sort Salvador Dali-esque painting."

How I felt about the world in the book did change a bit by the end, but I like your Salvador Dali description - it's perfect!

I’m at about he halfway point now. Seth just entered the prison. Still not sure what is going on. Who is real? Who is the Driver? I’m still kinda waiting for Seth to be offered the red pill or the blue pill. J/k. Sorta.

Richard wrote: "I’m at about he halfway point now. Seth just entered the prison. Still not sure what is going on. Who is real? Who is the Driver? I’m still kinda waiting for Seth to be offered the red pill or the ..."

Total Matrix!

Philosophical Science Fiction? Existential Sci-Fi? Coming-of-Age Dystopia? This story, while not necessarily original in its theme, was told in such a way that it felt fresh by the end. Yes, it had a Matrix vibe, but it wasn’t the same. It was philosophical, existential, coming-of-age. It was man vs. man, instead of man vs. machine. The problems weren’t laid at the feet of overly powerful artificial intelligence, but instead at the feet of each character. I loved the weaving of the two worlds and the way pieces of each were given sporadically like putting a puzzle together face down without a picture of what it should look like. Even the ending. Oh, the ending. We complete the puzzle, but it seems stuck face down and we can only imagine what it was a picture of.

Richard wrote: "Philosophical Science Fiction? Existential Sci-Fi? Coming-of-Age Dystopia? This story, while not necessarily original in its theme, was told in such a way that it felt fresh by the end. Yes, it had..."

Yeah - the Matrix came through, but not too much. I like the term "speculative fiction" for this one along with dystopian. A great mix of creative new ideas and already popular sci-fi/dystopian tropes.

Speculative Fiction is a great term for the type of literature!