Finished: Oct. 10, 2012
Pages: 254
Remember Omni Magazine? It doesn't surprise me that Tea from an Empty Cup originated from an Omni short story: the novel was published in 1998, but it has that early 90s cyber-punk feel. It also doesn't feel as dated as some books written in that era, maybe because the "alternative reality" cyber-technology is neither as ubiquitous nor as "taken for granted" as it is in some books from the era. The cyber-world is basically just an incredibly immersive MMORPG, rather than a replacement for every-day reality, and the viewpoint characters are themselves only marginally familiar with it, entering only to investigate a crime / friend's disappearance. That makes the book still compatible with today's future: you can imagine that we'll still invent such a thing even if we no longer talk about "virtual reality" or see booths with dorky eyeshade headsets at the fair.
Remember Omni Magazine? It doesn't surprise me that Tea from an Empty Cup originated from an Omni short story: the novel was published in 1998, but it has that early 90s cyber-punk feel. It also doesn't feel as dated as some books written in that era, maybe because the "alternative reality" cyber-technology is neither as ubiquitous nor as "taken for granted" as it is in some books from the era. The cyber-world is basically just an incredibly immersive MMORPG, rather than a replacement for every-day reality, and the viewpoint characters are themselves only marginally familiar with it, entering only to investigate a crime / friend's disappearance. That makes the book still compatible with today's future: you can imagine that we'll still invent such a thing even if we no longer talk about "virtual reality" or see booths with dorky eyeshade headsets at the fair.
No comments:
Post a Comment