Utopian Reality

By Stefan Isaksson

Utopian Reality
C.A. Simone
Invisible College Press
307 pages
ISBN: 1931468087

In a not too distant future, all the societies of the world are in ruins. Groups of survivors roam the streets of deserted streets, and all over the world a constant battle for food and shelter is being fought. The few wealthy people who survived the great collapse have isolated themselves in their mansions, and nature is so utterly destroyed that it’s nothing but a shadow of its former beauty.

But not everyone has given up hope. An underground (literally) resistance movement has managed to create an alternative, a virtual reality known as Sec-Real, where people can live in peace and harmony. Slowly but steadily more and more members are added to this movement. However, powerful forces are out to destroy it, and once a traitor manages to infiltrate it the setbacks escalate to a point where the entire movement, along with mankind’s last hope, is threatened with utter destruction.

Utopian Reality is a based on a great idea that is both interesting and without a doubt worth exploring. Unfortunately, however, the realization of this idea is not even half as great. There are just too many main characters involved. All throughout the book, more and more characters are added continually, and eventually it just becomes one big mess, which isn’t helped by the fact that the plot becomes more and more difficult to comprehend.

And then, without the great climax one expected from the long build-up, the end suddenly comes. An end that is somewhat welcomed, since by now the much too fuzzy storyline has lost all its previous fascination. Nonetheless, the story in itself is quite fascinating, and in the hands of a more highly skilled author the book could have turned out to be a great experience.