Magical Kindle World

Here in Kindleville I’ve stumbled across one thing that I miss about ink and paper books—skipping ahead to see how things turn out.

I know that sounds like a crime against storytelling. I'm cheating! Hear me out though—if I can jump ahead and see that my beloved characters survive, I can go back to where I left off and calmly enjoy reading through to the end. It’s a stress reduction scheme. Fer fuck’s sake, don’cha think I’ve got enough of that stress shit in my life already?

Another reason to skip forward—let’s say I’m not keen on the author’s way with words, their lexical brushstroke. I still might want to see how the tale plays out before putting the book in the ‘donate’ pile. Life’s short—why slog through a book that I find sloppily, boringly or masturbatorally written.

OK, there IS a way to skip ahead on the Kindle. At this early point in my e-readering, it feels cumbersome—not as simple as with a nice paperback.

Why’s this come up now? I’ve been reading Marie Lu’s Warcross. It’s a dystopian cyberpunk-ish/alt present/near future thriller where, Warcross, an online game, has become a way of life. Nearly everyone on the planet is plugged in. Hilarity, however, does NOT ensue. On the whole I’m finding the tale compelling enough if too Young Adult-ish (Lu is a YA author so I could’ve expected this). My meh-ness may just be the obvs-fictional romance crap and/or the gaps (chasms?) in verisimilitude. e.g. Don’t Em’s teammates become suspicious when she’s constantly missing or ducking out early from their tension-blow-off social times? Why doesn’t anyone notice when she’s picked up by those big, lux, black cars? Em is portrayed as the ultimate hacker and bounty hunter but has frequent, convenient lapses in her attention to detail? Huh?

Generally, there’s just too much that screams PLOT DEVICE. Still, I’m mostly enjoying the book. It helps to jump ahead, bounce back and then forward again.

The most interesting bit is that, spoiler alert, the creator of Warcross—Hideo Tanaka—is, with altruistic intent, trying to transform the world into a kind, safe, law abiding place. His scheme to do this is by unleashing a virus via the games access points—super-duperly enhanced contact lenses. OK great. I find myself struggling here—not with the technology (it’s all magical sci-fi to me) but, of course, with the ideals. Who's making the laws? Who decides what’s safe? Who defines kindness? Is this specifically and realistically addressed at all? So far, no. Maybe Lu covers these questions in her second and last book of the series?

I’m not sure I’m up for another round of hackers and improbable romance though. Also, I only mention it BUT didn't Philip Dick already cover this, sort of, in Minority Report. Maybe not but, all the same, the book comes to mind. Maybe that should be next on my reread list, eh?