{"id":1283,"date":"2024-12-09T12:18:29","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T12:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=1283"},"modified":"2024-12-09T12:18:29","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T12:18:29","slug":"book-review-lucid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=1283","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Lucid"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Lucid<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

by Michael S. Milano<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Science Fiction \/ Dystopia<\/p>\n

Print Length:<\/strong> 292 pages<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>Amazon<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Reviewed by Erica Ball<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>A frightening futuristic tale about corporate manipulation and fear-based control<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In the fight against a deadly virus, The Pansophical Corporation has become the people\u2019s savior. It not only manufactures and distributes the life-saving vaccine for the constantly mutating Tembakoo virus, it is also the de facto government, law enforcement agency, and only source of news. Life under Pansophical is regressively patriarchal, highly controlled, and highly automated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But everyone believes they love it.<\/p>\n

Set in Seattle in 2084, the action in Lucid<\/em> centers around Antony Sartori, a former Pansophical robotics engineer who, through a terrible accident and the loss of his beloved wife to the virus, has been relegated to the margins of respectable society.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

One night, after a few too many drinks at his favorite haunt, Antony accidentally breaks the strict curfew and comes face-to-face with an overzealous public safety officer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the aftermath of this run-in, Antony begins to experience flashes of repressed memories and feelings of disquiet that unnerve him. He begins to notice he\u2019s not the only one showing signs of being psychologically manipulated, and he starts to suspect that the world he inhabits is not as well-ordered as it seems.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As Antony tries to regain control of his mind and his life, he is forced again and again to choose between ignorance and safety\u2014or a possibly devastating and dangerous truth. In this, Lucid<\/em> is written in the vein of much classic dystopian fiction. But what sets it apart is the writing style, which somehow mixes the grand verbiage of propaganda, the sweeping questions of philosophy, and the detailed technical inner workings of both human and machine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reflecting Antony\u2019s own past as a robotics engineer, the reductionist way in which humans are treated in this world mirrors the ways in which Pansophical has overly automated pretty much everything, from newsstands to medical care, to fast food, and even to social dynamics. Groupthink is common, and paranoia is rampant. People are terrified of any signs of illness but also of disruptions to the fragile artificial social cohesion, such as hints of sympathy toward Pansophical\u2019s only challenger, the \u201cterrorist group\u201d known as Praxis.<\/p>\n

With its dark take on humanity\u2019s response to a global pandemic, Lucid<\/em> would appeal to fans of post-apocalyptic fiction and stories of the fight against a bleak future. At its darkest, it reads much like a psychological horror, while the detailed descriptions of futuristic technologies will draw readers of science fiction. The social dynamics at play will appeal to those who are interested in the mechanisms of coercion, while the depiction of Pansophical and its rise to power will be a draw to those who are alert for signs of corporate overreach, especially in the name of philanthropy and social responsibility.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dry, sarcastic, sardonic, and at times, absurdist, Lucid<\/em> is a chilling take on a possible fear-filled future. It\u2019s about the subtle erosion of human rights by a powerful entity in the name of public safety. It\u2019s about the use of fear to manufacture consensus, and of coercion to achieve false unity. And it\u2019s about the stripping away of our ultimate right, through the ultimate manipulation: the manipulation of our minds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>Amazon<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Thank you for reading Erica Ball\u2019s book review of Lucid <\/em>by Michael S. Milano! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>Book Reviews<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>IBR Blog<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>Resources for Writers<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The post Book Review: Lucid<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lucid by Michael S. Milano Genre: Science Fiction \/ Dystopia Print Length: 292 pages Amazon Reviewed by Erica Ball A frightening futuristic tale about corporate manipulation and fear-based control In the fight against a deadly virus, The Pansophical Corporation has become the people\u2019s savior. It not only manufactures and distributes the life-saving vaccine for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1283"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}