Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom

I just got back into reading lately, and I decided to catch up on some jewels from the years that I happened to miss. Starting off was the body of work by filesharing advocate, tech-savvy sci-fi guy Cory Doctorow. I started off with "0wnz0red" (fantastic!) and have been grabbing his books wherever I can find them in Atlanta. From his novels, I picked his first, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom and I must say, it was a fantastic read.

I enjoy the language he uses in his writing. It's very natural, and very geeky. A lot of the situations he brings up strike chords with me—not necessarily because of the "geek" factor, but moreso the angle from which he approaches the love and friendship relationships in his writings.

The premise of the novel is that social networking rose to power as opposed to any government or military or economic entity or artificial intelligence. That initial concept breeds a more unique science fiction world in that it isn't conspiratorial or foreboding: it isn't a distopia (some might argue) or even a utopia (again), it's just a postulation of the future.

The Society that takes precedence is called the Bitchun Society (once again: modern writer, clever names). It is an ad-hocracy, and its economy is reputation-based, using "Whuffie" as currency. The reason that people have taken more value in reputation than resources is that it is a post-scarcity economy. When more people like you, you get more Whuffie. You can give Whuffie, too. Whuffie can also be relative to people you're around, the place you're at.

The way everyone views Whuffie—views anything!— is a brain implant that gives the user an instant invisible interface to access the Internet, and check anyone's "Whuffie" score, or beam any amount of information to them. Communication and social networking are fundamental to the society as a whole.

The biggest thing one can do with the interface is completely back up their brain. Then, when one dies, a doctor clones the body, and the person is "restored from backup." It's a really neat concept.

I don't want to reveal the plot or anything, but the world itself can bring hours of controversial and imaginative discussion with friends. It's a neat read, and it's given me a jolt of mental energy since I've finished it.