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Elbie Free

Book Review - Anyone by Charles Soule

1/25/2022

 
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“Inside a barn in Ann Arbor, Michigan, a scientist searching for an Alzheimer’s cure throws a switch—and finds herself mysteriously transported into her husband’s body. What begins as a botched experiment will change her life—and the world—forever…

Over two decades later, all across the planet, “flash” technology allows individuals the ability to transfer their consciousness into other bodies for specified periods, paid, registered and legal. Society has been utterly transformed by the process, from travel to warfare to entertainment; “Be anyone with Anyone” the tagline of the company offering this ultimate out-of-body experience. But beyond the reach of the law and government regulators is a sordid black market called the darkshare, where desperate “vessels” anonymously rent out their bodies, no questions asked for any purpose - sex, drugs, crime... or worse.

Anyone masterfully interweaves the present-day story of the discovery and development of the flash with the gritty tale of one woman’s crusade to put an end to the darkness it has brought to the world twenty-five years after its creation. Like Blade Runner crossed with Get Out, Charles Soule’s thought-provoking work of speculative fiction takes us to a world where identity, morality, and technology collide.”

​                                                                               ~ ~ ~
I bought this book because I’m mad at Disney. The book I really wanted was “Star Wars: Light of the Jedi” by Charles Soule. It had good chatter from people I trust on social media and I’m interested in the galaxy far, far away outside of the bad choices of certain families. But as I said, I’m mad at Disney for their sloppy handling of the sequel trilogy and if I can avoid giving them money I will. But I don’t want to punish the author’s who work for Disney, it’s not their fault. So I will get Star Wars books at the library and buy those authors' independent books at my local bookstore. Anyone was the one book they had by Charles Soule. 

I’ve read "Oracle Year" too, but I enjoyed "Anyone" a lot more.

"Anyone" is a great book. I enjoyed it a lot. The characters were relatable, likable, and well rendered. The pacing is fast. I read through this book at a casual pace but still finished it in less than a week. There are two timelines which makes it a little confusing toward the end for reasons I will not give away. But it wasn’t enough to stop me from reading and I trusted the story enough to keep going. Whatever confusion I experienced did not impact my overall understanding of the outcome of the story. 

The future timeline is very cool. It’s different from our current reality but still familiar. Because of the body swapping premise, I was reminded of "Altered Carbon". "Altered Carbon" is set in the far future with lots of colonies on several other planets. It would be easy to believe that these two stories exist in the same universe. The flash tech in Anyone could be the precursor tech used in Altered Carbon. 

Charles Soule is a fantastic writer. As a writer, I aspire to his ability to weave in characters descriptions and locations into the text without slowing the flow of the story. The only time I was bored was when they were talking about the science of the flash but those paragraphs are easy to skip. I was bummed when the book was over. While the story concluded exactly as it needed to, I enjoyed myself too much to leave so soon. It would be a lot of fun to see the world of Anyone expanded on either in more books or a TV show. “The possibilities are endless.”

Matrix Resurrections Review

1/5/2022

 
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1999 was an interesting year. It was a time when owning a computer was optional. I was in college, but for those teachers who actually asked for typed homework, I borrowed my roommates laptop. My first email address was forced upon me by my mom. (I was super annoyed by this request. What was I going to do with an electronic mailing address?) I had a TV but no cable and certainly no internet. One month to go until the release of The Phantom Menace.

Enter, The Matrix. I had heard about it. It was being dubbed the new Johnny Mnemonic by the media. I had seen that movie and it was not a compliment. So I had no plans to watch The Matrix until. . .

A friend showed up one night and absolutely insisted a bunch of us go see the movie. Based on his enthusiasm alone, several of us begrudgingly agreed to go. Keep in mind, I have not seen a trailer. All I know at this point is that it had Keanu Reeves, is sci-fi, and David thinks it’s awesome. As soon as Trinity did her signature jump kick, my mind was racing. How did she do that? As she ran up and across the wall, my first thought was, she has to be a mutant. Or at least an enhanced human.

Little did I know.

Walking out of that movie, I was absolutely gob smacked. I felt different. The world has changed. I saw the movie five more times in the theater. It caused me to question reality. To reconsider what is possible despite my current experience. Picasso said, “Everything you can imagine is real.” (A statement backed by quantum physics, if I’m understanding the books I’ve read.) After watching The Matrix, I genuinely felt anything was possible. I still think that. The problem is, I’m too entrenched in reality as I know it to break free.
But I digress.

Matrix 1 had my attention from the start and for days afterward. Reloaded and Revolutions were disappointing for various reasons. There were parts I liked about each, but they could not recapture the wonder and possibilities the original had conjured. I suspect the difference between The Matrix and its sequels is that the first movie came out of a deep place from the Wachowskis, whereas the 2nd and 3rd movies exist because the studio wanted them.

Reloaded had too much telling and not enough showing. While Revolutions is a run of the mill sci-fi action movie. Nothing wrong with that, it simply did not have the same impact as the original.

Now we have the Matrix Resurrections.

The disappointment of the prequel trilogy taught to keep my enthusiasm in check, but I had hoped that this new iteration of the Matrix would be as impactful as the original. As a precaution, I didn’t watch any trailers after the first one. I wanted to see the movie with as little information as possible, just like the first time.

Twenty minutes in, I was bored. Nothing grabbed me. Not Neo’s mental distress or who these new people were in the opening scene. The explanations for how he and Trinity were alive or why the Matrix was rebuilt the way it was were not unique or interesting. The insane amount of mirroring to the original did not feel like a fresh take or reinterpretation. Honestly, I wanted the movie to succeed. I hoped the new movie would make me see the original in a new light, but it didn’t. In the end, it just felt like another studio money grab. Which is okay if you keep me entertained (looking at you Jurassic World) but it added nothing to the first movie and that is a bummer.
​

Both the original Matrix and Jurassic Park movies were so good and unique I didn’t need any sequels. All the sequels in both franchises diminish their awesomeness. Is Matrix Resurrections a terrible movie? It’s not great. But I know I love some really awful movies, so that is not enough to dismiss it. In the end the movie exists and if anyone likes it, that’s cool but for me, I’ll be watching The Matrix, trying to figure out how to free my mind.

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