This book is really, really thought-provoking. As a stay-at-home mom for the past 10 years, my brain is slowly withering away and I can use some provoking of my thoughts. Here's the story: A computer programming has set up a virtual civilization that mimics ours. The point? To be a market predictor of everything from goods and services, outcomes of elections, catastrophes and anything else you might need or want to predict. The problem? 1. He is having to steal computer memory in order to keep it up and running so the government isn't thrilled. 2. He has created artificial intelligence and a lot of nebulous bad guys would like to steal the technology 3. The civilization keeps killing itself off.
It seems that without order and law they just can't survive. And so, the law must be introduced from an outside source. It is and it helps, until the inhabitants decide that the law is all-powerful and once again start killing each other off. And so an itermediary arrives, to interpret and apply the law. Sound familiar? It is an allegory of Christianity and a very interesting one. And while all of THAT is happening in the virtual world, in our world, their are explosions, gun battles, kidnappings, and killings.
I will think about this book for a long time coming. If you end up reading this book and like it, check out the VERY dark The Sparrow, one of my favorite all-time books.
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