Symbiosis by Thure Etzold – A truly thought-provoking and futuristic novel, full of intrigue.
What happens when virtual reality catches up with reality? If you think that as a consequence, only more time is going to be wasted with gadgetry, you couldn’t be more wrong.
It is 2036, seven years after Black 5/11 when humanity broke in two, largely caused by the advent of ‘true virtual reality’.
Ellie, a young woman from a Hutterite colony in Minnesota and the beautiful daughter of a barber surgeon, has difficulty in finding a suitable husband. Her main worry though is that she wants to become a vet, a profession that in her religious sect can be only practised by men.
Dance, graphic designer in oneWorld, celebrated for his feats of putrefaction, likes to hang out in fighting games with his best friends Nokter and Blade. Towering giants in the art of killing, they consider him a bit of a wimp. Unfairly, because he, equipped with the eyes of an eagle, is always the one who spots the enemy first.
Dramatic circumstance force Ellie and Dance away from their homes. They meet and are persecuted by the Tribulation Army, a mysterious band of guerrillas. On the run they discover that the world is not nearly as simple and solid as they thought. It is a vast jumble of utopian societies that hang together in a precarious balance, a balance threatened by the ongoing events.
Reviews for Symbiosis
“I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this book but I was rapidly hooked and completely absorbed. It appears to be unnervingly prophetic too. The novel is set in the future when humankind has split into populations of people who do physical work and people who live in a virtual world. And it follows what happens when these two worlds met. Fascinating, thought-provoking and a bloody good read.” – Jane Wilson Howarth – Five star Amazon review