Circuit of Heaven by Dennis Danvers (1999)

The SFnal elements were quite interesting, and I really liked the ambiguousness of the morality of abandoning the physical world.

The plot was predictable, though, and many of the characters fairly wooden. It felt somewhat like it had been dumbed down to fit the YA market, though there was enough sex and language to make me think that wasn't the case.

Worth reading for the neat ideas. ( )

I had the opportunity once to meet Dennis Danvers, who did a reading at my school. I recall him discussing how people claimed that his work Circuit of Heaven "stole" its idea from The Matrix. There are many similarities, such as a virtual world, and the main character's name (Nemo to The Matrix's Neo), and, well, that's about it. Danvers claims (and I believe him) that his book had nothing to do with The Matrix, one way or the other. It probably has as much to do with The Matrix as his other novel End of Days has to do with the eponymous film. That is to say: nothing.

The story is about a not-too-distant-future in which people can transfer their minds into a giant computer and live eternally there in any way they choose. Nemo, whose parents have taken this plunge, leaving him alone in the real world with his guardian, a sort of Barney the Dinosaur meets Frankenstein's Monster, must come to grips as to whether he too wishes to give up his body for virtual immortality. Or, as his fundamental Christian neighbors claim: virtual immorality.

Since the process involves a lethal injection to the host body, the fundamentalists, or fundies, consider it suicide, and thus, consider it a sin. Nemo must decide for himself if he too believes this to be death.

Then, one day while visiting his parents (through the aid of virtual reality), Nemo meets the most amazing girl in the virtual world.

With the real world crumbling apart on, Nemo finds it easier to accept that the virtual world is the place to be. But there's something strange about this perfect girl. She's too perfect. And therein lies a mystery which slowly unfolds throughout the book.

I read this book as one of many "utopian" novels for a class I took. The utopia here is the virtual world, where there's no pain, misery, hunger, ugliness, or anything. Everything is perfect. But is everything desirable?

You may like this book if you like late 20th century people-oriented sci-fi. You might like this book if you've read anything else by Danvers. While you read it, though, try not to think about The Matrix. In fact, try not to think about The Matrix ever. That way, they won't be onto you. ( )

I think this is one of my favorite Sci-fi books ever. The story is well written and the characters are vivid and well developed. Nemo is one of my fav characters. ( )