Futureland

Rating:
Summary: The best SF novel of the new century
Review: Mixing cyberpunk style 'low-tech' with a 1984 dystopia, W. Mosley has created a masterpiece of Science Fiction. Several inter-related stories lay out the future for the next generation if we continue the current mega-merger, multinational corporation, one-world government track we are on. It's a brave new world order out there, and this insightful collection tells it like it is, or will be. A must for fans of Gibson, Sterling, or Ken MacLeod. Or anyone concerned about the erosion of our basic freedoms.

Rating:
Summary: Better than the first 18,000 books you'd pass on the shelves
Review: Mosley here takes his outstanding studied, humanistic, almost "concrete" fictional prose style to the future-dystopia genre. I grabbed this book on an impulse buy, and have since read and re-read it several times, each time thoroughly enjoyable.

I see this book has been faulted here on a number of counts, particulalrly its narrative structure. It is true that the individual chapters/stories don't hold up ideally on their own, nor does everything tie neatly together as one would hope for in a novel. However, each section does make a unique contribution to one's understanding of the future land, and the more compelling characters and story lines do emerge to the forefront as the collection is viewed as a whole. If you want this to be a novel, FINE, it's a novel! Happy?

"1984" is one of my favorite novels of all time, as is "Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned", and I honestly think this collection lives up to both standards. "Future Land" does expound, in some detail, on futuristic technology as a sign of these impending times, but the emphasis is on things like cognitive science, prosthesis and bionics, psychoactive drugs, and mechanical means to provide vision and insight into the very nature of God and of the human mind. In other words, there is still that VERY human element even in the techie portions of the narrative, where Mosley has clearly done his homework, and which he takes to with obvious gusto. This is hardly cyber punk for its own sake.

Imagine "1984" where there is heated, if not entirely open, competition for the shadow office of Big Brother. Or "The Matrix" without the battery fields and killer robots. In Future Land, the System is omnipresent, but we never actually confront its agents or rulers. The emphasis is on *life* within that system, and the potential and possibilities still available to its assorted inhabitants.

Two very different types of revolutionaries, rebel genius Ptolemy and corporate giant Dr. Kismet, pursue their respective paths to power, vying to manage the evolution, change, and eventual perfection of the system. Meanwhile, of course, there is the requisite hard-boiled invincible detective character, owner of the one detail of this book I'll never forget: a prosthetic eye with a wi-fi hookup! Instant access to an endless database of images and info, all presented directly in his field of "vision". An ingenious and utterly believable device in this age af cochlear and (soon) retinal implants and the info superhighway. And, for once, a logical reason some jerky private dick would seem to know everything.... Sci-fi indeed, but hardly the sort of childish fantasy we are so often treated to in the genre.

In short, if you like to read, your IQ is 100+, liked the Matrix or 1984, sex, drugs, violence, and something out of the ordinary, I think you could do a lot worse.

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Summary: In your face future!
Review: Nine Stories of an Imminent World is about life in America a generation from now which isn't that different except the drugs are better & the daily grind is worse; justice is now delivered by automated courts & the Supreme Court has decreed that constitutional rights don't apply to anyone who challenges the system.

If your mind is not open when you start Futureland, Walter Mosley will use the crowbar of his words to pry the lid off before he's done with you. He makes you think & he makes you step beyond the stereotypes & look at where they came from.

This near-future science fiction thriller held me firmly in its grasp from the fly leaf to the last page. Every chapter is an individual story yet when all is read & done - it is very well done!

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Summary: Horrible writer, not bad story
Review: The story would be alot better if this guy new how to describe ANYTHING. Short exerpts from his description of a character, "tall black man," another exerpt, "white man," and another, "naked blond woman." (...), I would've been happy to read the phrase nubian goddess as a description, but nope, couldn't even get that descript.

I may not be rascist, but I think the writer probably is. I'm still slowly drudging through this book because I'm having trouble getting past the horrible writing.

I'm also upset because the binding in my book fell apart.

Rating:
Summary: A very different kind of future.
Review: This book presents a very dark and unusual glimpse into the future, but I found the pace, tone and presentation very odd and uncomfortable. I also felt that most of the future projections and many of the characters (like the infant boy genius) seemed highly unlikely and improbable. And from a PC standpoint, it appears most likely that the WASP will be the social outcast of the future.

Walter Mosley's devotees must love his style and it has probably served him well in the past with non-techno works. I guess you'll either love it or hate it. But I notice even his fans refer to his work as "flawed". Hmmm.

Rating:
Summary: the dark mirror of reality
Review: This is a masterwork that far surpasses much of William Gibson's writing. Unlike much SF that obsesses about Trekkie-cool details of "realism" in a purely hypothetical technological tomorrow, Futureland goes straight to the point: we are racing heedlessly into a future where technology is a tool for the dark side of humanity to control everyone else. And it does so with an artist's brush, mixing subtle shapes and colors into a sometimes nightmarish surrealism that serves not only to wow people with sheer imagination, but more importantly, to bring the essentials of the world into glaring focus. The darkly gleaming picture that emerges from this distorted world is not much different from today - the tools are simply more advanced. With the paranoia in the world today about terrorism and nuclear threats, we are not that far away.

As far as race is concerned - the people who feel threatened by insinuations that black people are not treated fairly in today's world should seriously examine their assumptions. In Futureland, there is no hardcoded institutional racial discrimination - no Jim Crow laws - just like today. In Futureland, overt racism only comes from individuals, not government - just like today. In Futureland, most of the people in power are individuals who are racist yet believe that there is a level playing field - just like today. In Futureland, the cumulative effect of hegemony and class biases is a devastating one for blacks - just like today. Every single issue raised in this book is really one about people who happen to use technology, not technology. That makes some people nervous, but that is the genius of Futureland; its sharp focus on the essentials does not give quarter for intellectual complacency.

And all that while weaving a brilliant tapestry of interwoven stories.

Rating:
Summary: Near Great Science Fiction
Review: This is an engrossing, compelling book, full of great inssights, and painted against a credible, dark, and wonderfully ominous future landscape. In reading other reviews, I am surprised by the level of criticism, even though much of it is on point. Yes, the race element is at times a little heavy handed, in the last story in especially. Yes, there are places where the story line could be tightened, or is a little predictable--but not often, and not much. But these problems are minor compared to the thrill of exploring a fascinating future world, populated by fresh, fascinating, characters. This is WOW science fiction, like we rarely get. Perhaps the criticisms are a functin of how much Mosley achieved. He's a stone's throw from having created a truely GREAT Science Fiction book, in the Asimov, Heinlien, Clark pantheon. And ok, it is NOT at that level. But at times it comes really close. If you like SciFi, read it. You'll be glad you did.

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Summary: Walter Mosley's Science Fiction Is Simply Dreadful
Review: Walter Mosley believes science fiction is the next, best hope, for African-American writers. Maybe he's right, but I wasn't persuaded after reading "Futureland". It's a shame his short story collection doesn't quite rise up to the literary heights attained by prominent African-American science fiction writers such as Samuel Delany and Octavia Butler. Mainstream literary critics regard "Futureland" as a splendid collection of cyberpunk fiction. However, it isn't written in as graceful a literary style as any of William Gibson's works, such as his superb short story collection "Burning Chrome". Nor does it have the intriguing ideas to be found in the best of Gibson's, Sterling's, or Delany's work. The only truly memorable tale in "Futureland" is "Voices", which is quite akin thematically to the best New Wave 1960's science fiction written by the likes of Delany, Le Guin, Spinrad or Ellison. It's the only tale where I truly cared about the main character, the subject of a bizarre psychological experiment. In his other tales, Mosley has his characters preach about the shortcomings of their dystopic society in dull, uninspired prose. I've seen more vivid, thoughtful writing about racism and socioeconomic woes in science fiction written by the WASP Californian cyberpunk writer John Shirley in his cyberpunk "Eclipse" trilogy than in "Futureland". Those interested in racial strife and socioeconomic class divisions in science fiction ought to read instead the work of Octavia Butler or John Shirley.

Rating:
Summary: Oh how dark the future
Review: Walter Mosley has turned his incredible talents to the writing of science fiction and has done a very good job. This is a book of nine shortstories that are linked to a future society as a common thread. Some of the various characters show up in more than one story, but not as the main character in more than one. Mosley paints a bleak picture of the future as a revolving cycle of employment/ unemployment. Nobody ownes anything anymore, it is all leased from a corporation. Shirking your work is now a punishable crime and the constitution no longer applies to individuals.

Futureland can be classified in two ways, 1: it reminds the reader of cyberpunk novels, but without all of the cool gadgets and anti heros beating the system. 2: it is written in the same vein that "Brave New World" explores. Mosley focuses in one the lives of various people in the short story and explains the world through their eyes. It is not very pretty and the book does not end in a pretty way. This is very well written and is enjoyable. Recommended.

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Summary: The Turner Diaries for Liberals
Review: Years ago, a woman of impeccable liberal credentials took me to see Gil Scott-Herron. I sat in the audience and listened to barbs directed at me- a white male and left feeling unfairly picked upon and essentialised, especially as I paid for my ticket.
Futureland reminds me of this experience.
I'm not going to own all of the racial problems of the world.
I wonder what the reaction would be to a polemic blaming the evils of the world on people with African DNA.
That said, in all, the book is well written and imminently enjoyable.
I would suggest that Mr. Mosley, whom I understand is the product of a mixed race marriage, embrace the concept that all humans are 99.5% genetically identical.