I've been reading through February's Locus. It's been quite a while since I read so many reviews in such a short period of time. It seems that while I've been wearing the hats of Web Developer, Hollywood Reporter, and Martial Artist, the field of speculative fiction has moved on without me. I'm excited by the fantasy that's being written that I think I could enjoy immensely. Inspired by all the wonderful reviews I read, I'm going to write one myself, and then I'm going to head down to Barnes & Noble and get some new books.

I first heard about Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, by Cory Doctorow, on slashdot. In addition to publishing a traditional physical book wit Tor, Doctorow made the full text of the book available online under the Creative Commons License. What struck me as interesting while reading Locus was that in none of the mentions of Down and Out (or Doctorow's latest, Eastern Standard Tribe, released in the same manner) was it treated any different from any other physical book. It was mentioned quite a lot though. Everyone seems to like it, so I downloaded it and read it.

The setting for Down and Out is Disney World of the future. There are place settings that have quite as well defined rules as a Disney theme park. The constraints of a few good rules can lead to some great storytelling, ala Asimov's robot stories. Doctorow captures both the essence of the park and that of the rabid fans that dream of being castmembers and imagineers.

But that's just the back drop. I first encountered the intriguing concept of exchanging one's physical body every so often in various Greg Egan short stories. The way it's accomplished in down and out brings to mind the Alibi Archives of Robert J. Sawyer's Hominids. The plot uses the system of voluntary mental backups to play numerous Mementoesque twists.

The thing that fascinates me most about Down and Out is how the society Doctorow creates clearly mirrors present day network infrastructure as seen from the eyes of a system administrator. The accumulation of data on media that has a limited shelf life. The differing opinions of the correct backup schedule. The argument of experiencing things digitally versus hardcopy. The differences between working online and offline. The list goes on. The story, though, is a personal tale of a man struggling to hold on to a piece of the past in a world where nothing remains constant.

I guess that's all for now...What to read next?

[update: 2004 02 16 00:13] There is a good interview with Cory Doctorow at Strange Horizons.