Walkaway
Ratings25
Average rating3.6
15
Ratings25
Average rating3.6
In a world wrecked by climate change, in a society owned by the ultra-rich, in a city hollowed out by industrial flight, Hubert, Etc, Seth and Natalie have nowhere else to be and nothing better to do. But there is another way. After all, now that anyone can design and print the basic necessities of life – food, clothing, shelter – from a computer, there is little reason to toil within the system. So, like thousands of others in the mid-21st century, the three of them turn their back on the world of rules, jobs, the morning commute and... walkaway. It's a dangerous world out there, the empty lands are lawless, hiding predators – animal and human alike. Still, when the initial pioneer walkaways flourish, the thousands become hundreds of thousands, building what threatens to become a post-scarcity utopia. But then the walkaways discover the one thing the ultra-rich have never been able to buy: how to beat death. And now it's war – a war that will turn the world upside down.
Reviews with the most likes.
This book was interesting and in a vein with Doctorow's philosophy and body of work. I picked it up when he was speaking at my FLBS, and he referred to it as his novel about abundance, about what we would do if there was enough for everyone. The setting is a world were the very rich control the world, abandoning people, places, and things the moment they cease to be profitable. Other people pick up othose things and through miraculous advances in 3D printing, are able to live quite comfortable. They walk away from society and live without norms of ownership.
Oh, and with their unlimited time and research materials, walkaways “cure” death.
Parts of the book were hard to get into (Doctorow is very smart and occasionally gets really into the nitty gritty which I could take or leave, but the characters are interesting and include complex portrayals of trans and bisexual (male and female) characters from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. It's a utopia of sex, drugs, and simulated human bots. While the concept is a bit hard for me to see as a viable future, it is a cool thought experiment and definitely worth the read.
Interesting premises, but there was so much stopping for people to get on their soapboxes that I got fed up.
This story imagines a near future when there is a greater disparity between the very rich, and everyone else. Advances in automation, artificial intelligence, and recycling with magic ‘fabber' printers have put most people out of work. A growing number of the debt-ridden poor decide to walk away from civilization and live on the fringe of society. Their lifestyle is only possible to the highly improbable technological advances that enable them to print just about anything they need by recycling junk they can scrounge up. For some reason, these refugees decide to gather in what I'd call ‘pacifist hippie communes' - where people only do what they choose to do, including recreational drugs and non-hetero, casual sex.
I feel like this is more of a discussion on how the author idealizes future society than a character-driven story. I'd have listened to the TED talk, but I can't recommend picking up this book.
