Think Snapchat filters! Review of Theocracide by @JamesWymore #scifi #dystopia

Cover links to Amazon.com

Theocracide

Written by James Wymore

Genre(s): Sci-fi, Dystopia

Aliens bent on conquering the world are closing in on a weakened America. Epidemic alien-flu leaves people afraid to go outside their homes. The Undying Emperor is drafting Americans of all ages despite the plummeting population.

Nobody really cares.

Jason, like everyone else, lives in a fantasy facilitated by computer glasses that project images right over the parts of the world he doesn't like. With a sports scholarship and an amazing new girlfriend, he leads his college team from one victory to another. As long as they ignore the constant barrage of terrible news, their lives would turn out to be perfect.

Until the government discovers his father's secret. Until his artificially perfect world comes crashing down. Will Jason and his allies survive the manhunt long enough to finish his father's work - to commit theocracide and set the world right?

Mark's Review

I received access to the pre-release version of the audiobook of Theocracide by James Wymore. My review contains my own thoughts, and I'm not getting paid to say anything nice.

Having said that, though...

This story is awesome, and James does a good job of ending each chapter on an appropriate cliffhanger. Each of my reading sessions was limited in time, so I usually couldn't go on to the next chapter, but I sure wanted to.

The world he has created is very much bipolar, so much so that it seems like two stories for the longest time. When everything comes together, the two stories makes sense for the most part. The questions I have after listening to the whole thing are the only reason I'm giving it a 4.5 on the Masq Scale instead of a full 5.0. Which doesn't really matter since that rounds up to a 5 on Amazon.

On the one hand, people live their lives out in their apartments, barely leaving to visit the outside world. When they do visit the outside world, they are unaware of the dystopian civilization around them. Because they don't see it. They aren't blind, nor are they retarded or stupid. They literally don't see it. They see something else instead.

Think Snapchat filters. Imagine if technology continued to improve, and during a future time, we have the technology to turn the filters on all the time, living in an augmented reality. You wouldn't see a dirty building. The computer turns it into a pirate ship instead ... or one of a thousand other things you can choose from.

Then on the other hand there is a world war taking place with aliens from another planet. Yes, the two sides of this story seem like they don't mix at first glance, which had me wondering for a while. It all does come together, though.

And there's more to the two sides than simply this. I haven't even mentioned the president that is now the Emperor of the United States and is more than 200 years old. Yeah, there's a lot going on in this story. But I think that's the charm it brings.

It is a world similar to our own, a future which seems eerily possible (except maybe the aliens, depending on your world view). I definitely recommend this for any fans of sci fi, dystopia, and the like.