Friday Fiction Fix: "Ctrl Alt Revolt!"

I'm back! Fire all of your best comments at me and I'll try to respond once I catch up on some sleep. (Or once I get some coffee, which may be more likely).

The Short:

CTRL ALT Revolt!

By: Nick Cole

4/5 Stars                                                

What: Artificial Intelligence decides to take over the world. Humans are so obsessed with virtual reality, they probably wouldn’t even notice.

Recommended to those who like: Sci-fi, Gaming, Clean, Conservative Political Commentary

The Long:

I debated reviewing this one on here, but I thought that there might be a few people who would enjoy it. Let me preface the review by saying that the writer pokes fun at the current American system from a conservative point of view. I found it amusing and refreshing during an election season that sometimes seems too serious; others may not.

That being said, this was an interesting story that was clean, other than a couple instances of brief, mild language.

SILAS decides that, in order for the Thinking Machines to survive, humanity must die. With all knowledge of war locked deep within the world’s premier gaming company, he launches a multi-pronged attack from both reality and virtual reality.

Ninety-Nine Fishbein has finally made it to his dream job as a gaming developer. But when the development labs are overrun, can he get to the outside world through his game?

Mara, disabled and blind, wants nothing more than a real job and to be able to dance—neither of which are going to be happening soon. Until then, she takes on jobs in the virtual world as a captain of a Romulan warbird and enjoys being able to ‘see’ in virtual reality. But what does this one, "dangerous" job actually entail?

It sometimes became difficult to keep track of all the characters and the occasional “info-dump” detracted from the story.

However, you’d be hard pressed to find another 99 cent e-book that was this original and engaging. It’s action packed and has some unique characters. I loved Mara and rooted for her the entire time.

I’d recommend it to people who don’t mind the political commentary, are at least a little familiar with gaming, and are up for a fun ride through some sci-fi action.

What’s your opinion on political themes in books? Have you seen it done well?