Synopsis
Plagued by nightmares, ever since an attack that left him scarred for life as a boy, Edward Morrison's only solace was computers. This obsession, over years in isolation, made him the most famous VR game designer in the world.
Success gave Edward the chance to build a Dream Simulator for controlling nightmares, but when his boss demands the machine ahead of schedule, strange events start blurring the lines of reality.
In a race against time, they must awaken a comatose subject from the mysterious anomaly that threatens to bring Edward's most horrifying nightmare to life.
Awake follows Edward Morrison, is a technological genius carrying the weight of a childhood trauma that continues to haunt him in his adult life. Edward's goal is to build his magnum opus, The Dream Chair. His invention gives the user the ability to experience their dreams in virtual reality, and actively participate in whatever their mind has to offer. This is a story that explores the unconscious mind, and asks the question: Is living in a dream better than facing reality?
In a time of a constant dependency on technology in order to connect with one another, the themes explored in Awake definitely hit close to home. Edward Morrison is the perfect picture of isolation and genius, and serves as a tragic portrait of what occurs when trapped inside a constructed reality. This is shown most explicitly through Edward's A.I. assistant Athena, a beautiful robot of his own invention programmed to serve his every whim, and see that he never has need for true human connection.
Andrew Palmer has a masterful understanding of the genre. Each line echoes with imagery pulled straight from your favorite Star Trek episode, while still remaining unique and refreshing. The narrative is well paced, and the flow of each chapter makes this story challenging to turn your attention away from once you are hooked in. Fans of sci-fi thrillers such as Ex Machina and Devs will love the philosophical questions posed by the narrative, as well as the unique way in which the answers are explored. Reality may be hard to face, but Awake makes a good argument in favor of accepting harsh truths in lieu of the comforting lies we find in our dreams.
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