INDIE BOOK REVIEW: Get transformed in Forced Conversion by Donald J. Bingle

posted in: Uncategorized 0
Click on the book cover to see
for yourself on Amazon.

51bF3Y+A3yL._SY346_Overall Grade:

C+
(See Thomas’ notes on how he grades)

Summary:

Forced Conversion took a totally different bent on virtual reality. With Earth running out of resources, people decided to give up on their bodies and live in a massive virtual reality simulation. But some don’t want to give up the natural life. Instead the “mals” fight against conversion to hold onto their humanity. Those in power in the virtual world know these “animals” represent a threat to their future existence in the virtual one. So they keep a handful of people, the “ConFoes” in human form to convert the few remaining “mals” by force.

While a decent book and worth the quick read, it wouldn’t have me running out to purchase its sequel (if there were one).

Good:

The base concept of the novel, a post singularity world gone horribly wrong, not to mention the multiple twists at the end kept me guessing, not an easy thing to do with this jaded writer.

The gritty reality of this empty world made me happy in how it logically unfolds and exists at the beginning of the story just as the darkness it represented depressed me. Some intelligent thought went into some of the methods of conversion, such as denying the “mals” the cities by spreading them with nuclear waste.

The fight scenes were very easy to follow. I never got caught wondering who did what to whom for how many Oreo cookies.

Not So Good:

I found most of the characters flat and one dimensional. While the story itself grew, the characters seemed to be an afterthought. Even the main character, Maria, didn’t go anywhere. I felt with such a bold breadth of a world that there would be a better character arc.

There were a few things in the story that just didn’t follow any logical sense. Two of them come to mind immediately. First, the concept that you can get any computer system, especially a massive one, to run for millennia is ludicrous.. take it from someone who works as an engineer for a major computer company. I could give you about six million reasons why. Next is the guys out in the desert who are still searching for extra-terrestrials. The ConFoes can track down individual people in the wilderness but not these guys using radio-telescopes? Pass.

100x100AuthorThis review is by Thomas Gondolfi, Author of Toy Wars and the CorpGov Chronicle and numerous pieces of short fiction in the genres of science fiction and cyberpunk. He is also the owner of TANSTAAFL Press (How do you like your SciFi? ). For more bio information go to http://tanstaaflpress.com/authors/biographies/tom-gondolfi/

 

Leave a Reply