Existenz - Softcover

This novelization of David Cronenberg's film by established British SF writer Christopher Priest involves confusion between levels of reality, as portrayed so vividly in novels by Philip K. Dick. "eXistenZ" is an all-senses computer game that seems more real than the real world and allows unwary players to enter deeper games nested within games, with the possibility of getting lost in the virtual maze. (Was exiting the game just part of the game? Did I only dream I woke up?) Violence at the first "eXistenZ" demonstration sends its beautiful designer and a security guard fleeing into a multilevel nightmare. Cronenberg's theme of disturbing biotechnologies crops up repeatedly. The game "hardware" is all too like a living organ that links to a new, artificial body orifice. There are recurring appearances of a repugnant handgun built from small animals' bones and sinews, whose bullets are human teeth. After briefly threatening to lose its way in surrealism and horror, the story develops an interesting bite and ends with clever revelations. Aficionados will have guessed before then what's really going on, but for movie SF eXistenZ is cheeringly sophisticated. Not for the squeamish, though. --David Langford, Amazon.co.uk

by David Cronenberg; graphics by Sean Scoffield