Review: World, Incorporated by Tom Gariffo

At the rate humans are progressing in terms of technological advancement and artificial intelligence, it seems inevitable that reality will be shaken to its foundations in the near future. In World, Incorporated: A Modern Dystopia, author Tom Gariffo takes us to that not-so-distant future, the year 2058, and spins a masterful tale where the line between man and machine has never been so blurred.

A handful of decades in the future, the face of the globe has irreparably changed, with corporations controlling and documenting every citizen on the planet. Individual identity still exists, but it no longer has the same currency – only your function as a consumer matters. On the surface, this premise is deeply disturbing, but it is also hard to deny the parallels between Gariffo’s fictional world and the direction our present society is headed. In a future where all the variables are computed and every action is controlled, chaos is bound to ferment.

Agent Silver is the paradoxical character at the heart of this thrilling sci-fi dystopia – a classic antihero faced with an existential crisis, changing him from tool of the “powers that be” to potential savior of the oppressed. While his long character arc is slightly clichéd, the details of his personality are remarkably well-developed, and Gariffo shows commendable patience in the revelation of his character’s deepest cracks. It can be difficult to swing an audience’s affection to sympathy, particularly for an assassin who worked unquestioningly for the evil empires of the world. However, a good author can evolve a protagonist in brilliant ways, and the super-spy with a conscience angle works very well in this story.

The most powerful part of this novel is the deep societal commentary that is impossible to miss in such a plotline. Gariffo has clearly examined the state of the world and extrapolated out to this grim future, and the conclusions he draws are chilling. While it may seem like an outlandish prediction, the links back to blog posts, news events, and relatable ideas from the present day solidify this plot in the realm of the possible. An author that can disturb and entertain at the same time will always do well in this genre.

The writing is both clever and rough around the edges, with a hard Cormac McCarthy edge, featuring poetic turns of phrase and a clear mastery of language. There are a number of moments when it seems like Gariffo is dropping a massive amount of information into a reader’s lap at the same time, but in such a futuristic premise, this is inevitable, to a certain degree. The character descriptions are offbeat and unexpected, and while there are certain tropes and stereotypes of dystopian novels that appear, the end result is a wholly unique and exhilarating story.

A truly impactful work of dystopian fiction, World, Incorporated effectively forces people to question their unconscious servitude to the corporations of the world, both today and in the future.