Review: Univirtual by Charles O’Donnell

More than 50 years in the future, the integration of technology, biology, and psychology reaches a fever pitch in Univirtual by Charles O’Donnell, a prescient and thought-provoking work of science fiction.

The division between real life and virtual reality has practically disappeared in this tech-obsessed world of tomorrow, but when the leaders of the Millennium Republic attempt to blur that line even further, unexpected heroes will rise to defend their humanity, and reality itself. Thematically, this novel is rife with details for tech enthusiasts to dive into, not to mention political junkies, and fans of dystopian fiction.

On the University of Chicago campus, a hotbed of bleeding-edge tech development and social rebellion, Chas Royce, the hyper-progressive son of the city’s mayor, befriends Raul, just weeks before a bloody massacre on the quad. Following a tragic loss, Raul’s life spins into decidedly radical territory, determined as he is to stop a sprawling AI-driven monster from being unleashed upon the world. Forcing citizens into the Worldstream will effectively digitize everything they do or say, eliminating freedom, privacy, and a laundry list of other human rights.

More importantly, the Worldstream will allow the authorities to conjure facts from thin air, criminalize political dissidents, and denigrate the most fundamental fabric of truth. Raul’s solution is simple: find a way to erase people from the web, liberating them from outside control. However, defying authority and resisting oppression is the perfect way to get a target painted on your back, so finding clever allies in such a bleak and brutal world is essential.

The Civil Authorities and the All-Seeing Eye feel like obvious allegories for the police and surveillance state that America has become, and many of the social crises from this fictional future already exist in smaller form in our non-fictional present. The fear of technology becoming too powerful and pervasive is an existential concern for millions of people around the world, and O’Donnell gives all these fears a voice, without veering into the over-the-top tropes of the post-apocalyptic and sci-fi genres.

Penned on the cutting edge of contemporary culture, the prose bounces along with idiomatic slang that feels prophetically fresh and smooth, as though ripped from the speech patterns and linguistic tropes of young people in the real world. O’Donnell makes it easy to believe that readers are living in the mind of Raul and the other narrative voices, navigating the social circles of gritty Chicago, plumbing the futuristic depths of academia, criticizing tech companies that dominate the public sphere, and hinting at the deeply dystopian America that readers can just about recognize.

Furthermore, the in-depth exploration of contemporary technologies, from blockchain, hackers, and VR to caches, crawlers, and cloud space will likely educate more than a few readers who may still be vague on those details. Every nuanced detail has been considered to make this feel like an uncut first-person account, in terms of accents, authenticity, and code-switching – even down to the smallest habits of imperfect language.

As a whole, Univirtual is an incredible burst of near-future fiction, a fitting next chapter of the Shredded series, and an undeniable pleasure to read.