Customer Reviews

The Big God Network

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It's a treat when a great science-fiction book also has a great sense of humor, as is the case with one of my favorite recent novels, "The Big God Network" by J.C. McGowan. The book blazes through Bali, Tokyo, and numerous settings in "post-America," as well as through many virtual worlds in cyberspace, as it weaves together a near-future high-tech adventure, a mystical quest, and heavy political and cultural satire. The humor can be blatant and other times subtle, as the author takes on a range of subjects, from religion and cults to the promise and pitfalls of virtual life. The chapter "Halfway There" is a sly send-up of William Gibson and WIRED-ish techno-fetishism, while "The Yabyum Palace" (a Tantric cyber sex realm) is both erotic and quite funny. There is an affectionate slice of "fantasy" fiction in "Nigh Errant," while several notable scenes take place in evangelical virtual churches, putting televangelists into cyberspace with disturbing and hilarious takes on the Christian Right (and Trinity Broadcasting Network-ish preachers like Paul Crouch and John Hagee). I recommend "The Big God Network" highly, especially to those who are conversant with Kurt Vonnegut.

The Big God Network by J.C. McGowan is a New Age adventure-satire set in the contemporary, globalized, wired up near future where the former United States has split into several nations with New America, (N'Am for short) comprised of the Midwest, Far West and Old South, and guided by the spirit of Saint Ronald Reagan, versus Pacifica, the West Coast minus Orange and San Diego Counties and guided by the spirit of Saint Jerry Garcia, the late great lead guitar player for the Grateful Dead. Into this whimsical socio-political senario dominated by the World Wide Net is thrown a smorgasbord of New Age religiosity and nefarious organizations, everything from televangelical Christian right wingers, Japanese Yakuza, and governmental hitmen to Wiccan Earth Mothers, Brazilian shamans and fervent UFO seekers.Like all classic science fiction, the plot centers around the work of a great scientist and his amazing invention: an innovation in virtual reality that some see as the method by which contact with extraterrestrial civilization is possible, some as a way to make direct contact with the spiritual world and yet others as the method by which to spy on everybody. Various and sundry no-good-niks want it for themselves and of course, it all comes down to one lone hero, Franz Sampaio, a Brazilian anthropologist-journalist who must safeguard the "Skuld" and save the world. The Big God Network is written in a page turning style. The scenes flow quickly like cuts in an action movie. The story is a romp, jumping back and forth from Bali to Japan to California, and it is fun. If "groovy" were a term with which I were comfortable, I'd have to say that The Big God Network is a "groovy" novel.

But there is an aspect to this first novel of J.C. McGowan which lifts it above the mere level of comedy and elevates it to true social commentary. "Virtual Reality As Obsession" is handled with deep insight and compassion, psychologically and socially. The nausea of artificiality and yearning for real life experience and true love of the character Takeshi ring true not only in the novel but also in our day and age as well among video game addicted thirty-somethings.

The Big God Network is an excellent vacation read while sitting on a beach sipping something tall and cool.

Marc Ladewig
Author of Odysseus: The Epic Myth of the Hero

One of the great things that happened to me in the past few months was to have the good fortune to come upon J.C. McGowan's "The Big God Network." BGN does everything that great science-fiction should do. Good sci-fi is usually an educational device, with the purpose of lecturing readers about current problematic societal issues, usually metaphorically substituting aliens or far-away races of people for Americans. Yet, only in very brave, truly great modalities of sci-fi, such as that on which McGowan expands in The Big God Network, do sci-fi writers actually speak boldly of a certain time in the not-too distant future, alluding critically to actual problematic trends and contentious character-types that occur and exist in the here-and-now. It is this, I believe, that makes BGN so courageous, particularly in light of the current repressive, religious-fundamentalist regime in America. McGowan is very frank in his use of actual American geography, real places, existing character types, references to Bush, and even the term "New America" (as in The Project for The New American Century)

Science-fiction has, for the last century-and-a-half, been an incredibly powerful way of showing humanity its flaws --and its possibilities for positive growth and change-- through metaphorical worlds designed to mirror our own world and society, and to show humans what they are (or could be) destined to become. What McGowan has achieved, with BGN, is one of the greatest post-post-modern examples of this kind of prophesy... BGN is a work of true genius. On a visionary level, BGN offers a wide scope of very different possibilities for the near future, ranging from a cosmogaian vision that respects and reveres cosmology and the natural world, to a xenophobic American Taliban that destroys difference and fascistically dictates its vision of Christianity, guns, and hypocrisy.

Appropriate to BGN's clever speculation concerning future cybertechnologies, it is written in an extremely tight, quickly intercut cinematic style that is new and refreshing. BGN moves swiftly, back and forth, from brief chapter to brief chapter (80 chapters in all), breaking up each plot line and each character's narrative into tight scenes, and even fractions of scenes-- at times, it is as if the reader has access to a multi-screen edit-suite on which he can view 4 or 5 stories that move together simultaneously. As in any great work by Vonnegut, Heinlein, or Leven, these multiple plotlines gradually merge up until the stunning conclusion, when the characters come together in a grand Fellini-style finale of both mayhem and resolution. The author must have used a complex flowchart in order to make sense of his many narrative threads, and yet, for the reader, the flow is smooth and effortless.

The broad palette of diverse characters is extremely impressive and tirelessly demonstrates both McGowan's love for people and his vast knowledge of multiple cultures and personality types, with a wide variety of dialogue types to match. And even as the globally diverse characters are, as in Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions, drawn from some Lynchian pool of surrealist archetypes, each one is brimming with humanity and with distinctly unique characteristics and idiosyncracies--these are fully conceived humans. From BGN's protagonist, world-religions Net show host Franz Sampaio, through New America's Christian Coalition leader, John T. Jawbone, through the free-spirited nymphomaniac Sally Simkin, to cybersex-addicted, alienated net journalist and lonely guy Takeshi, BGN's characters are something not often seen in satirical science fiction, the kind that makes fun of the human problematique-- they are real humans.

I strongly recommend to all who read this to get out there, and get a hold of McGowan's stunning book, "The Big God Network." Hilarious, poignant, and prophetic, it's the best sci-fi since Vonnegut.

Dr. Reeves Medaglia-Miller, professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences, George Brown College/Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada

"The Big God Network" is a brilliant debut novel by author J.C. McGowan that mixes near-future sci-fi scenarios, vivid virtual-reality scenes, and gonzo-ish political satire. I heard about it through friends on the Net; it seems to be slowly gaining a cult following.

Published at the tail end of the Bush 43 era, the book predicts that things will get even worse in the U.S. over the next twenty years, resulting in a "post-American" outcome. Some twenty years from now, political polarization splits the United States into a handful of new countries, including liberal Pacifica (the West Coast) and conservative New America, the country's theocratic heartland. The latter is run by a yokel (and funny) president obsessed with the Christian rapture (hmmmm!).

Part of the narrative takes place in cyberspace, where "the Big God Network" is the name of a group of conservative virtual churches. The culture wars are being waged more fiercely than ever before, especially on the Net, and a dystopic New America hopes to bring Pacifica back into the fold. Meanwhile, a wealthy UFO cult called Offworld has developed an AI-laden communications interface called "The Channel" in its quest to establish interactive contact with extraterrestrials. The Channel may tip the balance of power between the new countries. Only Net journalist Franz Sampaio, his wife Dolores Chang, and their Otaku friend Takeshi can keep the Channel from falling into the wrong hands and threatening Pacifica's existence. I don't think I'll be spoiling things by mentioning that the Channel eventually does make contact with something "out there," but in a totally unexpected way. At that point the phrase "big God network" takes on an entirely new meaning.

For the most part, the book is beautifully written. The narrative sometimes has tinges of cyberpunk or (when most biting) Hunter S. Thompson, while elsewhere it recalls Carl Sagan as it gets poetic about the cosmos. Here is a quote from Franz, musing about life and death: "We aren't alone, ultimately. All the life in the universe originated in a singularity, spouses and siblings and neighbors emanated from the galactic womb, and every man carries the birth of the universe in his bones, the atoms of stars in his blood, and billions of years in his stride. And after we die, we will leave a progeny of matter scattered through this world, in the flora and fauna, its rocks and its rain, and molecules drifting into space, there to be absorbed into new worlds, emerging universes. The matter of all time is what our ashes shall ultimately be, while in the night sky shines a firmament of our far-flung, long-lost cousins."

"The Big God Network" is rich with culture and tech references, often worked into sly satire. The Altair, the first personal computer, is mentioned, as are Afro-Brazilian religions, SETI, Wiccan witches, the Yakuza, computer-pioneer Alan Kay, environmentalist John Muir, gamelan music, Saturn's moons, Amazonian hallucinatory vines, and the Kama Sutra, to give a few examples. The weaving of this into the narrative is one of the great pleasures of the book, along with highly believable near-future scenes in Bali, Tokyo and Los Angeles. And, holding it all together, "The Big God Network" has a fast-paced, suspenseful plot that just roars along. I highly recommend it for both hard-core science-fiction readers and those who seldom dip into the genre.

J.C. McGowan's The Big God Network is a masterpiece tale of techno sci-fi, political-cultural-economic commentary, and the path on which the likes of Falwell-Bush-Rove-Cheney and other hypocritically religious and moral extremists will take the country if its citizens don't fight back. Plus, it's incredibly funny, sardonic, visionary, and well-written. It has, not just a 'save the world' aspect to it, but a 'save the progressive thinker's place in the world' one.

The Big God Network is set in a fantasy, yet eminently plausible, future, where America has divided into new countries defined along lines of beliefs and individual rights. There, McGowan's protagonist couple, Franz and Delores, use their sensibilities, logic, and friends with powerful technical skills to fight for Pacifica's brand of progressive, multi-cultural, and free-thought society against New America (N'Am's) crooked Christian fanatics and executive leaders that rule by fear and information manipulation (like banks accounts being scanned for pledges as N'Am citizens listen to extravaggant sermons.)

Moving at page-turning speed, the story has lots of action and well-drawn characters. But, broader than that, The Big God Network's themes are scarily potential outcomes based on the country's current direction. The details, humor and observations are exquisite. Hopefully, McGowan is working on the next installment, because once you put the Big God Network down, you want to pick it up again.

In the main, cyberpunk and science fiction authors have crafted near-future scenarios with an emphasis on technology innovations and broader sociocultural developments; however, their dystopias have touched only lightly on the increasingly ominous future direction of American politics and world affairs. JC McGowan has stepped in to fill this gap, and has done so admirably. The Big God Network blazes new ground in the fiction arena of the near-future political satire, and represents an engaging cross between Tom Swift and Jonathan Swift.

If you ever wondered where the Rove-Bush-Neocon-Falwell-Robertson political fiasco might one day lead -- in a worst-case scenario, of course -- you've come to the right book. Let's just say that in McGowan's vision of the near-future world, freedom isn't on the march, but is instead in full retreat.

McGowan's narrative is a multicultural melange that maintains its sharpness, humor and edge at every turn, with an occasional romp in the hay thrown in to spice up the narrative. Readers should be ready and willing to travel anywhere at a moment's notice, because Big God Network will take them to far-flung corners of the world at a breakneck pace, from Bali and Tokyo to LA and then back to cyberspace again.

Fans of the cyberpunk masters, such as William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, will be right at home here. This book has it all -- virtual reality, New Age spirituality, cybersex, UFOs, extraterrestrials, tele-cyber-evangelists, Yakuza -- and then some. The brisk pacing keeps the pages turning rapidly. I loved this book, and was sorry to see it end. Highly recommended!

What a good read!. J.C. McGowan takes the cultural wars going on in the USA today to their logical conclusion. In a not-too-distant future the USA has split, literally, into red and blue states. There is the saintly Pacifica, containing California, Oregon etc (think of a country run by the radio network of the same name and you're pretty close) and then there's the sinister Jesus-land of N'Am (New America), a run-down heartland hell-on-earth run by and for cynical televangelist plutocrats.

This makes for truly compulsive reading for religion-obsessed conspiracy theorists... (awright, I admit it). But it's also a real page-turner, with a nice sci-fi mystery, and it's very funny. The purple passages of randy (but virtual) sexual encounters had me hooting. Everything is gloriously over the top here, but the author just gleefully glides you along, and his subtle comic barbs just get sharper.

I think every teenager should be given "Big God Network" along with Dawkins' "The God Delusion" as essential reading. It'll cure them of "the God thing" forever.

McGowan's excellent debut sci-fi novel is a good take on the concept of self -awareness on the net, mixed with the depressing specter of End-timers running the government. He keeps it light with very aptly named products and corporate mergers of the future. The line between reality and virtual worlds is convincingly blurred as the story unfolds and the action is well written and fast paced. Yes, there is detailed virtual sex, but what new communication/entertainment technology has not been used for this purpose in human history? I gave it a thumbs up and then to my fourteen year old son to read, he's been on the net.

There's some mildly interesting stuff in here about the near-future of an America that has blown apart on well-reported Red State/Blue State lines. On the other hand, it's pretty easy to see which side of those lines the author falls on. Far too Manichaean for sophisticated fiction.

I was looking forward to reading The Big God Network with great anticipation. Excellent reviews referenced some of my favorite authors, so I imagined a synthesis of cyberpunk (I've been a devotee since Neuromancer), biting commentary on our current red state/blue state divide, and a dollop of satire (ala Snow Crash.)

About ten pages in I had a sinking feeling. The dialog was awkward, so burdened with description and explanation that I was drawn out of the story, a story which seemed over-dramatic and unnecessarily complicated.

But I kept going, hoping the author would hit his stride, that the characters would blossom, that the story would take hold. But alas, I found my interest slipping. A few quotes, picked almost randomly, will illustrate my experience:

The screen flickered and Antonio reappeared.
"All of Offworld's satellites are down now, but I know a trick or two. Guttman told me about a connection we have to an emergency landline. It taps an ancient fiber-optic network in the Owens Valley that was last used by motel owners for Hindu and Urdu programming. We bought it through a media subsidiary a long time ago, and set aside half its bandwidth for our use. It's off the grid and fairly secure."
"Can we connect to Centauri Station through it?" asked Dolores.

This is an example of dialog burdened with too much exposition, and is, unfortunately, quite typical. Other dialog is just stilted:

"Why do you need the Channel then?"
"It would smooth the way, considerably, for our goals. And prevent any outside interference."
"That's it," screamed Dolores, "I told you that I've heard enough!"
"Call off your dogs or we shut down your global operations," said Franz quietly.

Unfortunately, the story wasn't sufficiently compelling to keep me interested despite the writing. It wasn't until about page 300 that I became so curious at what publisher would print something so lackluster that I looked and found out that the book is self-published.

I really wanted to like this book. Obviously I didn't. What motivated me to write this review was the uncritical nature of the other reviews. I feel that I was misled by the other reviewers, and want other potential purchasers to have a differing view. This is one of those times when I'd like to know about any relationship between author and reviewer. Of course, this is just one person's opinion, so I look forward to seeing more reviews, especially from those willing to declare whether or not thay have a relationship with the author.