Customer Reviews

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Dr. Gillian Taylor: Don't tell me you don't use money in the 23rd Century.

Kirk: Well we don't.

-- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Star Trek may be a money-free universe, but they've always left blank the details of how scarce assets like a starship or a Picasso ... or the Haunted Mansion might get allocated.

In this fun, fast book, the clearly talented Cory Doctorow explores a full-on reputation economy. With the help of a sophisticated, real-time network, people accumulate and lose a reputation currency called "whuffie." The ideas are an incredibly rich playground, and the author doesn't make you suffer through flat characters or clunky prose to get to them. On the contrary, these are totally alive characters set in a deeply conjured world (which world is Disney World, a place you can feel the author's passion for). By the end, you'll know the characters well enough to be able to judge what impact this new world has -- or doesn't have -- on the fundamentals of human nature.

Cory Doctorow deserves much whuffie for this novel. Highly recommended.

Science fiction, satire, dystopian fiction...if you enjoy slotting your reading into neat categories, "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" probably isn't for you. However, if the idea of a fresh, wholly original take on all of these genres appeals to you, read on. "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" is at its heart, and amalgam; an amalgam of styles, of genres, of themes, and yet somehow author Cory Doctrow has managed to weave these disparate elements into a cohesive whole.

At its heart, this is the story of Julius, a post-modern man who is a centenarian living in Disney World. His is a world without scarcity or death, and as such, the dynamics of economies have changed radically. A person's rank in society is based upon their "whuffie", essentially the measure of their esteem within the breadth of the human population. While this meritocracy has certain appeals, it is still subject to the capriciousness of human nature, and as such, is still subject to many of the challenges of any of the systems the world currently enjoys (or doesn't). In particular, the need to use esteem in order to achieve capital means that non-stop consensus building plagues most aspects of life and diverts it into entirely unexpected directions.

Which brings us to the crux of Julius' dilemma, namely he has been killed to facilitate another "as hoc" seizing control of the Hall of Presidents, and now his new body is experiencing difficulties with it's internal computing capabilities and, worst of all, the Haunted Mansion may be the next ride to succumb. As Jules and his ad hoc fight to save the ride from losing it's 20th century charm, the pressure really begins to mount.

All this may sound absurd, but within the context of the story it works quite brilliantly. Doctrow introduces a host of interesting sociological and technological theories without becoming pedagogic, while at the same time exploring issues that are fundamental to any society. In particular, he questions whether humans can ever be truly happy absent conflict and purpose, and as such, what happens when the most mundane things become one's raison d'etre. Is it funny and absurd that his characters fight a war of sorts over a Disney ride, or is it sad, or is it both?

In "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" Doctrow has produced a thoroughly original novel, that is both a fun read and a thoughtful look at society. He introduces a host of fascinating directions for human and societal evolution, but manages to maintain the reader's interest in a story that would be absurd out of context. Finally, his whuffie based economy has surpassed Ken Macleod's anarcho-capitalism ("The Stone Canal") as my favorite fictional political system, without ever bogging down in philosophical debate or confusing jargon. Great satire, great science fiction, this is a treat that is not to be missed.

Jake Mohlman

Julius has finally realized his life long dream of living in Disney World. He finds his job with the Liberty Square ad hocs to be fun and his girlfriend Lil keeps him feeling young. When his best friend Dan shows up, he feels his life is complete. But then he's murdered. Granted, it's only his third death, which isn't bad for being over a hundred, but he still takes it rather personally. He's even more surprised when he finds out that Deb moved into the Hall of Presidents while he was out.

Deb is leading a group that is slowly bringing all the attractions into the modern era with new technology. Julius and his friends oppose this because they want to keep the park the way it was in the 20th century, technology, storylines, and all. Julius feels he should take a stand, but what can he do?

First, the bad. Maybe it's because I don't read that much science fiction, but I had a hard time with the jargon of this book. For the first 50 pages or so, I was really struggling to follow the new terms the characters were using when discussing their lives.

But once I got the lingo down, I couldn't put the book down. The story is interesting with quite a few twists and turns. All the characters were interesting and well developed, but I especially liked Julius. He was easy to care about, and I had to know what would happen to him next. I'm a huge Disney fan, so the back drop of Disney World certainly didn't hurt either. In fact, it made me want to visit the park even more.

Cory Doctorow is definitely an author to watch. He weaves a good yarn in an interesting vision of the future. I'm already looking forward to whatever he has up his sleeve next.

I couldn't put this book down! I laughed out loud, gasped, and raised eyebrows in surprise. The author's creative exploration of the reputation economy--and all its implications--are wonderfully appropos in today's world of credit ratings, eBay feedback, & Amazon.com reader reviews--where clout is king.

Just as people today become corrupt in the pursuit of wealth, this story explores the temptations that befall a good man who wants to increase his "whuffie", or reputation score: the measure of worth in the new economy. Without spoiling the book, I will simply say that this novel is a must-read for anyone who enjoys vieweing life through different lenses.

I hope Doctorow writes sequels, as the colorful world of his imagination deserves more exploration. The book is a creative and irreverent romp through socioeconomics, technology, and amusement park crowd control. I highly recommend it!

Although I've read a lot of science fiction over my 30-plus years, I've found that typically there's a mechanical process at the heart of it, ticking away plot points, waiting its time to spring into full deus ex machina glory. Meanwhile, romance is awkwardly introduced, and mindblowing ideas are thrown onto the page.

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom suffers from none of these flaws, and will be easily regarded in the future -- that mythical time that never comes -- alongside works of Philip K. Dick, although Doctorow's prose never gets out of control or wound up the way Dick's does.

Down and Out isn't a future so much as our inevitable outcome given the current ideas of technology, religion, and consumerism. Nothing in the book seemed unfamiliar, no matter how exotic it was, probably because Doctorow rooted the book so firmly in the Disney Nightmare that is modern entertainment.

I've been backstage at Disneyland and have met some cast members and Imagineering designers, and so his description of that kind of taken to the logical extreme occupation of the magic kingdom by people who want to make it better -- rather than make money or who have property rights -- doesn't strike me as odd, and his insights into what makes rides tick should gain him entrance to the Imagineering world.

The story at the heart is compelling, and Doctorow engages in only a few Moby Dick like expository techniques to draw you into the world and then body slam you with a concrete instanciation. Death is dead, the future is before is, and the question he asks is, really, what the hell are we going to do with ourselves? Put on the hat with the rounded ears, obviously.

It's not very clever to be a book reviewer on the internets and confess that a Cory Doctorow novel kind of leaves me cold. I like Boing Boing as much as the next person. I often admire his work as a journalist. This was my first attempt to read one of his novels. So many people have recommended the books to me. I wish that I could have liked this more, I really do.

He gets right exactly what you expect that he would get right. He hits the big future world points of karma credits (Whuffie) instead of cash and life extension technology. He has the hacking of pop culture and alternate forms of social organization and all the other little touches that you will not be at all surprised to see. I wish very much that it had not read quite so much like a textbook projection of what life will be like after the Singularity comes, because that was pretty much exactly what the book felt like. Making a point, working it out.

Fair enough, but I missed characters that I could care about. And I really missed some heart to the thing. Charles Stross writes in a similar subject area and honestly his books are way messier than Down and Out. Still, I like them much better. I had the feeling as a reader that Doctorow liked his clever ideas much more than he liked his characters. I never warmed to any of them, and I never once cared what would happen. Too bad.

There are certainly going to be people who enjoy the novel. It is cleanly written and cleanly plotted. At 206 pages, you can read it and enjoy it without missing the soul too very much. I am curious to hear from others whether all his work is like this, or whether there are other books that I might enjoy more. Let me know.

I don't read a lot of Sci/Fi, but I love Disney and I really enjoyed this book. The future world Cory Doctorow creates is very believable and you can easily see it blossoming from our presant. Perhaps it's that quality that will grab the sci/fi crowd, but to me the real winning idea is setting the entire thing in Walt Disney World. Now that's an inspired idea! And one that not only gives the story character but an immediate refrence for readers.

The story itself is a mix of sci/fi, mystery and character drama. Each one of those genres has it's formulas that they can fall into. By combining them, Doctorow escapes their traps and creates something very unique and memorable. Memorable in the sense of the delimas his characters face becasue fo the world they inhabit. If it's that plausible a future, shouldn't we ponder these questions as well?

I'll be recommending 'Down and out in the Magic Kingdom' to all my fellow Disney fans as well as those that want an enjoyable read that also offers something to think about afterwards.

I wanted wanted wanted to love this book.
I wanted wanted wanted to.....
But not.
I bought it because it was one someone's list who read a lot of books that I really enjoyed.... but probably specifically because I just finished Richard Morgan's books (which had digitized conciousness as a major theme -- which played a big part in this one).....

Now, I am a big fan of great storyline, interesting characters as number 1 and number 2 driving forces..... However, the HUGE lack of number 3 makes me give this only two stars.... And number 3 is: LOGICAL CHARACTER MOTIVATION! I really did not understand why the characters in this book did what they did. And that was really a let down. It seemed amateur-ish in a way.... Relationships flipflopped..... Friends betrayed friends.... and I sat there, reading, not understanding why...... I'm not even over my first century (being in my mid 30s), and I can still understand my (and my friends) motivations..... Maybe I'm just naive?

Yes, the digitized conciousness was interesting. The world that was built (ad hoc and Bitchun and Whuffie?) was interesting.... There were good parts..... but I really didn't grasp the motivations and why the characters did what they did, and I nearly put the book aside because of that. It was really not up to the reviews here on Amazon.....

So, I would say that the ideas and world was cool and interesting --- but, personally I would say that Richard K. Morgan does it better. Very differently, less light-hearted, darker, but fuller and richer, more complex and meaty....

Cory Doctorow probably had a lot of fun creating this novel, and you can have fun reading it, but note that it doesn't reach too deep. Doctorow creates and explores heaps of futuristic trends and lifestyles, and there's great gearhead candy to be found here. One nice touch is the electronics added to all humans for constant mental connections to the Net, while society is stratified into classes not by income, but by one's network feedback ratings (called "Whuffie" here). But storytelling is lost beneath wave after wave of future gadgets and trinkets, with Doctorow's fun creativity substituting for plot or theme construction. The main twenty-second century futurism here, which has the most effect on driving the plot, is the ability of humans to download their personalities and reboot their physical existences. This leads to some excitement, but this device has been popping up in loads of sci-fi novels over the past decade or so. That leaves the characters, who are pretty interesting, while the plotline involves cutthroat competition among post-humans and gadget freaks in overhauling various sections of Disneyland. That's a fun but pretty inconsequential plotline, though I will admit that it kept me interested and the character interactions lead to some unexpected drama. This is certainly a fun book, but some deep-thought potential is missed among all the laughs and cyberpunk-isms. [~doomsdayer520~]

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom is Cory Doctorow's first novel and winner of the 2003 Locus Award for Best First Novel and is a finalist for the 2004 Nebula for Best Novel. Down and Out is set in a future where our concepts of both personal and corporate property have given way to new economic models. In this future the Disney Corporation no longer controls it's property. Instead, various, dedicated ad hoc groups have seized control of corporate property from greedy and ineffective owners.

Julius is one of the leaders of the ad hoc group that now manages the Haunted Mansion in Disney World. Julius' group struggles to retain management of the Haunted Mansion as another, more predatory ad hoc group converts the Hall of Presidents into a purely virtual experience and sets it's sites on the Haunted Mansion. Julius is an old school Disney fan and doesn't want to see his favorite attraction stray too far from it's original implementation. Somebody thinks Julius is standing in the way of progress and a power struggle ensues.

The rise of ad hoc groups as property stewards are not Doctorow's only economic evolution in Down and Out. Currency and personal wealth have been replaced with a reputation-based system - think of the seller ratings on eBay. Those with higher reputations have access to more community property and resources and vice versa.

Such drastic economic shifts are only made possible by equally drastic shifts in technology. Specifically, Doctorow smoothly integrates networking technology with cyborg-style implant technology to create the societal network needed to support these grassroots, real-time economic plans. One can see any other person's reputation score on an intra-ocular HUD just by looking at that person. Along with computer displays, internet connections, browsers, e-mail, and cell phones have all been similarly absorbed by implanted technology. Doctorow's most radical technological idea is a revolution in health care which is fundamental for the creation of this future world and something I won't spoil in this review.

Plot and character development could have easily been overwhelmed by the abundance of technology Doctorow invents for his vision of the future. Fortunately, that isn't the case. The plot is simple but strong and well paced. The story swings the main characters through descents and ascents that ground them in reality.

I really liked this book, especially since the description on the jacket didn't sound too tempting for someone hunting some good, new cyberpunk. Reading Down and Out reminded me of the first time I read Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. Down and Out is not the masterpiece that Snow Crash is, but Doctorow has given us new ideas and clever technological applications without skimping on the plot or the characters.

Because Doctorow has released his work under the Creative Commons License you can sample all of his work at his web site, [...]. If you like it but prefer to read the soft copies you can do what I do and buy the hard copies and donate them to your local library.