The Fourth World [Mass Market Paperback]

Dennis Danvers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 4, 2001

Much of the world has enthusiastically embraced the"virtual life," rejecting the cruel realities outside the big lies and shared web fantasies they plug themselves into twenty-four hours a day. American Santee St. John, however, has experienced real, government-imposed horrors in the troubled Mexican state of Chiapas. And along with Margaret Mayfield -- his lover and kindred spirit -- he has dedicated his life to the rebel cause. Then Santee vanishes into the lush and dangerous wilds of Central America. Though his enemies say Santee St. John is dead, Margaret is determined to find him. But on a planet going rapidly to Hell, the fate of one man of conscience may prove insignificant -- as Margaret's search sets her on a dark highway the corrupt and powerful are constructing in secret, a road to total ruin that winds from the opulent First World through the destitute Third...and all the way to Mars.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In his New York Times Notable Book Circuit of Heaven and its sequel, End of Days, Dennis Danvers explored the mental, emotional, and ethical aspects of living in virtual reality. Now, in a powerful and passionate near-future novel, The Fourth World, Mr. Danvers expands these considerations to include the political and socioeconomic costs of virtual existence.

When NewsReal cyberreporter Santee St. John witnesses a brutal massacre in war-torn Mexico, the WebNet suppresses his report. But beautiful American expatriate Margaret Mayfield might be able to help him deliver his news to the world and smuggle in a secret new technology that could turn the farmer-rebels' failing struggle to victory. Then Santee disappears, and Margaret must dare the desperate dangers of the Third World to find her lover, her only ally a young "webkicker" who rejects virtual reality but is woefully inexperienced in physical existence. Even if they can find Santee and activate the smuggled technology, it may be too late to stop a worlds-spanning conspiracy with plans so well-entrenched and corrupt that the war may be nothing but a diversion. --Cynthia Ward --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Unabashedly leftist in its politics, Danvers's new novel (after Circuit of Heaven) is set in and around an early 21st-century Mexico that has been all but destroyed by NAFTA, GATT and the WTO. Although Mexico's corrupt leaders have become enormously wealthy, the country is now little more than a source of cheap labor and raw materials for a United States that no longer even pretends to care about human rights. North of the border, most Americans spend their days in windowless rooms, wired into virtual reality on the Web, almost totally disconnected from the real world. Santee St. John, an American journalist working for NewsReal on the WWW, records the massacre of hundreds of Indian farmers in Chiapas in Mexico and is incensed when he discovers that his company won't run the story. Learning that he was sent to witness the killings so that NewsReal could use his footage to blackmail its way into media prominence in Mexico, Santee is soon recruited by Zapatista sympathizer Margaret Mayfield. Joining the Indians in their decades-long revolution against the corrupt Mexican government, Santee and Mayfield uncover both a sordid plot to use the Web to enslave numerous people and hints that the planet may be on the brink of environmental collapse. Danvers's political enthusiasm is refreshing. His rather black-and-white worldview may alienate conservative readers, however, and the quite literal deus ex machina he employs at book's end isn't well seeded. Still, this exciting cyberthriller, with its near-utopian conclusion, should please readers of a more liberal stripe, particularly fans of the novels of Kim Stanley Robinson and Bruce Sterling. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Eos (September 4, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380806444
• ISBN-13: 978-0380806447
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,788,702 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Viva Zapatista!, April 3, 2002

By 

Bruce Rux (Aurora, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fourth World (Mass Market Paperback)

Anyone who is into UFOlogy will recognize the 1970s disinformation program that was the inspiration for this book, but I won't spoil it for those who aren't in the know.

In the near-future (twenty, twenty-five years), Virtual Reality news is all the new "sensation" - reporters are "observers," fitted with emotional sensor jacks that relay their feelings to the Internet as well as what they see and hear. The protagonist of the story witnesses the brutal slaying of Zapatista farmers, in full view of a military base which does nothing to stop it, and is initiated into the realm of the rebel when NewsReal refuses to transmit his recordings of the event.

Hooking-up with a disenfranchised debutante, the two become lovers and underground resistance members. Without a compass to guide them in the murky waters of illegal movements, they swiftly become compromised without knowing it. A powerful agenda is afoot, and the former reporter and subversive socialite inadvertently find themselves serving instead of fighting it.

But the fun still isn't over: no sooner do our heroes have a grasp on the situation, than an even more alarming development occurs.

Wonderful intrigue, likeable characters, and a complex and ever-changing plot keep this book moving steadily along. Its only real problem is a slow middle that delves too much on a not-very-believable future Texas, which is the only area of the book that suffers from excess science-fiction-itis. The "virtual reality" angle mercifully is never hit so hard over the head that it overpowers the drama of the piece, and the examination of artificial intelligence is quite interesting and well-done.

For the record, I'm still betting - author picture in the back of the book notwithstanding - that Dennis Danvers is really Dean Koontz.

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting and mesmerizing work, March 18, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fourth World (Hardcover)

In 2013, Mexico serves as a source of unskilled labor willing to do the chores that Americans feel are beneath them. As the Mexican leadership becomes wealthier, more corrupt, and deadlier, the United States ignores human rights violations in favor of free trade, defined as Mexico freely giving up its raw materials to the Americans in exchange for nothing returned to the people.

Santee St. John works for NewsReal reporting events around the world so that wired Americans can watch the real world from the safety net of the worldwide web. He captures the massacre of Native American farmers in Chiapas, Mexico, but learns that his company has no plans to air the footage. Instead, they use it to blackmail the already corrupt Mexican government into allowing NewsReal to take over the lucrative south of the border trade. A disillusioned Santee meets and bands with Zapatista supporter Margaret Mayfield as they join the Indians in their revolution for freedom.

THE FOURTH WORLD is an unabashed bashing of right wing politics especially the political spouting that what's good for big business is good for the world. The story line is exciting as Dennis Danvers paints a less than heavenly view of the future. Though filled with non-stop action, the plot appears too simplistic when dealing with complex issues. This entertaining cyberthriller will be enjoyed by most readers except those to the right of Attilla the Hun. They might want to pass on this novel.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A parable for our epoch., April 23, 2002

By 

H. B. Franklin "emergencybooks" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fourth World (Mass Market Paperback)

The twists and surprises of this engrossing
pageturner allow us to penetrate deeper and
deeper into some of the most horrific
realities of our epoch--while having lots of
fun.
When I assigned it as a required text in my "Science Fiction,
Technology, and Society" course, most of the students loved it.