(no subject)

[skygiants]

One of the simplest and purest pleasures in fiction is to ride along as an unhappy person becomes happier, and this at the heart is the charm of the self-pub coming-of-trans novel Our Simulated Selves.

On first glance the premise of this one could seem dire: depressed incel, told by dream girl that they would not date even if the incel was the "last man on Earth," uses advanced brain-scanning technology and giant quantum supercomputer to set up a simulation world where literally everybody else on Earth does disappear immediately after that argument, and see how long it takes sim self and dream girl to get together in this apocalypse scenario. (The reader, who has already seen our protagonist describe dysphoric brain fog and experience mysterious joy about playing a girl character in D&D, will at this point certainly have some ideas about the ways that this sad incel is working from some fundamentally incorrect principles.)

Most of the book is from the POV of sim protagonist with occasional outside-world interjections and responses from the simulation runner, which means you also get sort of a fun inside/outside view of an apocalypse-ish survival situation -- within the simulation, protagonist and dream girl are running around gathering up non-perishable food and trying to figure out how long the power grid is going to last; meanwhile, outside the simulation, Protagonist Zero Version is like 'shit, I didn't really think through that they'd be treating this like an apocalypse and I forgot to write any code for food spoilage!' But the main satisfaction of the book is in watching our protagonist go through the work of transformation to become a better and happier person -- with a little added weight, because at the same time we're also seeing the worst and cruelest and most unhappy version. Overall I found the reading experience really charming and sweet!

Comments

[osprey_archer]

Does the incel running the simulation ever have any epiphanies, or only the incel inside the simulation?

[skygiants]

The incel running the simulation EVENTUALLY self-actualizes and [spoilers], but it takes the whole book and waging outright war against the inner simulations and [more spoilers] first!

[sovay]

But the main satisfaction of the book is in watching our protagonist go through the work of transformation to become a better and happier person -- with a little added weight, because at the same time we're also seeing the worst and cruelest and most unhappy version.

That does sound like a satisfying and slightly bitey way to do it.

[skygiants]

I always appreciate a book that understands that people are neither Good nor Bad, but rather hold inside them a deeply messy conglomeration of possibilities in all directions.

[blotthis]

oh this sound really interesting and possibly good???

[skygiants]

I think it does a really good job of leaning into its own strengths -- I don't think the plot is fully satisfying but the experience is satisfying, if you get me.

[blotthis]

i do get you i do

[troisoiseaux]

Thanks for recommending this! I really enjoyed this, although (rot13 for... technically spoilers) V'ir frra gur gjrrg nobhg ubj fperrafubgf sebz znavp cvkvr qernz tvey zbivrf (fpbgg cvytevz, 500 qnlf bs fhzzre) ybbx yvxr orsber naq nsgre cvpgherf bs n fnq thl genafvgvbavat vagb n fhcre pbby tvey, and so I figured out the Big Twist very early on. :P (It also kind of felt like a novelization of this tumblr post, which I do not mean in a bad way.)

[skygiants]

lol yes I also from chapter two or three on was like hmmm .... I wonder ...... but it was a hmmm I wonder in the way where it was fun and satisfying to be proven right!

SJDF:LKDJFD YOU ARE SO RIGHT THOUGH. A THOUSAND PERCENT