About me: "The Big God Network," a novel by J.C. McGowan
"Finally a new satirical post-cyberpunk SF voice with elements of William Gibson, Neal Stephenson and the likes but with the added dimensions of Tom Robbins...and spiritual elements that this genre sadly lacks." --Grant Garden, Amazon U.K.
BOOK DESCRIPTION: J.C. McGowan's science-fiction debut The Big God Network blends the wry humor of Kurt Vonnegut with the cosmic scope of Carl Sagan and the edgy near-future scenarios of William Gibson. The novel explores the clash of culture and religion in cyberspace and post-America; the search for extraterrestrial intelligence and higher powers; and, the socio-cultural impact of "virtual life" on our existence, as it takes us on an imaginative, breathless ride through Bali, Tokyo, California, and exotic virtual worlds that range from the fantasy realm of Nigh Errant to the erotic Yabyum Palace to the evangelical Church of the Good Citizen.
THE SETTING: Twenty years from now, the United States has fragmented into liberal Pacifica (the West Coast), theocratic New America (the heartland), and other new nations. Against this contentious political backdrop, Baba Ed, the leader of a wealthy UFO cult, seeks contact with extraterrestrial civilizations via the Channel, a breakthrough communications interface with a high “AIQ” that renders the most secure system vulnerable, and threatens the new balance of power. A dystopic New America ruled by evangelicals hopes to bring Pacifica back into the fold, and the Channel may offer the means to subdue the “secular” region. Or to protect it, if the book’s hero Franz Sampaio is successful in his quest.
THE COVER was designed by graphic artist Cristina Portella, who has created album covers for Milton Nascimento, Maria Rita, Gilberto Gil, and other renowned Brazilian musicians.
REVIEWS:
Author Nomi Prins ("Jacked: How 'Conservatives' Are Picking Your Pocket"): "A masterpiece tale of techno sci-fi [and] political-cultural-economic commentary...incredibly funny, sardonic, visionary, and well-written."
Astrophysicist and science-fiction author Mike Brotherton: "Interesting and entertaining...Insightful political commentary."
Rex Allen of Curled Up With A Good Book: "[McGowan's] extrapolation of current technological and societal trends is highly believable."
J. Emilio Rondeau, The Mars Quarterly: "Funny, political and visionary...the novel references ideas familiar to readers of scientist-authors like Michio Kaku. It is downright rhapsodic about the universe."
Author Patrick Barrett ("Shakespeare’s Cuthbert"): “One of the most original things I have read.”
Gwendolyn Toynton of the online journal Primordial Traditions: "The Big God Network reveals a unique alternative vision of the future, with richly portrayed characters and well thought out scenarios that are both creative and intelligent....Anyone who enjoys William Gibson and knows even a little about religion or mythology will enjoy reading this book."
Author Marc Ladewig ("Odysseus: The Epic Myth of the Hero"): "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...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."
Media-Studies professor Reeves Medaglia-Miller at George Brown College/Ryerson University: "As in any great work by Vonnegut, Heinlein, or Leven…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."
Baz at Amazon.com: "J.C. McGowan takes the cultural wars going on in the USA today to their logical conclusion...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."
Brian Keith at Amazon.com: "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."
Praise from RE-VO, the Mad Prophet of Rock: "BGN blew me away. It's exciting, funny, sometimes poignant, and always witty. It uses the powerful medium of sci-fi to make numerous statements about important global transformation issues, from ecology through oppression through fundamentalist dogma....It’s the best sci-fi since Vonnegut."
Celtoid9 at Amazon.com: "Fans of the cyberpunk masters, such as William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, will be right at home here."
Praise from Robert Winters:
"Loved THE BIG GOD NETWORK
Viva Pacifica!
Let the secession begin!"
Author J.C. McGowan has published non-fiction books with Temple University Press and Random House. This is his first novel and is available here:
Confidential Encounters has a new home at myspace.com/confidential_encounters so please stop by and join the new page since http://www.myspace.com/confidentialencounters will be going down very soon. I never had any control over the content there anyway. This page will still be here.
Thank you,
Mike Ferguson
CE Creator, Executive Producer and Writer (original stories and scripts)
The moment that we have all dreaded is finally here: dangerous politico rocker RE-VO's CD "XII" will be pressed by tomorrow (at 12:00... merely coincidence? I think not). This, of course, as I predicted, is yet another sign of the impending apocalypse. Not surprisingly, strange things are already occurring. We obtained advance copies of the work through RE-VO's disgusting, orgiastic "dreamland11" website. During our "XII blasphemies" research sessions, which included allowing our devout test subjects to listen to the obscene album on their home stereos and in their cars, numerous listeners reported hearing the words "Baba Ed is dead" buried in the final epic song's colossal climax. Is this some sick attempt to create a Beatles-style frenzy for his obvious Liberal Cosmogaian sentiments? Even stranger and more disgraceful is the report, mostly by former hardcore RE-VO geeks (who are now blessed members of the ACC), of the backward-masked soundbite "Sally Simkin lusts for RE-VO" embedded in the opening number's (ironically entitled "Eliminate Desire") extended sound effects sequence. Our researchers (particularly those of anti-Freudian evangelistic persuasion) have theorized that this is merely wishful thinking and projective identification on the part of the fans, but, needless to say, we are concerned about this. I encourage all BGN followers to boycott RE-VO products, to write nasty letters to dreamland@myspace.com, and to pray for the demise of the evil Cosmogaians and their unholy Pacifica. Oh, yes... and send me $10 million or God will come to claim my soul.
STARRY NIGHT BY VINCENT VAN GOGH The painting Starry Night is one of the most famous icons of the night sky ever created. The scene was painted by Vincent van Gogh in southern France in 1889. The swirling style of Starry Night appears, to many, to make the night sky come alive. Although van Gogh frequently portrayed real settings in his paintings, art historians do not agree on precisely what stars and planets are being depicted in Starry Night. The style of Starry Night is post-impressionism, a popular painting style at the end of the nineteenth century.
MAGICAL DREAMS MY DEARLY FRIEND ~★~ ~GALACTIC KISS~ Sam
Thank you, dear space-brothers and sisters, for staying tuned to the arduous saga of the creation of "XII." Anything worth doing takes titanic effort (as you, at BGN, well know), and thus, we have labored to make "XII" be worthy of the expectations of all Cosmogaians everywhere. In fact, probably as a direct result of our two-year creative journey, our marketing research indicates that, about midway through track 12, listeners actually see and hear something like a BG (big god).... mission accomplished! However, perhaps due to our recent blurring of the brand identification at the past two Galactus celebrations, some listeners report envisioning a BE or Big E (big Elvis). We are still working on this visionary error, and plan to have the situation corrected in a matter of days. As the stars will have it, RE-VO
From Sagittarius to Scorpius, the central Milky Way is a truly beautiful part of planet Earth's night sky. The gorgeous region is captured here, an expansive gigapixel mosaic of 52 fields spanning 34 by 20 degrees in 1200 individual images and 200 hours of exposure time. Part of ESO's Gigagalaxy Zoom Project, the images were collected over 29 nights with a small telescope under the exceptionally clear, dark skies of the ESO Paranal Observatory in Chile. The breathtaking cosmic vista shows off intricate dust lanes, bright nebulae, and star clusters scattered through our galaxy's rich central starfields. Starting on the left, look for the Lagoon and Trifid nebulae, the Cat's Paw, the Pipe dark nebula, and the colorful clouds of Rho Ophiuchi and Antares.
Enjoy your weekend my Dear friend. Nice to Welcome you in my Universe. ★GALACTIC LOVE★ ~Sam~
