The Big God Network: Culture Wars in Cyberspace

The Big God Network
Mystical Science Fiction by J.C. McGowan

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.

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....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."

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."

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....abounds with references to many different spiritual and religious traditions, and these references serve to illustrate the author’s knowledge in this area....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. “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."

Media-Studies professor Reeves Medaglia-Miller at Ryerson University: "It is written in an extremely tight, quickly intercut cinematic style that is new and refreshing…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. 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."

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."

Celtoid9 at Amazon.com: "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."

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Author J.C. McGowan has published non-fiction books with Temple University Press and Random House. The Big God Network is his first novel.