- Published in:
- M-Brane SF
- Publication date:
- Sept. 2009
Although very rough around the edges–and the middle for that matter–”Prisoners” was a very important story in my development as a writer. With “Hiroshima Sunflowers” (which is still awaiting publication, though might have found a home now) it formed the example work that would make up my Clarion application. Happily, whoever did the slush reading for Clarion ‘06 saw enough potential in the murky prose that they granted me a place on the six-week workshop.
Like a lot of my early fiction (and arguably my later stuff too) there are a number of issues that detract from the reading experience. There’s the kick-you-out-of-the-story writer as main protagonist. There’s the implausible plot straight-jacketed onto the unwilling characters. There’s back-and-forth switch of POV. And don’t get me started on the prose. What there also is, however, is a rather nifty speculative-fiction idea: virtual prisons. What if criminals could be incarcerated in cyberspace? A number of instant plot possibilities present themselves: what are the economic consequences? Where are criminals bodies kept during their mental imprisonment? Could they plan a virtual escape? Would their rights be violated? And, the question I asked in “Prisoners”: would they be able to tell they were in a virtual environment?
Almost thirty years ago, William Gibson brought the concept of cyberspace to collective consciousness, but I still believe as critical thinkers and visionaries, we are still far far away from understanding the implications of this technology that has been a long time coming, but is certainly still in the pipeline. 2011 sees people only just being to migrate their lives to the digital realm, and as usual, governments and lawmakers struggle to keep up with individuals and private enterprise. When true immersive VR gets established–and I don’t believe there’s any technical hurdles to that–there’s going to be a brave new world of opportunities where people can go anywhere and be anyone. And eventually the powermongers of the real world will catch up and have their say. Or maybe they won’t.
