The End of FUN by Sean McGinty (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The End of FUN by Sean McGinty Karen Coats McGinty, Sean The End of FUN. Hyperion, 2016 [416p] Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-4847-2211-4 $17.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 7-10 After six years in a medicated fog, sixteen-year-old Aaron decides it’s time to get off the meds and live on his own terms. Unfortunately, he ends up nearly broke in a “hivehouse” in San Francisco, so when he learns that he can earn ameros, the new online currency that is replacing the dollar, by testing the Fully Ubiquitous Neuralnet augmented reality program (FUN® for short), he agrees to get chipped and lensed. Soon a robot buddy named Homie is living inside his head. Despite a few bugs, FUN® makes everything brighter, and Aaron earns ameros for doing things like saying the tagline and giving YAY!s to products and services. Unfortunately, he gets addicted to a game and goes into debt, and now he can’t get off FUN® unless he earns enough ameros to repay what he owes. Aaron’s experience reads like an upgrade to Anderson’s Feed (BCCB 11/02), with similarly imagined ethical and environmental questions, a slightly-smarter-than-his-peers protagonist, a doomed love interest, and a slick sense of humor; the difference lies in the fact that FUN® is not universally embraced in Aaron’s society . . . yet. This allows for more diffuse and diverse protests as well as an exploration of how to successfully recover and maintain one’s sovereignty over the technology rather than being completely subjected to it. Indeed, there is ultimately a strong sense that not all connection to other people or appreciation of the natural world will be lost, even if these become filtered through an electronic interface. Still, the richly imagined implications are disturbing enough to put readers off Candy Crush, if only for a little while. Copyright © 2016 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois