Francesco Augustine Bernadone: A Brief History of Our Tomorrows (Love and Fear: The Future is Bucharest Book 1)
By Stan Faryna
![Francesco Augustine Bernadone: A Brief History of Our Tomorrows (Love and Fear: The Future is Bucharest Book 1) by [Faryna, Stan]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51j8CPa8VcL.jpg)
Can you imagine the future? How about the second half of the 2020s? Maybe what you imagine is not how Stan Faryna sees it.
The Dollar and Euro have collapsed. The price of one avocado is like what you pay now to go to the movies. Hundreds of millions of gamers hustle in an epic online game competing against artificial intelligence and each other for prizes worth big money. Most of those gamers will be lucky enough to pay for their daily ration of beans and rice. Entrepreneurial players will pay their rent.
Can Francesco find windfall in a dark, dystopian and post-apocalyptic virtual reality game? Zombies, guns, machetes and permadeath in a game might seem inconsequential to us, but the cost of failure will destroy him. Left untreated, his much beloved wife will succumb to cancer.
There is more than a fast and exciting story going on here. Faryna nails three birds with one stone. His long-reflected insights will help some of us to live, love and grow with courage.
Beyond the realism of this tragic, near future world stage for Francesco's story, Faryna offers sharp insights into the human condition, the power of love, and hope. He does so with a nuanced irony and sensitivity that feels too true to ignore - if also difficult to accept. The author asks us to come to a higher place of self-understanding and action, but he does not throw down a gauntlet of big words and intimidating intellectual challenges.
The Dollar and Euro have collapsed. The price of one avocado is like what you pay now to go to the movies. Hundreds of millions of gamers hustle in an epic online game competing against artificial intelligence and each other for prizes worth big money. Most of those gamers will be lucky enough to pay for their daily ration of beans and rice. Entrepreneurial players will pay their rent.
Can Francesco find windfall in a dark, dystopian and post-apocalyptic virtual reality game? Zombies, guns, machetes and permadeath in a game might seem inconsequential to us, but the cost of failure will destroy him. Left untreated, his much beloved wife will succumb to cancer.
There is more than a fast and exciting story going on here. Faryna nails three birds with one stone. His long-reflected insights will help some of us to live, love and grow with courage.
Beyond the realism of this tragic, near future world stage for Francesco's story, Faryna offers sharp insights into the human condition, the power of love, and hope. He does so with a nuanced irony and sensitivity that feels too true to ignore - if also difficult to accept. The author asks us to come to a higher place of self-understanding and action, but he does not throw down a gauntlet of big words and intimidating intellectual challenges.
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MY REVIEW
In 2025, the
world is different. All classes of money have become obsolete. UNITS have
become the world currency, and not easy to come by. With jobs becoming harder
to find, or keep, the majority are making a good living playing a popular
virtual reality online video game called Jacob’s Trouble. Like many others,
Francesco is desperate, needing many UNITS for his wife’s cancer treatment.
After he wins a super computer from the lottery, he tries to sell it but to no
avail. So, his only other option is to play the game, even though he has little
chance of winning.
This short
story was a bit baffling to me. I am not very gaming savvy, so the technical
details went over my head. Otherwise, I thought that it had a good plot with
fledgling characters of different backgrounds. Like most zombie games, it
involved horror and gore. I am not a fan of that, but I like zombies, so that
was ok. There was an inspiring theme throughout that I appreciated, even though
there was so negativity involved. I liked following Francesco as he maneuvered
through his life. He was a breath of fresh air among the animosity surrounding
him.
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**The above opinions are 100% my own, whether I purchased the book or it was given to me to review.
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