Bash Bash Revolution

A Novel

By: Douglas Lain

Narrated by: Scott Merriman

A compelling coming-of-age artificial intelligence novel from Philip K. Dick Award-nominated author Douglas Lain.

Seventeen-year-old Matthew Munson is ranked 13th in the state in Bash Bash Revolution, an outdated video game from 2002 that, in 2017, is still getting tournament play. He’s a high school dropout who still lives at home with his mom, doing little but gaming and moping. That is, until Matthew’s dad turns up again.

Jeffrey Munson is a computer geek who’d left home eight years earlier to work on a top-secret military project. Jeff has been a sporadic presence in Matthew’s life, and much to his son’s displeasure insists on bonding over video games. The two start entering local tournaments together, where Jeff shows astonishing aptitude for Bash Bash Revolution in particular.

Then, as abruptly as he appeared, Matthew’s father disappears again, just as he was beginning to let Jeff back into his life.

The betrayal is life-shattering, and Matthew decides to give chase, in the process discovering the true nature of the government-sponsored artificial intelligence program his father has been involved in. Told as a series of conversations between Matthew and his father’s artificial intelligence program, Bash Bash Revolution is a wildly original novel of apocalypse and revolution, as well as a poignant story of broken family.

©2018 Douglas Lain (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved

A mixed bag

Part of the problem may have been that portions of this book don’t really work well as an audio book. Other parts of the book are excellent, so on average it’s worth struggling through the difficult parts.