Disneyworld has apparently been colonized in the near future, becoming its own city-state with factions residing in the different lands. Julius is a cast member overseeing the Haunted Mansion, who falls into a political struggle with Debra, who maintains the Hall of Presidents. As Julius fights to be heard in the supposed meritocracy (very clique-y and not so different from politics today) the story becomes a satirical look at what entertainment means, as a crowd pleaser versus having a basis in actual merit - or what 'merit' or reputation actually even mean.

The book is chock-full of classic sci-fi conventions: death has been eradicated, everyone has a brain feed to everything all the time, there's space travel and ray guns and everything. And all of the characters are terribly unlikeable and make some pretty inscrutable decisions. Unfortunately these detract from a fun concept that could have been crafted into a good story. ( )

The premise was what caught my eye. Julius lives in Walt Disney World in the not-so-distant future, in a world ruled by the Bitchun Society. That society has managed to eradicate both death and money: if you die you simply restore yourself using a quick-grown clone made with a backup of your brain, and all wealth is based on reputation - the higher people's opinions of you, the more you can "buy." The world is not run by governments, but rather small committee-like groups called adhocracies. This particular story revolves around the ad-hocs that run the Hall of Presidents and Haunted Mansion in the Magic Kingdom.I spent a little too much of this book feeling exasperated - Julius is hot-headed and does some pretty stupid stuff for no particular reason - but things work out in the end, and it's short enough (just over 200 pages) that it's worth the minor amount of effort required to stick it out. It's a clever little what-if story and I enjoyed the sly pop-culture jokes (like the name of the Bitchun Society, for one). If you're looking for something that deals with the headier questions of immortality, economics, and social interaction, this book would probably be a bit too shallow for you. However, if you're interested in a quick bit of light Sci Fi, check this one out. ( )

Electronic Frontier Foundation true believer applies concepts of free software to life in general. Interesting SF concept, but weak character development

The underlying ideas are good (an entirely reputation-based economy, immortality, built-in electronics) but I didn't find the plot compelling. Not surprisingly, it may appeal more to people with a fascination for the Disney theme parks. ( )

Very enjoyable read about how social networking can be taken an extreme that enables it to replace the financial economy an allows people to live in new ways. The novel follows the life of a guy as he lives in Disney land, which is run using an ad-hoc consensus process.

I found it a little predictable and naive, but thoroughly enjoyed the ideas that he explores. ( )