0.4 It's A Brave New World

When I first saw this book, to be honest with you, the cover kind of freaked me out. A lot. The only thought crossing my mind at that moment I first lay eyes on this book was: 'This book looks seriously freaky.' But you know how you are never supposed to judge a book by its cover? Too bad. It's human nature. I did. But I gave it a shot, and it came to be a great sci-fi read.

'MY NAME IS KYLE STRAKER

AND I DON'T EXSIST ANY MORE.'

So begins the story of Kyle Straker, recorded on old audio tapes. You might think these tapes are a hoax. But perhaps they contain the history of a past world...

If what the tapes say are true, it means that everything we think we know is a lie. 

And if everything is a lie does that mean we are, too?

So says the back of the book. I thought it was a great little insight to the book. But I'm going to tell you a little more. 

First off. 0.4 is a sci-fi novel by Mike Lancaster. Believe or not believe, that's your call. A science fiction novel on how the lives of four people changed- how the lives of countless generations changed. And how they may be still living. Basically, 0.4 is a series of tapes recorded into the book, with short notes to explain terms. Like the one which follows:

NOTE- Teletubbies

Many theories exist about this word, but none are particularly satisfactory. Or, indeed, convincing. Kepple in his essay 'A Pantheon of Teletubbies' seems sure that it is a word of deep religious significance, referring to a collection of gods or goddesses almost exclusively worshiped by children, although his evidence is seen by most scholars as, at best, fanciful.

Really. Hilarious. Teletubbies and gods are about as close as a fly and a couch. But they wouldn't have known, right? Mike Lancaster weaves an alternate universe with this book- a future universe of much much later. Of the nought point five. But staging a nought point four. Confusing? Yes. But maybe we are really like Mike Lancaster says. Just upgrades after upgrade. And some of us ceasing to understand and acknowledge others. 0.4 definitely opens your eyes to what humans really are. Just something computer-esk, or actually sentimental beings with lives that we control? The real question. Do we actually have any control over what happens in our lives? Or is there a hardware installed within us? We go through things in life, make decisions, and change fate. Or do we? Is it just a huge page or history for us to fill, or is it just us going through something someone else has programmed? Are we really living, surviving, until our time comes, or is someone planning out when we eat, what we do, all the time? Are we a huge computer game to someone else, and if they press delete, will we cease to exist? Or are we actual matter- a race of actual beings that make our own decisions, and take to our actions? Are we just being upgraded like iPhones, or are we sentimental beings? This book opens your mind towards our own existence and what we actually are. How we are living. Is everything really a lie? Are we a lie?

Mike Lancaster definitely wrote a novel worthy of respect, and one that will definitely open your mind to the possibility of us being computer software. Can our lives really change drastically with a few taps of someone's hand? It's a possibility. That's all it is. A possibility. A frighting possibility. But.... What if?

***I give this book a 8.5 out of 10. Really mind-boggling.***