Decius wrote:
]] I pinged the elf. He had a lot of left-handed Whuffie ...
]
] A short excerpt from Cory Doctorow's new novel, Down and Out
] in the Magic Kingdom, which seems to have some, ehem, familiar
] ideas.

His use of the Lincoln animatronic figure is a clear nod to the Lincoln simulacrum in Philip K. Dick's _We Can Build You_.

And the Seven Sisters designer faces idea is from Neal Stephenson.

Barnes and Noble claims the book will be available on January 8. But, according to Amazon, Tor (the publisher) describes the book as a "February 2003" release. Time will tell.

Regarding _Down and Out_, Kirkus Reviews writes: "The language has pop and the ideas are launched from the page with plentyof fizz, but Doctorow ultimately hamstrings himself with a monumentally trivial storyline." That's unfortunate.

Speaking of books, have you read Crichton's _Prey_ yet? Thoughts? If not, it's a quick read, and worth the time, although it unfolds rather like the typical Crichton story. On some level, it feels a bit Mad-Libby, as though you could periodically swap "grey goo" with "velociraptor" without skipping a beat.

RE: The Infinite Matrix | Cory Doctorow | Down And Out In The Magic Kingdom 1