Today I’ve reached a milestone. I’ve finished what I’m labeling the fourth draft of MultiReal, the sequel to Infoquake. The book still has some rewriting to do before I let it out into the world for the public’s delectation. But if MultiReal were a piece of software, you’d call it “feature complete.” Meaning it has all the bells and whistles that will exist in the final version, even if some of them still have some rough edges.
Here are some things you can expect to see when MultiReal finally hits the shelves:
- The death of at least one (and possibly two) major characters
- The return of the group in black robes, and the answer to the question of who was behind the black code attack on Natch
- A hands-on demonstration of how an enraged Islander delivers smackdown justice (hint: you need a big-ass Islander shock baton)
- Many more details about the MultiReal program, including what happens when two users pit MultiReal programs against one another
- A vicious power struggle between Natch and Jara for control over the Surina/Natch MultiReal Fiefcorp
- The hidden truth behind the death of Marcus Surina and the onset of the Economic Plunge of the 310s
- The introduction of several new pivotal characters, including:
- Magan Kai Lee, Len Borda’s right-hand man
- Papizon, Rey Gonerev and Ridgello, Magan’s loyal aides
- Khann Frejohr, the newly elected speaker of the Congress of L-PRACGs
- Pierre Loget, bio/logic programmer and rival to Natch
- Geronimo, some anonymous dimwit who looks almost exactly like Natch
- Berilla, the infamous queen bee of Horvil and Ben’s family
- More slippery dealings by Frederic and Petrucio Patel
- A look at what the Defense and Wellness Council is really up to, including several chapters from the POV of Len Borda and Magan Kai Lee
- Scenes set on the virtual sex gratification network known as the Sigh, and a nice fat appendix about the workings of that network which will probably frighten my wife when she reads it
- Chapters set in:
- Old Chicago, a bombed-out city now inhabited mainly by the diss
- Melbourne, the city of the central government
- D-WeCC, the hidden headquarters of the Defense and Wellness Council
- London, locale of Berilla’s cavernous West End estate
- A look at the inner workings of the Prime Committee, including a section that does for governmental hearings what Infoquake did for product demos
- An explanation from Brone about how MultiReal is pivotal to his impending “Revolution of Selfishness”
- A climactic scene full of surprises, dartgun battles, double-crossings, quick escapes, and multiple realities
- Another set of appendices exploring the world of the Jump 225 trilogy, and a thorough synopsis of the events of Infoquake
A few interesting facts about MultiReal:
- As it stands right now, the book is 137,525 words long, or 452 manuscript pages. (Compare that to Infoquake‘s approximately 125,000 words and 410 pages.) I expect the book to grow by a couple thousand words in the last rounds of editing and rewriting.
- There are currently 47 chapters (compared to Infoquake‘s 35), and I will probably be adding at least one more.
- MultiReal is divided into six sections, titled:
- Lessons Learned
- The Nothingness at the Center of the Universe
- Variables in Flux
- Madness and Freedom
- Possibilities 2.0
- New Beginnings
- According to the “last saved” date for the first draft of the first chapter of MultiReal, I’ve been working on this book since February 6, 2001. (But keep in mind that there was virtually no work done on the book between mid-2001 and late 2004, when I was revising and then attempting to find an agent and publisher for Infoquake.)
So what’s the next step? The next step is for me to send the book off to my “first readers.” My first readers are a handful of friends and family that a) know me well enough to tell me honestly which parts of the book suck, and b) know me well enough that they know what I’m getting at, even if it’s not always conveyed in the book at present time.
When are you, the readers, going to be able to get your hands on MultiReal? Not for a while, unfortunately. When I have more definitive information, I’ll let you know. And don’t worry, I’ll be doing a ton of contests, giveaways, con appearances, readings, signings, and other promotional effluvia in the months surrounding the book’s release, so you definitely won’t miss it. Like with Infoquake, I’m hoping to be able to post a bunch of free material on the website, including the first x chapters and the complete appendices.
And as for book three?
Book three of the Jump 225 Trilogy will be titled Geosynchron. Just so we’re clear from the outset: this is, indeed, a trilogy in every sense of the word. It ends, finally and definitively, with the third book. All loose ends will be tied up, all story lines will come to a conclusion. There will be more major characters dying, but I promise you that Ron and Hermione will make it through okay.
When will Geosynchron be done? Jesus, I have no idea. What I do have is a woefully out-of-date first draft circa mid-2001. So if I should be hit by a bus tomorrow, you’ll at least be able to figure out where I was going with all this. Right now, my wife is the only one who knows how the trilogy’s going to end, and she ain’t tellin’.
Of course, anyone who would like to buy me a brand new 17-inch MacBook Pro will get full access to MultiReal months ahead of publication, as well as a preview of Geosynchron and quite possibly sexual favors. On the Sigh, of course.