3 out of 4 stars
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World Inc by Tom Gariffo
World Inc follows a covert agent, in a world in which corporations take up the reigns after the collapse of the government and economy. The story follows agent Silver as he executes missions, on a journey of self discovery, and follows his explorations into what the world he lives in has truly become.
Gariffo explores a fascinating theoretical situation in the case of the fall of major government, in which businesses find the best way to protect and maintain investment is to replace the government that is falling out beneath them. He expands upon the ideals of a free market economy, and delves into what maintaining the population from the point of view of the bottom line may entail. He successfully maintains multiple intertwined subplots, each contributing to the depth of the world and characters. The story arcs maintain enough intrigue to keep even those readers who like to guess the end on their toes, and he leaves plenty of implications for the mind to work on even after the book is finished.
I truly enjoy Gariffo’s approach to world-building, his availability of world-related documents to the reader create a depth of place often unseen in works that are not gargantuan in nature. It provides a window into the world that reaches beyond the character’s experience, and his fabrication of multiple sources gives a lovely, multi-faceted look at the issues he wants to examine.
His approach to exploring the history of his world is through and immersive, however his transitions between what amounts to the present and his look back into the past are choppy at best. His transitions between introspection and exposition often suffer the same fate. This results in a story that flows about ninety percent of the time, and then jars the reader out of the world in order to switch gears. His tone between the history, the active story, and the characters exploration of feelings is vastly different. While it seems apropos for his delves into the past, it significantly weakens the impact of several of the main characters personal revelations.
This is an excellent story for anyone who appreciates a good dystopia, or a good old fashion action character and doesn’t mind the futurism. Anyone looking for a traditional Si-fy story will probably be less than impressed. I give this book 3 out of 4 stars. While it is a well thought out piece, well deserving of a positive rating, the rough, jarring transitions prevent it from being 4 star material.
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World, Incorporated
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