JP and Dulin have been the best of friends for decades. When JP finds out his cancer has aggressively returned, Dulin decides it’s the perfect time for one last adventure: a week-long bus tour of North America’s Impossibles, the physics-defying glitches and geographic miracles that started cropping up seven years earlier—right after the Announcement that revealed our world to be merely a digital simulacrum. The outing, courtesy of Canterbury Trails Tours, promises the trip of a (not completely real) lifetime in a (not completely deluxe) coach.
Their fellow passengers are 21st-century pilgrims, each of them on the tour for their own reasons. There’s a nun hunting for an absent God, a pregnant influencer determined to make her child too famous to be deleted, a crew of horny octogenarians living each day like it’s their last, and a professor on the run from leather-clad sociopaths who take The Matrix as scripture. Each stop on this trip is stranger than the last—a Tunnel outside of time, a zero gravity Geyser, the compound of motivational-speaking avatar—with everyone barreling toward the tour’s iconic final stop Ghost City, where unbeknownst to our travelers the answer to who is running the simulation may await.
When We Were Real is a tour-de-force and exploration of what really matters, even in an artificial world.
I enjoyed this, but not as much as I'd hoped, I'm afraid. Although I like humour, I don't really like madcap, crazy for the sake of crazy humour, and this definitely had some of that. However, it's also really well written, imaginative and clever. So it's time for a mixed review!
The cover looks pretty generic, but as you read you'll realise that it's actually a reference to a pretty important scene. The Impossibles described in this novel are really mind boggling - they're perfectly described so the reader can imagine them, while being strangely alien and disconcerting to imagine. Dividing the book into sections based on each Impossible is a great way to structure it. I did think there were a few too many POVs, but it did allow us to see things from a lot of different angles.
The idea that we might all be in a simulation has been floated in our world several times, and Daryl doesn't shy away from the implications - his characters include three religious figures with varying beliefs, a group of 'groundhoggers' who believe that whatever day they're living is the only one and everything else is just implanted memories, and of course the less said about the Matrix fanboys the better. Through this mix of characters, and background mentions of others, Daryl explores the range of reactions to the revelation.
I didn't like the humour, but I loved the writing and ideas. I recommend it.
TV Recommendation: Black Mirror – This anthology series explores the dark and fascinating implications of technology, often questioning the nature of reality and identity. Several episodes, like San Junipero and USS Callister, deal with digital consciousness and the idea of living inside a simulation, making it a perfect match for When We Were Real. If you enjoy thought-provoking, sometimes unsettling takes on the intersection of humanity and technology, this is a must-watch.
Book Recommendation: Ready Player One features a world where people spend most of their time in VR. Although it's a lot more voluntary than our characters here, it's a similar situation.
When We Were Real publishes on the 1st of April, 2025. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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