“The Ten Percent Thief”

What we enjoyed about the book:

• Many different focalisers
• AI inside a character’s head taking over –> uncanny persona, own agenda –> AI life of its own
• Uncanny elements, dystopia but still felt realistic
• Creepy but well done technological advancements –> connected to our reality
• “I thought I didn’t like it, but I did like it”
• main character is the world!
• all the chapters are connected, new chapters surprised us
• “Welcome to the Machine” –> tour guide –> more of that would’ve been cool
• “Ten Percent Thief” new title, different expectations, old title more fitting
• You get invested in the world
• Nina’s adoptive parents failed to introduce her to her background; no chance for her to know her heritage –> parallels to adopting children with a different cultural or ethnical background and failing to take care
• Funny bits: woman has to go shopping herself
• System is forcing you into technology
• Surviving in a technocracy
• Emoji parts: ridiculous?!
• “Black Mirror” vibe (Marthe recommends you watch “San Junipero” to start with, her favourite)
• Celebrity who got pregant chapter was so interesting! Post-feminist?! Realistic!? Society telling women how to be pregnant, even then. –> Person also barely talks, everybody just talks about her
• All about productivity and how we lose humanity
• Online discourse, being entitled to an opinion –> pregnant women
• Pregnancy pods: make pregnancy shorter to increase productivity
• Resistance was cool, systemic, smart, organised
• Using the footage to then influence the virtuals –> weaponise the footage –> use the media
• Forest: art and community
• Connection between revolutionary ideas and art –> music, forest, people coming together –> power of art
• Nina’s hybrid identity sad, will never belong to any group properly
• Tragedy, sad
• Can the productivity focus be unlearned on a society-level?
• Hope for the future? Will the analogues be good leaders? Ex-virtuals as good leaders?
• Play with language in the AI chapter was amazing: “you”, “we”, “I” –> blurring boundaries; trying to learn what love is; use it against the person
• Train guide: language; psychological observation of the tour guides; slipping in language; what are you allowed to say and what aren’t you allowed to say
• Language does make reality –> brilliant theme of the book in its entirety
• HoloSphere a different reality
• Short story vibe, extremely well connected; unexpected structure; deeply care about people; imagination can fill in the gaps?
• Perfect length
• Indian caste system: lowest caste –> Analogues
• Vegetable farm: only way for the analogues to be productive –> spare parts –> “Cloud Atlas”; “Never Let Me Go”; “Promised Neverland” (trope)
• Capitalism gone wild

What we discussed:

• Explore Virtuals more who want to improve the situation of the Analogues
• Switch teachers to robots; how does the society work? Is this really functional? Everybody is going to be a robot in the end?
• Everything controlled by the AI?
• How do other cities work???? What about cities that are not Bell Corp.?
• What’s outside the city? Can one flee to another city? Refugees?
• Some chapters too short? Bridges between different stories as vignettes? Ray Bradbury vibes
• Climate change & construction of this world could be explored me
• Cover a bit misleading, looks too fantasy-ish

Weird Ratings:

• 4/5 Preggobots
• 4/5 Hyperreality videos
• 5/5 Socially awkward people hiding in cakes

Book recommendation by R. (thank you): If you liked “The Ten Percent Thief” –> “The Free People’s Village” by Sim Kern