The story is biting social commentary which explores themes we have all thought about – what would happen if our technology-rich environment was suddenly gone? It probes the prejudices, harassment and bullying that is all too frequent in today’s headlines, but pushes each to its most horrifying extreme. As a frequent visitor to Disney World in Florida, the parallels are entirely obvious, though Disney is presented as a competitor to Fantasticland. If meticulously curated online personas can replace private identities, what takes over when those constructs are lost?įantasticLand is a modern take on Lord of the Flies meets Battle Royale that probes the consequences of a social civilization built online.įantasticland might end up at the top of my 2019 reading list. This new social network divides the ravaged dreamland into territories ruled by the Pirates, the ShopGirls, the Freaks, and the Mole People. Cut off from the world and left on their own, the teenagers soon form rival tribes who viciously compete for food, medicine, social dominance, and even human flesh. Park policy was that the mostly college-aged employees surrender their electronic devices to preserve the authenticity of the FantasticLand experience. Presented as a fact-finding investigation and a series of first-person interviews, FantasticLand pieces together the grisly series of events. How could a group of survivors, mostly teenagers, commit such terrible acts? Photos soon emerge online of heads on spikes outside of rides and viscera and human bones littering the gift shops, breaking records for hits, views, likes, clicks, and shares. Five weeks later, the authorities who rescue the survivors encounter a scene of horror. Since the 1970s, FantasticLand has been the theme park where “Fun is Guaranteed!” But when a hurricane ravages the Florida coast and isolates the park, the employees find it anything but fun. I opted for the audio book, as the description made it seem like a fine way to spend my daily hellacious commute in Chi-town traffic.

Under the “ you might like” section was a book I had not come across previously Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven. A couple months back, before the insanity of “the season” got into full swing, my Amazon account hit on an incredibly spot-on recommendation.

Fantastic land mike bockoven