March 1, 2025
The tour of Impossibles promises to be the trip of a lifetime. It's a one-week bus tour of anomalies that popped up across North America soon after everyone learned that they are living in a computer simulation. Lifelong best friends Dulin and JP are joined on this trip by a cast of characters almost as unbelievable, including an influencer trying to make her unborn baby famous, a podcaster who is "just asking questions," two nuns and a rabbi searching for God, and a college professor on the run from the government and an armed gang of vigilantes. Together with their woefully inept tour guide, the group bumbles across the country, visiting frozen tornadoes, anti-gravity geysers, a flock of sheep made of clouds, and more. While they visit these Impossibles--designed to prove that they are all living in a simulation--each traveler goes on a personal journey, learning what it means to be truly alive. VERDICT This hilarious and heartfelt read that tackles big ideas will be popular with book clubs. Recommend Gregory's (Revelator) latest to fans of How To Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley and The Big Door Prize by M.O. Walsh.--Portia Kapraun
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March 1, 2025
Life on Earth changed drastically when the Simulators announced that it was all just a digital simulation. In fact, every week, humans rise from sleep to see the words "You are living in a simulation" appear before them in various fonts and colors. When We Were Real invites readers to join a tour of North American Impossibles, phenomena that illustrate that the laws of physics don't apply except at the whim of the Simulators. Among the passengers is a very pregnant vodcast Influencer who wishes to have her baby blessed by the Avatar Saugut Zin. A Professor joins the tour partway through with the help of the Comic Book Writer and the Engineer. The Professor is running away from violent conspiracists who believe she is a bot in cooperation with the Simulators and from government agents who want her to find a backdoor into The Simulation. A dozen other fellow travelers learn to lean on each other as the marvels of the Impossibles strain their sense of reality to its fullest. It's a five-star adventure by an author at the peak of his craft.
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Starred review from April 1, 2025
An unlikely group of travelers take a tour of glitches in the simulation that is the world. JP Laurent has seen better days. The retired engineer is reeling from the death of his wife and a battle with brain cancer that caused him to take early retirement. His longtime best friend, Dulin Marks, a comic-book writer, has decided to sign himself and JP up for a tour to see the "Impossibles": a series of "glitches, anomalies, Areas of Scientific What-the-Fuckery" that popped up seven years ago following the discovery that the world was actually a simulation, an announcement that caused the planet to descend into chaos. JP and Dulin are joined on the tour by aCanterbury Tales-esque group of pilgrims, including a rabbi, two nuns, a pregnant teenage influencer, and the conspiracy-minded host of a podcast with the motto "Speaking Truth to Morons." There's also a late addition to the tour: Gillian, a professor on the run from a murderous group of "incels in long leather coats and hair gel, who believed they were among the 1 percent of people who were actually conscious." JP and Dulin help Gillian dodge her would-be killers, even as the influencer, who takes a near-instant dislike to the professor, tries to dox her. Gregory's novel is far from an SF retread ofThe Bucket List; while the friendship between JP and Dulin is depicted sweetly (and with abundant humor), this book is something much greater: an epic adventure and an examination of how humans (or their simulacra) interact when everybody is at their worst. It's a testament to Gregory's skill at character development that the people in this novel, and not the bizarre phenomena they're observing, are the most fascinating part. This is a marvel. Big-hearted, generous, and beautifully written.
COPYRIGHT(2025) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.