A new dystopia for the digital age, Cash Crash Jubilee is a tale of friendship and awakening in an exquisitely realized world of finance and technology run amok.
In a near future Tokyo, every action--from blinking to sexual intercourse--is intellectual property owned by corporations that charge licensing fees. A BodyBank computer system implanted in each citizen records their movements from moment to moment, and connects them to the audio-visual overlay of the ImmaNet, so that every inch of the metropolis crawls with information and shifting cinematic promotainment.
Amon Kenzaki works as a Liquidator for the Global Action Transaction Authority. His job is to capture bankrupt citizens, remove their BodyBank, and banish them to BankDeath Camps where they are forever cutoff from the action-transaction economy.
Often he sees a mysterious forest in his dreams, and works hard to reduce his daily action costs so that he might one day save enough money to visit. With another promotion coming at the Liquidation Ministry, everything seems to be going well, until he is asked to cash crash a politician he admires, and soon after is charged for an incredibly expensive action called "jubilee" that he is sure he never performed.
To restore balance to his account, Amon must join with friends he has long neglected in pursuit of his ambition and unravel the secret of jubilee, but quickly finds himself asking dangerous questions about the system to which he's devoted his life, and the costly investigation only drags him closer and closer to the pit of bankruptcy.
**
Review
"Debut novelist William reverses the outsider perspective of cyberpunk in this intricate tale of a digitally claustrophobic future."
Publishers Weekly
"As entertaining as the works by American-Canadian science fiction giant William Gibson."
Japan Times
"Cash Crash Jubilee is a fun, smart read, a great way to start a trilogy of novels."
Amazing Stories
"Cash Crash Jubilee is utterly fascinating, from cover to cover... a trove of insanity and wonder, all in one place."
BiblioSanctum
"Readers will want to know what "Jubilee" really means just as much as Amon. Just remember to get to sleep and avoid being 'discreditible.'"
The Japan News (Yomiuri Shimbun)
"The defining dystopia for our time."
Barnes & Noble Sci Fi & Fantasy Blog
"What is truly phenomenal about Cash Crash Jubilee, and what has held my attention, is the world building... After reading it,I'll never take something as simple as staring up at the night sky for granted again."
Book Riot
"Cash Crash Jubilee is a story that deserves your undivided attention."
Scifi Gazette
"Eli K. P. William's book is prophetic and chilling in the best of ways, darkly sardonic yet filled with compassion."
Gordon Dahlquist, author of The Glass Book of the Dream Eaters
"Combines 1984's brutal totalitarianism and Brave New World's seductive consumerism. Its premise is both horrifying and ridiculous. Is it a satire or a thriller? It works brilliantly as either."
John Love, author of Faith and Evensong
"A one-way bullet train into a bizarre but chillingly plausible future. A brilliant debut!"
Jesse Bullington, author of The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart and The Folly of the World
About the Author
Eli K. P. William, a native of Toronto, currently works in Tokyo as a Japanese-English translator. Commissioned by one of Japan’s largest publishers (Shueisha), William is currently translating a bestselling novel by Naoki Prize–winning author Ryo Asai. Cash Crash Jubilee is his first novel.
Description:
A new dystopia for the digital age, Cash Crash Jubilee is a tale of friendship and awakening in an exquisitely realized world of finance and technology run amok.
In a near future Tokyo, every action--from blinking to sexual intercourse--is intellectual property owned by corporations that charge licensing fees. A BodyBank computer system implanted in each citizen records their movements from moment to moment, and connects them to the audio-visual overlay of the ImmaNet, so that every inch of the metropolis crawls with information and shifting cinematic promotainment.
Amon Kenzaki works as a Liquidator for the Global Action Transaction Authority. His job is to capture bankrupt citizens, remove their BodyBank, and banish them to BankDeath Camps where they are forever cutoff from the action-transaction economy.
Often he sees a mysterious forest in his dreams, and works hard to reduce his daily action costs so that he might one day save enough money to visit. With another promotion coming at the Liquidation Ministry, everything seems to be going well, until he is asked to cash crash a politician he admires, and soon after is charged for an incredibly expensive action called "jubilee" that he is sure he never performed.
To restore balance to his account, Amon must join with friends he has long neglected in pursuit of his ambition and unravel the secret of jubilee, but quickly finds himself asking dangerous questions about the system to which he's devoted his life, and the costly investigation only drags him closer and closer to the pit of bankruptcy.
**
Review
"Debut novelist William reverses the outsider perspective of cyberpunk in this intricate tale of a digitally claustrophobic future."
Publishers Weekly
"As entertaining as the works by American-Canadian science fiction giant William Gibson."
Japan Times
"Cash Crash Jubilee is a fun, smart read, a great way to start a trilogy of novels."
Amazing Stories
"Cash Crash Jubilee is utterly fascinating, from cover to cover... a trove of insanity and wonder, all in one place."
BiblioSanctum
"Readers will want to know what "Jubilee" really means just as much as Amon. Just remember to get to sleep and avoid being 'discreditible.'"
The Japan News (Yomiuri Shimbun)
サイバーパンクと日本的な風景は、ギブソンやブレードランナーを引き合いに出すまでもなく、本作においてもとてもよくマッチしているように感じる。
--SFマガジン （2015年10月号）
"The defining dystopia for our time."
Barnes & Noble Sci Fi & Fantasy Blog
"What is truly phenomenal about Cash Crash Jubilee, and what has held my attention, is the world building... After reading it,I'll never take something as simple as staring up at the night sky for granted again."
Book Riot
"Cash Crash Jubilee is a story that deserves your undivided attention."
Scifi Gazette
"Eli K. P. William's book is prophetic and chilling in the best of ways, darkly sardonic yet filled with compassion."
Gordon Dahlquist, author of The Glass Book of the Dream Eaters
"Combines 1984's brutal totalitarianism and Brave New World's seductive consumerism. Its premise is both horrifying and ridiculous. Is it a satire or a thriller? It works brilliantly as either."
John Love, author of Faith and Evensong
"A one-way bullet train into a bizarre but chillingly plausible future. A brilliant debut!"
Jesse Bullington, author of The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart and The Folly of the World
About the Author
Eli K. P. William, a native of Toronto, currently works in Tokyo as a Japanese-English translator. Commissioned by one of Japan’s largest publishers (Shueisha), William is currently translating a bestselling novel by Naoki Prize–winning author Ryo Asai. Cash Crash Jubilee is his first novel.