Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom

Written by Cory Doctorow

Narrated by Cory Doctorow

On The Skids In The Transhuman Future Jules is a young man barely a century old. He's lived long enough to see the cure for death and the end of scarcity, to learn ten languages and compose three symphonies...and to realize his boyhood dream of taking up residence in Disney World. Disney World! The greatest artistic achievement of the long-ago twentieth century. Now in the keeping of a network of "ad-hocs" who keep the classic attractions running as they always have, enhanced with only the smallest high-tech touches. Now, though, the "ad hocs" are under attack. A new group has taken over the Hall of the Presidents, and is replacing its venerable audioanimatronics with new, immersive direct-to-brain interfaces that give guests the illusion of being Washington, Lincoln, and all the others. For Jules, this is an attack on the artistic purity of Disney World itself. Worse: it appears this new group has had Jules killed. This upsets him. (It's only his fourth death and revival, after all.) Now it's war....

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 22, 2013
• ISBN: 9781490613635

Cory Doctorow

Cory Doctorow (craphound.com) is a science fiction author, activist and journalist. He is the author of many books, most recently The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation, a Big Tech disassembly manual; Red Team Blues, a science fiction crime thriller; Chokepoint Capitalism, non-fiction about monopoly and creative labour markets; the Little Brother series for young adults; In Real Life, a graphic novel; and the picture book Poesy the Monster Slayer. In 2020, he was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

Reviews for Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom

[alsocass · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I really didn't get this book. He seemed to drag out and become difficult to follow.

[bensdad00 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Underdeveloped adolescent frippery. The authors later works are much better, but then again they'd have to be considering how bad this is.

[vivlioexos · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

There's absolutely no point in it whatsoever. (1, 2, send)

[collingsruth · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While Cory Doctorow always comes off as pedantic, perhaps that is just because I know his themes and his mindset and it transfers very obviously to his works of fiction to the point that they stop being fiction and more like a roundabout way to brainwash people. Yet I can't deny he knows how to spin a tale, and this is a quick, interesting little mystery with enough real thoughtfulness to balance out the catchphrases.

[deldevries · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I started reading Doctorow's books written in 2009/2010 first. This much earlier book doesn't hold a candle to his later work. I liked it but ... the later works are much more well written!

[mpolino_3 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Strange and bizzare. Often not in a good way.

[monkeyrobo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

"I lived long enough to see the cure for death; to see the rise of the Bitchun Society; to learn ten languages; to compose three symphonies; to realize my boyhood dream of taking up residence in Disney World; to see the death of the workplace and of work."This was my first book by Cory Doctorow, who has a good reputation, and whose work in internet-land I admire. I was looking forward to it, but I came away disappointed.The ideas, as you'd expect, are great. The book is a clever look at a fairly plausible post-scarcity society. Luxury items are purchased with a currency based on respect and contribution -- the more you do for people, and the more they like what you do, the richer you get. I'd have liked more detail (Only basic sustenance is free -- but why? Is everywhere similar to the America he portrays?), more history of how society got to where he shows it -- but still, it's good stuff.The characterisation, though, is poor. Jules, the protagonist, spends much of the book uncertain of his own motivation, possibly mad, certainly angry and obsessive. It's possible for a novel to succeed with an unlikeable hero, but it takes a very good writer to pull it off. Doctorow doesn't manage it. You often feel that Jules ought to fail, because he's being such an idiot.He also misses a great opportunity with another character -- Dan, who's struggling for motivation in his life, who's only thrived when outside the comfort and safety of the have-it-all society. He has been visiting communities which have stayed isolated out of fear or mistrust or ideology, living with them, and convincing them to join everyone else. When he's convinced them all, he runs out of interest in living. But how does he feel about what he's done? Can he not see the conflict there? Doctorow doesn't even glance at these questions.Also, Disney World as the rock upon which defenders of the "real" base their fight against the virtual? What's up with that? If it's meant to be ironic, the idea needed to be given more bite.Cory Doctorow is great to have around, but on this evidence, he's not a great novelist.

[tls7169 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book really could have been written by anyone who has been a fan of the band for any length of time. "Duranies" tend to be rather fanatical and there wasn't much in here I didn't already know. There were also some errors in the book, some in reprinted lyrics. If you like the band but don't know a lot about them, it might be an interesting read. If you're a long time fan, you really don't need to bother reading this.

[bookwyrmm_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This a great example of cyberpunk and a rather fun story. The recording of this, though, is not very good. It is read by the author, which is fine aside from lack of distinction between characters, but it sounds like a live recording - there is paper rustling, flubbed lines, and general rushing through passages, plus some parts are loud and others are soft.

[wealhtheowwylfing · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I've mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I love some of the ideas, most obviously "Whuffie," the quantified amount of respect everyone uses as a sort of currency. It reads like good, old fashioned sf, but I don't much *like* old sf. On the other hand, I just plain disliked all of the main characters.

[kittekaat · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book. I appreciated the explorations into what a real meritocracy would look like. We need more progressive literary explorations into possible futures that are not all post-apocalyptic. The vision of abundance an infinitely lifelong pursuit of meaning beyond the currency of societal capital is refreshing. Also KUDOS for the Snow Crash mention!!!

[brookeashley-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cory Doctorow's novella spins a tale set in the "Bitchun society" - a time in the future where death has been cured and money has been replaced by a system of respect/popularity points that's immediately accessible since everyone somehow has the internet in their heads now.The "Magic Kingdom" referenced in the title is THE Magic Kingdom - the story takes place in Disney World, which has taken on an elevated importance in a world where people no longer have jobs or, essentially, purpose. It's short and breezy, yet thought-provoking - despite all the changes technology has enabled, the main character clings to keeping the rides at Disney World in their original form and freaks out when someone threatens to update them.

[oldflame_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While Cory Doctorow always comes off as pedantic, perhaps that is just because I know his themes and his mindset and it transfers very obviously to his works of fiction to the point that they stop being fiction and more like a roundabout way to brainwash people. Yet I can't deny he knows how to spin a tale, and this is a quick, interesting little mystery with enough real thoughtfulness to balance out the catchphrases.

[brian.mcgovney · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ad-hocracy? An economy based on, well, karma? Hmm. Cary Doctorow has written a story that takes place in a Wired paradise, with a murder mystery that's investigated by an immortal victim in Walt Disney World. I downloaded this book for free from Doctorow's web-site and read it on my off-time at work. At that price, this is a great read, and I'd even recommend the non-free dead-tree version as a great mystery for computer nerds.

[jhfrazier · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a great look at the implications of a great number of current tech and social trends. When death, resources and money are irrelevant, what do people do with their time?Julian has spent the past few years working on maintaining and improving Disney World when he is murdered. Upon refreshing from a recent backup he tries to solve his own murder, protect the Haunted Mansion from a rival crew and enjoy his friend Dan's company before he kills himself out of boredom.There's a lot to think about and chew on in this book, sometimes to the point of overshadowing the plot and characters. That said, it's crazy ride and one of my sf favorites.

[rpuchalsky_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A competently written techno-mystery SF book. I should have been more interested in it than I was, given that I generally like attempts to envision future post-scarcity anarchist societies. But this one envisions social credit being run via reputational economics a la every Web 2.0 person-rating site out there. That wasn't a new idea in 2003, it's not a new idea now, and it smells like the usual attempt to fence in something free that so enlivened the Internet bubble. Since the people in the book evidently are mostly satisfied with it without being under duress, you have to feel that they're really pretty dull.

[mutantpudding · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

both times I read this book I found myself thinking a lot about souls. The way people are reborn as clones in this story means that if souls do exist they died along with the original body. Or maybe the spark of consciousness in the new body births a new soul, or maybe the soul carries over with the consciousness, or maybe souls dont exist. Basically all the people in this are meat computers and I spent a lot of time thinking about that.in regards to the actual story i was kinda meh on it. The plot was interesting but I grew to dislike the main character so by the end of the story i didnt really care what happened to him.

[octoberdad · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The first and best of Doctorow's books, Down and Out touches is one of those books that are "relevant" today, but likely won't be in 20 years or so once many of the issues that Cory cares about are either resolved or we're living in a post-apocalyptic world and therefore they don't matter anyway.

While the concept of Whuffie is a bit too utopian for me (and a logistical nightmare when you think about the massive computational power that would be required to crunch the complex algorithms to calculate Whuffie scores in real time), this book is a pretty fun read. Don't expect a whole lot of depth from it, though.

[naleagdeco · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I wasn't expecting to feel for the protagonist, but while reading and despite myself I found myself stressed out at the possibility of a bad income.

I thought the idea of Whuffie and being eternally jacked in was incredibly cool, and as much a relevant spin on today's (2011) society than a prediction of some strange distant future.

That being said, I was terribly disappointed at the end of the book. I was hanging on my seat for resolution, and that resolution happened far too neatly and quickly, snacking the hero out from the jaws of defeat ... although I am impressed that, in true cyberpunk fashion, he wasn't exactly set down in victory either. And even then, Alfred Bester's "The Demolished Man" was an amazing story with a disappointing end, so "Down and Out" is still in quite excellent company.

[drfuriosa · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A fascinating premise, but executed like White Guy Sci-Fi, and that just leaves me a little cold these days.

[emscape · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book was highly recommended on r/printsf, and the major plot points sounded intriguing: They've conquered disease/death! They live at Disneyland! Society based on popularity/likes like that one (awesome) episode of Black Mirror! Unfortunately, I didn't end up liking the *actual* plot which was, "guy goes more and more insane and alienates his girlfriend and friends trying to figure out who murdered him as well as protect his favorite-est Disney ride from being modernized"Also interestingly, I thought I remembered really liking Cory Doctorow, but I just checked and this is the only one of his books I've ever read. Maybe I just like him on Twitter.

[arewenotben · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Starts off well and I like some of the ideas, but even for a short book it wears by the end - not helped by the unlikeable nature of the main characters.

[livelylady · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Strange futuristic story of mutiny at Disney among warring groups. I gave it to stars because of the imaginative story, not the story itself. The author had developed lifestyles and devices of the future. Very creative. But as a genr I do not like sci-fi.

[grandpahobo_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Its an interesting story of a future utopia. While the characters are well developed, I never really felt any investment in them. In a way, the story is kind of like a vacation trip where you meet some people and enjoy spending a few days with them, then go on your way knowing you'll probably neve see them again.

One of the things I found interesting about the story was how, even in this Utopian future, everyone still placed a high value on the basic tenants of the Disney experience.

[chrisweir-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Set in a future world where everyone has implants, think connected to the web at all times. Death is virtually non-existent, you die and you have your consciousness transported into a new clone of yourself. The story takes place in Walt Disney World which again is in the future. They are redoing the Hall of Presidents and removing the animatronics. Their being replaced with what they call flash baked. You get visceral and factual information about the presidents just slammed into your brain. Think of Neo learning Kung Fu in a second. The main characters are trying to save the Haunted Mansion from getting the same treatment. They want it to stay closer to the original concept. But the gang who has control of the presidents has they're eye on the mansion too. Was an interesting read. Seemed to race right through it. Is a good book for fans of the theme parks.

[deusxmachina-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Not sure why, but this novel dragged terribly, and every time I took it up again I had to force myself to read more than a few pages - and that's although awesome ideas litter the floor of the future Disney Land where the protagonist fights not to get murdered again and to maintain the family business. But Jules remained bland and pale in my mind, just as his girlfriend and most of the other chars.

[gregorio_roth · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Liked this book and still remember 7 years later.

[ahs7wolfy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The future! Where death has been conquered, there's no scarcity, no work and no money either. But there's still Disney World and that's where Julius currently resides with his girlfriend Lil. He's joined the ad-hoc society that's keeping Liberty Square and Tom Sawyer Island running as it's always been running despite fresh interest in upgrading with the latest technology. That is until he gets murdered and while he's away getting restored from his last backup another ad-hoc has taken a run at the Hall of Presidents and their modern refurb has gone down a storm. Julius obviously suspects them of his murder and using the distraction to gain a foothold and thinks this new group will not be satisfied with just the Hall and the beloved Haunted Mansion could be next. Jules needs a plan to stop them and so enlists the aid of his newly arrived long-time friend Dan to put what he comes up with into action.The reader is dumped straight into this new world without much exposition to help come to terms with it. What's Whuffie and why does it matter if you've got none? Never fear as it all becomes clear if you just keep reading. (It's a way of keeping track of your current approval rating and with enough of it you can pretty much do anything you want to.) There are some grandiose ideas contained in this short (just about hits the 200 page mark) novel but the majority of them never really pass beyond germination as the story concentrates on the plot at hand with only a few diversions along the way. Unfortunately, this leads to garnering the reader with certain expectations with the setup of the book which are then not followed through with. It probably doesn't help that the main character is not really that likeable either but as this was the first published novel from the author then allowances can be made especially since I've already highly enjoyed one of his later works ([Little Brother]). Still, I'm not entirely disappointed that I've read it and it's a very quick and easy read.

[ninelarks-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This future world is so intricately created, bringing a sense of the familiar from the theme parks, and the futuristic science fiction elements.

The main character's emotions and mindset came through remarkably. I hated his decisions and I loved him for it. The secondary characters are well written as well, but I think the story ended a bit too abruptly to fully give them a finish.

The plot was engaging, a murder mystery and a corporation take over to spice things up.

3.5 stars rounded down because I probably won't reread it.

[renbedell · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really like Cory Doctorow's ideals so I wanted to check out one of his books. I really like the idea of the book. It is a very humorous plot of "death being non-existent so let's spend eternity at Disney World". Unfortunately the plot didn't really suck me in. I felt like he could have done so much more. The biggest problem was most likely that I listened to the audiobook, which Cory Doctorow narrated himself. He isn't much of a voice actor and I think this took away from the book a lot. I think if I would have read it instead, I would have enjoyed it more. It still kept me very entertained though and will probably pick up another one of his books.