Swarm (Garcia novel)

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Swarm (2017) is a cyber-black novel written by American author Guy Garcia . Released in February 2017, it follows Austin, Texas-based hacktivist Tom Anaya, who after receiving ultra-sensitive experimental software from the US Department of Defense uses his cyber-hacking and social media skills to trigger a biomorphic uprising that will usher in the next phase of human evolution. Under the guise of his alter-ego avatar identity known as Swarm, Anaya’s ultimate goal is to become the controller of the ‘hive mind,’ but it was possible to do so. [1]

Development

Garcia’s initial inspirations for the novel came from biological swarming science, electronic dance music, government surveillance and mind-control experimentation, and integration of social media into virtually every aspect of people’s lives. “I was amazed at the hive mind, so to speak, which can take on the awareness and actions of a single organism,” Garcia said. “The deeper I went, the more I wondered what would happen if I was going to write a high-tech thriller, but in the end, an amazing amount of the story turned out to be factually true. ” [2]

Garcia claimed the idea for Swarmlate night while watching a cable science program about recent findings on the transformational biology of locust swarms. In a 2017 interview he recalled, “I was fascinated to learn that ordinary grasshoppers and marauding swarms of ravenous locusts are actually the same animal. Under certain extreme conditions, including lack of food and crowding, they have a tendency to become aggressive when they become aggressive, sexually promiscuous, and physically transforming into larger, meaner members of a single collective hive of mind. I had already been thinking about how to behave in a social media system. As I researched the latest advances in mind control experiments by the US government and others,[3]

Garcia admitted that early in the novels’ planning courses he was split between the percentage of fiction and nonfiction in the book. But with his deeper knowledge of today’s technological landscape, he now believes the tech content in the novel is 80% nonfiction and 20% fiction. [4]

Themes

Swarm explores technology and hacktivist culture with primal human urges and social forces that may trigger the next phase of human evolution. Garcia wanted to “ make sure that the story of the human being is overwhelming the dimension of the story, but the personal passions behind the big ideas ended up being the book’s moral compass and subliminal message.”

Within Tom Anaya’s story is a recurring warning about the power of advanced technology and mankind’s responsibility to ensure that it’s right and wrong. “Some of the same innovations,” Garcia said. “As technology blurs the lines between reality and fantasy, past and future, right and wrong, we must find the courage to protect and assert our humanity … when we need to take a long collective breath and make sure we’re not giving away something that can not be taken back. ” [3]

Garcia aims to prove that serious literature and science-fiction themes are not incompatible, and that “novels can be just as true – in some ways, maybe more so, than non-fiction books.”

Publication history

Garcia and Morphic Books for Innovative Virtual Reality Technology for Swarm’s Launch. ” Swarm , because of its subject matter and story line, is inherently suited for mixed reality marketing platforms,” ​​Garcia said. [4] [5]

The Swarm VR Experience was shown for the first time in January 2017 at the Sundance Film Festival’s New Frontiers VR Bar. [6] “The VR experience allows us to enter Swarm’s cyber reality, but the fact is that Swarm’s virtual world is already in the process of entering bears,” Garcia stated. The experience was advertised with online banners, traditional radio and television, Sci-Fi magazines, blogs, book readings, live events and word of mouth. Additionally, it was marketed at EDM concerts, universities, virtual reality blogs and sites, interactive conferences and tech start-ups. [4]

In March 2017, a virtual reality video based on the title of Swarm was released at www.ownyourmind.org. [7] soundtracks by Berlin-based DJs featuring voiceovers from the title character. [4]

Readers can watch the mysterious Swarm in a viral video, the Swarm Manifesto , in which he presciently echoes current affairs to say “We take our pulse in the daily news and our temperature keeps rising. Let’s raise our hands and light the fuse for what comes next … the revolution will be alive. Thinking with a billion brains. Stepping together into the New Now. ”

Garcia participated in the NALIP Media Summit panel “The Reality About Virtual Reality” in Los Angeles on June 24, 2016. [8]

In March 2017 Garcia was featured in the podcast The Future of Mind Control with Guy Garcia, published by Earthrise Podcast. [9]

Critical reception

Kirkus Reviews called Garcia’s “careening prose” and coverage of “cutting-edge topics” in Swarm “intellectually and politically supercharged … a white-hot ingot of daring, disciplined storytelling.” [10] A Broadway World article declared that the novel ” [11] The Blue Ink Reviews, a novelty in the history of cybercrime. “As the” writing is crisp, the characters compelling, and its concepts daring in a world where technology often controls, not the other way around. ” [12] SwarmThe International Business Times, The Kansas City Star, San Jose Mercury News, Star Telegram, The News & Observer, InvestorPlace, and Anchorage Daily News. [13]

References

  1. Jump up^ “Author’s New Novel Fast-Paced Alternate Reality – satPRnews” . Retrieved 2017-03-23 .
  2. Jump up^ IBTimes. “Author’s New Novel Which Features Fast-Paced Alternate Reality | International Business News | Online Business News – International Business Times” . markets.financialcontent.com . Retrieved 2017-03-23 .
  3. ^ Jump up to:a b Bookmarketingbuzzblog (2017-03-01). “BookMarketingBuzzBlog: NYT Interview With Best-Selling Author Guy Garcia” . BookMarketingBuzzBlog . Retrieved 2017-03-23 .
  4. ^ Jump up to:a b c d “Best-Selling Author Uses VR to Market New Book” . DMN . 2017-02-23 . Retrieved 2017-03-23 .
  5. Jump up^ Garcia Guy (2017-03-27), Swarm VR Experience , retrieved 2017-04-02
  6. Jump up^ “New Frontier Showcases Storytelling’s Future at 2017 Sundance Film Festival” . www.sundance.org . Retrieved 2017-03-23 .
  7. Jump up^ “Manifesto Swarm from Swarm Manifesto on Vimeo” . player.vimeo.com . Retrieved 2017-04-02 .
  8. Jump up^ “Guy Garcia” . NALIP Media Summit . Retrieved 2017-04-02 .
  9. Jump up^ “The Future of Mind Control with Guy Garcia – EarthRise Podcast w / Derek Beres” . www.earthrisepodcast.com . Retrieved 2017-03-23 .
  10. Jump up^ Swarm by Guy Garcia | Kirkus Reviews .
  11. Jump up^ Desk, BWW News. “Guy Garcia Launches SWARM” . Retrieved 2017-03-23 .
  12. Jump up^ “Swarm | BlueInk Review” . www.blueinkreview.com . Retrieved 2017-06-09 .
  13. Jump up^ “Author’s New Novel Fast-Paced Alternate Reality | Financial Content | Star-Telegram.com &” . markets.financialcontent.com . Retrieved 2017-03-23 .

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