Simulacron-3

I disagree with those reviewers here who say this is not a well written book. I enjoyed the style of writing and found the ideas to be interesting and well presented. The fact that someone, before the age of personal computers, the Internet and the Oculus Rift could come up with such a cohesive story about virtual worlds is amazing. The author uses terms of that time, like "spinning drums" where we would use discs or hard drives, and analog versions of people where we would say digital and things like video phone booths, which remind you of the era that this was written in. We would describe the future in terms of things as we see them now also, so it is interesting to see the future described in older versions of terms and concepts. Also, it is very perceptive of Daniel Galouye to give the raison d'etre for these virtual worlds to be in essence advertising and marketing trend polls, well before the Internet has given us pop-ups and advertisement panels and videos.I am surprised that I have not heard of this book before - I found it while looking for another book I had read years ago that I cannot identify (if anyone knows what the title of that book is I would be grateful – the plot of that one is that people can vacation on different planets by exchanging bodies, and a guy met a woman named Kathy this way that he is looking for. He is using the “Supermarket Aisle Theory”, in which one person should remain stationary while the other looks, since if two people are looking for each other in a supermarket they are likely to miss each other when they are hidden by the aisles if both are moving around.)There is also a movie based on "Simulacron 3" which I watched before reading the book: "The Thirteenth Floor" which came out about the time when the Matrix came out in 1999. It is also good but the characters and plot differ substantially from the book, I remember when the movie came out and thought it was a horror story based on the title. The movie may have done better with a different title. The movie is available on Amazon Prime.

I found out about this novel after watching The Thirteenth Floor, one of my favorite sci-fi films from the 90s, but a film little known or given much fanfare (probably because it was out around the time of The Matrix). Based on the film The Thirteenth Floor, Simulacron 3 is very Matrix-like, a book that deals with the possibilities of dual realities.Galouye's novel is a rare gem of a science fiction in many ways. Innovative, creative, and profound, it is a novel that clearly was before its time, a landmark for the "virtual reality" story. In the novel, Douglas Hall is employed with a company that helps produce artificial environments through simulation. Part of the work helps to project what human behavior would be like in a real-life situation; in a sense, the simulation is geared towards creating a more utopia-driven society. The simulation also allows someone to experience a social environment outside of reality.When Hannon Fuller, one of the heads of the company, dies under mysterious circumstances, it is a red flag to Hall that many things are not as they seem; corruption may exist in the company. Things get more puzzling and foreboding when Hall's associates begin to "disappear." As Hall probes further into the workings of this simulator project within the company, he begins to question the elements of illusion and reality, those lines becoming seemingly linked together. To make matters worse for Hall , he becomes a person of interest in the murder of Fuller. Jinx Fuller, Fuller's daughter, enters the scene, and Hall suspects that she may hold the key to understanding what is taking place.Admittedly, the story, much like The Matrix or The Thirteenth Floor, becomes murky, convoluted and confusing at points, as we shift from time and place quite often. The story has a way of getting "lost" in itself sometimes. Some of the technological jargon and vocabulary are a bit of a chore to navigate through also, but this becomes easier as the novel progresses.The mystery aspect to the novel is quite fascinating, though, and it builds as Hall discovers more and more clues about his world.The themes explored in Simulacron 3 are thought-provoking and deep. One such idea explored is the infiniteness of time. At the heart and core of the novel is the question of what life, being human and existence really are. What constitutes being human? Is artificial reality a form of life? As other reviewers have attested to, there is a paranoid feeling or atmosphere as we discover more answers as the novel progresses.Simulacron 3 is a novel that really makes you think about possibilities of existence, and it is recommended for any sci-fi fans.

Written in 1964, this might be the first novel depicting such a virtual reality - one so perfectly programmed that it's inhabitants are unaware that they are living in a simulated environment, and that they are themselves merely simulations.But something starts to go wrong. Douglas Hall, one of the creators of the simulated world, begins to experience strange things happening in his own world, and in the attempt to make sense of it all he finds himself questioning his own sanity.Sound familiar? There are some movie adaptations: The Thirteenth Floor and Welt am Draht, and I think most people will notice that possibly some ideas for the Matrix came from this classic sci-fi book.This is the best book I've read in a long time!It is well written, the author manages to construct believable reality in the book, dragging you in deeper into the plot as the story unfolds. I found it difficult to put this book down after I started reading it. It's a good mix of sci-fi, mystery, conspiracy, and a touch of romance.A couple of things I'd like to note:1. You'll have to get past the first couple of chapters as the author introduces his world, with quite a bit of made-up vocabulary. Although I really have to commend the author on his creativity for the words chosen to depict this highly technical simulator.2. Reading this book really gave me the impression of a world that was a mix of the 1960's and some futuristic time. It is quite interesting to read older sci-fi to see what people imagined a future world would be like. In some ways the world in the book is certainly futuristic compared to the present, and in other ways it is really stuck in the 60's.3. You might notice a few of the futuristic inventions to be things found in many sci-fi stories that came a little later.I highly recommend this book to sci-fi fans! Excellent reading to be had here.

Immer noch ein ausgezeichnetes Buch mit einer interessanten Geschichte lange vor der Matrix. Der Fassbender Film, Welt am Draht, passt zwar nicht mehr in die Zeit, war aber ausgezeichnet.

Ce roman (qui rappelle un peu « The Matrix ») a servi d'inspiration au film intitulé « The Thirteenth Floor » (« Le treizième étage » au Québec ou « Passé virtuel » en France) avec Craig Bierko. L'histoire n'est pas la même que celle du film, bien que le film emprunte au roman quelques éléments et personnages. Mais tant le roman « Simulacron 3 » que le film « Le treizième étage » est tout aussi palpitant l'un que l'autre! À lire et à voir absolument!!

This is an intriguing, entertaining and potentially mind-altering novel. It was first published in 1964, and it offers a dark tale about virtual reality. It's a reasonably short story, yet is engaging throughout. It's well-written, and I recommend it to readers interested in sci-fi with a dystopian futuristic theme.The novel concerns a man named Douglas Hall, who's a lead scientist involved with a project to create a computer generated virtual city (a total environment simulator, with a virtual population) for market research. The aim is to be able to conduct opinion polls using the virtual people (who aren't aware that their lives are fake, or that they're living in a computer generated world). Suddenly, Douglas Hall's boss dies - and one of his colleague vanishes (and no one seems able to remember him). As Hall seeks to investigate what's going on, he realises that his own world is a virtual reality - and that he's a simulation ... Of course, the implications are potentially staggering. Given that this book was written decades prior to virtual reality becoming a practicality, Daniel Galouye presents a visionary tale.I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It's been adapted a few times into film - including the German television film  World On A Wire: 2 Disc Restored Edition [DVD] [1973 ], by Rainer Werner Fasbinder ; and the Hollywood movie  The Thirteenth Floor [DVD ] (1999), directed by Josef Rusnak. World On A Wire: 2 Disc Restored Edition [DVD] [1973The Thirteenth Floor [DVD

Philosophiquement très intéressant, un parallèle avec le "mythe de la caverne" de Platon, où est exposée la grande différence entre ce qui existe et ce que nous percevons. Un livre qui a inspiré "Matrix" et "Passé virtuel", où on retrouve des notions semblables. A lire absolument pour les amateurs de SF.

This is an excellent SF novel first published in 1964 and really deserves more recognition than it has achieved. It is a novel that predicts the digital world of virtual reality and what this can entail, and fundamental challenges our concepts of reality. Echoes of the novel can be seen in Neuromancer and later in the Matrix series which are based upon similar themes. It is a novel that requires some attention although it is easy to read and relatively short. It is also quite credible and consistent, where often other very adventurous SF novels fall down. A classic SF novel that was ahead of its time and deserves more recognition.