Review: Circuit Theory by Kirby Crow & Reya Starck

Circuit Theory (goodreads.com)

By: 

eBook, 45 pages

Expected publication: July 30th 2012 by Riptide Publishing

ISBN 13: 9781937551476

Source: NetGalley, for the purpose of an honest review

Genre: M/M Romance

Stars: 2

Flames: 2

Kirby Crow and Reya Starck have created an interesting world. People no longer have to go out into the real world to socialize to meet people. They can now buy skins, create an avatar, and spend time in the Synth. The identities individuals create allow them to be whoever or whatever they want. The originality of Circuit Theory is very unique and something that I have never read.

There are several reasons why Circuit Theory didn’t work for me. The main reason was too much information was left unknown. I wanted to know more about whom Dante and Byron are in real life. While it would have worked for me and made the story more interesting I’m not sure if it would have worked for the novella. So obviously it is a personal issue.

Readers are introduced to Dante and Byron, two avatars who already have an established relationship. There wasn’t any relationship development. I read a few days in their Synth life and the complications that Synth relations have. The novella is first person point of view, Dante’s point of view. I realize the characters are avatars, digital representations of humans on a computer. The characters never the less never fleshed out for me and seemed very one dimensional.

There are some typos, but they are intentional and very much a part of the story. The typos are very creative on the writers’ part to show this world as it is, a coding issue. Some of the conversations are even presented to readers as the text that the human behind the avatar is reading and writing. This adds a distinctive flare to the story.

I think anyone who enjoys role playing games will love this. The novella mildly reminded me of the movie Gamer. Gerard Butler was an active character in the game, but he was being physically controlled by another individual who was hooked up to a game console. This world is built similar to that.