The Plagiarist

A Novella

By: Hugh Howey

Narrated by: Alexander J. Masters

Length: 1 hr and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Adam Griffey is living two lives. By day, he teaches literature. At night, he steals it. Adam is a plagiarist, an expert reader with an eye for great works. He prowls simulated worlds perusing virtual texts, looking for the next big thing. And when he finds it, he memorizes it page by page, line by line, word for word. And then he brings it back to his world, the real world, and he sells it. But what happens when these virtual worlds begin to seem more real than his own? What happens when the people within them mean more to him than flesh and blood? What happens when a living thing falls in love with someone who does not actually exist?

©2009- Hugh Howey (P)2013 Hugh Howey

Always a mind trip!

I’m not sure how many times I’ve read this story. This was the first time I listened to it though. The simulation theory wormhole this story can take one down is deep, making one question reality itself in many ways.

PKD could have written this story

Originally published at Fantasy Literature.

The Plagiarist is a science fiction novella written by Hugh Howey, who recently became famous for his self-published WOOL series. The plagiarist of the title is Adam Griffey, a college professor who uses newly discovered technology at his university to visit virtual worlds where he seeks out brilliant authors, memorizes their works, and brings them back to our world. Everyone knows the works are plagiarized, but since the author doesn’t live in our world, it doesn’t count, and our protagonist gets the credit for discovering the talent and, most importantly, he gets the money for the sales. This sort of plagiarism isn’t just for literature, though. Adam has colleagues in other departments who do the same thing, and now all fields of knowledge — science, technology, art, etc. — are advancing rapidly because of the discoveries made in virtual worlds.

All is going well for Adam — his work has made him famous — until he falls in love with Bellatrix, a woman in the latest universe he’s been visiting. When he goes there, he spends all his time making a virtual life with her instead of doing his job. His relationship with his real online girlfriend is suffering and, of course, so is his teaching and research. Like a true plagiarist, he is “faking his real life so he can live his fake one.” Just when it seems that Adam can’t maintain his plagiarized life any longer, his university announces that Bellatrix’s world is about to be wiped from the servers because it’s taking up too much space. That means that the virtual woman he loves will no longer exist, so Adam goes on a mad scramble to try to save their relationship.

Okay, if I had just read my synopsis above, I wouldn’t even need to read the rest of this review — I’d already be pressing the “buy” button ‘cause that just sounds awesome. But for those who want to know more, I’m happy to report that I loved this story. If Philip K. Dick had lived twenty years longer, he would have written The Plagiarist.

Not only is the plot exciting, but for such a short story (58 pages in the 99¢ ebook, 1.5 hours for the $2 audiobook) there’s a lot to think about: online dating; how spending time in virtual worlds might affect our real lives and relationships; parallel universes; the meaning of art; the way that rapidly advancing technology has led to information overload, mass consumerism, and perhaps a decline (or at least an inability to recognize) genuine talent. And there’s more that I don’t want to tell you about so as not to ruin the plot.

The Plagiarist is a perfect introduction to Hugh Howey. I listened to the audiobook which is narrated by Alexander J. Masters. At first I was slightly put off by his stilted cadence, but as the story progressed, I found that it fit nicely.

The reader lacked tone.

An interesting sci-fi tale that takes advantage of the idea that universes are layered and at the mercy of the higher levels. Not an uncommon but not uninteresting conceit. At the risk of ruining the story, essentially our hero is a data miner who falls in love with one of these "lesser beings". Decent story.

The reader is the weak point. He is monotonal and lends no drama to what should otherwise be quite a suspenseful story. He seems to plod along as if he is trying to put the listener to sleep, not give a dramatic performance. As a result at several points I considered not finishing the story. Before buying this story I'd recommend listening to the reader and asking if you would enjoy listening to this tone for 1&½ hours.

DDay

Interesting story, uninteresting narrator.

The story was interesting enough and kept me listening. There is an obvious Palahniuk influence in the style of writing, which I enjoy.

I found the narrator almost grueling. When reading dialogue he was good and believable. However, during the rest of the book he was almost excruciatingly monotoned. In his defense, in my head k often read dreary novels in that kind of melancholy tone. But it does not transfer well to an audiobook.

great.

This was a very entertaining little story. It was well written and read and I very much enjoyed it. It was a little predictable but still managed to get me thinking

ERASABLE BOND

Are you guilty if you plagiarize from that which isn't real? In the virtual world do die or are you just deleted. This short work presents some thoughtful questions to ponder.

Absolutely terrific

Great story, hung on every word with excitement. The narrators tone of voice is riveting.

Weird audio, good story

There's this weird fan-like whap-whapping sound in the background as the narrator reads. That's odd.

But the story is interesting.

Absolutely enthralling

Any additional comments?

This book addresses the future and the thought experiments of this future in such an interesting way. If you wonder what the future will look like with the adevent of virtual reality and a loss of self-awareness in the coming society, get this book.

intriguing

overall a good listen. had sort of a matrix type of concept going. I sa2 the end coming but didn't mind.