Virtuality follows some of Reality(TM) 2048's characters into a post-Orwellian, pre-Matrix, satire of a near future dystopia on the verge of collapse.
“Cressman's argot-heavy novel is Kurt Vonnegut-like in its satire and offers a Bruegel-like canvass in its sweep” -- Kirkus Review
When a mysterious hacker disrupts transmissions, four quirky misfits find out that the streaming infotainment on their customized MyndScreen brain implants have noxious side effects. Who will succumb to corporate commercialism on steroids? Who will survive the apocalypse?
“A dystopian tour de force with resounding thematic power, Derek Cressman’s novel, Virtuality, chronicles a world where society’s addiction to virtual reality—particularly viewing endlessly streaming “infotainment” and mindlessly consuming advertisement-fueled products—has created generations of nonthinkers with the attention span of mayflies.
The novel offers crisp prose, with superb world-building. Its real power, however, lies in the truth underlying the dystopia; so many lines resonate in today’s society. At one point, for instance, a character says: “I’m still offline. It’s like I don’t exist.” Additionally, numerous scenes are haunting for the plausible, nightmarish future they foresee, like babies in warehouses with robot attendants and video screens running nonstop above their cribs.
Ready Player One meets Idiocracy meets 1984’s Oceania, this is a must-read for fans of thought-provoking science fiction—one with the potential to become a dystopian classic.”—BlueInk Review
"Cressman's writing is sharp, often layered with quotable lines and interesting parodies. … focusing on breaking down virtual reality addiction and attempting to convince people to interact with each other and the natural world around them. Recommended to anyone who enjoys dystopian and speculative fiction." - RECOMMENDED, The US Review of Books
“Libraries seeking dystopian novels about the move from high-tech to real-world experiences will especially appreciate how a variety of characters intersect on a broad playing field of possibilities and problems. This lends the story an immediacy and realistic overtone that embraces psychological revelation, motivations, and frightening possibilities of paradigm-changing actions.
This transformative novel of the future provides plenty of moral, ethical, and technological fodder for book club discussions, offering much food for thought to individuals who love stories about future quandaries.” – D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
“Setting up an ultimate ideological showdown between the technological elite and near-Luddite humanists who eschew frivolous consumption and extraneous technology, the satirical science fiction novel Virtuality is about the society-wide effects of rampant consumerism and unchecked corporate greed.”-- Foreword Clarion Reviews.
“Virtuality is a brilliant cautionary tale extrapolating modern day trends of crony capitalism, manipulation of facts, distraction of the masses and more into a future where food is free but minds are captured. Cressman reveals how our consciousness may change as truths dawn, and encourages us to hold those revelations and each other closely. He reminds us the future is not so distant as it may seem.” – Sue Wilson, Director of Broadcast Blues and founder of the Media Action Center.
“Cressman’s Virtuality is above all else an exuberant excursion through a future that seems both bonkers and entirely plausible. In a world controlled by big corporations, virtuality and reality are on a collision course, and every character has to figure out how they fit into a society that appears monolithic, but is hollow inside. This is a novel written for the modern brain, exhilarating, zippy, and insightful, all the while using the pace and vocabulary of virtual reality to skewer it. A trip to the future you don’t want to miss!”—Julie Price Carpenter, author of The Last Train Out of Hell
“A post-modern tale that rings the alarm bells loud and clear. Reading Virtuality will make you take a personal inventory of the “infotainment” you consume. This story has stayed with me and continues to color my perception of recent events in the news. A must read for fans of speculative fiction, although this one hits pretty close to home.”—Tiffanie Simpson, Book Haus
Release date, November 25, 2025.
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