Models and Citizens - the Universe

I thought I should take a moment to frame the Models and Citizens universe. It's not the Star Trek or even the Star Wars universe you may think of when you think of futuristic science fiction. The Models and Citizens universe, like the rest of the Reality Gradient novels, is what I would call realistic science fiction. Some things have advanced to the point where they become staples, such as food replicators. Other advances are distributed on the income curve. So lower-income homes and people have older equipment, even some that equate roughly to what we have today (like cars with actual wheels).

In fact, cars are a big distinction between the haves and the have-nots. The flying cars, or volantrae in the book, are in a separate category and are much, much more expensive. In the next tier down, we find self-driving cars. These cars are in a similar class as non-self-driving cars. Some (very few) people drive them because they prefer to be in control. Others drive them because they can't find anything better which they can afford.

A lot of other technologies may seem very similar to what we have today. Ansible Protocl addresses (a.p. addresses) are point-to-point communication between individual communicators. Phone lines are obsolete at this time in the future.

Communicators and pinamu are other areas where technology is somewhat similar or may seem so. Communicators have a projection mode in which the person speaking is projected onto a wall nearby or in an expensive one, which may even be a projected hologram. Pinamu are essentially tablet computers and are still useful because otherwise, one would have to navigate the Labyrinth (virtual reality web ecosystem) with a full-emersion haptic suit.

I would consider Reality Gradient to be more like Bladerunner future than Star Trek future. It's a bit dirty and priorities have been accounted for. Some tech has moved farther than others. This gives the series a(n almost) steampunk feel, although Libera, Goddess of Worlds is perhaps more closely aligned with cyberpunk.

Just some things I thought you should know, since release is 1-29-2021! I hope you like the book :).

Models and Citizens