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Shiny Metal Boxes
Your thoughts aren’t private. They’re data points waiting to be mined.
Every kid gets an eyeGo implant fused into their eye sockets by age nine. Welcome to 2079.
Emma Castle—eyeGo technician, caffeine addict and one of the last semi-functioning humans—spends her days fixing glitches in humanity’s favorite piece of tech. Until people start collapsing mid-scroll, whole crowds dropping like Jenga towers in an earthquake.
The cause? Unknown. Emma’s been reassigned to find out why. She's not wild about getting reassigned.
As billions teeter on the edge of shutdown, Emma uncovers a conspiracy that could upend humanity—and the technology running it. With a PI, a hacking prodigy, a senior Milky Way Librarian, and a million-credit AI assistant at her side, she dives headfirst into the cyberpunk abyss to stop the world’s collective faceplant.
SHINY METAL BOXES launches The Wormholescope Chronicles—a jet-black cyberpunk satire packed with dark humor, addictive tech, and a heroine who refuses to power down. Perfect for fans of Daemon, Nexus, and Black Mirror.
Every kid gets an eyeGo implant fused into their eye sockets by age nine. Welcome to 2079.
Emma Castle—eyeGo technician, caffeine addict and one of the last semi-functioning humans—spends her days fixing glitches in humanity’s favorite piece of tech. Until people start collapsing mid-scroll, whole crowds dropping like Jenga towers in an earthquake.
The cause? Unknown. Emma’s been reassigned to find out why. She's not wild about getting reassigned.
As billions teeter on the edge of shutdown, Emma uncovers a conspiracy that could upend humanity—and the technology running it. With a PI, a hacking prodigy, a senior Milky Way Librarian, and a million-credit AI assistant at her side, she dives headfirst into the cyberpunk abyss to stop the world’s collective faceplant.
SHINY METAL BOXES launches The Wormholescope Chronicles—a jet-black cyberpunk satire packed with dark humor, addictive tech, and a heroine who refuses to power down. Perfect for fans of Daemon, Nexus, and Black Mirror.
- GenresScience Fiction
242 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 4, 2022
30 people are currently reading
621 people want to read
About the author
Tim Ruel
2 books9 followersTim Ruel has been a journalist in business news and legal news for fifteen years. Born, raised and latchkeyed in the odd galaxy of Portlandia, Oregonia. Tim took an interest in dreaming up science fiction as loony as life on Earth. He cherishes Miles Davis, Stone Roses, GoGo Penguin, Tchaikovsky, Dexter Gordon, Ladytron, The Cure, Chemical Brothers, John Coltrane, Tom Petty, and Cocteau Twins.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 16, 2022
Shiny Metal Boxes, love it when the title shows up somewhere in the story, although until it does, "Why Shiny Metal Boxes?" Because... no wait, that's a spoiler.
This book is very thriller with elements of hard sci-fi. If you're an IT type person who loves future-tech documentaries, you'll appreciate Ruel's writing and world building. Though optimistic pessimists such as myself hope that an universal monopolization of people's corneas will never, ever be a thing. It's around the late 2070s. eyeGo has almost universally installed their devices into everyone's eyeballs, and humanity is so desperately dependent on it that even when people are getting sick in droves presumably because of it, the devices remain. Emma is a health technician for the company, tasked with documenting the condition (Jobs Disease) that no one quite knows the cause of, and definitely not the cure. She and her friends go into fight mode the moment one of their vibrant friends becomes so sickened she ends up in a coma. Sleuthing, investigation, and explorations into technology, the hows and whys, and who is really beyond a disease that has sickened tens of millions and makes Covid look as inconvenient as a tiny sniffle. Yeah, please don't touch my eyeballs.
Ruel loves his tech and his world building, the first third of the book however is plentiful in info dumps and less so in plot. I like technology info dumps, they make me happy. But, the inciting incident only comes once CynCyn's condition advances to stage 3/4. There is a fight here between giving the reader the needs of a good story, and the author wanting to indulge their readers with a dynamic and somewhat strange world. Mentions of Mars have no relevant impact on this part of the series, nor do the in-depth annoyances of the technology involved in Emma's delayed commute to work. Readers who want to dive right into the thriller narrative would find this frustrating. Again, I didn't, but it made me start to worry the book would be all world building and very little story.
The author's humor is cutting, ridiculous, and at times sublime. They are a narrator with liberal values, a cynic bent, and a cheeky way of thumbing to relics of the old world as well as hypothesized ghouls of a corporate future. Good style, great dialogue, smart and intellectual work. This may be the only story that I can say that the use of Wingdings font was relevant and refreshing. Something I'd never thought I'd praise in a review.
This book is very thriller with elements of hard sci-fi. If you're an IT type person who loves future-tech documentaries, you'll appreciate Ruel's writing and world building. Though optimistic pessimists such as myself hope that an universal monopolization of people's corneas will never, ever be a thing. It's around the late 2070s. eyeGo has almost universally installed their devices into everyone's eyeballs, and humanity is so desperately dependent on it that even when people are getting sick in droves presumably because of it, the devices remain. Emma is a health technician for the company, tasked with documenting the condition (Jobs Disease) that no one quite knows the cause of, and definitely not the cure. She and her friends go into fight mode the moment one of their vibrant friends becomes so sickened she ends up in a coma. Sleuthing, investigation, and explorations into technology, the hows and whys, and who is really beyond a disease that has sickened tens of millions and makes Covid look as inconvenient as a tiny sniffle. Yeah, please don't touch my eyeballs.
Ruel loves his tech and his world building, the first third of the book however is plentiful in info dumps and less so in plot. I like technology info dumps, they make me happy. But, the inciting incident only comes once CynCyn's condition advances to stage 3/4. There is a fight here between giving the reader the needs of a good story, and the author wanting to indulge their readers with a dynamic and somewhat strange world. Mentions of Mars have no relevant impact on this part of the series, nor do the in-depth annoyances of the technology involved in Emma's delayed commute to work. Readers who want to dive right into the thriller narrative would find this frustrating. Again, I didn't, but it made me start to worry the book would be all world building and very little story.
The author's humor is cutting, ridiculous, and at times sublime. They are a narrator with liberal values, a cynic bent, and a cheeky way of thumbing to relics of the old world as well as hypothesized ghouls of a corporate future. Good style, great dialogue, smart and intellectual work. This may be the only story that I can say that the use of Wingdings font was relevant and refreshing. Something I'd never thought I'd praise in a review.
May 15, 2022
I received an advance reader copy of Shiny Metal Boxes for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily
Shiny Metal Boxes presents a future world where technology has advanced in interesting and exciting ways based on our current world. While I would not classify this as a cyberpunk story, the book's commentary about the state of our world and the direction it's moving in certainly shares some of the genre's hallmarks. This is speculative fiction and satire that flows logically from where we are now.
Among the novel's various themes, the one with the strongest resonance is that of privacy following the introduction of the eyeGo, a cybernetic enhancement that records everything the user sees, maps their interest for targeted advertising, and acts as a resource digging up information about everything - and everyone the user sees. The author uses this to provide some wry commentary about the world; future, and current, and does so while looking at how such technology would change society.
If you've read the book's description, it sells short the amount of humour present in the book. Throughout, I chuckled at the turns of phrase and laughed at the view it takes of a society obsessed over social media and willing to sacrifice privacy in the name of convenience. On more than one occasion, the writing's wit reminded me of Douglas Adams.
As much as I love Shiny Metal Boxes' commentary and humour, the plot doesn't fare quite as well. As the mystery builds and expands into a globetrotting conspiracy thriller, it is engaging enough to keep the reader interested, but isn't particularly memorable. It works in service of the humour and commentary, but isn't the book's strongest asset. I note this is the first part of a series. As it reaches its conclusion, it is evident there is more story to be told, but the book still feels complete.
The characters throughout the book are all enjoyable. They fit within the book's heightened reality, and do so without feeling stereotypical or larger than life. Despite the comedic situations they find themselves in, they all remain grounded.
This book is a quick read, thanks in part to its short paragraphs and sentences. More space could have been used to flesh the world out further; however, this is more my personal preference, as it still portrays everything it needs to.
If you enjoy humorous books and science fiction, and like speculative fiction that comments on our world, it's a thoroughly enjoyable read.
My full review will be available on my website from Wednesday, 18 May 2022. To read it (and my other reviews), click here.
Shiny Metal Boxes presents a future world where technology has advanced in interesting and exciting ways based on our current world. While I would not classify this as a cyberpunk story, the book's commentary about the state of our world and the direction it's moving in certainly shares some of the genre's hallmarks. This is speculative fiction and satire that flows logically from where we are now.
Among the novel's various themes, the one with the strongest resonance is that of privacy following the introduction of the eyeGo, a cybernetic enhancement that records everything the user sees, maps their interest for targeted advertising, and acts as a resource digging up information about everything - and everyone the user sees. The author uses this to provide some wry commentary about the world; future, and current, and does so while looking at how such technology would change society.
If you've read the book's description, it sells short the amount of humour present in the book. Throughout, I chuckled at the turns of phrase and laughed at the view it takes of a society obsessed over social media and willing to sacrifice privacy in the name of convenience. On more than one occasion, the writing's wit reminded me of Douglas Adams.
As much as I love Shiny Metal Boxes' commentary and humour, the plot doesn't fare quite as well. As the mystery builds and expands into a globetrotting conspiracy thriller, it is engaging enough to keep the reader interested, but isn't particularly memorable. It works in service of the humour and commentary, but isn't the book's strongest asset. I note this is the first part of a series. As it reaches its conclusion, it is evident there is more story to be told, but the book still feels complete.
The characters throughout the book are all enjoyable. They fit within the book's heightened reality, and do so without feeling stereotypical or larger than life. Despite the comedic situations they find themselves in, they all remain grounded.
This book is a quick read, thanks in part to its short paragraphs and sentences. More space could have been used to flesh the world out further; however, this is more my personal preference, as it still portrays everything it needs to.
If you enjoy humorous books and science fiction, and like speculative fiction that comments on our world, it's a thoroughly enjoyable read.
My full review will be available on my website from Wednesday, 18 May 2022. To read it (and my other reviews), click here.
May 23, 2022
I won this book from goodreads.
I enjoyed the story and the not so subtle examination around where our world is headed in regards to technology. Basically folks in the future have technology that ends up causing problems for many people and they come down with a disease called Jobs Disease. Without giving anything away, the main character, Emma, and her friends work to discover the cause and what can be done about it, if anything can at all. The ending leaves a good opening for additional books.
I enjoyed the story and the not so subtle examination around where our world is headed in regards to technology. Basically folks in the future have technology that ends up causing problems for many people and they come down with a disease called Jobs Disease. Without giving anything away, the main character, Emma, and her friends work to discover the cause and what can be done about it, if anything can at all. The ending leaves a good opening for additional books.
May 26, 2022
wow
I like reading books like this. Not a lot of characters and they are easy to follow. The book draws you in right from the start and holds your interest throughout. The ending is quite intriguing. A great read
I received this book free from Goodreads.
I like reading books like this. Not a lot of characters and they are easy to follow. The book draws you in right from the start and holds your interest throughout. The ending is quite intriguing. A great read
I received this book free from Goodreads.
May 29, 2022
I received the e-book version of this for free from a Goodreads Giveaway, and I'm glad I did. I found the story to be very entertaining. The futuristic world depicted in this book definitely pokes fun at some of stuff we deal with today like privacy, app usage on a smart device, and smart devices themselves. If we thought people were bad with their smartphones the way they overuse them now, just imagine a world where the smartphone is implanted in their eye.
The writing is well done. It has a good amount of humor in it, and I found myself laughing at various points in the book. I enjoyed the characters and found them to be a bit relatable. The stuff they did and talked about didn't seem too far fetched for a world set more than 50 years into the future. The technology and electronics portrayed in the book seem very plausible. The pacing of the book played out really well and kept me intrigued on what was going to happen next. I will say that I was a bit jealous of the protagonist and her friends because of how easy it seemed to get around the world and visit various spots using a tube system. Might be nice having something like that around.
The ending did intrigue me a bit. I mean, the book is already identified as #1 in a series, so there is more to come. I'm happy that book 1 does feel like a complete book with just enough near the end to make me want to see some more. I always worry about books in a series requiring the reader to read more than one to get the full story. The approach taken in this one is what I like where if I choose to only read this one, I won't be missing out on any of the plot. If I want to continue, then I will get a new story using the same characters I've come to enjoy in this one.
I do look forward to the next book with that said. I like the world created in this one and wouldn't mind spending some more time in it. Although, I definitely wouldn't want to stay because it sounds like a lot of people know someone that died at the hands of a car driving by an AI, which was an odd thread that seemed to reappear in the book. Makes me wonder if the author isn't looking forward to self-driving cars.
The writing is well done. It has a good amount of humor in it, and I found myself laughing at various points in the book. I enjoyed the characters and found them to be a bit relatable. The stuff they did and talked about didn't seem too far fetched for a world set more than 50 years into the future. The technology and electronics portrayed in the book seem very plausible. The pacing of the book played out really well and kept me intrigued on what was going to happen next. I will say that I was a bit jealous of the protagonist and her friends because of how easy it seemed to get around the world and visit various spots using a tube system. Might be nice having something like that around.
The ending did intrigue me a bit. I mean, the book is already identified as #1 in a series, so there is more to come. I'm happy that book 1 does feel like a complete book with just enough near the end to make me want to see some more. I always worry about books in a series requiring the reader to read more than one to get the full story. The approach taken in this one is what I like where if I choose to only read this one, I won't be missing out on any of the plot. If I want to continue, then I will get a new story using the same characters I've come to enjoy in this one.
I do look forward to the next book with that said. I like the world created in this one and wouldn't mind spending some more time in it. Although, I definitely wouldn't want to stay because it sounds like a lot of people know someone that died at the hands of a car driving by an AI, which was an odd thread that seemed to reappear in the book. Makes me wonder if the author isn't looking forward to self-driving cars.
September 13, 2022
diverting read
This book was a diverting and interesting read. It took current technology to some of the possible future we could see depending on how it gets developed. It had quite a caper to solve.
This book was a diverting and interesting read. It took current technology to some of the possible future we could see depending on how it gets developed. It had quite a caper to solve.
August 28, 2022
Now this was fun.
June 6, 2022
.
This was hard to understand.
However, the author ultimately made it clear to me what was going on with tube-trains, implants, phones, pandemics, jobs, “folks,” and etc.
Contains lots of “sipping” and “sips” and “sipped” and other refined bllsht.
(Very irritating.)
Oh…and it turns out that the smartest, best, brightest, most efficient, most expensive, private eye in the world — and maybe the entire galaxy — is an ex lawyer and a sexual transitor, from having - unfortunately — been born male, into a female.
GOD! But I wish I were a trans!!
And that all my children, and all their children were trans!!!
I wish I were a WOMAN!!!
Instead of just a male, ex-private eye, which is what I yam.
“…Transgender discrimination lawsuits found traction in arguing that anyone could be any gender. Over time, banning a gender from a bathroom or locker room became impractical. Many people, of all political stripes, bemoaned the drama of change in life, but by the mid-forties, most bathrooms and locker rooms were all-gender and no one cared anymore.…”
“…Like her mother, Freja, he had been supportive from the day she told her parents she wasn’t a boy. At the time, Asa had felt like her father already knew she wasn’t a boy, and was happy for her….”
SUPERIOR TACTICS!!! MY GOD I WISH I WERE “ANY GENDER!!!” My mother and father wood have LOVED it !!!!!!
Tim, I think you have written a good book.
I won’t pretend I understood it all, but you really only need to get through to ONE person. I think you have reached more than one, herein.
Best wishes….
.
.
This was hard to understand.
However, the author ultimately made it clear to me what was going on with tube-trains, implants, phones, pandemics, jobs, “folks,” and etc.
Contains lots of “sipping” and “sips” and “sipped” and other refined bllsht.
(Very irritating.)
Oh…and it turns out that the smartest, best, brightest, most efficient, most expensive, private eye in the world — and maybe the entire galaxy — is an ex lawyer and a sexual transitor, from having - unfortunately — been born male, into a female.
GOD! But I wish I were a trans!!
And that all my children, and all their children were trans!!!
I wish I were a WOMAN!!!
Instead of just a male, ex-private eye, which is what I yam.
“…Transgender discrimination lawsuits found traction in arguing that anyone could be any gender. Over time, banning a gender from a bathroom or locker room became impractical. Many people, of all political stripes, bemoaned the drama of change in life, but by the mid-forties, most bathrooms and locker rooms were all-gender and no one cared anymore.…”
“…Like her mother, Freja, he had been supportive from the day she told her parents she wasn’t a boy. At the time, Asa had felt like her father already knew she wasn’t a boy, and was happy for her….”
SUPERIOR TACTICS!!! MY GOD I WISH I WERE “ANY GENDER!!!” My mother and father wood have LOVED it !!!!!!
Tim, I think you have written a good book.
I won’t pretend I understood it all, but you really only need to get through to ONE person. I think you have reached more than one, herein.
Best wishes….
.
.
September 9, 2022
I had trouble with this book. For the first half, I thought the pacing was very slow, and I was bored with the story - I almost stopped reading. The pacing picked up in the second half, and I was happy to finish the book and see how it ended. Others found the book humorous and laughed out loud, not me. Yes, some of the terms used and the situations were cute, but not out loud funny. I did like the characters and how they interacted with each other.
It was an interesting view of a possible future world, where several cities had sunk due to rising oceans, transportation includes aircars, AI-driven vehicles, and underground/underwater tubes/trains. The central issue involved tech implanted in the eye of every human at a young age, enabling folks to surf the net, share live video, and more. We have enough issues at it is with cell phones, I can't imagine having one in our bodies permanently.
The central mystery was resolved, but the why behind the issue is left to book 2. This is a complete book, so there is no need to continue reading unless you want to see what happens next. I appreciate this, as I don't like to be forced into more books to see how a story ends.
It was an interesting view of a possible future world, where several cities had sunk due to rising oceans, transportation includes aircars, AI-driven vehicles, and underground/underwater tubes/trains. The central issue involved tech implanted in the eye of every human at a young age, enabling folks to surf the net, share live video, and more. We have enough issues at it is with cell phones, I can't imagine having one in our bodies permanently.
The central mystery was resolved, but the why behind the issue is left to book 2. This is a complete book, so there is no need to continue reading unless you want to see what happens next. I appreciate this, as I don't like to be forced into more books to see how a story ends.
September 12, 2022
Very creative, but a little slow moving
October 30, 2023
not bad…
I believe it was a 3.5.
The first half was somewhat slow, while the second half felt a bit rushed.
As someone with a background in tech, I enjoyed this light read.
I believe it was a 3.5.
The first half was somewhat slow, while the second half felt a bit rushed.
As someone with a background in tech, I enjoyed this light read.
May 31, 2022
Could have been a good story
Sorry…I got 30% into this book and it started ridiculing some of my belief systems. A good writer doesnt need to do this and cave into a woke literary culture.
Sorry…I got 30% into this book and it started ridiculing some of my belief systems. A good writer doesnt need to do this and cave into a woke literary culture.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews