Thank you for the opportunities to read this book. I have attempted it on a number of occasions but unfortunately I haven’t been able to get into it.

With thanks to netgalley for allowing me to review this book.

Broadcast is in the same vein as the black mirror tv show. it is a book that I enjoyed. I'm sure fans of Black mirror will also enjoy this.

Okay, I get the Black Mirror comparison but honestly anyone who has seen an episode of Black Mirror would find this super predictable because even the main idea is intelligent and horror inducing, it becomes bland by the end of the story. The writing is where this really fell flat for me because it was tedious and stylistic experiments were just plain annoying. The characters weren't fully fleshed out either; the villain was cliché and the rest of the cast forgettable and not relatable. Probably would've dnf-ed this if not for the compactness of the book!

Broadcast
Liam Brown
Year published: 2017
Publisher: Legends Press
Genre: Science Fiction
Stars: 3 and a half

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from Legend Press and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

The image used for the post header is my own. All links in the post link to the books’ respective Goodreads page. Quotes given in this review might not add up to quotes given in the published version.

The idea of another reality, whether it be virtual, alternative, or augmented has always ensnared me. Maybe its because of augmented reality – well, not really the glasses that go with it because they’re always bulky and fit uncomfortably over my glasses (I actually have to hold the AR glasses otherwise it’ll make my normal glasses cut into my nose) – but what you can see with the glasses amaze me – roller coasters, haunted houses, shark cage diving, that’s super cool.

I liked the concept of Broadcast – the whole thing of a person’s thoughts being broadcasted – which would be a nightmare for me because my ADD just brings about 2000 thoughts and they’re all over the place.

Even though I thought I wouldn’t like David when starting out, I actually do like him. I mostly didn’t like him because of his attitude, which I think is exacerbated by his celebrity status. But think about it. If they gave us someone unknown or relatively unknown, we would’ve liked them straight away; but instead we get David; a pompous elitist celebrity. But it works. Because even though I didn’t like him at the beginning, I began to root for him when everything started going wrong for him.

The story pulls the reader in, sucks you in, and makes you focus on the main character and his main plot so much that you don’t really notice the actual plot of the story – which is very sneaky and well-done.

Oh and something I had in my mind throughout the novel – is the moral of the story to always read the terms and conditions?

Quotes:
But the main reason, I believe, or at least the most important reason people still read, is because books are the only opportunity we ever get to experience true empathy with another human being. To see the world through their eyes. To walk in their shoes. Even celebrity crap like I churn out, when it’s done well, offers a unique insight, a new perspective. The chance to get inside someone else’s head.

I really enjoyed this book, It was completely different to what I usually read! I couldn't put it down, I loved it! It was like a modern take on Orwells 1984. Great read, definitely recommend!

Broadcast is a relatively brief and easy to read/digest outing. It is also highly entertaining. And more than a little terrifying. The premise is worrying plausible. The whole cautionary tale for those individuals who believe the rest of the world is deeply fascinated by the minutiae of their gnawingly average lives is chilling, sinister, uncomfortably close to the bone. But there's more here too, mind control of the populace by corporations - with adverts, anybody? It is genuinely thought provoking and distressingly relevant. Also the ending is a breeze block to the senses - downright frightening, bleak, stunningly hopeless, sickening. It is high praise indeed to say this novel put me in mind of Nineteen Eighty Four. There are similarities of theme and feel. And despite the negative adjectives in this review I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend. Thank you NetGalley for my copy.

This book really got a stranglehold on me. It's a very timely tale of a narcissistic vligger who gets himself in over his head. Think a mash-up of Black Mirror and The Truman Show with the sinister company-worship of The Circle. Absolutely thrilling and fast-paced, it really leaves you guessing. I'd absolutely recommend this whole-heartedly.

3.5 Stars.
Those who know me know that I am a little bit addicted to YouTube. Every day in short gaps of time that I have (too short to grab a book), I watch short videos on YouTube. I like to think I know who all the biggest YouTube stars are and am subscribed to the biggest channels. Also my absolute FAVOURITE Netflix show is 'Black Mirror'. So when I read the words "YouTube" and "Black Mirror" in the description of this book I had to see what it was all about.

Minor online celebrity David is approached by a massive technology company to participate in an all new social media concept known as "MindCast". Every thought and feeling will be streamed live online. Non stop. Initially slightly reluctant, David decides to go ahead and have the MindCast brain implant. This is when things start getting crazy. He suddenly becomes the worlds biggest celebrity. But there is a price to pay for all the attention, and ZERO privacy with his thoughts.

Fantastic concept for a book! I loved that it was futuristic, but at the same time not too far off some sort of reality. It was interesting to see how the fame and constant lack of any kind of privacy got to David.

David himself is a good character. I would say he is quite dislikeable and vain, but throughout the book and the massive weight that is on his shoulders, you cant help feeling a bit sorry for the poor bugger. By the end of it though I was feeling a bit less sorry for him...

Ok, it was right up my alley, a great concept and I enjoyed the tale of the main character. So why did I not give it a higher rating? Part of the problem for me was the ending. It just didn't do it for me. I saw the twists coming, and when it ended I felt a bit let down.

The story itself flowed, but became a bit dry by the end. I wanted a bit more grit. A bit more oomph. A few things were left unexplained and I was left overall feeling slightly unsatisfied. HOWEVER, still a fun read!

Would I recommend Broadcast?

Yes I really enjoyed the subject matter. Although I didn't give it the highest rating, it was still enjoyable and if you like YouTube and social media, you will most probably enjoy it too!

Thanks to the author Liam Brown via NetGalley for a copy of Broadcast to review.

Broadcast is a fast-paced and fascinating exploration of the dangers of our social media-obsessed society. The world Brown describes is just one small step away from our own. In fact, MindCast is the next logical step in our social media journey — not even a short step away, but a shortcut to instant gratification.
I loved this most when it was talking about the philosophy of surveillance and celebrity culture, especially the celebrity of the everyday. David's character — vapid, self-obsessed, often thoughtless — was believable if not likeable. He barely thinks about the consequences of having the chip implanted: the decision is apparently made on a whim, spurred on by his competitive nature and desire for fame, but this was completely in-line with his character.
The ending is a worthy conclusion to an intriguing and well thought-out book.

David Callow is a successful vlogger. Much like the vloggers of today. Arrogant and entitled, and narrating his whole life as if he's contributing something useful to society.

Then he's offered a deal like no other. A chance to have a chip inserted into his head so that his thoughts - or rather images of his thoughts - are broadcast to the world too.

He's excited by the opportunity to become one of the most famous men alive - until he realises far too late that there's nowhere to hide. People hate him for things he thinks but would never have said. At the same time, if he's hungry he only has to think and a company (who will be happy for the marketing) will turn up at his door with fast-food.

It escalates quickly and David struggles with trying to find out exactly what the chip is doing to or with his thoughts, and whether there's a way out...

The concept is fascinating and the book's a quick read because of it. I would like to have seen David go on more of a journey - he's not exactly a changed man by the end of it. Does he deserve what he gets? Read and see!

David Callow, rhymes with shallow, and really that is what he is. He's a celebrity due to his VLogging and online presence. All he thinks about is whether people are following or watching him.

Then on a hungover morning he is given the chance to be the next big thing. All he has to do is have a small chip slipped under the skin at the back of his neck and his experiences will be shared with the world.

It takes a while for the chip to 'learn' David and his thoughts, then suddenly his thoughts and experiences go viral. David becomes a major celebrity trending around the world. He loves it.

He loves it, until it starts to give him problems, but then he discovers that it's too late to change his mind, the naysayers were right!

A brilliant concept, scarey that it could happen too! Puts me off the idea of having a chip fitted, for sure. What might be called a 'cautionary tale'.

I really enjoyed reading this, I didn't even know where it was heading until the end. Really happy to recommend it to sci-fi and 'AI' fans (even though I wouldn't say that it was strictly AI.

I received an e-ARC of this novel through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. NetGalley does not allow for paid reviews.

Loved it. 'Broadcast' covers similar ground to 'The Circle' but does it far more effectively and with greater style.

Based on the way that this book started out, I did not have high hopes for the rest of it. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly it sucked me in past the initial problems I had with the beginning. My biggest issue was how unrealistic some aspects of the story were. I don't mean the things associated with the futuristic technology, but the fact that the author had very little idea how YouTube (or social media) works in terms of followers and content. Aside from that, I really enjoyed the thriller aspects of it all. Once I got into the part that actually included MindCast, I flew through it in one sitting. I simply couldn't put it down. I enjoyed the dizzying descriptions of what he was going through as he realized what MindCast really was and the implications of what he had done. Honestly though, who could ever think live-streaming their every thought is a good idea. This is a definite recommend for anyone looking for a thriller or some just-in-the-future sci-fi that will leave you wondering where technology should really stop. A sold, fast-paced read.

Read this in a day! It reads like an episode of The Twilight Zone or like an episode of the newer series on Netflix, Black Mirror. Futuristic, yet current. Techy sci-fi. It’s like The Truman Show on steroids but updated to account for our now social media obsessed population. It magnifies our search for the newest and increasingly intense online videos to top the ones we just saw yesterday. It’s actually a quite terrifying look at a very real possible future in which our every thought is literally on display for all to see.

I think this book was a lot of fun to read. It seems like an all too possible future for all of us. From the beginning of the book when we first enter Xan Brinkley's futuristic office building to the surprise twist ending, this book puts in the work to show us how insane the future of the internet and social media could become. When I first finished this book I gave it a 3. But as the days went on I found myself re-assessing and re-evaluating my thoughts on this book. It really sat with me and made me think, so my review has been upgraded to a 4. It was interesting, thought provoking, and thoroughly creepy. I loved the twists and turns and especially loved a certain part of the book when it briefly turns into a survivalist story. One gripe I did have was that a couple of the characters took some VERY unrealistic left turns. I really don't think that a person can shift so suddenly and go from good guy/girl to bad so quickly when they never displayed any of the selfish characteristics that we wind up seeing from them. Another character is murdered and it seems out of the blue and unwarranted. One of my favorite characters in the book is Xan Brinkley. If you have seen the movie Ex Machina (IMDB Link) with Oscar Issac (pictured below), you will understand why I liked him so much. Xan reminded me so much of Nathan in that movie. He is so wrapped up in his creations that he essentially loses his mind and his sense of humanity. It was so wonderful to see his character slowly fall further and further down the rabbit hole. I haven't mentioned the main character David very much. He was the main character, but basically he was our eye into Mindcast. He started as a successful video blogger and his quest for fame helped him make the decision to be the first Mindcast test subject. His selfish motivations led to many interesting consequences and while I did wind up feeling sorry for him, he was your typical bratty self absorbed fame hungry kid. So it took a while for me to actually like him and be concerned about where this book would take him. In a nutshell, I liked this book. It was a fun ride that was an easy read. Check it out!

In Broadcast, by Liam Brown, a star vlogger is given an opportunity to test-drive a new technology. A small chip is implanted in the base of David's skull, which essentially live-streams his thoughts over the internet 24-7.

While reality TV gives us the passively reassuring and relatable everyman, and books offer a more immersive experience of empathy, MindCast then is poised to be the ultimate entertainment.

Interesting things start to happen once the implanted program starts to learn the patterns behind David's thoughts. His thoughts start to take shapes other than splotches of colour. As a vlogger, David thrived on feedback; as a MindCaster, he confronts a different kind of feedback loop when watching his own channel, that feeds and strengthens thoughts he didn't know he had. And it turns out that chip can upload in both directions.

Broadcast has the difficult task of discussing very current social and technological phenomena without making it seem dated. It wants to issue warnings regarding our social media-infused, reality TV-obsessed culture, but it's tough to do without coming off as trite or irrelevant. Or simply too late.

Unfortunately, the novel reads a little like someone of my generation trying to document the ways of my daughter's generation for the benefit of people who have spent the last decade in a technology-free zone. Vlogging had come into its stride by 2005. Reality TV for the internet. Vlogging is so commonplace these days that the book puts me at a remove when it explains it to me rather than weaving it seamlessly into the world it's trying to build.

While the technology that's core to the book is of the imagined near future, this book may have been written years ago. Apart from vlogging culture, references to Uber, mood rings, and "the static between channels on an old television set" had me puzzling to fix this story in time. Given the age of the characters, the tone and the historical timeframe all felt a little off.

"You need to understand that you're going to be a character in a book. Every character needs context. The reader has to know where they've come from, what they've been through. I'm not saying you have to be likeable. But you do have to be believable. You need substance. Dreams and desires. Hopes and fears. Emotional heft. You have feel like a real person rather than some two-dimensional cypher — otherwise why would they possibly care what happens to you?"

So says Alice, who's tasked with writing David's biography. But it's also a problem for Broadcast. So how is it that the character of David is believable even while he lacks emotional heft? Paradoxically, maybe his two-dimensionality is what makes him seem real in this day and age.

Broadcast is short novel that is fairly predictable once the main premise is established. I think it could be a good introduction to speculative fiction for those people who are wary of the genre as well as those interested in getting a glimpse of one aspect of youth culture.

The tagline on the cover is "Black Mirror meets Inception in the YouTube Age." If you've ever seen an episode of Black Mirror, this book won't hold any surprises for you. It doesn't bring anything new to the conversation we should be having about the implications of technology, but Broadcast might yet invite a few people in.

While I may sound overly critical here, I found Broadcast to be an enjoyably entertaining, non-demanding palate cleanser of a book.

Thank you to Liam Brown, Legends Press, and NetGalley for allowing me access to an e-arc of Broadcast by Liam Brown in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of Broadcast by Liam Brown is timely and fascinating. The story's grasp on millenial culture in the age of social media oversharing was authentic to me as a millenial. Even our main character's aversion to reading the dread Terms & Conditions was familiar. However, I'm afraid that's where my reference for the story ends..

To say I was very excited about the premise of this book, I found the execution disappointing. There's nothing surprising here. There are no plot twists I couldn't see coming. This feels like a paint by numbers critique of social media saturation and the rise of invasive technological innovation. As a longtime consumer of dystopian and scifi media, there's simply nothing new here.

The characters are not compelling (the main character is in fact the opposite). The settings are lackluster. The plot is straight forward and lacking in complexity. What themes there are are rehashed from better works and regurgitated with pretty much no additional insight. It's just...okay. Somebody described the most recent DC Extended Universe cinematic offering as "generically competent" and I think that applies here.

The book is fine. Alas, it's unlikely to set any worlds on fire.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. Nonetheless, I give my reviews honestly; the "free" isn't important to me. (I'd pay if I had to.) I'm interested in reading things pre-publication, which motivates me to give honest reviews.

Have you ever gotten an ego boost from sharing your awesome experience? What about when you shared what you were thinking and wished you hadn't?

Both are possible; what would happen if this happened all the time? This is the idea explored in Broadcast.

The book follows a person who is the epitome of a 2017 social-media / YouTube self-made "star". We might today call him a millennial "influencer", with a large social media following and a true passion for making his life consumable online by others.

This guy is given the opportunity to amp this ability up a level - so that much of the world is able to see, and consume vast quantities of his life. BUT, he does not have the ability to choose to limit what the world sees; they see his good, and his bad moments.

You can probably expect how this would turn out if this were all to the story; it's probable that this might not be awesome. BUT, what if you push this idea even further? THIS is the place where Broadcast distinguishes itself.

The book is well written; the language is sufficiently colorful, the story well-paced, and the ideas revealed in nice timing. I'll say that at the end, I was a little frustrated by what appears to be shallow intellectualism of the main character. I kind of wish he was simply a bit more interesting. BUT, I'm actually guessing that the very shallowness is likely intentional by the author, in order to make the point of the story. (I get it; I just don't like it ;-)

Based on my <a href="http://startupdj.com/book-rating-rules">book rating rules</a>, this gets three stars.

I tried so many times to get into this book. Unfortunately, I could not, but I have to give some sort of feedback in order to have this removed from my shelf.

I called this DNF at around 20% into the book. It felt like a trudge and a chore, and I couldn't find myself attracted or even remotely sympathetic towards any of the characters. For some, this might be their cup of tea. For me, even though the premise sounded very promising and it ticked off all of my favorite genre boxes...it didn't do anything.

I feel very bad leaving this at a 2/5 star review, because I know it'll end up hurting the book, but I could not find anything redeeming about this novel. Take this with a grain of salt: just because something looks promising and right up your alley, sometimes it's not and you end up not finishing the book and then feeling terrible about the review you promised to deliver.

I really enjoyed this book. I read it in one go, could not put it down. There are some really great ideas in this book that will get the reader thinking. Unfortunately, I feel like some of those ideas are not explored enough.
The main character is quite unlikeable at first and doesn't seem to think twice about having his every thought streamed live to an audience of millions. He's very self-centered and doesn't value privacy (his or others) until problems arise. Issues that any human would at least consider and that are quite predictable, seem to have never crossed his mind. This made it really hard for me to feel any sympathy for him. Nevertheless, the story is told at a good pace and it holds the reader's interest until the very end.

Liam Brown’s modern day Truman Show throws forward the reality show premise into the 21st century. What if your every thought was live streamed? David is already a vlogging star but his hits are on a slow decline. So when he is offered the opportunity to pioneer a new chip which allows you to live stream your thoughts it’s only a matter of time before his few morals lose the battle with his vanity and quest for increased exposure. What unfolds is a modern parable of the pervasiveness of technology in modern society as well as a slow unfolding of Dave’s life.
Reading like a thriller at times this has a central character which is not particularly likeable but during the book gradually becomes a more human character whose quest for fame becomes his own prison. Through Dave we can see many of the modern trends towards increased celebrity without merit and a hunger for appreciation and adoration from those we don’t know and never will. Oversharing could well be Dave’s middle name, although as things unfurl he starts to become aware of how those around him are affected by his actions and the damage that mass exposure can cause.
A thoroughly readable book at all times its almost cartoonish villain is such a believable silicon valley CEO that you can’t help but start thinking ‘what if’ throughout the book. Somewhere though the book morphs into something more than a parable and starts asking questions of what is authentic in a modern world.
Intriguing and thought provoking, Broadcast is a timely book and one which is enjoyable and well worth reading.