Jack McGuigan

A huge theme park, Nanoland is Frank Nano’s vision come to life. Alicia, who plays a nano princess, longs for more. When the attractions begin attacking guests, Alicia and a small band of survivors work together to flee the park and uncover the mystery of what is happening.

This book can be summed up in a few words - Mickey mouse meets Jurassic Park. The fact that out of control technology was beloved children’s toys added a fun and twisted element. The characters themselves were a bit stereotypical, I really wanted more from them. However, I enjoyed the story. Overall, 4 out of 5.… (mais)

If you've had a bad day at a Disney park then this book would totally float your boat.
I enjoyed this book for the most part, the flipping into the book being read did become rather annoying and interupted the flow of the plot. I understand why it was used, and that was cleverly done but I think it was over done too much to explain history of things and became more of an info dump situation.
The characters were good, the whole situation with the little girl thinking the princess is real was cutely done.
I did not read this book as though it was comically done, I dont remember laughing at all in it but still enjoyed the world that had been created.… (mais)

A high-voltage sci-fi adventure story in a Disneyland-like amusement park of the future. The computer programming starts to glitch increasingly, pixel-holes and a few hushed-up attacks and accidents happen. Soon the AI goes fully awry and the remaining guests and staff of the park have to fight for their lives against attractions turned unpredictable and murderous to find a way out of the madhouse.
As a fan of stories set in derelict/abandoned amusement parks with deranged characters or rides gone wrong, I expected this to be a new personal favourite.
Alas, as the catastrophe happens and things start to go seriously wrong, the whole story derails and turns just bonkers. And no, not bonkers in a good, Alice-in-Wonderland kind of way. I meen bonkers in a way much to silly to bother.
You could feel how much fun the author had with telling the story of the things going, a bit like a kid in a candy shop, but after a while, it was just too goofy and stupid. There were tons of inconsistencies. And sorry, no one, no matter how loyal or brainwashed or partially incorporated by the park you were, would act that way when people are starting to get killed. No. No way.
(Oh, the way Princess Dee reacts on meeting her evil pixel-made counterpart? No. That's how a little boy would react, dear Jack, but no female being would ever, let me tell you that!) There were so many instances where I just rolled my eyes because it just doesn't work that way, at least not on paper.
Maybe this would work better as a Hollywood blockbuster movie where all is action and nothing needs to be serious anymore.
Where were the editors on this one? This book is so promising – it could have been enhanced to a whole another level by a tough round of serious copy editing!
I struggled how to rate this.
The ending with its very sinister twists redeems the goofy middle part a little, and, as I said, it was a fast ride. I received this eARC via LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program - Thanks, LT and author! - in exchange for an honest review.… (mais)

If you've ever been (or will soon be) forced into Disney World against your will, I think you'll really appreciate this story. It's a darkly comedic look at futuristic megalomaniac version of Walt Disney. I don't think that's exactly what the author meant. There's a lot of judgements passed on Nanoland Princesses, the exactly 1 black princess in the Nanoland canon and commercialization of childhood.
The book can be read as a slightly dystopian sci-fi or as a diatribe on creativity and art in a capitalist society. Or Both!
I think this would be an interesting read to pair with Creativity Inc.… (mais)