
By Daryl Gregory
Hardcover edition
Publisher Simon & Schuster Imprint Saga Press (Adult) ISBN9781668060049
When We Were Real

JP and Dulin have been the best of friends for decades. When JP finds out his cancer has aggressively returned, Dulin decides it’s the perfect time for one last adventure: a week-long bus tour of North America’s Impossibles, the physics-defying glitches and geographic miracles that started cropping up seven years earlier—right after the Announcement that revealed our world to be merely a digital simulacrum. The outing, courtesy of Canterbury Trails Tours, promises the trip of a (not completely real) lifetime in a (not completely deluxe) coach.
Their fellow passengers are 21st-century pilgrims, each of them on the tour for their own reasons. There’s a nun hunting for an absent God, a pregnant influencer determined to make her child too famous to be deleted, a crew of horny octogenarians living each day like it’s their last, and a professor on the run from leather-clad sociopaths who take The Matrix as scripture. Each stop on this trip is stranger than the last—a Tunnel outside of time, a zero gravity Geyser, the compound of motivational-speaking avatar—with everyone barreling toward the tour’s iconic final stop Ghost City, where unbeknownst to our travelers the answer to who is running the simulation may await.
When We Were Real is a tour-de-force and exploration of what really matters, even in an artificial world.
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Adult Crossover Genre Fiction Plus (Grades 11 & Up)
Adult Crossover Genre Fiction Plus (Grades 11 & Up
Adult Crossover Genre Fiction Plus (Grades 11 & Up)
For Grades 11 & Up
This captivating 14-book collection serves as a bridge between young adult and adult fiction, offering older teens immersive stories with dynamic characters, thrilling plots, and genre-blending narratives. Introducing readers to new authors and a wider literary landscape, these selections challenge and engage with mature themes and thought-provoking content. Some titles may explore identity, relationships, and real-world challenges, including LGBTQIA+ themes, strong language, social issues, and sensitive topics such as sexual abuse and suicide.
Interests
Fiction, Mature Readers, Thriller/Horror/Mystery, Novels, Realistic Fiction