If you liked The Matrix, I highly recommend this book. Very original premise, with a wonderful cast of characters and situations. Fast read, and will keep you thinking long after you put it down.

Edith Forbes book "Exit to Reality" is marketed as a "utopian vision," but it is not. In actuality, life in the 29th century is a _dystopia_, where every action is highly regulated, and your life path set almost from birth.

Lydian, an information analyst, is bored to tears. Her lover is unexciting; her relationships with co-workers, stale. Her "Mom" (a machine construct) and "Dad" keep her amused, but no more. And she wonders what else there is to life than this.

As she's cruising the computer bulletin boards one day, she meets an unusual person, Merle. Merle asks her to meet him in Paris; she barely has enough credits for this, but goes anyway because she's just that bored. Merle astounds her with his ability to shapeshift, yet no one else seems to notice.

As they go to other parts of the world together (he knows how to travel without money), they realize many strange things. Food doesn't taste quite right. People act too much the same, considering. And they definitely *look* too much the same.

Simply put: in trying to make things easier, by erasing differences, instead, society made them worse because conformity is now even more rigidly enforced than before. Finding out that reality is actually on the inside of a computer matrix wasn't as surprising as it may have been before the movie "The Matrix," but it still wasn't totally expected.

Forbes writes well; she's witty and inventive, and her asides about food, tea, and life in general are well worth the price of admission even if the plot hadn't been as good as it was. In addition, I believed in the romance between the bored Lydian and the uber-shapeshifter Merle; they seemed a good match, as both had wondered for a long time the eternal question, "Is this all there is? Is there nothing more?" rather than sidestepping it, as most people generally seem to do.

This is an excellent book about dystopias and how they never work, and about the continuing and surprising powers of the mind and human achievement. Highly recommended.

Don't listen to Kirkus--EXIT TO REALITY is one of the best books I've ever read. Edith Forbes portrays a feminist love in the future, in which bodies no longer tie people to the inexorable identites "woman" or "man." I've had everyone I know read it, including the whole staff of The Feminist Press! You'll like it even if you're not normally a sci-fi fan.

I read this book all excited-like. I was thinking "Yeah, lesbian love story". I thought the book was actually kind of boring. I had wish that her relationship with Alma Rose had developed more. I wish that she had heard more flack from the town about her relationship with a woman, especially in a small town where they weren't used to the idea of same sex marriages. The book could have been written so much better. I enjoyed it, but I was hoping for more :)

Doesn't matter that this is a love story between two women - it could as easily be any forbidden love. It is about love so big outsiders can't see it. It is about being changed so much by love, waking up so much, that trivial things like "facts" and broken hearts don't matter any more. It's about owning your own life, and never being a victim. This is a book about the wisdom of learning that what happens TO you doesn't matter so much as how you respond. It is an utterly Romantic book, in the best, old sense of the word, and I would recommend it to anyone of any persuasion. (It was recommended to me by a straight woman.)

Without a doubt, the novel "Alma Rose" is the best book I've ever read with a lesbian main character. Frankly, I'm biased against the genre, but this book set me, uh, straight. What most struck me was the beautiful language and the thoughtfulness of the narrative. It is a heart-rending book that also makes you think.

Jordy McNeil moves with his mom back to the small town where she grew up. He's always been picked upon, due to his small size and his habits, but when the kids find out his mom's a lesbian, then his troubles get worse for a while. Jordy learns to adapt to each situation throughout his life, which is part of his charm. After high school, he works for a while in Silicon Valley, where he makes a ton of money, and when those empty feelings overwhelm him, Jordy travels to Latin America on a quest for renewal. From there he goes to Seattle, where he falls victim to a drive-by shooting. He flees across the country to Maine, trying to wake up to life again, and it's only through the interactions with his mother's partner Pat that he succeeds in grabbing a hold of life again. Forbes's novel is connected to her earlier novel, "Alma Rose", but this can be read without reading the previous. Her writing is lively and skilful. This is a beautiful story about finding one's place in the world and in one's family, and about living every experience fully. "Navigating the Darwin Straits" is a perfect example of a book that's an utter joy to read.

This book is one of those novels that are meant to be shared among your dearest friends. It is about circumstance and the intricate connection of coincidents that shape our existance, from the moment we crawled from the sea to who you love in this lifetime.

Jordy McNeil is the intelligent, slight-statured and geeky son of an open lesbian in a small farm community. This makes him vulerable indeed to the insults and beatings beloved by so many ignorant bullies everywhere, but he is able to distance himself enough to understand not only his tormentors' mindsets, but to even gain the grudging respect. His life is far from perfect, but he slips through, strengthened by his mother's pragmaticism balanced by her life partner's calm serenity and acceptance. Through all his adventures is a sense of profound responsibility; the need to make a difference somehow, to break free from the norm and yet feel like a part of something bigger than himself.

It's impossible to relate the events of Jordy's life without falling prey to sappy feel-good phrases. This books is so much more than that. Just when you know what's going to happen, a new twist comes about. Ms. Forbes manages to flesh out very real characters; Jordy is infinitely likeable without being boring and becomes more complex with age and experience. His life is a quest for meaning and relevance, and his story journeys through the bone-white recesses of Silicone Valley at an enterprising Internet startup company, to the quiet ghost-infested ruins of South American pyramids, to the drenched inner-city streets of Seattle, and beyond.

Jordy is cursed, like a few of us, with the need to constantly confirm his meaning and purpose in the universe. Fortunately, while he is introspective, he never comes off as whiney. That's why he is so tragic, this mild boy who turns into a man who feels empty even though he does so much. The title on a whole is satisfying, and the last few chapters so interesting you won't want to put the book down. I won't even try to sum up what happens - just enjoy the twists!

I adored this book and will be sure to check out _Alma Rose_, the book preceding this one, which begins the tale of Jordy's future step-mother. This is one talented author, indeed.

When the suicide of her father takes on a sinister twist, Vincie decides to go to the local sheriff with her suspicions. The story itself is good, but there is so much left hanging regarding the various inter-relationships that I kept wondering if I had missed something. And in the end, we still don't know for sure what happened to her father. Not Forbes' best effort.

This book was okay. I prefer books where a little more actually "happens". There was a lot of lovely description of the New England farm life, Vincie, her husband, her two brothers, Bret the policeman, and (especially) Vincie's father. I enjoyed reading the book through to the end, but it did not make me want to read more books by this author. Perhaps the subtleties of her writing are beyond me. :-)

So many angles to view this story from. As I was reading, I just KNEW who really killed Vincie's father/the hard working farmer. And then I started realizing it wasn't that person but I was then thinking: PLEASE DON'T BE THIS PERSON! And the anguish that pour Vincie was going though wondering why and who could have done this. The descriptive writing about the Vermont area with the die-hard working families and how stern our ancestors were. It's easy to see my predescessors in these hardworking, serious people. I loved this book and recommend it to all.