A novel about the first virtual reality theme park as it forever alters the fabric of a small mountain town in the Pacific Northwest.
In the shadow of the Washington Cascades, Raventon has seen better times. Rumors of big-money development circulate, timberland is sold and then transformed into the Simulator® — the world’s first franchised virtual reality amusement center — and Raventon falls into the shadow of the Sim, its residents relegated to providing local color and t-shirts to tourists and those who pass through.
When those who live in Raventon try Simming they Experience nightmares rather than fairytales come true. Things heat up during a summer of drought, drawing Raventon into a firestorm of change and ultimately, destruction.
Cuz is the sometime narrator, using best available technology to piece together the relationships and circumstances that lead to her own coming of age.
The audio CD that accompanies the novel is ear candy, a soundscape of simulation that can play as background noise or as high-fidelity performance.
Published by Pika Press (Enterprise OR)
ISBN: 0-918957-25-7 novel (second printing)
ISBN: 0-918957-24-9 novel with CD- SOLD OUT
“In [Run Plant Fly] her debut novel, Ellie Belew combines the care of a seamstress with the relentless honesty of an intrepid reporter. She reminds us that no small town is normal if you look at it closely and no small-town community is uninteresting if you expose its mysteries and secrets with compassion and understanding. The book unlayers Raventon, Washington, a one-time logging and mining town that is on its way down. Into this world comes the futuristic Simulator, a virtual entertainment center that one character describes as “somewhere between the Mall-of-America, Disney World, and a therapist.” The Simulator is hardly a curative for what ails people; the only curative is the truth that gradually surfaces in the lives of Belew’s many memorable characters. I admire this book both for its masterful construction and for its brave explorations of the complex human desires, fears, and needs in seemingly simple people.”
– JIM HEYNEN