FantasticLand: A Novel
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars | 4,107 ratings
Price: 21.88
Last update: 08-28-2024
About this item
Since the 1970s, FantasticLand has been the theme park where "Fun is Guaranteed!" But when a hurricane ravages the Florida coast and isolates the park, the employees find it anything but fun. Five weeks later, the authorities who rescue the survivors encounter a scene of horror. Photos soon emerge online of heads on spikes outside of rides and viscera and human bones littering the gift shops, breaking records for hits, views, likes, clicks, and shares. How could a group of survivors, mostly teenagers, commit such terrible acts?
Presented as a fact-finding investigation and a series of first-person interviews, FantasticLand pieces together the grisly series of events. Park policy was that the mostly college-aged employees surrender their electronic devices to preserve the authenticity of the FantasticLand experience. Cut off from the world and left on their own, the teenagers soon form rival tribes who viciously compete for food, medicine, social dominance, and even human flesh. This new social network divides the ravaged dreamland into territories ruled by the Pirates, the ShopGirls, the Freaks, and the Mole People. If meticulously curated online personas can replace private identities, what takes over when those constructs are lost?
FantasticLand is a modern take on Lord of the Flies meets Battle Royale that probes the consequences of a social civilization built online.
Top reviews from the United States
This book is actually far from my typical read, as I am not too keen on blood and guts and doom and gloom. Yet somehow, when my husband mentioned he was listening to the audiobook, I was instantly intrigued and downloaded and read it in one sitting.
A modern Lord of the Flies, a skeleton crew of 300 or so theme park employees find themselves trapped in the park following a hurricane of epic proportions. Revealed in a series of interviews, the days following the storm are filled with chaos, paranoia, depravity, and some downright deliciously creepy stuff.
What I loved about how this story was told is the uncovering of events gradually through various POVs and voices. In this way, we can see how something seemingly so outlandish could transpire so quickly. How one moment and our responses breed the next, and how these moments ripple and leave us scratching our heads, asking, “How did we get here?” There is a subtle insight into motivations, buried demons, and personality faults that are amplified when put into a vacuum.
The only thing that kind of irked me was the repeated theme and idea of “what happens when you take away internet and social media from a group of young folks who have grown to depend upon it so desperately?” While I don’t disagree with the idea of a generation addicted to instant gratification, connection, and misguided purpose, I don’t think it was entirely necessary in this book or as an idea as a motivational driver for utter carnage and murderous teens.
Rather, I think you can take from this a bigger picture, spanning all ages and generations, of what happens when you have a group of individuals who are isolated without information, scared and unsure of their future and wellbeing, lack purpose, and have no guiding force-and what happens based on WHO steps out ahead of the pack as the leader to create that guiding force and set the tone. How our differing perceptions, misunderstandings, and reactions to things can create a situation that grows quickly out of control. These same ideas shape and form politics, religion, cults, and the like…affecting individuals of all ages, place, and time…not just digitally addicted teenagers in Florida.
For those reasons, I can also see how some might not enjoy this look into the darkest parts and the lowest of where our humanity can go while living during a period of time where perhaps we want to escape just how low we have seen society go in ways we thought not possible. For others who find solace in accepting the bleak and depraved and enjoy piecing together its motivations-Fantasticland offers a fun ride.
For me, this book was simply and honestly a FUN, quick read. As I mentioned, I am no fan of gore, and for whatever reason my dark side showed up for this one and honestly didn’t find it all that bad? I found it had just the right amount of car crash you cant look away from and creep factor to keep me glued, entertained, and curious from beginning to end-leaving me nagging my husband to hurry up and finish his audiobook so we could discuss.
While reading the book to see if it was an appropriate recommendation, my mind kept going back to my real students. Their normally unfocused bored eyes staring intently at social media clips of natural disasters. Their expressions showing gears in their mind cranking. Today, I gave my students a hypothetical situation based off of the book “Hurricane (we live in Hawaii). Isolation. What would you do?” First, came their questions. Like how many adults were there? Were the adults family? Then, an answer from a well-to-do “A” female student…she would unalive all the babies because she likes dogs and babies aren’t people yet and will contribute to global warming. Most of the students laughed. A few showed zero reaction. One girl looked distressed but said nothing she just looked around at others wanting them to say something. That encouraged a male student to say he would find the old people (adults) and unalive them, especially this one teacher that is disrespectful to students. Nods and agreement. More laughter.
There was a lot of gently worded, almost PC, suggestions regarding SA and pillaging. All I gave them was the scenario. I didn’t tell them about the book or the direction it took. Their answers were like they were avoiding censorship one might get flagged for on social media. It was bizarre but not shocking that they laughed while using politically correct language to describe atrocities while avoiding using profanity bc “it’s against class rules”. So all that is stopping them from horrible deeds are social constructs like rules…
To be honest, none of it surprised me.
I won’t be recommending the book to my students because the threat of being locked down with these kids due to a hurricane is very real. And the same parents that let their kids play COD and until 3 am on a school night and allow their daughters to dance like hoochies on TikTok would likely lose their minds.
But I did think the book was very engaging.
This book was WILD! I enjoyed the interview style writing. It made a friend of mine believe this actually happened ???? overall good read, different and interesting. Recommend if you’re looking to change things up.
There are also some things left to be desired. What were the Robots up to during most of this? The warthogs seemed to be in/near the circus a lot, yet only urban legend style stories are heard about them? How did the Deadpools fracture after Riley? What was the chemical smell that was mentioned?
Otherwise we got young folks living in isolation in horrid circumstances with no way to keep peace. We might not have a Simon but we got plenty of others to play with.