Welcome back, Readers! We’re returning to this columns roots today with a truly indie title focused on a monster taming narrative! Remember 2019 when we visited the worlds of Djinn Tamer and Monster Hunt N.Y.C.? (Has it really been almost seven years!? Wild.)
This month we’re checking out Dot Monster Re:Volution, the debut novel of CJ Van. If you’re active in the Monster Taming or nostalgic anime communities on YouTube, you may know him by the channel name The Digiknow. I first discovered his channel via his video about the Digimon movie’s western soundtrack (Which is an absolutely incredible soundtrack, by the way – a late 90s/early 2000s time capsule like no other. You want Ska? We got Ska. You want alternative rock? Yep, we got that. You want Smash Mouth!? We got All-Star before Shrek did. I still love the Pokemon movie’s western soundtrack with Britney Spears, Vitamin C and all the other pop icons of the time but the Digimon movie hits way above its weight-class with its soundtrack. No Notes.) and immediately knew I had found a channel I could vibe with! This channel is where I heard about his book and being as I love his content I figured I’d, likewise, enjoy his take on a monster taming story!
So, let’s surf the web of the future and find ourselves some digital pals to explore with!
Book Stats
- Author: CJ Van.
Formats: Paperback and Kindle.
Price: $17.99 for Paperback and $9.99 for Kindle.
Length: 232 pages.
Number of books in the series: One at the time of writing with a sequel in development.
Basic Premise
Aki lives in Canada, now, but is from Tokyo originally. You’d think that being a teenager in the 2030s, she’d have no trouble keeping in touch with her Japanese friends and family online. Video calls were once a staple of the future envisaged in science fiction, but the future is now and we treat them as no big thing today. You’d assume that they would be even more common and unremarkable in future decades!
This isn’t the case, however. The internet of Aki’s time isn’t the free form international exchange we know today. It’s called i2 and is regulated strictly by a series of firewalls and paywalls to the point where only fairly affluent people can regularly converse with people overseas. Each country has its own dedicated server and they rarely interact, meaning keeping in touch is difficult and expensive. As such, Aki has to hack back into the Tokyo server to see her best friend, Haru.
This cutting down of functionality was implemented in response to a massive, mysterious cyberattack in the late 2020s. A way to stop a digital infection of apocalyptic proportions from spreading world-wide.
Still, it’s not all bad news! You access i2 by logging in as a customizable avatar that can bond with a specialized digital assistant – A Dot Monster, or Dotmon for short. These critters have all kinds of different functions; want to be an Influencer? A Seomon might be a good fit for you! Search Engine Optimization is their specialty. Want to ensure your tech is extra free of viruses and guarded against hackers? Mamorumon is the Dotmon for you! Are you a gamer? Level up your skills by bonding to an Ikoumon!
Aki has never had much use for a Dotmon partner, though. She prides herself on her ability to manipulate i2 on her own as a human being. As mentioned earlier, she’s a hacker who writes her own code to bypass some of the restrictions of i2 and stay in touch with Japan. Her Mom, Hana, has other ideas though and pairs her up with her own Dotmon! Mamorumon, the anti-virus program, is registered to Aki’s account… and it’s lucky that this is the case as one of Aki’s hacked links between Canadian and Japanese servers starts to crumble, revealing not only a glimpse of the old internet underneath, but aspects of the worldwide catastrophe cyberattack itself! Suddenly Aki and Haru find themselves at the center of an internet sized mystery… what really caused the internet to crumble a decade ago? And how are the Dotmon partner programs involved? Is it really essential that countries be divided and kept apart by draconian and expensive means? Is i2 really the best solution and are Dotmon really native to this diluted, limited network?
You’ll need to read it to find out!
My Take
I really enjoyed this story. As it’s a tale set in a speculative future, it has a lot to say about our present. Dealing with topics as relevant as region-locked content, paywalls, the ever increasing live-service and subscription based models so many businesses are moving towards, the dangers of big conglomerates and monopolies and how sweaty, stuffed suits in corner offices will generally opt to trample the little guy if it will make them a dollar.
…but y’know. It’s fun because a penguin dressed like a little knight, a red goblin and a muay Thai wolf guy fight giant bugs!
It also deals with smaller, more personal issues. The idea that you can have more than one outward facing persona and each one doesn’t invalidate any of the others or your core self. We all act a little differently depending on our circumstances – I’d wager you act differently around your boss than you do around your friends, romantic partners or grandparents. We kind of take this as a given and it’s considered acceptable… but we are slightly different people online than we are in person, too, and while this is obviously a kind of masking it doesn’t have to come with the negative connotations and baggage the term normally carries. That, too, is a normal part of the way we operate and it’s okay.
Re:Volution also deals with the negative impact of cyber bullying. The idea that the more connected we are, the more responsibility we have to treat those connections with respect. Even behind a screen, people are people and we should, wherever possible, choose kindness and respect for the humanity of the person on the other end of that cyber connection.
But it’s FUN because the cool monsters get even bigger and cooler and have even more epic battles against security robots!
Now, I will say that this world is extremely Digimon inspired. The way i2 works reminds me a lot of the way the internet is depicted in Digimon Story: Cybersleuth (I did a bit of a deep-dive on those games Here!) And there are a couple of scenes that feel like they could very comfortably fit into a Digimon show or movie – I won’t spoil them here but when you read it, I think you’ll know which ones I mean if you’re a Digimon fan. That’s not necessarily BAD, though! I have covered a lot of Monster Taming properties for this site in one way or another and most of them lean pretty heavily on Pokemon to provide plot, world building and mechanical short-hand… this is the first time I’ve seen Digimon really used in that same way. I’m, personally, fine with it.
There is a sequel on the way as well and I’m looking forward to reading that!
If you have a Monster Taming fan you need to find a gift for, maybe consider yourself a bit of a DigiDestined or just want to read something that captures a tone that’s both futuristic and kind of nostalgic in that turn-of-the-millenium way? I recommend this title wholeheartedly.
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