Title: Cold Time: My Simulation Blunder
Author: Shaan Changotra
Publisher: One Point Six Technologies Pvt Ltd
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian future
First Publication: 2022
Language: English
Book Summary: Cold Time: My Simulation Blunder by Shaan Changotra
The new world is prospering, but a permanent dent has been made. The glory of planet earth has been tarnished. The after-effects of climate wars have put the world in chaos. No land is left. The normal planet Earth has come to an end. The people call this era: ‘Aftermath of World War Three with Nature’.
Agushti Hoffman is the first survivor who wakes up from a coma. He questions the new reality; everything seems real but it’s all artificial. Transparent glasses cover and protect the habitable islands. Ronny Atari works as an agent of the new world government. Soon after Agushti wakes up, his friend, Harley, takes him to a notorious island where they are chased by pirates. They are saved by Ronny who is back from the manufacturing industries also known as Mars. Both the planets, Earth and Mars have a diplomatic relationship.
After the chase — Agushti, Harley, and Ronny end up on a sacred island that is not artificial. There, they discover a secret door to another universe. Hidden earth. Entering that world, Agushti wakes up at the hospital again from a coma. Is this reality an illusion inside Agushti’s mind? Or was this the way from the start – a simulation blunder?
Book Review: Cold Time: My Simulation Blunder by Shaan Changotra
Cold Time by Shaan Changotra is not your usual sci-fi/fantasy book. The plot is one of a kind and the implementation of the theme is equally unique, so much so that reading it makes you feel as if it’s written by someone from another planet. The story is quite complicated and needs a thorough reading to get it completely, but it is full of adventure.
We are in the future into a world where real life is not worth too much and growth takes place mainly in the virtual world. The world is now in a state of anarchy as a result of the fallout from climate conflicts. There is no more land. The standard way of life on Earth has finally come to an end. This period of time is referred to by the people as the “Aftermath of World War Three with Nature.” The story revolves around Agushti Hoffman, the first among the survivors who just woke up from coma after two months. He expresses doubts about the new world; while everything seems true, it is all an illusion. However, none of it matters anymore since he discovered that the world government controls the countries. Ronny Atari is an agent of the new world government. Mr. Mathew, his teacher, explains why, and he even explains why there are only four billion people on Earth.
As soon as Agushti regains consciousness, his friend Harley brings him to an infamous island, where they are pursued by a band of pirates. Ronny, who had returned from Mars, the manufacturing industries, comes to their rescue and saves them. Both planets, Earth and Mars, have an active diplomatic engagement with one another. Following a close encounter with pirates, Agushti, Harley, and Ronny find themselves on an island that was not created by humans. When they get there, they find a hidden door that leads to another hidden world. After passing into that world, Agushti wakes up again from coma in the hospital.
Cold Time: My Simulation Blunder is a dystopian science fiction that takes place in a future where our world is suffering from global warming and climate change crisis and everyone needs a means to escape from this harsh truth. Shaan Changotra takes us on a voyage into a highly gloomy future, which will demonstrate to you the need and urgency of focusing on climate change in the present day and age. It gets a bit tedious sometimes, but it helps that the writer also knows how to write well, and thus puts us into a fascinating and somewhat addictive world. It’s hard to get out of it until the end. The author builds around the reader a virtual world that is no longer a science fiction but a real world in the future. It is possible that life on Earth in a hundred years from now will look like described in the book.
The main strength of the book lies not within its plot or characters but within the concepts. The whole concept and world-building of the book is something that resonates with the current world we live in. This is actually a book with good messages about climate change and one that poses interesting philosophical questions about what happens when nature goes to war with humans. On another level, it is a brilliant psychological character study and an observation of group dynamics.
The story is fast-paced, and Shaan Changotra’s writing style and streamlined descriptiveness serve to bring the characters front and center at all times. This book is infused with a very real sense of psychological and philosophical questions, and treats its protagonists as fully realized, intelligent, three-dimensional characters struggling with very real questions. The ethical conundrums that arise throughout the novel provide a great deal of tension to the narrative, and the author does an excellent job of encouraging readers to find some semblance of moral high ground in every situation.
Cold Time by Shaan Changotra is thought-provoking, emotionally complex, ethically challenging, and richly colorful, both verbally and visually. The book seems daunting at first, but the author seems to be giving us permission to lose time and place and sense and reason and just string along with the wild meanderings this story presents. I’d recommend it to anyone interested in science-fiction showing a dystopian future.
