Jim, born at the dawn of the 21st century, is nearing his 60th birthday with considerable apprehension. He's been spared state euthanasia but must instead enter Future Fields - a partially understood virtual 'afterlife' enabled by drugs and nanotechnology interfaced with his brain. Though he has helped design this digital world, his body will soon lie in a drawer-like chamber, his consciousness transferred into this new 'reality'. Whether this realm will be paradise, purgatory, or something darker remains uncertain. England's long decline has left Jim weary, yet he still places his faith in his wife, Portway, the doctor, and the system overseeing his fate - one that seems already sealed.
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'The Experience' did exactly what a book of this nature is supposed to do - pulling the reader in from the first page. It teased out things to come and it got me turning page after page as I wanted to see what happened (and not be interrupted!). I was excited to both understand and then be inside this other reality. I wanted to know where it would all lead. And even beyond all that I could see the connections to our world right now. My God! Am I in a 'drawer' right now and this [experience] is not real?
A great and unexpected follow up to 'The Mirror' which has some similar themes that needed to be explored more. And who knows, Tim Bragg may well have tapped into something that could be reality in the not-too-distant future.
Also loved the idea of Civic Duty - with the fear [that the legal age] might go down again. Sure enough Bragg had thought and written about that later in the novel.
It's definitely something a writer like Philip K Dick would write should he be alive now. And the quality of writing and editing raises the bar. Bragg's writing is definitely on an upwards trajectory.
(Kirk S. King writer/editor)
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Tim Bragg once again proves his storytelling prowess in The Experience, just as he did in The Mirror. With a keen sense of pacing and a gift for crafting believable, compelling characters, Bragg draws readers into richly imagined worlds that unfold with quiet intensity. What sets his work apart is his ability to weave profound philosophical questions seamlessly into the narrative-never pulling us out of the moment but embedding the ideas within the action itself. The Experience arrives at a crucial time, confronting the pressing challenges facing humanity with a sense of urgency and insight that feels both timely and necessary.
(Mike Fiorito - UFO Symphonic)
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Are we a burden at 60? Could it become our duty to die for the greater "good"?
The Experience imagines a near-future Britain shaped by the growing acceptance of state euthanasia. Jim, approaching 60, faces a mandated death sentence - but he has one escape. Through AI, computer technology and hallucinogenic drugs, he can retreat into a constructed world inside his own mind, funded by insurance secured by his wife.
As Jim struggles to reconcile love, mortality and the loss of a normal life, his family is forced to confront their own fears. His wife fights to protect him. Their daughter grows up in a society that seems only to promise a legal death. Their son, living abroad, faces uncertainty in a world that feels increasingly unstable. No character remains unchanged; loyalties shift, convictions falter, and nothing unfolds as expected.
The novel questions the relationship between the individual and the state - and whether a society that eliminates the old and vulnerable can remain humane. Both unsettling and compelling, The Experience is an accessible but thought-provoking story that challenges what we mean by duty, love, and even reality itself.
(AJ - reader/linguist)
