"The Big God Network" is a novel that takes America’s culture wars into cyberspace and embeds multiculture in the multiverse, with scenes set in Bali, Tokyo, California, and several virtual worlds. This work of satirical speculative fiction blends the wry humor of Kurt Vonnegut with the cosmic scope of Carl Sagan and the edgy near-future scenarios of William Gibson.

In McGowan’s vision, set in the 2020s, the current growth in the power of the Christian Right has continued unabated, resulting in some less-than-desirable changes in the American political landscape. The United States has been carved up into a handful of politically themed new countries, including liberal Pacifica (the West Coast) and the country's theocratic heartland, known as New America (run by a president obsessed with the Christian rapture).

Against this contentious political backdrop, Baba Ed, the leader of a wealthy UFO cult, seeks contact with extraterrestrial civilizations via the Channel, a breakthrough communications interface with a high “AIQ” that renders the most secure system vulnerable, and threatens the new balance of power. McGowan envisions a dystopic New America ruled by evangelicals who hope to bring Pacifica back into the fold, and the Channel may offer the means to subdue the “secular” region. Or to protect it, if the book’s Pacifican-Brazilian hero Franz Sampaio is successful in his quest.

The Big God Network will appeal to those curious about virtual reality and cyberspace, New Age spiritual seekers, critics of the religious right, and fiction lovers in search of witty and imaginative storytelling.

The book is available here:
The Big God Network (at Amazon.com)

The Big God Network (Amazon U.K.)

The Big God Network (Amazon Canada)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
J.C. McGowan (aka Chris McGowan) is a widely read commentator on world music, politics, digital media, arts and culture; his writings have appeared in The Huffington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Billboard magazine, and many other publications. His non-fiction books have been published by Random House and Temple University Press.