The Paper Eater

The Paper Eater is a satirical novel set in Atlantica, a society given over to compulsive consumption and fervent utopian belief. Hannah Park is a cog in its democracy machine. Harvey, a former computer whiz, is the man the system threw away.

Harvey has been exiled from his native island of Atlantica and separated from his family. He now sits in prison aboard the Sea Hero, a former Disney ship, where he finds comfort in making voodoo-style papier-mache. As the execution date of his violent cellmate nears, everything around him reminds him of the unjust sentence handed down by the consumer-driven system he once voted for.

The story raises several questions. Is it too late for Harvey to take revenge on the Facilitator General of Libertycare and on the machine known as the Boss? Was the disappearance of the woman he loved an accident, or something darker? And is the notorious Sect truly so dangerous that civil liberties must be erased to contain it?

Jensen's witty vision of the future takes aim at rampant consumerism, blind obedience, virtual love and home-chewed papier-mache.