When We Were Real

When We Were Real by Daryl Gregory
4/1/25; 464 pages
Simon & Schuster/Saga Press

When We Were Real by Daryl Gregory is a highly recommended road trip novel melded with a science fiction tome and a buddy adventure. This is a highly entertaining, exciting, and frustrating read.

Seven years earlier came the Announcement which revealed our world is a digital simulation. After that, the Impossibles, the physics-defying glitches and geographic miracles started cropping up. The North American Impossibilities Tour through the Canterbury Trails Tour Company takes customers on a bus to sites caused by glitches in the code. The sites include in part a frozen tornado, anti-gravity geysers, a flock of sheep made of clouds, a tunnel that runs outside of time, a rectangular canyon where gravity reorients and Ghost City.

JP “The Engineer,” who has a brain tumor, and Dulin, “The Comic Book Writer,” have been the best friends for decades and sign up for the tour. Other participants who initially are introduced by nicknames, include: Janet and Patrice, “The Nuns,” Gregory "the Rabbi," Beth-Anne, “The Nurse,” Lisa Marie the pregnant "influencer," the proud grandmother, the reader, the Octos, the realist and son, the honeymooners, the tour guide, and the professor. 

A seating chart for the bus is included at the opening of the novel and readers will learn the names of the participants, with the exception of the Octos. It may be a bit confusing at first, but everyone is given a distinct voice and personality. It becomes clear that they all have their own motives for taking the tour. The narrative unfolds through the  point-of-view of multiple individual characters.

The premise that everyone is living in a simulation and they know it is intriguing and begs the questions who is in charge, can you change trajectories, and is it possible to delete things. Adding the glitches the Impossibles represent to the world makes it even more interesting. All the participants on the tour have their own reasons to take the tour and their discussions and experiences on the tour are in the forefront while they grapple with existential questions.

The action and personal journeys of each character expands beyond the road trip to confront even larger issues. This along with some of the discussions and actions along the way made this a frustrating novel. It is also, as I mentioned, highly entertaining.

When We Were Real is ultimately a literary novel that covers several different genres. This could provide lively discussions for a book club, assuming you could get it on the agenda. Thanks to Saga Press for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.