Fairy Godparents: Raising a Fairy Child by Indahari Setyo (2020)

Posted on 2024-02-05 by thelittleman

Rating: 5 out of 5.
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It’s a book you’ve maybe never heard of, but I hope to change that today. Fairy Godparents: Raising a Fairy Child is a fascinating novel that kept me up at night, weaving the worlds of technology, fantasy, and family into a thrilling portrait I’ll not soon forget.

This book wasn’t what I expected going into it, so don’t let the title or cover image fool you. It’s not a children’s book. It’s not a romance. It’s not a happy-go-lucky fairytale. It’s a novel whose genre is hard to pin down, and “fantasy thriller” might be the closest I can venture.

The story follows a couple, Shaun and Thisbe, who find a baby abandoned on a hiking trail. As Stella grows up, she’s convinced (with Thisbe’s help) that she’s in fact a fairy princess given as a gift to human parents. This fantasy is all well and good, until it interacts with Shaun’s work as a programmer at the cutting edge of immersive Virtual-Reality technology. Soon the family (and the world) can’t be sure what’s real and what’s not, as dreamworld beasts and corporate giants alike seek full control of Stella’s special brain.

Truth be told, I began reading this book aloud to my kids (ages 10 and 12) because, well, I do that sort of thing. After 6 chapters, though, I had to pause and ask, “Do you guys want to keep hearing this story?” They both responded, “I don’t care,” which was their polite version of saying “No.” It’s not that the book is inappropriate—not at all—just not age-appropriate.

I’m actually glad I stopped reading aloud at Chapter 6, because shortly after that, the story takes a good and dark turn from family drama into sci-fi thriller. The author introduces an ingenious and believable element called “swimmers,” tiny drinkable robots that latch onto a person’s brain and take them into the VR world of living dreams—or as Thisbe describes it to herself, “the perfect place for inherently dissatisfied beings” (216). Suddenly, it felt like I was reading Orson Scott Card (the thrilling Ender’s Game version of Card, not the weirdo A Planet Called Treason version of Card). I loved it.

This book has a sizeable subtext of the danger of smart-phone or video-game addiction, of doom-scrolling, or of Tiktok-type apps in general. The people stuck “swimming” become like zombies, and it’s not unlike what we see with people today, no matter their ages. In one passage, Shaun wonders about his wife:

It struck him as odd that tonight, he didn’t feel like talking to her about what was going on inside him. It was as though her fascination with fantasy made him distrust her, and think of her like a little girl, a daughter to protect instead of a confidant. (122)

While some of the characters in the book might seem outlandish (i.e. Ishtar), there’s reason for it all. Two minor characters stand out as intentionally contrasting, like the angel and demon sitting on Shaun’s two shoulders. There’s the humanist voice in Dr. Anslee that seeks to justify people’s acting out there wildest, most violent and sexual fantasies in the VR world:

“The way I look at it,” Anslee pontificated, “Is that this sort of thing is highly beneficial. It’s good for people to be able to explore the darkest parts of their subconscious. Sometimes it’s the only way to heal.” (121)

At the same, there’s also the moral/spiritual voice in Joseph who helps Shaun think more clearly about people’s behavior inside the VR world.

“If it all plays out in a virtual environment, it’s not wrong, right?” [Shaun asked.]
[Joseph] just stared at him. “Wrong is wrong. Virtual reality notwithstanding. The effect on the soul is the same.” (157)

Joseph also provides some biblical understanding for what people in the VR world face. At one point, he equates the swimmers to “the Mark of the Beast” (177), implying that those caught swimming might as well be demon-possessed. At another point, the character announces that Jesus is the only remedy to wickedness the world is facing (292, 342), not just in this moment of apocalyptic history but in all life in general.

This was an intensely entertaining and thought-provoking novel, and I hope it gets the press it deserves. And if you think that I’ve given everything away in this book review, not a chance. There’s so much more to it—and the ending, well, it still keeps me up at night.

©2024 E.T.

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