> A MESSAGE FROM ROD REES, AUTHOR OF 'THE DEMI-MONDE: WINTER':

I’ve been asked the question as to why I called the book “The Demi-Monde” so I suppose it’s best to begin by defining what the Demi-Monde (or as it is sometimes referred to as the demimonde, the demi-monde or the Demi-monde) is. The term itself derives from the name of a comedy written by Alexander Dumas in 1855 called “Le Demi-Monde”.

There seem to be two standard definitions for the term that I’ve cited in my book:

1. a subclass of society whose members embrace a decadent lifestyle and evince loose morals. This Demi-Monde is often associated with courtesans who exist by stimulating (in often very naughty ways) the generosity of their rich patrons;
2. a shadow world where the norms of civilised behaviour have been abandoned. It is often the artistic and intellectual cliques who are thought to inhabit the Demi-Monde as these are populated by those individuals who find it difficult to accept/obey the precepts and morality of “civilised” society.

Both these definitions lend themselves – at least in part – to the subject matter of my book and that’s why I chose ‘The Demi-Monde’ as my title. My Demi-Monde is a sub-world where the lifestyles adopted by the Dupes (digital duplicates) are often decadent (and sometimes downright evil) and whose actions are often at odds with the Real World’s concept of morality.

So, whether you call it “The Demi-Monde”, "the demimonde", "the demi-monde", "the Demi-monde" or even “Le Demi-Monde”, you'll have two new definitions to add come January 2011:

3. a MMP simulation platformed on the ABBA quantum computer and utilising ParaDigm CyberResearch’s Total Reality User Envelopment technology to recreate in a wholly realistic cyber-milieu the threat-ambiance and no-warning aspects of a hi-intensity, deep-density, urban Asymmetric Warfare Environment;
4. Hell.

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