“For the out-and-out Matrix fan or ‘Neo-phyte’
. . . this book is a must-read. Jake
Horsley takes the film’s virtual reality concept and provides a whole set of
philosophical and practical tools for exploring onwards. The intellectual
challenge presented by the film becomes a life-challenge for self- and
universe-exploration and growth. If no more Matrix films are
ever made — or if future sequels sink so low as to be not worth viewing — there
is still enough in the original movie plus Horsley’s handbook to last a
lifetime. For these readers, of course, being the ‘unofficial Handbook’ would
make it the only handbook worth considering — for any ‘official’ handbook could
be no more than a mouthpiece for the system itself. . . . A very neat
re-interpretation of shamanic and martial arts ‘warrior’ principles for the
twenty-first century. Taking the works of Carlos Castaneda in particular,
Horsley has synthesised the teachings with the language of cyberspace to define
‘The Way of the CyberWarrior.’ [Matrix Warrior] need not even be a
course of instruction for the warrior of the twenty-first century but a
demonstration of anyone's power to transform reality by thinking about and
around it. As such this book does not need the film any more, or any less, than
an adult human needs its mother. The myth evolves.”
—Ramsey Dukes, 2004