Author: Diane Duane
Publication Date: 2010
Number of Pages: 360
Part of a Series: First in series, second book projected publication August 2011
Subject Heading(s):
- Computer games - fiction
- Computer programmers - fiction
- Science fiction
- Artificial intelligence
Main Characters:
- Dev Logan - world's seventh or eighth richest man and genius programmer. He is the creator of Omnitopia, a Massive Multi-Player Online Role Playing Game which has become an obsession for millions of people around the word.
- Rik Maliani - a player and a good guy, recently knighted in the game universe and given the tools to create his own world withing the game universe of Omnitopia.
- Phill Sorenson - partner in the early days of building Omnitopia, and filled with a revengeful outlook on life. He is determined to take Dev down.
Plot Summary:
On the eve of an exciting new game functionality roll-out, while the software is at its most vulnerable, the system is attacked. Dev and his loyal employees in the guise of their virtual personae battle to save the game manager from extinction and the players universe from crashing. Some players are logged in with special total immersion equipment; no one knows what will happen to those Beta testers if they are logged in when the game goes down. Millions of dollars are at stake as well; that loss could mean the end of the game.
Appeal:
Near prescient, the book will appeal to MMPORPG gamers who will fantasize about being involved. The story is intricately plotted and character driven. It has a fairly-relaxed pace given the sense of urgency that the author is trying to create. The tone of the book is suspenseful and the writing style is descriptive but not overly so.
Brief quote:
"Dev's fury at those who wanted to destory this game that he had created and watched grow and who wanted to destroy it just make money and hurt him was growing by the moment. Distantly in the background he was now starting to hear the shouted communications of the system security teams and their allies in the Palace of the Princes of Hell as they fought to keep the attackers out of the core, away from the main logic bundles, the great stacks of ARGOT modules that made the game run. They were losing." (p. 319)
Brief quote:
"Dev's fury at those who wanted to destory this game that he had created and watched grow and who wanted to destroy it just make money and hurt him was growing by the moment. Distantly in the background he was now starting to hear the shouted communications of the system security teams and their allies in the Palace of the Princes of Hell as they fought to keep the attackers out of the core, away from the main logic bundles, the great stacks of ARGOT modules that made the game run. They were losing." (p. 319)
Prizes or Awards: Publishers' Weekly makes it a starred review in September 2010
Similar Works:
The Flood by William C. Dietz is the offical novel of the Xbox game
The Fall of Reach by Eric S. Nylund
The Flood by William C. Dietz is the offical novel of the Xbox game
The Fall of Reach by Eric S. Nylund
Reviewer’s Name: Nancy Rimassa
Adapted from Saricks, Joyce G. and Nancy Brown. Reader’ Advisory Service in the Public Library 2nd. Chicago: ALA, 1997.
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