This is not a game

Format:

Book

Title:

This is not a game

Author:

Williams, Walter Jon.

ISBN:

9780316003155

Edition:

1st ed.

Publication Information:

New York : Orbit/Hachette Book Group, 2009.

Physical Description:

369 pages ; 25 cm

General Note:

"A novel of greed, betrayal, and social networking"--Jacket.

Summary:

College friends united by their love of online games make their passion a successful business, until a currency crash and government coup strand one of them in a foreign country and their alternate reality games suddenly blur the boundaries between the real and virtual worlds, threatening real fortunes and real lives.

Subject(s):

Social networks -- Fiction.

Games -- Fiction.

Video gamers -- Fiction.

Avarice -- Fiction.

Betrayal -- Fiction.

Jakarta (Indonesia) -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Jakarta (Indonesia) -- Fiction.

Indonesia -- Jakarta.

Genre:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Monmouth Public Library	Fic (sf) Williams, W. 2009	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

THIS IS NOT A GAME is a novel built around the coolest phenomenon in the world. That phenomenon is known as the Alternate Reality Game, or ARG. It's big, and it's getting bigger. It's immersive and massively interactive, and it's spreading through the Internet at the speed of light. To the player, the Alternate Reality Game has no boundaries. You can be standing in a parking lot, or a shopping center. A pay phone near you will ring, and on the other end will be someone demanding information. You'd better have the information handy. ARGs combine video, text adventure, radio plays, audio, animation, improvisational theater, graphics, and story into an immersive experience. Now, one of science fiction's most acclaimed writers, Walter Jon Williams, brings this extraordinary phenomenon to life in a pulse-pounding thriller. This is not a game. This is a novel that will blow your mind.

Author Notes

Walter Jon Williams has been nominated repeatedly for every major SF award, including Hugo and Nebula Award nominations for his novelCity on Fire. His most recent books areThe Sundering, The Praxis, Destiny's Way, andThe Rift. Mr. Williams lives near Albuquerque, New Mexico, with his wife.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Williams (The Rift) weaves intriguing questions about games, gamers and their relationships with real life into this well-paced near-future thriller. Game designer Dagmar specializes in creating "alternate reality" games that muddle the line between fantasy and reality. Trapped in riot-torn Jakarta, she reaches out to the gamer community for help. Once back in Los Angeles, Dagmar is caught up in a web of murders and financial manipulation that she begins to blend into her latest game, using the community of players to solve clues and sift through large amounts of data. The line between real life and the game blurs as the action builds to a satisfying and thoughtful conclusion. Though the technology talk occasionally becomes intrusive, it's convincingly written; the characters are realistic and absorbing, and the story deeply compelling. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Library Journal Review

College friends united by their love of online games make their passion a successful business, until a currency crash and government coup strand one of them in a foreign country-and their alternate reality games suddenly blur the boundaries between the real and virtual worlds, threatening real fortunes and real lives. Along with William Gibson (Neuromancer) and Bruce Sterling (Schismatrix), Williams (Voice of the Whirlwind) helped create the cyberpunk fiction movement of the late 20th century. Now, he moves beyond cyberpunk into an even nearer future, with all-too-real technologies and all-too-believable possibilities. Sharply drawn characters and sizzling prose make Williams's latest novel essential for all sf collections. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.