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This Is Not a Game (Dagmar #1)

3.79 of 5 stars 3.79 · rating details · 1,005 ratings · 181 reviews

Once upon a time, there were four of them. And though each was good at a number of things, all of them were very good at games...

Dagmar is a game designer trapped in Jakarta in the middle of a revolution. The city is tearing itself apart around her and she needs to get out.

Her boss Charlie has his own problems -- 4.3 billion of them, to be precise, hidden in an off-shore...more

Hardcover, 369 pages

Published March 24th 2009 by Orbit (first published March 2009)

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Jan 20, 2012 Alain Dewitt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

This is the first Walter Jon Williams book I've read. I picked it up at a passenger terminal in Afghanistan somewhere because I had finished the book I was reading and didn't have anything to read and this looked interesting. Rest assured it won't be the last.

A complex tale involving a specific type of video game called an alternate reality game (ARG). An ARG is a game that blurs the line between a fictional reality and our own 'real' reality. In an ARG, characters from the game will contact pla...more

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Apr 18, 2009 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars

Great new story from Walter Jon Williams involving four role-playing game players who meet in college. One goes on to be a successful entrepreneur, one becomes a venture capitalist, one a game designer, and one a bitter burnout. The story revolves around the games they create for a living and what happens when one of them is unexpectedly murdered.

The thing I liked about this story most is that it blurred the lines between fantasy and reality. The games produced in this book involve real-world ac...more

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Apr 21, 2009 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi

I was involved in the XBOX 360 ARG the year before the release. I know some what of this gaming style. I find it fascinating and highly marketable.

Walter Jon Williams is know for his high-tech "cyberpunk" novels. This is not one of those novels. Which I found very nice. Call it a techno-thriller or whatever, but it was a good read.

The only complaint was the plot became a little transparent by the end of the story. Though it didn't detract from the read. I found I empathized with the characters...more

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Oct 07, 2012 Brick rated it 5 of 5 stars

A very entertaining book, with a protagonist who is resourceful and adaptable, and at the outset overly focused and committed to her job assignment, and totally not looking out for herself. The multiplayer alternate reality game premise allows her and her team to enlist the support of the very large number of players to solve real world problems, coming back to the title This Is Not A Game, a rubric for effective immersion in the game after all. Plus it conveniently allows the on-line team to ac...more

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Feb 05, 2012 Marcelo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: rwr

This Is Not A Game by Walter Jon Williams was a book that I thoroughly enjoyed and one which I will continue to explore, as there are more books in the series. Exploring the experiences of Dagmar, a young woman employed by a video game company, it is more than a good read, but really encourages us to explore the role that social media plays in our lives, and how we are affected by it.

The first story in the book, as there are several, takes place at the very beginning, as Dagmar is trapped in Ind...more This Is Not A Game by Walter Jon Williams was a book that I thoroughly enjoyed and one which I will continue to explore, as there are more books in the series. Exploring the experiences of Dagmar, a young woman employed by a video game company, it is more than a good read, but really encourages us to explore the role that social media plays in our lives, and how we are affected by it.

The first story in the book, as there are several, takes place at the very beginning, as Dagmar is trapped in Indonesia, as a conflict has torn apart the country, and the Indonesian dollar has dropped completely in value, a product of Chinese inflation. Dagmar, who works for a billion-dollar company as the story writer for video-games, is trapped in the Royal Jakarta Hotel, and she must use her followers on a social media site to escape from the hands of angry rebels. It is this first story which made me enjoy it very much, as it was a lead-in to the other story. I find that often times, novels lead into their stories too quickly, and there is not enough time to establish the story, nor the characters, but This is Not A Game did the exact opposite. By using the first fourth of the book for a lead-in, the second story, a "Who Dun' It?" essentially, did not need to set up the characters nor their relationships, and so once the second story started, I was able to feel like a part of the action, as a true reader, as I did not have to stop to know what was going on, as it was explained already.

Another reason for my love of the book was the overall reality that it provided, unlike the book I read before. In Being, my previous RWR book, it was rather science-fiction-y, and Kevin, the protagonist, had an alien machine inside of him. However, This Is Not A Game was extremely realistic, and clearly was well researched, as it explored what life would be life in the following years. The conflict in Indonesia, in the beginning of the book was particularly realistic, as it explored how mass-production in China and lack of regulation in the United States destroyed the world, and caused civil-unrest in Indonesia, leading to the mass-genocide of Indians and Chinese in Jakarta. Because the book was this realistic, and I was able to connect to it, and see how the world could change if we keep on our constant course.

One part of the book that I did not enjoy, however, was the descriptions of some of the technology and ideas used, which I did not follow. While it came off a simply a nerdy-book, it seemed as though you had to know a bit more about social media than the average Joe to truly understand what was going on, which at some points I did not appreciate, as there were certain computer programming ideas that I did not follow. However, these parts were few and far between, and I did enjoy the book, because of the overall descriptions and reality, and how I could connect to the novel because it described social media so accurately.

(less)

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Apr 01, 2011 Monique rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a fast, engaging read that, I thought, got internet culture mostly right (although I haven't played any Alternate Reality games, so I can't speak to that aspect). I had trouble putting it down. There was insufficient denouement, but on the other hand, it had more of a wrap-up than most Neal Stephenson books have. Unfortunately, a major plot point hinged on a completely ridiculous premise - that when you have a list of many thousands of items, and you have a program that acts on one of t...more

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Aug 06, 2010 Alan rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Gamers, gamines and anyone who's game for a fast-paced story

Recommended to Alan by: Charles Stross, inter alia

This Is Not An Average Novel

An intense near-future thriller that merges live-action role playing games with a realistic high-tech plot—this is one SF mystery that really works. Published almost simultaneously with Charles Stross' similar Halting State, it shares a number of general plot points—the intersection of online life, role-playing, with so-called "meatspace," in particular—but goes in a radically different direction.

This Is Not A One-Note Book

The novel is structured as a series of revela...more This Is Not An Average Novel

An intense near-future thriller that merges live-action role playing games with a realistic high-tech plot—this is one SF mystery that really works. Published almost simultaneously with Charles Stross' similar Halting State, it shares a number of general plot points—the intersection of online life, role-playing, with so-called "meatspace," in particular—but goes in a radically different direction.

This Is Not A One-Note Book

The novel is structured as a series of revelations, each foreshadowed by the chapter titles, which all begin "This is not a..." We start with Dagmar, whose not-a-vacation has encountered a hitch when she gets stuck in a luxury hotel in Jakarta as a revolution unfolds around her. Dagmar is the primary viewpoint character, but she's only one of four protagonists. While I never really saw Dagmar in my mind's eye, I liked her immediately as a character, and eventually I got used to not really knowing what she looked like. The other three major characters—BJ, Austin and especially Charlie (hmm, any particular Charlie in mind, Walter?)—are more physically distinct.

Dagmar was en route from India, where she was overseeing a lavish—if fake—wedding, the climax of a carefully-managed role-playing experience that merges online gaming with real-world entertainment in a way few, if any, of our contemporary media have managed. That is what Dagmar and her associates do for a living, actually—their company (well, it's Charlie's company, really), Great Big Idea, creates such experiences on a subscription basis. Of course, mingling fantasy with mundanity this way can make dramatic events difficult to take at face value...

This Is Not—Quite—The End Of The Review

Even in the midst of the chaos, it is Dagmar's connectedness—her wired existence—that helps her most. This coherent central theme is developed throughout the book; while there are plenty of dramatic face-to-face encounters, and individuals do heroic things, over and over it is collective action—mediated and amplified by ubiquitous online communication—that consistently gets results.

Despite the dramatic and all-around interesting time in which Dagmar lives, I can imagine far worse futures to find myself in. This is a fun, fast and high-octane novel.(less)

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Jul 14, 2009 Elaine Nelson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, sci-fi

I've never been into fiction about ARGs (alternative reality games) or indeed the games themselves. I blame Michael Douglas, my least favorite actor ever.

But I've liked Williams' other books, particularly Metropolitan, so I gave it a shot. C read it before I did, and was quite enthusiastic, too.

Having just finished, I find myself melancholy. The story ends on that sort of note, and as with the whole book, I found myself carried along the emotions of the narrative.

As a longtime MetaFilter member,...more

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Apr 18, 2010 Joe Robles rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 26, 2012 Andy Love rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction-fantasy

A very enjoyable thriller, about a producer of alternate reality games who learns to use the social networks that such games rely on to solve her real-world problems - whether the problem is being trapped in a country undergoing financial collapse and social unrest, or solving the murder of a close friend, while avoiding being the next victim. Williams captures the nature of on-line communities very well, showing both the best people (who delight in solving puzzles, or in smoothing over inter-pe...more

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Jul 15, 2012 Kimmy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think I was drawn to this book because I loved Ready Player One, and when I read this book’s premise, I was reminded of Ready Player One. From the Kobo store:

Once upon a time, there were four of them. And though each was good at a number of things, all of them were very good at games…Dagmar is a game designer trapped in Jakarta in the middle of a revolution. The city is tearing itself apart around her and she needs to get out. Her boss Charlie has his own problems – 4.3 billion of them, to be...more I think I was drawn to this book because I loved Ready Player One, and when I read this book’s premise, I was reminded of Ready Player One. From the Kobo store:

Once upon a time, there were four of them. And though each was good at a number of things, all of them were very good at games…Dagmar is a game designer trapped in Jakarta in the middle of a revolution. The city is tearing itself apart around her and she needs to get out. Her boss Charlie has his own problems – 4.3 billion of them, to be precise, hidden in an off-shore account. Austin is the businessman – the VC. He’s the one with the plan and the one to keep the geeks in line. BJ was there from the start, but while Charlie’s star rose, BJ sank into the depths of customer service. He pads his hours at the call-center slaying on-line orcs, stealing your loot, and selling it on the internet. But when one of them is gunned down in a parking lot, the survivors become players in a very different kind of game. Caught between the dangerous worlds of the Russian Mafia and international finance, Dagmar must draw on all her resources — not least millions of online gamers – to track down the killer.

This book introduced me to the ARG (Alternate Reality Game). You can read more detail about it on Wikipedia, but as I learned while reading this book, an ARG is an interactive game in which players from all over the world solve various multi-media puzzles, and while the game creators have a goal or conclusion for the players to work towards, aspects of the game may change through the course of play. Collaboration between players is important too.

So against that backdrop, the reader meets Dagmar, who writes ARG games for her friend Charlie’s company. Dagmar winds up stranded in Jakarta, in the midst of some sort of uprising, and she turns to her ARG gamers as a resource to help her get escape. When she returns to the U.S., she gets right back to work for the launch of a new ARG game. However, her friend Austin is shot in the parking lot. Dagmar suspects that the shooter was after Charlie, who is extraordinarily wealthy, and once again turns to the ARG players to help unravel the mystery.

There were some interesting debates about the game vs. reality and should they use the game to help solve a crime, which I found very interesting. Unfortunately, while I enjoyed the story, I didn’t really connect with it. It was a fun read, but it didn’t stay with me.

I recommend it because I was fascinated by the ARG, which was totally new to me, and the parts of the book that I liked the best involved the ARG gamers and the help they provided to Dagmar. I wish I had connected a bit more with the characters, gotten to know them better, but it was still an enjoyable read.

(From http://www.pingwings.ca/this-is-not-a...)(less)

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Apr 02, 2012 Marilyn rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was a fun read. The book is divided into three acts. The first act was really interesting and told a compelling story all in itself. The rest of the book was okay too. Although, I found the characterization to be somewhat lacking. They were a little flat with a noticeable dearth of motivation for their actions. The author hinted at some things, but I did not find it entirely convincing.

The back of the book does not really explain much of what the story is about, so here's a little informati...more

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Aug 17, 2009 Bonnie rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: gamers!

Shelves: destruction, economics, fiction, gaming, mystery, page-turner, realistic-fiction, science-fiction, strong-heroine, los-angeles, wla-2011

When Dagmar lands in Jakarta, she finds her connecting flight has been canceled... along with every other flight out of the country. The currency is under attack and a revolution is underway. Luckily, Dagmar is the major producer/writer for Great Big Idea, a company that specialized in creating ARGs: alternate reality games. Her boss is a multimillionaire and he's determined to get Dagmar out of the country and back to safety, where she can start writing the next big game. When some of the more...more When Dagmar lands in Jakarta, she finds her connecting flight has been canceled... along with every other flight out of the country. The currency is under attack and a revolution is underway. Luckily, Dagmar is the major producer/writer for Great Big Idea, a company that specialized in creating ARGs: alternate reality games. Her boss is a multimillionaire and he's determined to get Dagmar out of the country and back to safety, where she can start writing the next big game. When some of the more conventional rescue attempts fail, Dagmar turns to the online gaming community to help her.

Fast forward to a few months later, with Dagmar back in LA and starting a brand new ARG. As the game gets underway, one of Dagmar's longtime friends is murdered. Can she once again call on gamers to help solve this murder? And, as Dagmar digs deeper to solve this mystery, other countries come under attack, just like Jakarta. The line between game and reality begins to blur... however, This Is Not A Game.

Okay, this book is difficult to sum up, particularly without sounding cheesy. Williams does an excellent job between joining online games with reality, as well as recognizing the strange potential of massive amounts of gamers. I think he creates a story that will appeal to classic RPGers as well as those who've only gamed on a console or computer. I liked Dagmar - she was resourceful, funny, and creative.

If I have any complaints for this book, it's that it felt like there were a few loose ends or unnecessary characters/plot bits. The transition from the chapters in Jakarta to the start of The Long Night of Briana Hall was abrupt, and the ending didn't have quite the punch I expected... or maybe I was just thinking there was going to be another plot twist. The moments with the gamers are gold... I wish there were more (why is it I hate reading message boards in real life, but enjoy them in a story?). And there's just something thoroughly enjoyable about a plot involving what happens when gold-farming goes so wrong.

If you love gaming, whether it's on paper and involves d20s or if it's on a console or involves being in character, this is a book you'll probably enjoy. I'm glad it was recommended to me!(less)

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Jul 01, 2010 Jennifer Connolly rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, reviewed

If I could do half stars, I might make this a 3 1/2 star review rather than three stars. It's a great story and terrifically paced until about 3/4s of the way through -- where the reveal just seems like it comes too early and then the resolution is rather anti-climactic considering what is really at stake. You never really get a sense of the impending catastrophe on an emotional level.

That said, I was completely entertained for most of the story. Originally I thought this would be a bit cyperpun...more

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Feb 29, 2012 dani-elle rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: avoid

unfortunate cover images... and catchphrase... but hey, i'll give a shot at a book following the folly of rich white ARG (alternate reality game- for the un-initiated) producers as the real world goes to shit around them.

and frankly it was the closest book to my backpack this morning that i hadn't already read. seriously considering making a book cover for this though, the cover is honestly embarrassing.

thoughts after finishing this book:
the author has some decent ideas and has some insight into...more

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Sep 09, 2010 Joseph Teller rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: modern-fiction, sf

Although a good story about computers and gamers, written evidently by someone who either did their research in a very in-depth manner or who themselves would have to be a deep computer user and gamer its a good book.

The action, suspense and plot twists work well, the tech side comes across as believable and the characters are believable and not stereotypes.

That said, the story is just barely science fiction. It has exactly two minor concepts that you need to accept in regards to technology.

One...more

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Feb 25, 2011 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 2 of 5 stars

By page 60 I knew that my interest, which had waned earlier, wasn't coming back. I don't know maybe I'm too old or the wrong generation for this book. Told from points of view varying from "Dagmar" (our game designer protagonist) to the people "back at the office" and of course, the people on the internet the story wanders along seemingly searching for a conspiracy to be part of. With the danger and threats of the real world closing in around her and her survival in question Dagnar has reached o...more

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Aug 12, 2010 Edward rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf

Rene Magritte painting: “This is not a pipe”
It’s actually a painting of a pipe.

Alternate Reality Gaming (ARG) term, TINAG: “This Is Not A Game”
It’s really a game, but to play you act like it isn’t.

Walter John Williams book “This is Not a Game”
It’s a good book, but it isn’t science fiction.

It’s in the sf sections of the bookstore and library, it’s written by an sf writer, and it takes place in the near future, but it’s really a murder mystery appended to a techno-thriller. Our heroine must esc...more

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Sep 05, 2011 Eva Mitnick rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: grown-ups, science-fiction

This is science fiction, but barely - it takes place in a future that is just around the corner. At first I thought this would be a collapse-of-civilization tale, as it opens with Jakarta falling into utter chaos as Indonesia's currency mysteriously collapses. It reminded me of Paolo Bacigalupi's The Windup Girl, which also takes place in a future Indonesia - but then the reader follows our American heroine Dagmar back to her home base in the San Fernando Valley, and this turns into a not-quite-...more

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Jun 25, 2010 Mick rated it 4 of 5 stars

It's pretty wonderful to read a book that's set in MY world. The center of the story is an Alternate Reality Game, or ARG, and many of the characters are gamers. Some of the story takes place in forum posts from the internet, and the general milieu is one of very smart, tech-savvy gamers. While I'm not JUST a gamer, it's really cool to read a major novel that's very familiar with things I like; D&D, online gaming, and internet culture. It feels like the author gets the milieu, too, so it's f...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Fran Ilich rated it 5 of 5 stars

by Fran Ilich

This novel tells the plot that takes over the life of an alternate reality game producer who is in Southeast Asia, taking a break from work just weeks after finishing the biggest project so-far in her career. She is one of the lucky few to be able to make more than decent money on such nascent genre of narrative gaming as the ARG, and she is grateful for having landed such job in a company founded by 3 of her gaming buddies from back in college. However, what she experiences in Dja...more by Fran Ilich

This novel tells the plot that takes over the life of an alternate reality game producer who is in Southeast Asia, taking a break from work just weeks after finishing the biggest project so-far in her career. She is one of the lucky few to be able to make more than decent money on such nascent genre of narrative gaming as the ARG, and she is grateful for having landed such job in a company founded by 3 of her gaming buddies from back in college. However, what she experiences in Djakarta is something she never expected (her life gets tangled in what it seems, but isn’t an ARG): a currency collapse that devalues the Indonesian Rupiah and makes the prices on everything skyrocket. She is used to a strict diet of the latest in digital payments, the lowest-tech one being the credit card, and so, she is left out of the economic flow and has to survive with only a couple of rupiahs and maybe $200 USD in cash. Not enough to survive when trapped in a 5 star hotel. And so, while waiting to be extracted (rescued) by an operation contracted and planned by the company where she develops alternate reality games the fabric between reality and fiction starts to blur. Of course her company is used to stage situations like these, but even though they happen in the real world they are always part of actions that will only leave a mark on the world of players. But now all of this is being filtered into global media, and she finds out that the followers of Great Big Idea can respond to real life situations from the comfort of their mediated reality, as for them there is barely a distinction among both. And so while these follow the events, they have to remind to themselves every now and then: “This is not a game.”

While she awaits to be rescued, her boss and friend comissions her to design an even bigger alternate reality game to promote his latest investment: a mmorpg. And so she gets inspiration from the chaos where she’s inmersed, as Djakarta seems to fall down to ashes. And when she finally gets back to Los Angeles, she has to face and struggle the grim realities of marketing. Her boss wants to use the game to push several gadgets where he is a main investor in order to not lose money: a water-tester and decryption software. She on the other hand worries about losing street-cred and integrity as a designer. However this is the reality of the trade if the Alternate Reality Games genre want to raise to an industrial art level. And so, she has to experiment with creative accounting techniques to trick the corporation where she works, while at the same time all of them are being puppet-mastered (including she, the puppet-master) to allow some bots to continue with their financial speculation.

And so, the book could end up being just another entertaining and resourceful cyberpunk novel about the media of the day after tomorrow, but because of the remarkable description and emphasis it makes on the genre and profession of alternate reality games, and the lives of everyone involved: designers, producers, venture capitalists; describing the complexities of what a production unit would need for such an industry to bloom; showing all sort of intricacies with venture capitalism, mafias, information and technology industries, as well as unimaginable forms of feedback involving the subscriber base. When a game intertwines with real crime, economical, political and social situations, where do you draw the line between reality and fiction? And how? Isn’t this exactly the way in which historically the powers that be create narratives and ideologies to manufacture consent and furthermore, to materialize such consensual hallucination known as Absolute Reality?

This is not a game is recommended to anone who wants to either understand or run alternate reality games. The novel was written by Walter Jon Williams, an experienced player and designer of role playing games, specifically for Cyberpunk 2020 (Hardwired), and such thing comes very handy as the insights it provides not only include aerial view and first person shots, but it finds a special spot on the noble tradition of writers books on writing, one that could open the imagination of millions to new possibilities across narrative-media and games, much beyond the conventions of Hollywood films and videogame industries, but still in the much disputed battlefield where change in capital letters seems to occur: the mainstream. And this is not a minor thing, it brings hope and new blood while managing to design an alternate reality game which only exists in literature and written words. [more reviews by me at: http://storywritingmachine.com ](less)

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Mar 19, 2012 Bryan Boulette rated it 4 of 5 stars

Near future is always an interesting setting because it allows an author to strip away metaphor and analogy and play around much more directly with what our existing society and technology is like, and might be like. In This is Not a Game, we get a story that presupposes a world where video games, while still extant, have been largely supplanted as the major form of electronic entertainment (enjoyed by tens of millions the world over) by large scale, elaborate, convoluted, and highly evolved ARG...more

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Aug 08, 2009 Betsy rated it 4 of 5 stars

This Is Not a Game is a high octane thriller that involves gaming, the global economy and four people who were close friends in college and their connections with one another. I think that anyone who’s into gaming would like this. The first part of it really sucked me in. Dagmar, the “puppetmaster” for Great Big Ideas gets stuck in Indonesia as the currency crashes and looting and violence take over the streets. When it appears that the strike force her boss has hired to extricate her from Indon...more

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Apr 12, 2011 Rob rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: random-comments-review

...If you enjoy a good (techno) thriller this book is as good as it gets. Events frequently outpace the main character keep her, and to an extend the reader, off balance. Williams captures the paranoia, desperations and frustration of the main character very well, without making her completely helpless. Dagmar is used to being in control of the game, when she eventually cuts the strings that move her the result in interesting, unexpected even. In short, I thought This Is Not a Game was a very en...more

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Apr 16, 2009 Savannah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: librarybook, thriller, scifi, fiction

Okay book, but only those fluent in internet, games, and memes are likely to get a lot of the references or really feel the premise of a multiplayer game crossing into reality has any validity. The beginning is promising and enticing, then the middle of the book slows down to fill in the backstory to the actual plot: the relationship between the four old friends as it works out in the present-day corporate structures and financial catastrophes that are sweeping the world. Towards the end, it see...more

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Oct 15, 2012 Einar rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is actually two books in one...the two parts are of course very interconnected, but I actually liked the first part a bit better than the rest. Williams has created a rather though and resourceful heroine, and the other characters are a little more one-dimensional, but that might be because you get to know the heroine very good in the first part.

The book starts out rather fast, and you will blaze through the first part in no time, but it slows down a bit and you get a little more myste...more

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Apr 03, 2009 Liviu rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009_release_read, read_2009, genre-sf, series_dropped

I love most of WJW novels and some like Aristoi, Metropolitan, City on Fire are among my top sff books, with Dread Empire and Implied Spaces close also, but sadly this one should be entitled "Not a Novel"

I fast plowed through it to see if it has anything of interest to me; it was just unreadable and boring - artificial, could not connect with the characters or the setting, seemed just a "game" so to speak, not "real"

A while ago I would have shrugged and said, well, near-future thrillers are not...more

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Jan 11, 2012 Amber rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've never read Mr Williams before, but the subject matter was too intriguing to pass up. I've found myself thinking about the ever-thinning boundaries between reality and construct. Since the advent of Photoshop, no one can truly believe the images they see. In a setup like this, anonymous strangers suspending reality and eagerly tackling puzzles and quests dictated by characters reading from a script, how would you know when the game has been compromised by reality? This book handled the subje...more

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Sep 05, 2011 Derrick rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009, fiction, thriller

This was great! Real world, bots, net gaming, social networking, murder, Russian mafya, national economies attacked, this book ties them all together. It started off kind of slow and odd, with the main character in a 3rd world country that was collapsing. But once she got back to LA, the main story took off. The ending was a bit rushed, imo. Basically, an overlapping and intertwining of the real world and the networld. It was a cool ride. However, due to the slow start and rushed, almost simplis...more

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Feb 14, 2012 Elderberrywine rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: library

Dagmar is a puppetmaster for a ARG (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternat...), something I previously had no idea actually existed. Being trapped in a near-future Indonesia with a collapsing economy and suddenly defunct government is bad enough, but when she finally gets back to LA, she is facing crumbling currencies world-wide, the Russian Mafia, and the growing suspicion that some of her former gamer buddies from college (and current partners) are deeply involved in all of this. Fortunately, t...more

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by David Marusek

About Walter Jon Williams

Walter Jon Williams has published twenty novels and short fiction collections. Most are science fiction or fantasy -Hardwired, Voice of the Whirlwind, Aristoi, Metropolitan, City on Fire to name just a few - a few are historical adventures, and the most recent, The Rift, is a disaster novel in which "I just basically pound a part of the planet down to bedrock." And that's just the opening chapters...more

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Books by Walter Jon Williams

Destiny's Way (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, #14)

Ylesia (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, #14.5)

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“When you revealed that the Rani was in fact the Nagi," Charlie said, "the players collectively pissed their pants."
"I'd rather they creamed their jeans.” — 1 person liked it

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This Is Not a Game (Dagmar #1)

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