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Dream Park (Dream Park #1)

3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 · rating details · 1,727 ratings · 80 reviews

They were all playing games...but one of them was playing for keeps.

Chet Henderson was playing at revenge, and to boost his flagging reputation as a Lore-master.

Richard Lopez was playing to prove that his earlier successes as a Gamemaster were no fluke.

Ollie and Gwen and Mary-em and Eony were playing because it made them feel alive.

Alex Griffin was playing to protect Dream...more

Published October 1st 1983 by Orbit (first published 1981)

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Apr 05, 2013 Doc Bedlam rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As a murder mystery, it's okay. As science fiction, it's all right. The most bizarre thing about it is that when I first read it in 1981, it was SCIENCE FICTION! Wowsers!

Having finished it tonight, though... it's not science fiction any more. It's a murder mystery set in a high tech move/TV theme park that also runs a televised LARP reality show. With technology that exists today. A lot of it was sci fi back in the early eighties, but now? Robots in theme parks... actors in special effects makeu...more

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Oct 16, 2012 Michael rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Role-players, young adults, sci fi fans

Recommended to Michael by: Dragon Magazine

Shelves: literature, science-fiction

I read this book as a young adult and role-player, basically its target audience, and thought it was great, if not quite brilliant. Today, it's mostly serviceable, but still entertaining. It was written by two authors, and in fact reads almost like two books in one, although I’m not certain which of the authors worked on which storyline, or even if the collaboration was divided so simply.

Storyline #1 is The Adventure Story. Dream Park is a future (2051) amusement park based on holography, wherei...more I read this book as a young adult and role-player, basically its target audience, and thought it was great, if not quite brilliant. Today, it's mostly serviceable, but still entertaining. It was written by two authors, and in fact reads almost like two books in one, although I’m not certain which of the authors worked on which storyline, or even if the collaboration was divided so simply.

Storyline #1 is The Adventure Story. Dream Park is a future (2051) amusement park based on holography, wherein customers pay to see amazing things happen right before their eyes. Although they have funhouses, haunted houses, and variations on thrill rides, the big money-maker for them is Gaming Area A, a vast holo-environment in which Gamers pay inordinate amounts of money to be able to play live-action rpgs under computerized supervision. The stories are so exciting that they are marketed as film entertainment and video games after the gamers survive them. In this adventure, the gamers are in a South Seas adventure in the mid-twentieth century, fighting an evil Cargo Cult and encountering various local mythic creatures while searching for a powerful stolen item of Western magical import. This was the big selling point of the book for me and my generation of young adult readers.

Storyline #2 is the Murder Mystery. As it happens, early in the story, a murder takes place in the Dream Park facility just outside Gaming Area A. Alex Griffin, head of Dream Park security, quickly determines that the murder had to be committed by a gamer and decides to infiltrate the game to find out who it was, rather than stopping it and holding standard interrogations (there’s a lot of money riding on this game, after all). In the process he gets caught up in the adventure and also in a romantic situation with one of his suspects, which is of course increasingly compromising to his position. As an adult, this is the story that has more interest for me.

Unfortunately, the two authors didn’t quite manage to balance the two stories as well as I’d have liked. Ultimately, the mystery gets subsumed under the flashy adventure throughout most of the last third of the book. This is explained by the fact that our primary narrator (there is some switching of perspective, but Griffin is the main narrator) has “lost himself” to the game and forgets to investigate the mystery. The result, however, is a rather simplistic mystery, with fewer twists and false leads than a mystery fan would prefer. I remembered “whodunit” from my first reading, so I don’t know how easily I would have figured it out as an adult, but I’d bet it would be obvious fairly early on.

Overall, the futurism holds up better than a lot of sci fi from the twentieth century, but of course it isn’t perfect. The concept of “virtual reality” hadn’t really been explored well, and even “holodecks” were a few years later, so what we get is a huge outdoor region, under a dome with lots of holograms coming from we-don’t-know-where. The dome is necessary to explain the (highly implausible) ability of the Game Master to accelerate time by moving the sun quickly across the sky and darkening the sky into early nightfall. The social conservatism of this postulated future America is more depressing than dubious. Where credibility was really stretched for me, however, wasn’t so much in the technology as in the physical danger of this “amusement park” Human actors and players hit one another with dangerous pointy or edged weapons, and are supposed to remember to flick a switch that turns the real edge of their blade into a holographic image so that no one gets hurt. I still can’t figure out how you do that with a halberd. Apart from this, the players endure so much hand-to-hand combat that anyone but an active duty Marine would collapse from exhaustion, if they didn’t suffer a stroke beforehand. At one point, a player is grabbed by the ankle and pulled below water, a situation that would give any insurance investigator hives, no matter what release forms the player signed.

One final note is that the source-base for the South Seas mythology appears somewhat biased and colonialist, not to say condescending, toward the Cargo Cult. This works well enough for picking and choosing monsters for out hardy adventurers to encounter, but does result in some rather unfortunate depictions of natives and some truly laughable assertions in the Afterword.

None of this is serious enough to distract the reader looking for a good adventure story and a fair murder mystery as well.

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Dec 09, 2011 Scott Rhee rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've never been into gaming, both computer or role play. I used to play the occasional Dungeons & Dragons game with friends, but I never really got as excited about it as some of my friends. I did like the concept of role-playing games, creating one's own character and destiny, even one's own universe. I always admired the imagination and thought that went into preparing and playing a D&D game. I know, too, that there are some pretty intense video games out there that have attempted to s...more I've never been into gaming, both computer or role play. I used to play the occasional Dungeons & Dragons game with friends, but I never really got as excited about it as some of my friends. I did like the concept of role-playing games, creating one's own character and destiny, even one's own universe. I always admired the imagination and thought that went into preparing and playing a D&D game. I know, too, that there are some pretty intense video games out there that have attempted to simulate the D&D vibe, some more successfully than others. It seems to me that D&D is one of those things that, if you have to ask why people do it, it's probably not for you, and that's okay. It's not for everybody. Back in the early-80s, which seemed to be about the time that D&D was at its all-time highest popularity, sci-fi authors Larry Niven and Steve Barnes collaborated on a novel called "Dream Park". The novel is set in the near future (back in the '80s, that probably meant right about now) in California, where an entertainment conglomerate has re-zoned much of the land into a giant amusement park called Dream Park. Like Disney World, the park offers rides and attractions but its major draw is simply called The Game. Using a mix of animatronics, holograms, virtual-reality, and live actors, The Game is a simulated adventure in which a group of people set out on a pre-programmed quest and try to "survive" until the end. No one really dies in The Game. Deaths are simulated, and those that die early are simply brought back to Dream Park debriefing quarters to watch the rest of the game on TV. Dream Park's Chief of Security, Alex, is investigating the theft of a highly important piece of Dream Park tech and the murder of a programmer. All evidence points to one of the Gamers. So, Alex is forced to slip into the game undercover as a Gamer. He soon begins to understand the seductive charms and draw of the Game, as he and the others battle hordes of angry natives, zombies, and other fantastic creatures. "Dream Park" is a fun sci-fi/fantasy murder mystery. Much like the game that it's paying homage to, the book has no real purpose other than to entertain, and it succeeds. It's also quite interesting to see how insanely popular D&D was at one time and how some saw its inevitable evolution.(less)

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Feb 26, 2011 Laisterdyke LRC rated it 5 of 5 stars

I first read Dream Park a long time ago, and was blown away by it. Revisiting it recently, via. the new audiobook version, just reminds me how good it is. It's basically a dream scenario for anyone interested in roleplaying - instead of gathering around the kitchen table, players explore a real landscape full of holograms, physical effects, and technology. Although it's not dated terribly well as far as the technology's concerned (and the earthquake that knocked LA into the sea has notably faile...more

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Dec 18, 2008 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf

This book is pure wish fulfillment for the D&D/fantasy crowd. (Darn it, the back of the book review quote is "Unadulterated wish fulfillment". No originality points for me.) The Dream Park setting is an Xtreme Disneyland. Instead of amusement rides, they have full scale D&D type adventures, thanks to liberal use of special effects and holograms. If you are good enough at winning these adventures you can become a star and make a living off the videos of your games.

I can't say anything els...more

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May 11, 2013 Jim rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's just not that great. And in fact why it gets so many 4 star reviews is beyond me. I remember eyeing the paperback version in a bookstore back in the mid-80's and was greatly intrigued by it's premise. I think I even read the first two chapters in the store way back then. I finally checked it out of the local library just recently, read the whole thing, and was utterly unimpressed. The writing is pretty solid from start to finish. However that leaves two pretty big flaws - the "adventure wit...more

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May 27, 2011 Julie Davis rated it 4 of 5 stars

Dream Park is like Disneyland, if Disneyland had role-playing games with amazing holographic effects. I read this soon after it came out in 1983 and wished I could go somewhere like Dream Park. It soon turned into a book I loved to reread and also began my exposure to the sf writing team of Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.

This has a murder mystery behind the scenes among the park personnel. To solve it, Alex Griffin goes undercover in the midst of the newest, high profile game being played in Dr...more

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Nov 02, 2012 Christian rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mistery, science-fiction

I honestly don't understand the positive feed back this book is getting from so many readers. But this might be since I read a since fiction book that was written a couple of decades ago.
The concept is that in the year 2053 at dream park fantasy role playing (a concept I'm not really involved in)is enacted in a holographic, computer supported environment. This lets the players literally plunge into the fantasy world. Those games are played with tremendous seriousness and a lot of money is involv...more

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Feb 17, 2012 Kevin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-nook, 2012-serial, 2012-sf, science-fiction, srpg, game

I wouldn't rate this book as high as I did when I first read it a little over thirty years ago, because now I notice more of it's flaws particularly some of the early dialogue between Griffin, Harmony and Skip being horrendous. It reminded me of cheap 1950's SF movies. Also long ago it was one of the first novels I'd read about fantasy gaming something I was very much into. I've since read many more novels on the subject that I feel are much better, last year's Ready Player One is a prime exampl...more

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Sep 04, 2011 Andreas rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Consisting of:

Dream Park
The Barsoom Project
California Vodoo Game (sometimes published as “The California Vodoo Game”)

The novels are set in a theme park named “Dream Park”. Dream Park uses holograms and other methods to create completely lifelike environments for adventures. For example, one can become a group of medieval knights on a quest, and be totally immersed in the experience. The novels are very enjoyable, with some nice twists to the tale. It is also interesting to see how role playin...more

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Oct 11, 2007 Susan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One of my all time favorite fantasy sci fi books. I wish there really was a Dream Park.

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Jun 22, 2012 Marvin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: autographed, science-fiction

First of all, Kudos for the incredible cover art by Rowena on the Phantasia Press first limited edition...

You can be forgiven if you think the cover art is a bit campy, for Dream Park is a campy novel. Written during the height of the Dungeons & Dragons craze, it depicts an amusement park in which the participants role-play in an incredibly technologically advanced environment. There's a murder involved but the fun for the reader is in escaping into this world and wishing such a park actual...more

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Mar 25, 2012 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Set around a futuristic game of dungeons and dragons played out using holograms, actors and digital affects. During a major tournament there is a murder in the complex where the game is being held.
Very enjoyable except it was difficult to keep track of the characters. Thjere was a lot of them and they were often referenced by any combination of: Last name, First name, job title, character name, character class or position in the team they were on.
Larry must have realised this as there is a hand...more

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Aug 29, 2012 Caroline rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

MMORPG taken to virtual reality, in-person level. Plus, a murder.

This is a really fun plot, and if you're a gamer, it's fun to watch the main character try to understand, participate and then become a gamer himself. There's a lot of references and jokes to catch as well.

But the plot seemed like a way to write the characters, and the characters didn't hold together for me. Perhaps that's the challenge of writing about people who are role playing--it's hard to be genuine with a set of morphing cha...more

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Aug 08, 2010 Robert rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I reread this book for the first time in many years. I purchased this when it first came out in 1981 and probably read it a couple of times back then, but hadn't touched it since then.

I was pleasantly surprised at how good the book still was. Barnes and Niven wrote a decent science fiction flavored detective story with a decent understanding of fantasy gaming thrown in. Having not read either the sequels or any of Barnes other work, I don't know how those compare.

Dream Park still holds up as a g...more

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Dec 05, 2007 Jon McDonald rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

ZOMBIES!!!

D&D!!!

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Oct 04, 2011 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

I read this book the first time right after the book was released, and loved it. I have been meaning to go back and read it again in the past 30 years, but never quite got around to it. Funny, that in my memory of the story, it was very similar to Jurassic Park, and I was quite surprised to realize that the premise was a actually a gaming fantasy park (as in Dungeons & Dragons) and not prehistoric dinosaurs!

That makes sense when I think back to what everyone around me was into at the time, a...more

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Oct 12, 2011 Angela Blount rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Dungeons and Dragons meets Disneyland...somewhere in the mid 21st century.

For the most part, this is a speculative murder-mystery, too clean to really be considered 'noir.' While there's plenty of gamer frolicking, there's nothing too graphic...particularly by today's standards 25+ years after this book was initially written. (I've decided the emphasis on an earthquake having destroyed much of California in the mid 1980's can best be explained away by considering this story to be set in an alter...more

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Sep 11, 2010 David Richards rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved the mixture of Fantasy, Science Fiction, Thriller and RPG in this book. In fact I liked this book so much I find it dificult to determine whether I liked the character in the book, or the RPG character they played in the book! Of course, me being me, it is the female characters I latch onto. And there is nothing quite as exciting as a female Slayer. But as I said, that's me. Dream Park has everything you expect it to have as a traditional Fantasy and RPG, but with extras thrown in. And a...more

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Sep 12, 2012 Eadwacer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

SF and mystery genres each have their own rules, and it's very hard to write a good book that stays within the bounds of both. This book is not only a good SF book, it's a good mystery. Plus, it was, when written, one of the first to explore the RPG subculture. The SFnal aspects haven't held up as well as the mystery and RPG fan elements, but it's still a good read, and I think it would qualify as an outstanding YA novel if you were looking for a gift for an early teen.

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Feb 08, 2009 Chuck Dotson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: trapped-on-a-desert-island

What do you get when you combine a futuristic amusement park, a murder mystery, a cargo cult, and LARPing? A childhood favorite, that's what!

I read this way back in the day and have always had a soft spot for it. It's a fascinating blend of genres that works on multiple levels, even if some of the genres aren't our personal favorites.

I've always thought that it would make a pretty good movie or mini-series.

All in all an exceptionally entertaining read.

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Mar 13, 2013 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A fun read with an imaginative view of the future of entertainment and amusement parks. Nothing terribly deep in terms of exploring the human psyche or anything but decent character development and an intriguing murder mystery. Solid, enjoyable read and it fit perfectly in my cross-country flight. I just found out there are more books in the same universe but this story is satisfyingly self-contained if you're not interested in getting involved in a series.

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May 23, 2012 Macha rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

might have made a good game; the Cargo Cult world had possibilities. as a novel, though, there was way too much clunky dialogue, the story was lacklustre, and the cardboard characters never came to life. in fact, come to think of it, the world of the game seemed more real than the 'real world', which can't be good, even if you could argue it's a sign of the times. not up to the authors' usual standard.

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Dec 30, 2011 Michael Pritchett rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Something about this book has made it one of my favorite reads. I always find it entertaining and re-read this novel every few years. Mixing a mystery into a science fiction book was masterfully done and added to my enjoyment.

Probably one of the reasons that I go back to this book, is that I forget the ending to the mystery. So reading the book again is much like reading it for the first time.

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Feb 24, 2009 Terri rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009

I first read this novel about 15 years ago, but I had forgotten the plot entirely. It is a whodunnit wrapped inside of a science fiction-fantasy world. The ending is not entirely satisfying, but it isn't really intended to be. The world itself holds up amazingly well after 30 years, and some of the ideas about the park itself are pretty darn cool. All-in-all a fun mystery in a fun setting.

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Jan 08, 2012 Lady Entropy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Estou estranhamente desiludida.

O livro abre de forma espetacular mas cai em muitas armadilhas, nomeadamente personagens a mais, complicações a mais, duas plotlines (uma das quais é resolvida a correr no último capitulo (Sim, Sookie, estou a olhar para ti) e idiotices que destruíram totalmente a minha suspension of disbelief.

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May 25, 2011 Eric rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The story is set in a theme park where the main attraction is playing live action fantasy RPGs. It mainly follows the security chief who is forced to join a game in progress in order to solve a mystery involving industrial espionage and possibly murder. The blend of faux-fantasy and real-life along with a too-large cast of characters make for some confusion but the plot moves along fairly well.

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Jul 26, 2012 P. Aaron Potter rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-more-than-five-times, scifi, favorites

This book is not very deep. It has little artistry. It will not make you a better person. It will not attend our sorrow. It will not console our children. It will not be able to help us.

But holy crow is it fun.

This is, for my money, the most sheer fun I've ever had reading a book. It's absolute popcorn fare for the dorkiest gamer, trekkie, cosplayer, or other form of geek with which you might be familiar. It's pure fan service. In addition to the sheer indulgenece of the setting (a nerdtastic mi...more

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Aug 26, 2011 Kallierose rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have a hard time thinking of this as science fiction. Mostly I think it's a mystery, set in a fantasy world of advanced gaming, far enough in the future to add some interesting twists to the game. I did enjoy the book, but it didn't really do anything to knock my socks off. I'll probably read the sequels though, just because they represent a change of pace from the rest of what I've been reading lately.

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Apr 30, 2011 Jaq Greenspon rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: hungary, 2011, audio-books, science-fiction

Certainly a product of its time. Niven is a huge fan and it shows. I remember reading this when it first came out and loving it. Now, 25 years later, it's still a good romp but it's a bit two-dimensional. I would heartily recommend it to any teenager just discovering the joys of fantasy and roll playing, though.

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About Larry Niven

Laurence van Cott Niven's best known work is Ringworld (Ringworld, #1) (1970), which received the Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics. The creation of thoroughly worked-out alien species, which are very different from humans both physically and mentally, is recognized as one of Niven's main strengths...more Laurence van Cott Niven's best known work is Ringworld (Ringworld, #1) (1970), which received the Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics. The creation of thoroughly worked-out alien species, which are very different from humans both physically and mentally, is recognized as one of Niven's main strengths.

Niven also often includes elements of detective fiction and adventure stories. His fantasy includes The Magic Goes Away series, which utilizes an exhaustible resource, called Mana, to make the magic a non-renewable resource.

Niven created an alien species, the Kzin, which were featured in a series of twelve collection books, the Man-Kzin Wars. He co-authored a number of novels with Jerry Pournelle. In fact, much of his writing since the 1970s has been in collaboration, particularly with Pournelle, Steven Barnes, Brenda Cooper, or Edward M. Lerner.

He briefly attended the California Institute of Technology and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics (with a minor in psychology) from Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas, in 1962. He did a year of graduate work in mathematics at the University of California at Los Angeles. He has since lived in Los Angeles suburbs, including Chatsworth and Tarzana, as a full-time writer. He married Marilyn Joyce "Fuzzy Pink" Wisowaty, herself a well-known science fiction and Regency literature fan, on September 6, 1969.

In addition to his awards for Ringworld, Niven won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story for "Neutron Star" in 1967. He won the same award in 1972, for "Inconstant Moon", and in 1975 for "The Hole Man". In 1976, he won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette for "The Borderland of Sol".

Niven has written scripts for various science fiction television shows, including the original Land of the Lost series and Star Trek: The Animated Series, for which he adapted his early story "The Soft Weapon". He adapted his story "Inconstant Moon" for an episode of the television series The Outer Limits in 1996.

He has also written for the DC Comics character Green Lantern including in his stories hard science fiction concepts such as universal entropy and the redshift effect, which are unusual in comic books.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/larryn...

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Dream Park (Dream Park #1)

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