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Dangerous Games
Extreme sports. Extreme future. Extreme collection.
Science fiction's most expert dreamers envision the computerized, high-risk games of the future in this winning collection. Features Robert Sheckley, Cory Doctorow, Kate Wilhelm, Alastair Reynolds, Vernor Vinge, Jonathan Letham, Gwyneth Jones, William Browning Spencer, Allen Steele, Terry Dowling, and Jason Stoddard.
Contents:
The Prize of Peril - Robert Sheckley
Anda's Game - Cory Doctorow
Ladies and Gentlemen, This is Your Crises - Kate Wilhelm
Stroboscopic - Alastair Reynolds
Synthetic Serendipity - Vernor Vinge
How We Got in Town and Out Again - Jonathan Lethem
Red Sonja and Lessingham in Dreamland - Gwyneth Jones
The Halfway House at the Heart of Darkness - William Browning Spencer
Her Own Private Sitcom - Alan Steele
The Ichneumon and the Dormeuse - Terry Dowling
Winning Mars - Jason Stoddard
Science fiction's most expert dreamers envision the computerized, high-risk games of the future in this winning collection. Features Robert Sheckley, Cory Doctorow, Kate Wilhelm, Alastair Reynolds, Vernor Vinge, Jonathan Letham, Gwyneth Jones, William Browning Spencer, Allen Steele, Terry Dowling, and Jason Stoddard.
Contents:
The Prize of Peril - Robert Sheckley
Anda's Game - Cory Doctorow
Ladies and Gentlemen, This is Your Crises - Kate Wilhelm
Stroboscopic - Alastair Reynolds
Synthetic Serendipity - Vernor Vinge
How We Got in Town and Out Again - Jonathan Lethem
Red Sonja and Lessingham in Dreamland - Gwyneth Jones
The Halfway House at the Heart of Darkness - William Browning Spencer
Her Own Private Sitcom - Alan Steele
The Ichneumon and the Dormeuse - Terry Dowling
Winning Mars - Jason Stoddard
276 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 10, 2017
The Prize of Peril, Robert Sheckley
An "average" man competes in a series of increasingly dangerous game shows, risking his life for cash. Spills, a dangerous car race. Emergency, in which he wakes up in a plane with bingo fuel. In Torero he has to fight a bull with a sword and in Underwater Perils he fights sharks, moray eels, and four other contestants with knives and scuba gear for underwater treasure. Finally he has earned his way onto The Prize of Peril, in which he has to survive a week being hunted by bad men with guns, while the game show host describes his struggle with bated breath and praises "Good Samaritans" for "helping" him.
This is a clear progenitor to The Running Man and The Hunger Games, as well as movies like Series 7: The Contenders. It was satisfying to watch the protagonist wake up to the falseness of "reality" shows and the stupidity of losing one's life for a shot at some cash. 5 stars
--------------------------------------
Anda's Game, Cory Doctorow
Prose version of In Real Life. A chubby tween low on the social ladder finds success and status in a World of Warcraft type game. She's able to monetize her skill by slaughtering gold farmers, but things get complicated when she discovers that she's killing little girls being exploited for profit in a Mexican warehouse.
This is a much better read than the graphic novel version, despite the less-developed ending. I found myself cheering for Anda's happiness and success. (And the way she evaluated other female gamers by whether their avatars had "sensible tits" cracked me up.) 5 stars
--------------------------------------
Ladies and Gentlemen, This Is Your Crisis!, Kate Wilhelm
A couple who detest one another spend every moment of a weekend fighting and glued to a deadly Survivor type show called Crisis Therapy. Literally the moment the show ends they become solicitous and caring of one another.
I'm honestly not sure what this story was saying. I'd expect the reverse to be true...a show in which they're both emotionally invested would bring them together for the duration then they'd revert to bickering. But I was so sure I understood them and the change was so unexpected that I laughed out loud. 4 stars
--------------------------------------
Stroboscopic, Alastair Reynolds
In the distant future, a professional game player takes on a deadly ecosystem-based challenge.
Reminiscent of The Player of Games in that the game is barely defined, just a convenient mechanism for exploring the real prize, in this case a novel ecosystem: (.) Deliciously hard science story, the kind that makes me want to run out and find more from this author. 5 stars
--------------------------------------
Synthetic Serendipity, Vernor Vinge
In the near future, technology is ubiquitous and tech literacy has become so important that older generations have been obsoleted by youth. They frequently wind up back in high school just to become relevant again.
Most of this story was a slog, and indeed so tech-heavy that it made me feel like one of its outmoded elderly characters...which may have been the point. This realization and the out-of-nowhere pleasing ending bumped this way up for me. 4 stars and shading towards 5. (Note: The games involved here weren't very "Dangerous".)
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How We Got in Town and Out Again, Jonathan Lethem
In a destitute soft-apoc future (global warming maybe), a pair of teenage vagabonds sign onto a seedy virtual reality contest in exchange for a couple days of being fed. They simply have to explore a Futurama internet scape in front of a paying audience without falling asleep. Reminiscent of the show Carnivale.
I liked how straightforward this was. No twists, no triumphant heroics, just a couple days in the lives of desperate people. 4 stars
--------------------------------------
Red Sonja and Lessingham in Dreamland, Gwyneth Jones
A woman joins an interactive virtual reality simulator for consequence-free sex. Between encounters she and a sex therapist talk past each other about the nature of lust, the reasonableness of her expectations, and the nitpicky definitions of words.
It's moderately interesting when the main character is arguing that combat with a big sword and small leather bikini is a feminist choice and not sexist or demeaning. Then it goes off the rails with a virtual-rape-not-rape incident. And the ending manages to make even LESS sense. 2 stars, and that many only because the deconstruction of Red Sonja pulp silliness is absorbing at first.
--------------------------------------
The Halfway House at the Heart of Darkness, William Browning Spencer
A powerful corporate lobby succeeds in making addiction treatment illegal and physical reclamation of addicts lawful. A self-centered virtual reality addict has to break free of her Matrix-like treatment VR and fight corporate mercenaries to rescue her counselor.
Solid. Great character arcs for the addict and her counselor. 4 stars
--------------------------------------
Her Own Private Sitcom, Allen Steele
A going-nowhere truck stop waitress starts her own internet reality show sitcom with a camera drone. Her newly cantankerous persona may be entertaining (to some) but it makes her really bad at her job. A fed up old coot crushes her camera, which probably cost her several weeks' pay, with a tire iron. Somehow this is presented as a good thing.
I did enjoy the takedown of insipid "reality" TV though. 3 stars
--------------------------------------
The Ichneumon and the Dormeuse, Terry Dowling
This is a spiritual successor (predecessor?) of Oculus. A distant future in which ambitious youngsters venture into high tech tombs which have the capacity to permanently mesmerize intruders. Young Beni, student of tomb-robbing legend Ramirez, tries his luck, sparring verbally with the tomb's AI throughout the story. Spoiler alert:
Emphatic 'meh'. It's one long what-a-twist! setup. 2 stars
--------------------------------------
Winning Mars, Jason Stoddard--A series of vignettes drawn from a deadly reality show about contestants racing across the surface of Mars. We alternate between clips of the competitors--a greedy ex-con, a useless scientist wannabe, a divorced couple--and the ambitious network exec and sociopathic producer developing the show--securing funding, courting advertisers, cutting corners on safety, sparring with NASA, etc.
Absolutely fascinating, all the more so somehow for each character's story being writ so small. Sophisticated in its understanding of what might go in to such an endeavor: politics, business, technology, national psychology, legal... Best part of the book. 5 stars
--------------------------------------
An "average" man competes in a series of increasingly dangerous game shows, risking his life for cash. Spills, a dangerous car race. Emergency, in which he wakes up in a plane with bingo fuel. In Torero he has to fight a bull with a sword and in Underwater Perils he fights sharks, moray eels, and four other contestants with knives and scuba gear for underwater treasure. Finally he has earned his way onto The Prize of Peril, in which he has to survive a week being hunted by bad men with guns, while the game show host describes his struggle with bated breath and praises "Good Samaritans" for "helping" him.
This is a clear progenitor to The Running Man and The Hunger Games, as well as movies like Series 7: The Contenders. It was satisfying to watch the protagonist wake up to the falseness of "reality" shows and the stupidity of losing one's life for a shot at some cash. 5 stars
--------------------------------------
Anda's Game, Cory Doctorow
Prose version of In Real Life. A chubby tween low on the social ladder finds success and status in a World of Warcraft type game. She's able to monetize her skill by slaughtering gold farmers, but things get complicated when she discovers that she's killing little girls being exploited for profit in a Mexican warehouse.
This is a much better read than the graphic novel version, despite the less-developed ending. I found myself cheering for Anda's happiness and success. (And the way she evaluated other female gamers by whether their avatars had "sensible tits" cracked me up.) 5 stars
--------------------------------------
Ladies and Gentlemen, This Is Your Crisis!, Kate Wilhelm
A couple who detest one another spend every moment of a weekend fighting and glued to a deadly Survivor type show called Crisis Therapy. Literally the moment the show ends they become solicitous and caring of one another.
I'm honestly not sure what this story was saying. I'd expect the reverse to be true...a show in which they're both emotionally invested would bring them together for the duration then they'd revert to bickering. But I was so sure I understood them and the change was so unexpected that I laughed out loud. 4 stars
--------------------------------------
Stroboscopic, Alastair Reynolds
In the distant future, a professional game player takes on a deadly ecosystem-based challenge.
Reminiscent of The Player of Games in that the game is barely defined, just a convenient mechanism for exploring the real prize, in this case a novel ecosystem: (.) Deliciously hard science story, the kind that makes me want to run out and find more from this author. 5 stars
--------------------------------------
Synthetic Serendipity, Vernor Vinge
In the near future, technology is ubiquitous and tech literacy has become so important that older generations have been obsoleted by youth. They frequently wind up back in high school just to become relevant again.
Most of this story was a slog, and indeed so tech-heavy that it made me feel like one of its outmoded elderly characters...which may have been the point. This realization and the out-of-nowhere pleasing ending bumped this way up for me. 4 stars and shading towards 5. (Note: The games involved here weren't very "Dangerous".)
--------------------------------------
How We Got in Town and Out Again, Jonathan Lethem
In a destitute soft-apoc future (global warming maybe), a pair of teenage vagabonds sign onto a seedy virtual reality contest in exchange for a couple days of being fed. They simply have to explore a Futurama internet scape in front of a paying audience without falling asleep. Reminiscent of the show Carnivale.
I liked how straightforward this was. No twists, no triumphant heroics, just a couple days in the lives of desperate people. 4 stars
--------------------------------------
Red Sonja and Lessingham in Dreamland, Gwyneth Jones
A woman joins an interactive virtual reality simulator for consequence-free sex. Between encounters she and a sex therapist talk past each other about the nature of lust, the reasonableness of her expectations, and the nitpicky definitions of words.
It's moderately interesting when the main character is arguing that combat with a big sword and small leather bikini is a feminist choice and not sexist or demeaning. Then it goes off the rails with a virtual-rape-not-rape incident. And the ending manages to make even LESS sense. 2 stars, and that many only because the deconstruction of Red Sonja pulp silliness is absorbing at first.
--------------------------------------
The Halfway House at the Heart of Darkness, William Browning Spencer
A powerful corporate lobby succeeds in making addiction treatment illegal and physical reclamation of addicts lawful. A self-centered virtual reality addict has to break free of her Matrix-like treatment VR and fight corporate mercenaries to rescue her counselor.
Solid. Great character arcs for the addict and her counselor. 4 stars
--------------------------------------
Her Own Private Sitcom, Allen Steele
A going-nowhere truck stop waitress starts her own internet reality show sitcom with a camera drone. Her newly cantankerous persona may be entertaining (to some) but it makes her really bad at her job. A fed up old coot crushes her camera, which probably cost her several weeks' pay, with a tire iron. Somehow this is presented as a good thing.
I did enjoy the takedown of insipid "reality" TV though. 3 stars
--------------------------------------
The Ichneumon and the Dormeuse, Terry Dowling
This is a spiritual successor (predecessor?) of Oculus. A distant future in which ambitious youngsters venture into high tech tombs which have the capacity to permanently mesmerize intruders. Young Beni, student of tomb-robbing legend Ramirez, tries his luck, sparring verbally with the tomb's AI throughout the story. Spoiler alert:
Emphatic 'meh'. It's one long what-a-twist! setup. 2 stars
--------------------------------------
Winning Mars, Jason Stoddard--A series of vignettes drawn from a deadly reality show about contestants racing across the surface of Mars. We alternate between clips of the competitors--a greedy ex-con, a useless scientist wannabe, a divorced couple--and the ambitious network exec and sociopathic producer developing the show--securing funding, courting advertisers, cutting corners on safety, sparring with NASA, etc.
Absolutely fascinating, all the more so somehow for each character's story being writ so small. Sophisticated in its understanding of what might go in to such an endeavor: politics, business, technology, national psychology, legal... Best part of the book. 5 stars
--------------------------------------
June 24, 2008
GUD doesn't normally review larger-press works, which is partially by choice (they tend to get enough press) and partially by convenience. I wound up with a copy of "Dangerous Games", however, via Jason Stoddard, who contributed "Moments of Brilliance" to Issue 0, and has been making waves both talking about the state of short fiction (he keeps stirring the pot over at his blog) and by appearing in a number of anthologies (latest is Ellen Datlow's "The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy").
The tagline for "Dangerous Games" is "In the reality shows of the future, people will literally be dying to win." And that's not too uncommon of a concept in science fiction, but it's funny how far back it goes. Eleven stories span from 1958 through 2005 (the majority of them being from the late 90's). Science fiction is most often looking forward, and if it's not blatantly obvious from the title of the book (I didn't think about it until reading the preface--slim, but thought-inspiring), the collection is focused on the future of games. A society can be pretty well defined by the games it plays, and at the heart of any game is conflict, so it's a great sandbox for speculative fiction of all sorts.
All of the stories are top-notch science fiction well within the bounds of the genre. Most of them deal with television or virtual reality. One of my favorites of the collection is Vernor Vinge's "Synthetic Serendipity", which only touches on VR tangentially--it's actually rather tough to classify, which is part of what makes it stand out for me. The world envisioned is today's pushed hyper--data mining a skill learned in school, future shock an undeniable social problem, and strange half-virtual theme parks where anyone can contribute content. Not all is what it seems, but that's not because the author is hiding something behind an "is it real or not" digital curtain.
Alistair Reynold's "Stroboscopic" reads as an instant classic--the heroic Everyman character up against impossible odds--and I was somewhat surprised that it was published as recently as 1998. Conversely, Robert Sheckley's "The Prize of Peril", and Kate Wilhelm's "Ladies and Gentlemen, This is Your Crisis! could very well be contemporary fiction as opposed to science fiction, their being written in 1958 and 1976 respectively. Cory Doctorow's "Anda's Game" is timely with the strange social and economic things going on with MMORPGs, and while the story is rather straight forward it's still a fun read; and if you're not familiar with the strange and social and economic things going on with MMORPGs it might be a good jumping off point for you.
Terri Dowling's "The Ichneumon and the Dormeuse" is another favorite--it's a medium- to far-future piece with the feel of a fable and some beautiful layering, touching on tomb-robbing, history/legacies, and identity; the characters are very real, as is the sense of time.
Jason's "Winning Mars" end-caps the collection; my introduction to his writing was this very story from its original publication in Interzone--but then I skimmed a few pages and wasn't very interested. Reading it without Interzone's high-gloss format, I dropped into the story quickly. It's a fun and clever take on one thing that could possibly get us to Mars: advertising. Jason knows his marketing, and the "meta" of the execs building the show and trying to manage the show while various teams compete for the prize adds depth to what is on the surface yet another game show story.
All told, it's a lot of story (and a lot of stories) for your buck, and none of them are duds. If you want some entertaining and occasionally informative or enlightening science fiction, this is a great collection.
The tagline for "Dangerous Games" is "In the reality shows of the future, people will literally be dying to win." And that's not too uncommon of a concept in science fiction, but it's funny how far back it goes. Eleven stories span from 1958 through 2005 (the majority of them being from the late 90's). Science fiction is most often looking forward, and if it's not blatantly obvious from the title of the book (I didn't think about it until reading the preface--slim, but thought-inspiring), the collection is focused on the future of games. A society can be pretty well defined by the games it plays, and at the heart of any game is conflict, so it's a great sandbox for speculative fiction of all sorts.
All of the stories are top-notch science fiction well within the bounds of the genre. Most of them deal with television or virtual reality. One of my favorites of the collection is Vernor Vinge's "Synthetic Serendipity", which only touches on VR tangentially--it's actually rather tough to classify, which is part of what makes it stand out for me. The world envisioned is today's pushed hyper--data mining a skill learned in school, future shock an undeniable social problem, and strange half-virtual theme parks where anyone can contribute content. Not all is what it seems, but that's not because the author is hiding something behind an "is it real or not" digital curtain.
Alistair Reynold's "Stroboscopic" reads as an instant classic--the heroic Everyman character up against impossible odds--and I was somewhat surprised that it was published as recently as 1998. Conversely, Robert Sheckley's "The Prize of Peril", and Kate Wilhelm's "Ladies and Gentlemen, This is Your Crisis! could very well be contemporary fiction as opposed to science fiction, their being written in 1958 and 1976 respectively. Cory Doctorow's "Anda's Game" is timely with the strange social and economic things going on with MMORPGs, and while the story is rather straight forward it's still a fun read; and if you're not familiar with the strange and social and economic things going on with MMORPGs it might be a good jumping off point for you.
Terri Dowling's "The Ichneumon and the Dormeuse" is another favorite--it's a medium- to far-future piece with the feel of a fable and some beautiful layering, touching on tomb-robbing, history/legacies, and identity; the characters are very real, as is the sense of time.
Jason's "Winning Mars" end-caps the collection; my introduction to his writing was this very story from its original publication in Interzone--but then I skimmed a few pages and wasn't very interested. Reading it without Interzone's high-gloss format, I dropped into the story quickly. It's a fun and clever take on one thing that could possibly get us to Mars: advertising. Jason knows his marketing, and the "meta" of the execs building the show and trying to manage the show while various teams compete for the prize adds depth to what is on the surface yet another game show story.
All told, it's a lot of story (and a lot of stories) for your buck, and none of them are duds. If you want some entertaining and occasionally informative or enlightening science fiction, this is a great collection.
June 24, 2025
Two of the most well-known anthologists have brought together several authors' stories & created a collection about competitions that are so extreme, your life is literally on the line.
The Prize of Peril by Robert Sheckley: Pro athletes are out & average, talentless competitors are in. And those average people voluntarily face death for big money. Jim Raeder has to dodge bullets for a week for big money while the chase is televised live. Good
Anda's Game by Cory Doctorow: Anda joins a popular MMORPG gaming group & goes on in-game missions for real money. But what is the real-world motive for these seemingly meaningless "missions"? Good
Ladies and Gentlemen, This is Your Crises by Kate Wilhelm: While watching a dangerous "Survivor" type competition called "Crisis Therapy", a couple seems like they might need some "crisis therapy" of their own. (Good humor in this one) Good
Stroboscopic by Alastair Reynolds: Thrill/risk games in space. Competitors who also act as a resistance to an authoritarian government prepare for the premiere of a new competition that uses alien creatures from a dead world (This one kinda fell flat at the end...almost like the author wrote himself into a corner & couldn't find a way out.) So-So
Synthetic Serendipity by Vernor Vinge: A world divided into youth who have embraced high tech & the older adults who have not. Dull/Bad
How We Got in Town and Out Again by Jonathan Lethem: In a dystopian America, 2 teens join a group of "scapers" who go from town to town putting on "scapes" where contestants explore a cyberspace in a test of physical endurance while people pay to watch. So-So
Red Sonja and Lessingham in Dreamland by Gwyneth Jones: A story about adventure & sex in VR. (WARNING: Graphic & violent sexual content in this one.) Dull/Bad
The Halfway House at the Heart of Darkness by William Browning Spencer: A VR addict undergoes rehab for a dangerous virtual addiction. A rehab counselor who wants to help. A powerful VR entertainment company that hates VR rehabs taking their customers away from what they sell. Good
Her Own Private Sitcom by Alan Steele: A waitress at a diner records her daily on-job encounters for her own internet show, annoying patrons. Dull/Bad
The Ichneumon and the Dormeuse by Terry Dowling: Raiding high-tech tombs & facing down AIs meant to mess with your head. Dull/Bad
Winning Mars by Jason Stoddard: An adventure race on Mars...and a high risk of death. The story alternates between a team of contestants doing something in present time & the creators of the show getting the competition literally off the launching pad in the past. (This was one of a couple stories that I really liked a lot. It was a good way to end the book.) Good
Overall opinion: I started this book with high expectations. Although it didn't meet those expectations, it was still close. A good portion of the stories I liked. Jack Dann & Gardner Dozois as the guys who put it together & the authors of the stories did a good job overall. Well worth 4 stars.
The Prize of Peril by Robert Sheckley: Pro athletes are out & average, talentless competitors are in. And those average people voluntarily face death for big money. Jim Raeder has to dodge bullets for a week for big money while the chase is televised live. Good
Anda's Game by Cory Doctorow: Anda joins a popular MMORPG gaming group & goes on in-game missions for real money. But what is the real-world motive for these seemingly meaningless "missions"? Good
Ladies and Gentlemen, This is Your Crises by Kate Wilhelm: While watching a dangerous "Survivor" type competition called "Crisis Therapy", a couple seems like they might need some "crisis therapy" of their own. (Good humor in this one) Good
Stroboscopic by Alastair Reynolds: Thrill/risk games in space. Competitors who also act as a resistance to an authoritarian government prepare for the premiere of a new competition that uses alien creatures from a dead world (This one kinda fell flat at the end...almost like the author wrote himself into a corner & couldn't find a way out.) So-So
Synthetic Serendipity by Vernor Vinge: A world divided into youth who have embraced high tech & the older adults who have not. Dull/Bad
How We Got in Town and Out Again by Jonathan Lethem: In a dystopian America, 2 teens join a group of "scapers" who go from town to town putting on "scapes" where contestants explore a cyberspace in a test of physical endurance while people pay to watch. So-So
Red Sonja and Lessingham in Dreamland by Gwyneth Jones: A story about adventure & sex in VR. (WARNING: Graphic & violent sexual content in this one.) Dull/Bad
The Halfway House at the Heart of Darkness by William Browning Spencer: A VR addict undergoes rehab for a dangerous virtual addiction. A rehab counselor who wants to help. A powerful VR entertainment company that hates VR rehabs taking their customers away from what they sell. Good
Her Own Private Sitcom by Alan Steele: A waitress at a diner records her daily on-job encounters for her own internet show, annoying patrons. Dull/Bad
The Ichneumon and the Dormeuse by Terry Dowling: Raiding high-tech tombs & facing down AIs meant to mess with your head. Dull/Bad
Winning Mars by Jason Stoddard: An adventure race on Mars...and a high risk of death. The story alternates between a team of contestants doing something in present time & the creators of the show getting the competition literally off the launching pad in the past. (This was one of a couple stories that I really liked a lot. It was a good way to end the book.) Good
Overall opinion: I started this book with high expectations. Although it didn't meet those expectations, it was still close. A good portion of the stories I liked. Jack Dann & Gardner Dozois as the guys who put it together & the authors of the stories did a good job overall. Well worth 4 stars.
June 4, 2018
Pretty good! Some of it might seem like old hat these days but most of the stories are well written and interesting. Especially loved the short story about VR addiction.
November 21, 2011
The Prize of Peril - 4 stars, A reality show of hunter and hunted with the highest stakes possible, your life.
Anda's Game - 4 stars, money and corruption in online gaming.
Ladies and Gentlemen, This is Your Crises - 2 stars, The total immersion of people watching a survivor-like show.
Stroboscopic - 3 stars, a dangerous game involving silicon based lifeforms from strobeworld.
Synthetic Serendipity - 4 stars, mentoring and guiding a young person in a high tech world.
How We Got in Town and Out Again - 2 stars, a cyber endurance game in a post apocalyptic world.
Red Sonja and Lessingham in Dreamland - 2 stars, virtual sex therapy.
The Halfway House at the Heart of Darkness - 4 stars, virtual reality addiction.
Her Own Private Sitcom - 2 stars, a waitress hosting her own virtual reality show gets chastened by a customer.
The Ichneumon and the Dormeuse - 3 stars, high tech tomb robbing.
Winning Mars - 3 stars, a reality show race across mars.
Anda's Game - 4 stars, money and corruption in online gaming.
Ladies and Gentlemen, This is Your Crises - 2 stars, The total immersion of people watching a survivor-like show.
Stroboscopic - 3 stars, a dangerous game involving silicon based lifeforms from strobeworld.
Synthetic Serendipity - 4 stars, mentoring and guiding a young person in a high tech world.
How We Got in Town and Out Again - 2 stars, a cyber endurance game in a post apocalyptic world.
Red Sonja and Lessingham in Dreamland - 2 stars, virtual sex therapy.
The Halfway House at the Heart of Darkness - 4 stars, virtual reality addiction.
Her Own Private Sitcom - 2 stars, a waitress hosting her own virtual reality show gets chastened by a customer.
The Ichneumon and the Dormeuse - 3 stars, high tech tomb robbing.
Winning Mars - 3 stars, a reality show race across mars.
January 26, 2009
I read this because I was writing a suspense short story for a competition and I wanted to get a feel for how to create suspense quickly. This book, although very sci-fi, is full of great suspense short stories. Very entertaining.
unowned-to-buy
May 1, 2010Bought this ebook at fictionwise, but the publisher decided they wanted more money. Fictionwise refunded my money.
September 20, 2014
This wasn't a particularly bad book. However, I did not overly enjoy the short stories and often found myself wondering what actually happened.
October 15, 2015
I only found two stories worth reading, the rest I skipped through.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews