God Game
Andrew M. Greeley
Tor
Fiction
****
DESCRIPTION: A man testing a friend's prototype computer game, an interactive tale set in a fantastic world, notices several strange things. For one, the pictures seem awfully good, almost like photographs, though of nowhere he's ever seen. Then, as trouble starts affecting their world, odd events begin occurring in his own. Powerful dreams that seem almost real, phone calls that might be from characters in the game... is it possible that this man has become a god?
REVIEW: I should've labled this "Fantasy" or "Sci-Fi," but the publisher claims it's general fiction - probably a marketing tactic to attract those readers who are intimidated by straight-up genre works. Anyway, this classic is very thought-provoking, and ahead of its time in many ways; though published in 1986, the sort of gameplay described seems more in line with what modern computers are capable of. My big complaint, the one that cost it a point in the ratings, is the way Greeley spoiled it very early on by making references to things that occur after the whole deal has been sorted out. It bogged down the narrative, and it took the edge off the thrill of discovering it for myself. Other than that, it's a great read.
You might also enjoy:
Demons Don't Dream (Piers Anthony, Fiction - A computer game connects players to the magical land of Xanth)
Bruce Coville's Chamber of Horrors: Spirits and Spells (Bruce Coville, YA Fiction - Teens playing a new RPG game in an abandoned house find it coming to life around them)
Caverns of Socrates (Dennis L. McKiernan, Fiction - The AI system hosting a virtual reality role-playing game takes on a dangerous mind of its own)
Dream Park (Larry Niven and Stephen Barnes, Fiction - A futuristic theme park, featuring 3D holographic role-playing arenas, hides a killer)
The Otherland quartet (Tad Williams, Fiction - The futuristic Net hides a massive VR secret, which is starting to harm young websurfers)
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