Ratings20
Average rating3.1
The critically acclaimed author of Lovecraft Country returns with a thrilling and immersive virtual reality epic—part cyberthriller, part twisted romantic comedy—that transports you to a world where identity is fluid and nothing can be taken at face value. John Chu is a “sherpa”—a paid guide to online role-playing games like the popular Call to Wizardry. For a fee, he and his crew will provide you with a top-flight character equipped with the best weapons and armor, and take you dragon-slaying in the Realms of Asgarth, hunting rogue starships in the Alpha Sector, or battling hordes of undead in the zombie apocalypse. Chu’s new client, the pseudonymous Mr. Jones, claims to be a “wealthy, famous person” with powerful enemies, and he’s offering a ridiculous amount of money for a comprehensive tour of the world of virtual-reality gaming. For Chu, this is a dream assignment, but as the tour gets underway, he begins to suspect that Mr. Jones is really North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, whose interest in VR gaming has more to do with power than entertainment. As if that weren’t enough to deal with, Chu also has to worry about “Ms. Pang,” who may or may not be an agent of the People’s Republic of China, and his angry ex-girlfriend, Darla Jean Covington, who isn’t the type to let an international intrigue get in the way of her own plans for revenge. What begins as a whirlwind online adventure soon spills over into the real world. Now Chu must use every trick and resource at his disposal to stay one step ahead—because in real life, there is no reset button.
Reviews with the most likes.
This isn't my jam- I don't like cyberpunk, and I've never dabbled in LitRPG.
HOWEVER.
This was great. A ton of interesting twists and turns, and a satisfying ending. A protagonist I liked and was interested in.
Wow. And, unfortunately, I don't mean that in a good way. To say I was disappointed is quite the understatement.
This is the third of Matt Ruff's novels that I've read, and this one was by far the worst. It was so dreadfully bad that I'd have written this guy off as an incel, libertarian hack had this been my first. So, if you're reading this and have never read Ruff before, please try something else first!
As for the content of the book, about 90% of it is just describing playing various games. The other 10% is a very loose narrative with a poor, unoriginal story. Others have pointed out the language used. In my opinion, some of it is over the top and unnecessary. It's clear the author pulled his punches in some spots but then just straight drops a racial slur. All of the sexual content seemed to have been written by a 14 year old too. Just blah all around.,
Tl;dr version - incel Ready Player One, read something else by him
If you stumbled across this book in the 99-cent self-published section of the Kindle store, you'd say, “Hey, that wasn't bad.” BUT... if Lovecraft Country and Sewer, Gas, & Electric are among your favorite books, you'd say, “C'mon Ruff! You are so much better that this.” My current theory is that he wrote this in order to make his Oculus, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC tax-deductible. You know. Research.