California Voodoo Game

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prune, July 26, 2008 (view all comments by prune)
Don't let "Voodoo" turn you off: it's *merely* the theme for the World Series of Fantasy Gaming. Five teams of six gamers each, the creme de la creme of the International Fantasy Gaming Society, are competing for the title. This is the biggest Game that Dream Park has ever hosted; even Alex Griffin and his security team have been pressed into service as extras in some scenarios. Tony McWhirter is one of five programmers on the GameMaster's team. Acacia Garcia is now a Loremaster in her own right, and Mary-M Corbett is back in action and meets the man of her dreams.

However, Acacia is with neither Alex nor Tony in this book: she's been dating Nigel Bishop, the gamer extraordinaire, who has come out of retirement for one last stint as team leader. His religion is "The Art of War". For Acacia and Twan, it's the game itself. Al Nakagawa is an expert on surviving these expeditions, and Major Clavell is in this for the honor of the army ... with Corporal S.J. Waters (the snot-nosed novice from Dream Park) now matured and ready to do his best for unit, country, and the IFGS spectators.

As usual, there's a murder to solve, this one a personal vendetta for Alex. As usual, Niven and Barnes manage to weave a cast of dozens in and out of a plot involving SF, fantasy, and mystery, without losing us at any point, and tying together two pieces of cultural history that one wouldn't have thought were related.

The heartwarming finish shows how Steven Barnes has influenced the scenery of SF; I'm continually enthralled by how he can put so much feeling into the characters. The Dream Park books have an excellent balance between the plot moving the characters, and the characters moving the plot. I can feel places where the authors allowed their creations to dictate the action, but it never gets out of control -- or if it does, Niven and Barnes have negotiated a settlement with Griffin & Co. well before the manuscript deadline.

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Product Details

ISBN:

9780345381484

With:

Barnes, Steven

Publisher:

Ballantine Books

Location:

New York :

Subject:

Fiction

Subject:

Science Fiction - General

Subject:

Science fiction

Subject:

Mystery fiction

Subject:

Science Fiction - High Tech

Subject:

Dream park (imaginary place)

Subject:

Computer adventure games

Subject:

Computer adventure games -- Fiction.

Subject:

Dream Park

Edition Number:

1st mass market ed.

Series Volume:

2712

Publication Date:

1993

Binding:

Mass Market Paperbou

Language:

English

Illustrations:

Yes

Pages:

343 p.

Dimensions:

6.84x4.15x1.03 in. .37 lbs.