Like many, I got it in Loot Crate. I hadn't even heard of it before that. It feels like a solid first novel. It has some basic mistakes of underestimaLike many, I got it in Loot Crate. I hadn't even heard of it before that. It feels like a solid first novel. It has some basic mistakes of underestimating the reader's intelligence (tends to explain certain concepts multiple times, when I think there would have been an additional level of tension had we been told once, "This is a thing, there's a thing that can/can't happen as a result" then the first thing happens and you wait and find out if the other thing really does/doesn't happen, etc.), but it also does a good job of helping fill in the blanks for people who don't necessarily get most of the references, having been born in the 80's myself, so my memory doesn't serve too well.
Overall, I'd give it a 7.5, maybe even an 8 after it marinates in my head a little while. The first half of the first act is pretty slow, but it speeds up. The second slows down a little again then picks up, but the third part I basically inhaled in two nights, only stopping because I knew I had to sleep for work the next day.
The world he created is both fascinating and frightening. The concepts of gaming he presents sound AWESOME (Flicksync, anyone?), but the real world is terrifying.
In many ways, it felt like a traditional adventure novel, and part of me felt a little cheated by his lack of creativity in coming up with new twists and turns, but ultimately I decided I was glad, because the new standard is to try and reinvent the wheel. He has a few kinks thrown in there that I didn't see coming, but the majority of them were ones I did see, and they ultimately felt really satisfying.
Using the three aspects of storytelling, Character, Plot, and Setting, I'd say this is firstly about Plot (action), secondly setting (the world), and lastly Character. More than likely, you won't come out of this book with a new look on life, though he does try towards the end to nudge one out....more
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