Game Play

The Gamearth Trilogy #2

by Kevin J. Anderson

The Gamearth Trilogy continues. It was written in the Rules—Save the World! Over the past two years, a group of four players had given so much to their role-playing world that it had developed a magic of its own. The creatures, warriors, sorcerers, thieves—all had come alive. And now there is an odd connection between the gamers and their characters, splitting into factions to determine the fate of the Game itself and both the inside and the outside worlds.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

325 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 3, 1989

About the author

Yes, I have a lot of books, and if this is your first visit to my amazon author page, it can be a little overwhelming. If you are new to my work, let me recommend a few titles as good places to start. I love my Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series, humorous horror/mysteries, which begin with DEATH WARMED OVER. My steampunk fantasy adventures, CLOCKWORK ANGELS and CLOCKWORK LIVES, written with Neil Peart, legendary drummer from Rush, are two of my very favorite novels ever. And my magnum opus, the science fiction epic The Saga of Seven Suns, begins with HIDDEN EMPIRE. After you've tried those, I hope you'll check out some of my other series.

I have written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and I'm the co-author of the Dune prequels. My original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series and the Nebula Award-nominated Assemblers of Infinity. I have also written several comic books including the Dark Horse Star Wars collection Tales of the Jedi written in collaboration with Tom Veitch, Predator titles (also for Dark Horse), and X-Files titles for Topps.

I serve as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest.

My wife is author Rebecca Moesta. We currently reside near Monument, Colorado.

Reviews

[Brooke A Harding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hexworld is beginning to fight back.

I prefer to read books in a single sitting because without fail, every one I've had to read in multiple sittings, I haven't liked as well.
Okay. So. If you're going to read this book, be aware that this is book 2 and you really probably should read book 1 before this one because some things will not make sense. Oh, sure there's a little bit of a recap but you're missing out. The minutiae are where the story really settles into its own.
Also, I absolutely love the two different interconnected storylines. It is good stuff.

[John William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Game Play offers an engaging and immersive gameplay experience that strikes a balance between accessibility and depth. The controls are responsive and intuitive, making combat and exploration feel fluid and satisfying. The variety of gameplay modes caters to both solo players and those seeking multiplayer action, while the well-designed AI provides a challenging yet fair experience. For more insights into such experiences, visit www creativegamingnet. Level design encourages exploration, with plenty of secrets to uncover and a good mix of action and strategy. However, occasional difficulty spikes may frustrate some players, and clearer tutorials could enhance the onboarding process for newcomers. Overall, Game Play delivers a captivating gameplay experience that keeps players coming back for more.

[Sebastien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Souvent je me demande si je ne devrais pas lire les livre d'un auteur dans l'ordre où il les a écrits, car bien que ce qu'il a écrit de meilleur se reflète souvent sur les écriture passé, c'est difficile de lire un livre écrit par un des ses auteur préféré et d'avoir de la difficulté à finir la lecture.

Le deuxième livre de Gamearth trilogy Game Play me fait beaucoup réfléchir à ce concept. Autant je peux voir le talent brut de Kevin J. Anderson autant l'inexpérience du style et des idées viennent gâcher le talent de l'auteur. On prend une idée vraiment original, du jamais vu dans le monde du fantastique et arrose le tout de scène prévisible, de personnage peu intéressant et de mort random au point tel ou on dit "what the fuck" mais pas dans le bon sens.

Si vous lisez Saga of the Seven Suns, Terra Incognita ou même sa série de Dune (que je n'ai pas lu mais que j'ai entendu tellement de bien) Kevin J Anderson épate, fait vivre des émotions et nous amène dans un monde de son cru. Gamearth échoue sur toute la ligne à ce sujet. Les personnage sont plat et sans personnalité. On a un guerrier qui se fait battre tout le temps, un academic qui sert à rien, un mage qui aime pas faire de la magie et un golem qui "quotes" des films. Rien pour accrocher à l'histoire, les seuls personnages que j'ai trouvé intéressant un tantinet meurts. D'un autre point de vu la quest général est forcé et on à plus hate que ça finisse que de déguster l'aventure. La raison, un manque d'expérience dans le style.

Car sinon l'idée d'un groupe de joueur de RPG de table, qui veulent détruire leur monde mais que le monde lui veut se défendre car il ne veut pas disparaître tout en utilisant les règle directement dans les dialogue est une idée de génie. Ça fait réfléchir à toutes les aventure où, comme joueur de jeu de rôle, on a détruit la carte, le monde ou un paquet de personnages sans la moindre pitié. Que serait-il arrivé si le jeu pouvait se défendre. He bien ce livre nous le montre. Seul chose, sa manque de piquant, d'émotions et surtout de substance. Les personnages trop basique et l'histoire trop peu intéressante dilue cette idée génial ainsi que toutes les bonnes idée qui s'en suit. Je crois grandement que cette trilogy aurait dût se faire en un livre de 600 pages plus tot que trois de plus de 300 pages. Je suis sûr que si Kevin J Anderson ré-écrivait ce livre aujourd'hui il le ferait ainsi, ou sinon il en referait une gros bout pour que l'histoire soit plus réaliste et exitante. Surtout il rendrait les personnage plus attachant et vivant. Car dans toutes ses oeuvres acclamés c'est ce qui fut cité en force.

Ce qui sauve le livre c'est le combat final. C'est la seule partie du livre que j'ai lu sans soupirer ou sans avoir envie de fermer le livre. À part quelque scène bizare et des mort douteuses, cette scène à été très bien scripté.

Je ne peux pas recommander ce livre car il en existe juste trop qui son meilleur sur le marché. Cependant, si vous êtes fan de Kevin J. Anderson et que vous chercher quelque chose à vous mettre sous la dent en attendant le prochain Seven Sun, le prochain Dune ou sa prochaine série, ce livre est tout de même lisable et très bon par moment. Ce n'est juste plus le standard auquel Kevin J. Anderson nous a habituer aujourd'hui, nous démontrant que pour devenir un auteur prolifique il faut commencer quelque part et qu'au début bien que ça ait l'air facile, il est difficile de produire des classiques que tous apprécieront.

[Marc · Rating 2 out of 5]

In some ways, Gameplay was a far better book than the previous one. The pacing moved a lot faster and it didn't get bogged down. But I just never got into it and had far too many problems.

In the last book, the players saw Gamearth's magic. The map magically turned blue in the middle to represent the river that was created. Yet, no one really freaked out there or during this book. They should have.

In fact, I was disappointed that again, not much of the story was spent in the "real" world especially after what happened. I wanted to see their reactions. I wanted to see why David wanted to end it and why Melanie wants to fight it. Why do the other players care? Is everyone haunted or have dreams or is it just Melanie or David? None of this is really touched upon, which I thought was a wasted opportunity especially in the second book. I've started and quit games before. What impact does that have when there's real magic involved?

I also never cared about the characters in Gamearth. I know I was supposed to feel something for newer characters, but I just never did. I was interested in some of the characters from the last book, but they weren't really in here. There was a chapter or two with them in it, but they vanished. Plus, I liked Bryl, Delreal and Vailret more in the last book.

My final problem was a formatting issue. For most of the book, it looked like this old typewriter typesetting. Then it switched and looked decent. Then it started alternating between the two. Whoever uploaded this did a bad job.

I'll read the last book because it's a trilogy and I'm still hoping that some things will get explained.

[Sean Randall · Rating 3 out of 5]

The new character was extremely annoying, perhaps it was funnier a quarter of a century ago. Still, the story arc continued well and it'll be interesting to see what happens with the game in the final installment.

[Danny · Rating 3 out of 5]

It continues the first book. It isn't any better or worse.

To my shame, I still can't stop reading the series.

[Ivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

first one was better