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Dream Box #1
The Wolf of Descarta
Jaren Reese is just another red collar trapped at the bottom of Descarta’s genetic caste system. But in the Dream Box, he has forged a new digital identity for himself: Balmus, the Wolf Knight.
Balmus has long since carried a torch for the Linker Petra, but he doesn’t know her, not really. Outside of the Dream Box she is just another one of his fantasies. But Brea Morgen is the real thing– a living, breathing person who desires Jaren for who he truly is, not merely what he pretends to be.
When the Dream Box that Jaren depends on crashes due to the evolution of a hostile A.I. life form, a secret military branch commissions a team of gamers and hackers to go back into the corrupted Dream Box to eliminate the threat and Jaren is given the chance of a lifetime—though it comes at a price—and Jaren now needs to decide just how much he’s willing to lose because the war about to be waged will be one on two fronts - the corporeal and the virtual.
Balmus has long since carried a torch for the Linker Petra, but he doesn’t know her, not really. Outside of the Dream Box she is just another one of his fantasies. But Brea Morgen is the real thing– a living, breathing person who desires Jaren for who he truly is, not merely what he pretends to be.
When the Dream Box that Jaren depends on crashes due to the evolution of a hostile A.I. life form, a secret military branch commissions a team of gamers and hackers to go back into the corrupted Dream Box to eliminate the threat and Jaren is given the chance of a lifetime—though it comes at a price—and Jaren now needs to decide just how much he’s willing to lose because the war about to be waged will be one on two fronts - the corporeal and the virtual.
- GenresFantasyScience Fiction
444 pages, Paperback
First published November 19, 2013
657 people want to read
About the author
Daniel Pike
9 books41 followersDaniel Pike left a life of obscurity as a ghostwriter to accept a position in the hallowed halls of academia, believing a career in education would probably keep the lights on in his house and his two daughters, Aurie and Kiera, clothed and fed.
He soon realized he labored under the delusion that teachers, in exchange for lousy pay and long hours, were then granted extensive vacations--during which time he would be constantly writing. Well, it didn't exactly work out that way, but with enough caffeine, anything, even publication, is possible.
THE WOLF OF DESCARTA is the first of the Dream Box series and introduces readers to a virtual world where anything imaginable is possible--except for the truth. The cyberpunk adventure continues in BETRAYAL AT PHOBOS.
Follow Daniel Pike on Twitter at @pikeknight or visit his blog at pikeknight.com.
He soon realized he labored under the delusion that teachers, in exchange for lousy pay and long hours, were then granted extensive vacations--during which time he would be constantly writing. Well, it didn't exactly work out that way, but with enough caffeine, anything, even publication, is possible.
THE WOLF OF DESCARTA is the first of the Dream Box series and introduces readers to a virtual world where anything imaginable is possible--except for the truth. The cyberpunk adventure continues in BETRAYAL AT PHOBOS.
Follow Daniel Pike on Twitter at @pikeknight or visit his blog at pikeknight.com.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 21, 2013
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
This was a remarkably descriptive dystopian sci-fi adventure that you will need a map, some notes, and possibly a chart or two to keep up with! Multiple layers, upon layers, upon, layers of plot twists intertwine through a large cast of characters and several planes of existence to weave together a story that will leave you wanting to know what will happen next.
The book manages to toss around some hefty concepts such as sentience, free will, artificial intelligence, caste systems, and such without getting heavy handed. I thought it also does a good job of pacing itself so the reader isn’t too overwhelmed with the depth of content involved. That being said, I’m sure I missed stuff, so I’ll gladly re-read this when the next book in the dream box series is unleashed!
This was a remarkably descriptive dystopian sci-fi adventure that you will need a map, some notes, and possibly a chart or two to keep up with! Multiple layers, upon layers, upon, layers of plot twists intertwine through a large cast of characters and several planes of existence to weave together a story that will leave you wanting to know what will happen next.
The book manages to toss around some hefty concepts such as sentience, free will, artificial intelligence, caste systems, and such without getting heavy handed. I thought it also does a good job of pacing itself so the reader isn’t too overwhelmed with the depth of content involved. That being said, I’m sure I missed stuff, so I’ll gladly re-read this when the next book in the dream box series is unleashed!
November 29, 2013
This was a very complex novel. The characters live in two realities – the Meat Space, where they live physically; and the Dream Box, which is an online game in which their rendering lives. There are two classes of people, those who wear the blue collar and those who wear the red collar. The blue collars have the better jobs, better lives in the Meat Space. The red collars have the jobs on the lowest end of the economic scale. They live in poverty and their lives are very difficult. In the Dream Box, you can make yourself look the way you want and you can be successful, much more successful than you could ever hope to be if you are a red collar. Each person is only allowed a limited amount of time per day on the Dream Box – 5 hours per day. And most red collars live for that 5 hours per day. You are not allowed to ever know who the real person is that belongs to the Dream Box personality. You are not allowed to meet them in real life. It’s against the law.
I found this novel to be confusing for about the first third, as I had a difficult time sorting out the characters, and who each one was in the Dream Box and the real world. The story moved from one place to another, introducing individuals involved in the storyline similar to the way a movie goes from one scene to another. This book was much like one of those complex movies where you can’t catch everything the first time you see it; it takes a second viewing to fully understand everything. This book might even make a good movie as the visual component would be an asset in the storytelling. If you like RPG computer games and the idea of virtual reality as a method of interacting in that game, you will most likely enjoy this book.
I liked the premises of the story. One of the characters (I won’t say which one for fear of spoiling things) moves his consciousness from the real world into the on-line world. After all, what are our brains anyways, but computers housed in a biological unit?
I also enjoyed the romantic parts of the novel. Because Jaren spent so much time in the Dream Box as Balmus, he started to have real feelings for Petra. It made me wonder how people are affected when they really spend all that time in these games. Could that happen to us? Jaren also has feelings for Brea, and it is in this struggle that we watch his character develop.
This was an interesting novel and I gave it three stars.
Thank you to the publisher, The Zharmae Publishing Press for providing afree copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All thoughts are my own.
I found this novel to be confusing for about the first third, as I had a difficult time sorting out the characters, and who each one was in the Dream Box and the real world. The story moved from one place to another, introducing individuals involved in the storyline similar to the way a movie goes from one scene to another. This book was much like one of those complex movies where you can’t catch everything the first time you see it; it takes a second viewing to fully understand everything. This book might even make a good movie as the visual component would be an asset in the storytelling. If you like RPG computer games and the idea of virtual reality as a method of interacting in that game, you will most likely enjoy this book.
I liked the premises of the story. One of the characters (I won’t say which one for fear of spoiling things) moves his consciousness from the real world into the on-line world. After all, what are our brains anyways, but computers housed in a biological unit?
I also enjoyed the romantic parts of the novel. Because Jaren spent so much time in the Dream Box as Balmus, he started to have real feelings for Petra. It made me wonder how people are affected when they really spend all that time in these games. Could that happen to us? Jaren also has feelings for Brea, and it is in this struggle that we watch his character develop.
This was an interesting novel and I gave it three stars.
Thank you to the publisher, The Zharmae Publishing Press for providing afree copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All thoughts are my own.
November 26, 2013
The Wolf of Descarta was a great ride that left my mind whirling with all the various questions that arose - can machines attain sentience and be considered living things? Can man become machine?
There are a flurry of mind-boggling ideas in this book and they were all balanced so well as to not be cumbersome, becoming part of the backdrop at times, and a backdrop of psychic/machine-world-melded/phantasmagoria impels the coolest of stories with ease. Nothing feels forced, even though when you think about it, it's all pretty psychedelic!
It was wonderful to read a novel where an author sat easy with his mode of communication. It reminded me in that sense of the work of Patrick Rothfuss, another scholar turned sci-fi/fantasy author, who writes with -just enough- of everything, imagery, dialogue, point-blank action.
I loved the characterisation - so easy to distinguish characters without any of them falling into stereotype.
So if you are a sci-fi aficionado, love original concepts mixed with ax-wielding badassery and sexy vixens, this book is for you!!
There are a flurry of mind-boggling ideas in this book and they were all balanced so well as to not be cumbersome, becoming part of the backdrop at times, and a backdrop of psychic/machine-world-melded/phantasmagoria impels the coolest of stories with ease. Nothing feels forced, even though when you think about it, it's all pretty psychedelic!
It was wonderful to read a novel where an author sat easy with his mode of communication. It reminded me in that sense of the work of Patrick Rothfuss, another scholar turned sci-fi/fantasy author, who writes with -just enough- of everything, imagery, dialogue, point-blank action.
I loved the characterisation - so easy to distinguish characters without any of them falling into stereotype.
So if you are a sci-fi aficionado, love original concepts mixed with ax-wielding badassery and sexy vixens, this book is for you!!
July 29, 2015
TracingTheStars.com was provided with a free review copy.
I want to start by saying that I teetered constantly between 4 and 5 stars for this book, my opinion changing from page to page. I think this will easily be a five star in many, if not most, readers’ opinions. There was just something that kept me from absolutely reaching the five star step. If that step isn’t clearly within my mind, I tend to stay at 4 stars.
There were many aspects about this book that I found to be fantastic, with many moments of ‘whoa’, and ’wow’ and ‘I see what you did there’… Many moments that had me highlighting or rereading just so I could relish the words on the page. But, there were also many moments that had me scratching my head or backtracking for clarification. I think it was the subtle layer of confusion that existed throughout the book that kept it from resonating on all five cylinders with me.
The layer of confusion was in some part due to the writing style, which used odd jumps back in time and p.o.v. shift side-jumps. Most of them were a bit jarring and could have been fixed with either proper transitions or changing the order in which they were inserted. I would have preferred more of a sign in the road that you’re about to take a step backwards or to the side before you can go forwards again. The other parts of the confusion were due to some info dumps scattered throughout which used both to get the reader up to speed on the ‘real world’ and the ‘dream box’ world, as well as the futuristic society and technology. This made the world building a little clunky at times for me. While explanation of these elements is most certainly needed, some of it was heavy-handed, at least for my personal tastes. I’m sure many readers will lap the details up and still be left asking for more.
The story takes place in the 22nd century on a planet in the Frontier called Descarta. Society has become broken into ‘castes’. We only learn of two casts – the blues and the reds. The blues are the well off, administrative types and the red are the lower, manual labor types. They wear actual metal collars colored red and everything is segregated. There are also synthetics / robotics who are taking over red-collar jobs. Humans have become genetically refined, births are synthetic, and God has been ‘disproven’. Most spend their off hours in a virtual reality environment called the ‘dream box’.
If this sounds a little bit familiar, you may have read Ready Player One at some point. Indeed, if not for the more futuristic setting on a planet not of Earth, then I would also argue that there are many uncanny similarities. The dream box requires a virtual helmet, they wear a syth-mesh suit, and most of society only works so they can live their real lives in the dream box. Most even have love lives and jobs in the dream box. Outside the dream box, life is ordered, unpleasant and many people barely function socially. I’m not, however, going to get into a comparison between Descarta and Player One. They are separate despite the similarities, and each stand completely apart from the other on numerous counts.
There are several key characters in Wolf of Descarta, and often the meandering viewpoints added to the earlier mentioned layer of confusion. The key player is Jaren Reece, a red collar who lost his chance at being a blue collar and works at a garbage dump – a society-branded failure with no chance of advancing or changing his caste. In the Dream Box, Jaren is Balmus – and he’s not exactly a hero there, either. He’s a player-killer who’s banded together with other player killers, and in doing so has gained one of the legendary suits of armor, becoming the Wolf Knight, not necessarily by commendable actions. Jaren is the epitome of anti-hero.
Another character of note is a ‘hacker’/genius, Hayes, who accesses the Dream Box from a detention cell. Hayes assists Jaren inside Jaren’s favorite Dream Box RPG. Hayes is let out of detention on occasion to help the government interpret and deal with possible threats it picks up from the brainwaves of the people via the dream box. Think Minority Report, where they try to stop crimes and interpret threats before they happen, except they don’t have three psychics interpreting the future – just one, borderline-sane genius interpreting code.
Brea is another character worth mentioning in this review. She has several interesting aspects that add further layers to the story, including a genetic disorder. Coworker to Jaren, she finds herself falling for him while her body falls apart. The relationship development between Jaren and Brea is an interesting dynamic between two socially inept people, further impeded by Jaren’s infatuation with a girl, Petra, whom he has only met online. Petra, also aides Jaren in the Dream Box, and Jaren fights against his desire for her that exists despite an earlier betrayal.
Still following? So far, we have a dystopic, caste-based society of genetically engineered humans (a few of which are falling apart at the genes) living on a frontier planet, Descarta, who spend their leisure time plugged into a virtual reality Dream Box that lets them play games and lead secondary lives. On top of that, we have Jaren/Balmus and the dynamics of Petra the VR girl vs. Brea the reality girl. Oh, and did I mention Jaren begins to exhibit skills that bleed over from his VR Balmus warrior into his physical body?
It is a lot to take in, and all before reaching 25% on my kindle. Combine that with the p.o.v. changes and the jumps between ‘reality’ and ‘dream box simulation’ scenes, and you get that layer of confusion that kept me from giving five stars. I think this may have been helped by some editing and/or revision work. The rest of the editing (grammar and all that) is perfectly fine.
At around 25% we learn the true nature of the Dream Box, what’s really going on with society and why Jaren is a key player. It wasn’t what I expected and I found it uniquely interesting. I’m not going to say anything further on the plot or events, as I prefer to do spoiler-free reviews. Beyond all the above, the book poses questions about existence, reality and society – and our acceptance, adherence or uprising against these conceptual constructs. The ‘hero’s journey’ is certainly present, with Hayes acting as the Guide to Jaren’s anti-hero character. Jaren agrees to take on the quest, but like all true anti-heroes, he has a self-serving condition.
Despite the confusion, this book was a wonderful read. I recommend it to any fans of dystopia or science fiction, especially if you are like me and really enjoy stories that include virtual reality as part of the word building and plot.
I want to start by saying that I teetered constantly between 4 and 5 stars for this book, my opinion changing from page to page. I think this will easily be a five star in many, if not most, readers’ opinions. There was just something that kept me from absolutely reaching the five star step. If that step isn’t clearly within my mind, I tend to stay at 4 stars.
There were many aspects about this book that I found to be fantastic, with many moments of ‘whoa’, and ’wow’ and ‘I see what you did there’… Many moments that had me highlighting or rereading just so I could relish the words on the page. But, there were also many moments that had me scratching my head or backtracking for clarification. I think it was the subtle layer of confusion that existed throughout the book that kept it from resonating on all five cylinders with me.
The layer of confusion was in some part due to the writing style, which used odd jumps back in time and p.o.v. shift side-jumps. Most of them were a bit jarring and could have been fixed with either proper transitions or changing the order in which they were inserted. I would have preferred more of a sign in the road that you’re about to take a step backwards or to the side before you can go forwards again. The other parts of the confusion were due to some info dumps scattered throughout which used both to get the reader up to speed on the ‘real world’ and the ‘dream box’ world, as well as the futuristic society and technology. This made the world building a little clunky at times for me. While explanation of these elements is most certainly needed, some of it was heavy-handed, at least for my personal tastes. I’m sure many readers will lap the details up and still be left asking for more.
The story takes place in the 22nd century on a planet in the Frontier called Descarta. Society has become broken into ‘castes’. We only learn of two casts – the blues and the reds. The blues are the well off, administrative types and the red are the lower, manual labor types. They wear actual metal collars colored red and everything is segregated. There are also synthetics / robotics who are taking over red-collar jobs. Humans have become genetically refined, births are synthetic, and God has been ‘disproven’. Most spend their off hours in a virtual reality environment called the ‘dream box’.
If this sounds a little bit familiar, you may have read Ready Player One at some point. Indeed, if not for the more futuristic setting on a planet not of Earth, then I would also argue that there are many uncanny similarities. The dream box requires a virtual helmet, they wear a syth-mesh suit, and most of society only works so they can live their real lives in the dream box. Most even have love lives and jobs in the dream box. Outside the dream box, life is ordered, unpleasant and many people barely function socially. I’m not, however, going to get into a comparison between Descarta and Player One. They are separate despite the similarities, and each stand completely apart from the other on numerous counts.
There are several key characters in Wolf of Descarta, and often the meandering viewpoints added to the earlier mentioned layer of confusion. The key player is Jaren Reece, a red collar who lost his chance at being a blue collar and works at a garbage dump – a society-branded failure with no chance of advancing or changing his caste. In the Dream Box, Jaren is Balmus – and he’s not exactly a hero there, either. He’s a player-killer who’s banded together with other player killers, and in doing so has gained one of the legendary suits of armor, becoming the Wolf Knight, not necessarily by commendable actions. Jaren is the epitome of anti-hero.
Another character of note is a ‘hacker’/genius, Hayes, who accesses the Dream Box from a detention cell. Hayes assists Jaren inside Jaren’s favorite Dream Box RPG. Hayes is let out of detention on occasion to help the government interpret and deal with possible threats it picks up from the brainwaves of the people via the dream box. Think Minority Report, where they try to stop crimes and interpret threats before they happen, except they don’t have three psychics interpreting the future – just one, borderline-sane genius interpreting code.
Brea is another character worth mentioning in this review. She has several interesting aspects that add further layers to the story, including a genetic disorder. Coworker to Jaren, she finds herself falling for him while her body falls apart. The relationship development between Jaren and Brea is an interesting dynamic between two socially inept people, further impeded by Jaren’s infatuation with a girl, Petra, whom he has only met online. Petra, also aides Jaren in the Dream Box, and Jaren fights against his desire for her that exists despite an earlier betrayal.
Still following? So far, we have a dystopic, caste-based society of genetically engineered humans (a few of which are falling apart at the genes) living on a frontier planet, Descarta, who spend their leisure time plugged into a virtual reality Dream Box that lets them play games and lead secondary lives. On top of that, we have Jaren/Balmus and the dynamics of Petra the VR girl vs. Brea the reality girl. Oh, and did I mention Jaren begins to exhibit skills that bleed over from his VR Balmus warrior into his physical body?
It is a lot to take in, and all before reaching 25% on my kindle. Combine that with the p.o.v. changes and the jumps between ‘reality’ and ‘dream box simulation’ scenes, and you get that layer of confusion that kept me from giving five stars. I think this may have been helped by some editing and/or revision work. The rest of the editing (grammar and all that) is perfectly fine.
At around 25% we learn the true nature of the Dream Box, what’s really going on with society and why Jaren is a key player. It wasn’t what I expected and I found it uniquely interesting. I’m not going to say anything further on the plot or events, as I prefer to do spoiler-free reviews. Beyond all the above, the book poses questions about existence, reality and society – and our acceptance, adherence or uprising against these conceptual constructs. The ‘hero’s journey’ is certainly present, with Hayes acting as the Guide to Jaren’s anti-hero character. Jaren agrees to take on the quest, but like all true anti-heroes, he has a self-serving condition.
Despite the confusion, this book was a wonderful read. I recommend it to any fans of dystopia or science fiction, especially if you are like me and really enjoy stories that include virtual reality as part of the word building and plot.
December 27, 2013
Wow what a complicated and intense book. There are two worlds: the Dream Box and the meat space (to me it meant reality). This is a full on fantasy book and anyone who is a gamer would truly appreciate this book. It took me a while to really get into the book since it is so complex. I felt like I needed a notebook to keep track of a characters and who was who. The book had a gamer / matrix movie feel to it. It took me much longer to read this book than I expected as I battled with the format which hindered my connection to the story. Sometimes I felt really lost in the book, I didn't always remember which world they were in, especially with all the twists and events.
Characters: 4/5
Daniel does a great job with creating well rounded characters. Although I was quite confused sometimes as there were multiple POV changes throughout the book. Not only did the characters have names, they had dreambox names to for their online characters and sometimes even nicknames. I battled to keep track who the 'bad' guys were and felt quite lost with some of the stories. The world building was well done, but to me it was huge. I am not sure if this had to do with the type of books I normally read. There is no doubt that Daniel is a great writer.
Jaron Reese is the main character, I easily connected with him and I definitely enjoyed his story, but my favourite character in the book would definitely be Brea.
Plot, Pace, Writing style: 4/5
The Wolf of Descarta is a very complex story. You really need to keep focus. There are two worlds within this book: The meatspace which is reality and the Dream Box which is a cyber world. The pace is moderate with good grounding and the world building is amazing. Reading this book definitely felt like I was in a computer game. It is strange to me that computers literally run and govern the lives of these future people. The story ended with quite a cliff hangar, which definitely makes the next book in this series sound like it will be filled with twists and developments.
I really did not understand the chapter numbering, every chapter was a combination of 1's and 0's.
This is not my normal read but is an amazing book if you can focus and keep track of the 2 different world Daniel creates.
Cover talk: 5/5
I loved this cover. It is fantasy and matches the story perfectly.
Characters: 4/5
Daniel does a great job with creating well rounded characters. Although I was quite confused sometimes as there were multiple POV changes throughout the book. Not only did the characters have names, they had dreambox names to for their online characters and sometimes even nicknames. I battled to keep track who the 'bad' guys were and felt quite lost with some of the stories. The world building was well done, but to me it was huge. I am not sure if this had to do with the type of books I normally read. There is no doubt that Daniel is a great writer.
Jaron Reese is the main character, I easily connected with him and I definitely enjoyed his story, but my favourite character in the book would definitely be Brea.
Plot, Pace, Writing style: 4/5
The Wolf of Descarta is a very complex story. You really need to keep focus. There are two worlds within this book: The meatspace which is reality and the Dream Box which is a cyber world. The pace is moderate with good grounding and the world building is amazing. Reading this book definitely felt like I was in a computer game. It is strange to me that computers literally run and govern the lives of these future people. The story ended with quite a cliff hangar, which definitely makes the next book in this series sound like it will be filled with twists and developments.
I really did not understand the chapter numbering, every chapter was a combination of 1's and 0's.
This is not my normal read but is an amazing book if you can focus and keep track of the 2 different world Daniel creates.
Cover talk: 5/5
I loved this cover. It is fantasy and matches the story perfectly.
September 10, 2016
The Wolf of Descarta is an amazingly detailed, fast-paced and intriguing novel from Daniel Pike. Many other reviewers have already stated that it is full of plot twists and turns - and it is - which makes it a true delight to read. I was enthralled from the very first page and I was never disappointed. With many Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels, there tend to be peaks and valleys in the pace of the story which can cause the reader to lose momentum as they go. The Wolf of Descarta isn’t saturated with excessive and unnecessary details – only what you need to imagine. It’s refreshing to read a novel that isn’t weighed down by the superfluous. Mr. Pike engages the reader from the beginning and doesn’t release them until the final page – which only leaves them wanting more.
This novel has something for everyone in it. Gamers, lovers of Sci-Fi, fantasy, dystopia, chivalry, knighthood, honor and an intense love story will not be left wanting.
It also serves as a great entry-level novel for those trying to break into the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre. The characters are original, interesting and relatable and, because Mr. Pike is a master wordsmith, there are no overwhelming details to slog through to get to the good stuff. It’s all good stuff!
For anyone who has ever lost themselves in the immersing world of video games or ever wondered what it would be like to lead a life of fantasy and adventure, The Wolf of Descarta is a paragon and I highly recommend it to all.
This novel has something for everyone in it. Gamers, lovers of Sci-Fi, fantasy, dystopia, chivalry, knighthood, honor and an intense love story will not be left wanting.
It also serves as a great entry-level novel for those trying to break into the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre. The characters are original, interesting and relatable and, because Mr. Pike is a master wordsmith, there are no overwhelming details to slog through to get to the good stuff. It’s all good stuff!
For anyone who has ever lost themselves in the immersing world of video games or ever wondered what it would be like to lead a life of fantasy and adventure, The Wolf of Descarta is a paragon and I highly recommend it to all.
August 3, 2016
WOW! Where to start with this? OK, so first thing is this is NOT a light book. You need to concentrate on everything - the plot, the characters, the layers upon layers of intrigue, confusion and double talk. Although this book is set in a completely different world with a completely different storyline, there are elements of this which remind me strongly of George Orwell's 1984. It is not a short book either but rather an epic saga in one book.
This story is hardcore Sci Fi and, at the risk of making a huge generalisation, if you are a gamer (or Linker as it's called in here) then you will probably get more out of it than I did. However, saying that, I was grabbed into this story from the beginning and loved every moment of it. You have the Dream Box (virtual reality), Meat Space (reality) and different worlds too.
There is a sort of love triangle in it although that definitely takes a back seat to the rest of the story. You have the 'dream girl' and the 'default girl'. Which one is which I'll leave you to find out.
This is an intense, complex book that will draw you in and make you think. Highly recommended for all gamers and Sci Fi fans. And just to give you an idea of the attention to detail this book has got, the chapter headings are all binary :)
This story is hardcore Sci Fi and, at the risk of making a huge generalisation, if you are a gamer (or Linker as it's called in here) then you will probably get more out of it than I did. However, saying that, I was grabbed into this story from the beginning and loved every moment of it. You have the Dream Box (virtual reality), Meat Space (reality) and different worlds too.
There is a sort of love triangle in it although that definitely takes a back seat to the rest of the story. You have the 'dream girl' and the 'default girl'. Which one is which I'll leave you to find out.
This is an intense, complex book that will draw you in and make you think. Highly recommended for all gamers and Sci Fi fans. And just to give you an idea of the attention to detail this book has got, the chapter headings are all binary :)
August 5, 2014
The Wolf of Descarta is the first in the Dreambox series by Daniel Pike and is a sci-fi adventure not for the faint of heart!
Take our world years from now when humans are scattered to the ends of the galaxy to colonize other planets. Add a caste system based on intelligence and a personalized video game system that fully integrates you into the program. You have the Dreambox.
Jaren Reese, a lower class garbage man, can be a hero in the Dreambox, and is a natural leader. When tragedy strikes the Dreambox, it comes down to Jaren and a few other misfit outcasts to ban together and, yes, literally save their world. Except, the enemy they thought they were fighting might not be the biggest threat after all.
Wolf of Descarta is a great sci-fi, and that's not even my genre of choice. The characters are intriguing, complex, and flawed. They make wrong judgment calls and get lost in things that aren't important, just like real people. That makes the story so much more realistic and thought provoking. There are elements of romance, but that brings our characters into themselves too. The writing style by author Daniel Pike is tight, strong, and compelling.
Take our world years from now when humans are scattered to the ends of the galaxy to colonize other planets. Add a caste system based on intelligence and a personalized video game system that fully integrates you into the program. You have the Dreambox.
Jaren Reese, a lower class garbage man, can be a hero in the Dreambox, and is a natural leader. When tragedy strikes the Dreambox, it comes down to Jaren and a few other misfit outcasts to ban together and, yes, literally save their world. Except, the enemy they thought they were fighting might not be the biggest threat after all.
Wolf of Descarta is a great sci-fi, and that's not even my genre of choice. The characters are intriguing, complex, and flawed. They make wrong judgment calls and get lost in things that aren't important, just like real people. That makes the story so much more realistic and thought provoking. There are elements of romance, but that brings our characters into themselves too. The writing style by author Daniel Pike is tight, strong, and compelling.
September 10, 2014
Dystopian sci-fi with a fantasy cover! I'll admit I went in thinking this would be a hardcore fantasy novel based solely on the cover and was surprised to find it's sci-fi through and through. As the other reviews note, this is a complex story with a lot going on, so you definitely need to pay attention. But since when is that a bad thing? Wolf of Descarta tells the story of Jaren Reese - a lower caste garbage man in a bleak future where the only escape is the Dreambox. The Dreambox is a 'game-verse' where Jaren becomes Balmus the Wolf Knight (thus the fantasy cover), clanking around in badass armor and hacking up every foe he can find with his axe. But Jaren soon learns that the real fight is outside the Dreambox and when he and his friends get drawn in, they'll literally end up trying to save the world. Oh yeah, and there's a love interest or two along the way - don't want to say too much here or I might give a bit too much away.
If you like sci-fi, you'll definitely appreciate this book. If you're a gamer, you'll love the Dreambox universe and the escapism it provides. And the best part is this is Dreambox #1, so there's more in the series yet to come!
If you like sci-fi, you'll definitely appreciate this book. If you're a gamer, you'll love the Dreambox universe and the escapism it provides. And the best part is this is Dreambox #1, so there's more in the series yet to come!
September 29, 2014
Based on the cover and the opening scene I thought this was a fantasy book set in medieval times, turns out it's a futuristic sci-fi about a protagonist, Jaren Reese, who's real world is so bleak he relies heavily on the escapism provided by a "Dream Box." Immersed the Dream Box, Jaren is a warrior in an alternate reality where he has the power and influence he wishes he held in the real world. Events occur that draw him back into reality and he learns that maybe he can be the hero in the real world, too. It's very relatable, as many of us turn to different mediums as forms of escapism from the banalities of everyday life and also wish we could change things that feel out of our control. I had trouble following the story at times, but I respect a plot that challenges me to keep focused and pay attention to all the layers. The story also reminded me of Assassin's Creed, a game series about plugging into an alternate plane of existence, which I'm a fan of, so it made for a positive association. And given how it ended, I look forward to the sequel!
March 3, 2015
I really enjoyed this book. It's not predictable for the most part and I've been pretty sick of books recently because of their predictability.
It goes without saying that this book isn't for everyone, but as a gamer, nerd, and sci-fi/fantasy fan, this was amazing. Pike's writing is intriguing and very easy to become immersed in. His characters are complex and interesting and feel like real people, not just paper cut-outs.
My favorite character was Renton Hayes. He was interesting and strangely valiant for his role and background. But there were very few people I didn't like.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who's looking for something fresh.
It goes without saying that this book isn't for everyone, but as a gamer, nerd, and sci-fi/fantasy fan, this was amazing. Pike's writing is intriguing and very easy to become immersed in. His characters are complex and interesting and feel like real people, not just paper cut-outs.
My favorite character was Renton Hayes. He was interesting and strangely valiant for his role and background. But there were very few people I didn't like.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who's looking for something fresh.
September 18, 2014
What an impressive debut from Daniel. Action-packed, love and romance and a great, suspenseful plot, with many twists and turns. The Wolf of Descarta will appeal to science fantasy readers and many new to the genre, but particularly those of us who like and have experienced role playing games. The plot is pure Gibson, which presents a dystopian future where the lowest people, the ‘red collars’ do all the manual work and society keeps them compliant by giving them five hours a day jacked into the Dream Box, where they can live another life and escape from reality. Well worth a look.
December 29, 2014
Review to follow
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