Miriam and Stuart have been chosen to test a new computer game and are not allowed to talk to anyone about it, not even each other, but when the game starts to become aware of their secret fears and thoughts, they begin to worry that something is seriously wrong. Reprint.
Gillian Cross was born Gillian Arnold in 1945. She was educated at North London Collegiate School, Somerville College, Oxford and the University of Sussex. Although now a full-time writer who often travels and gives talks in connection with her work, she has had a number of informal jobs including being an assistant to a Member of Parliament. For eight years she also sat on the committee which advises ministers about public libraries.
She is married to Martin Cross and they have four grown-up children, two sons and two daughters.
This book is about a new virtual reality gaming system with a twist--it uses the fears of the players to make the game more entertaining. The idea behind this story sounded good, but I was disappointed. The main character is a bit annoying and there isn't much character development, and the characters were a bit stereotypical. The whole story is shallow without much detail or development. The twist at the end wasn't all that interesting, either. Even the game itself was sort of boring and anti-climactic.
I do have to say, this book did not live up to my expectations. It has certainly taken me a long time to read this book. The beginning is very slow and tiresome and something you just don't want to read. It did, however get better and I did begin to enjoy it a little more as time went on. It is safe to say that the ending completely saved this book. The ending changed this from a 2 star review to a 3 star review. very disappointed with how this book turned out.
Puf...concepto chulo (aunque trillado, no olvidemos que este libro es de los noventa) pero desaprovechado, diálogos sin mucho sentido que no acaban de construir bien a los personajes...universo superficial, poco explicado, plot twist previsible... Lo más interesante ha sido la trama de Will, que daba para mucho y se ha quedado en nada. Ha sido un poco quiero y no puedo. En fin, un librito más.
Libro de los 90 sobre la ética y los peligros que iba a traer la realidad virtual. Con la llegada de la IA, está un poco desfasado, a parte de que no es muy realista cómo se trata el tema. Me lo mandaron leer en el instituto y en la relectura me ha resultado igual de prescindible
I preferred her 'A Map of Nowhere' for moral decision making but I think this book could have gone one better if it had taken a surreal route into not telling you early on which of the players of the game were real people and which were the sprites of the game itself. (think 'Re-boot' or 'Tron').