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Thousand Tales
How We Won the Game
An Empire of Fun
In 2036, two nations stand where the United States were once together. The "Free States" now rule Texas, Cuba, and a floating sea colony. Both Americas fear the other will ruin them. The real threat to their power, though, is a new Artificial Intelligence obsessed with games... and she might be just what we need.
Paul is a good young man by US standards: clever enough to stop a murder, obedient and hard-working in his "volunteer" labor camp years, and on his way to MIT to join his girlfriend. Ludo the AI takes an interest in him. She offers him the service she plans to sell worldwide: "uploading", having his brain diced and scanned so he can live forever in her virtual-reality paradise. He fears that leaving his homeland behind is a betrayal, but as a digital mind he can do more, be more, and help create a real nation born from dreams of hope and freedom.
Ludo's game world seems bright and cheerful, with griffins, transformation, magic and friendly native AIs. But are its secrets so dark and sinister that humanity is doomed? For once the answer is no. Now Ludo and her many friends just have to convince the world of that, using her dazzling array of charities, scientists, robots and more.
In 2036, two nations stand where the United States were once together. The "Free States" now rule Texas, Cuba, and a floating sea colony. Both Americas fear the other will ruin them. The real threat to their power, though, is a new Artificial Intelligence obsessed with games... and she might be just what we need.
Paul is a good young man by US standards: clever enough to stop a murder, obedient and hard-working in his "volunteer" labor camp years, and on his way to MIT to join his girlfriend. Ludo the AI takes an interest in him. She offers him the service she plans to sell worldwide: "uploading", having his brain diced and scanned so he can live forever in her virtual-reality paradise. He fears that leaving his homeland behind is a betrayal, but as a digital mind he can do more, be more, and help create a real nation born from dreams of hope and freedom.
Ludo's game world seems bright and cheerful, with griffins, transformation, magic and friendly native AIs. But are its secrets so dark and sinister that humanity is doomed? For once the answer is no. Now Ludo and her many friends just have to convince the world of that, using her dazzling array of charities, scientists, robots and more.
- GenresScience Fiction
278 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 6, 2015
40 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 20, 2016
3.5 stars.
This clever, intriguing sci-fi tale is more of a collection of short stories with an overriding narrative than a single plot novel. It follows the development of the Thousand Tales world from a simple interactive game run by an AI (Ludo) designed purely to let humans have fun, right through the brain-uploading phase into a fully realised interactive world (Talespace), where people escape from our world into that and live out their greatest wishes and dreams. Not to mention the rivals that want to stop Ludo and the thoughts and conflicted emotions of those who don’t quite know what to think about her.
It’s all set in a near-future version of our world, where Paul is a young man with a bright future ahead of him. Possibly. He’s certainly smart enough for it, but his mandatory community service is wearing him down and a petty tyrant is threatening to hold him back from moving ahead. Which is how he ends up playing Thousand Tales, meeting Ludo and changing the course of his life forever. Paul isn’t the only human character we follow in this novel, but he’s the most central to Ludo and her development. He’s the pro-Ludo camp, throwing himself into her adventures and immersing himself in her world.
I actually found Paul a bit hard to like, and some of his decisions were hard to fathom. He’s very straight forward, not simple as such, but for someone of his supposed intelligence he lacked the complexity I needed to be interested in him.
The flip-side of Paul is Linda. It’s not that she’s anti-Ludo, but she definitely questions everything about her and is willing to challenge the AI’s methods and motives. For me she was a much more compelling character than Paul, though again there were times when I felt like her emotions were a touch too simplistic for the character she was. I kept wanting to like her, yet couldn’t quite.
That was my main problem with this book, actually – the characters. The story, the world, the layers of the plot are all clever and interesting and well told, but the characters never quite grabbed me in the way I need in order to love something. Characters are everything to me when it comes to loving a book, so while I could enjoy and admire this book purely from the storytelling aspects, I never fell in love with it.
It might also have been nice to have had some viewpoints that were a little removed from Ludo and her world. I know this book is about Thousand Tales, but still, a wider world perspective would have been great. Also, when it came to the game itself, things did seem more skewed towards the darker side of humanity. There is one light-hearted tale, but it would have been nice to have seen more *fun*.
All of which sounds kind of negative, which is a shame, because this is a good read. If you like plot driven sci-fi that isn’t afraid to pose moral questions and play with philosophy, then you should definitely try this. It’s intelligent and cleverly weaves together the various plot strands to form one main idea. If, however, you enjoy well drawn and developed characters, you might find this a little lacking. There are quite a few characters, some we saw more than others, some who vanish for no particular reason (Brass Lamp, Tess and Zephyr), and all of them could have done with more depth. So it all depends on you and what you want your sci-fi to do for you. Regardless, Thousand Tales is a game that plenty of people would definitely enjoy playing.
(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)
This clever, intriguing sci-fi tale is more of a collection of short stories with an overriding narrative than a single plot novel. It follows the development of the Thousand Tales world from a simple interactive game run by an AI (Ludo) designed purely to let humans have fun, right through the brain-uploading phase into a fully realised interactive world (Talespace), where people escape from our world into that and live out their greatest wishes and dreams. Not to mention the rivals that want to stop Ludo and the thoughts and conflicted emotions of those who don’t quite know what to think about her.
It’s all set in a near-future version of our world, where Paul is a young man with a bright future ahead of him. Possibly. He’s certainly smart enough for it, but his mandatory community service is wearing him down and a petty tyrant is threatening to hold him back from moving ahead. Which is how he ends up playing Thousand Tales, meeting Ludo and changing the course of his life forever. Paul isn’t the only human character we follow in this novel, but he’s the most central to Ludo and her development. He’s the pro-Ludo camp, throwing himself into her adventures and immersing himself in her world.
I actually found Paul a bit hard to like, and some of his decisions were hard to fathom. He’s very straight forward, not simple as such, but for someone of his supposed intelligence he lacked the complexity I needed to be interested in him.
The flip-side of Paul is Linda. It’s not that she’s anti-Ludo, but she definitely questions everything about her and is willing to challenge the AI’s methods and motives. For me she was a much more compelling character than Paul, though again there were times when I felt like her emotions were a touch too simplistic for the character she was. I kept wanting to like her, yet couldn’t quite.
That was my main problem with this book, actually – the characters. The story, the world, the layers of the plot are all clever and interesting and well told, but the characters never quite grabbed me in the way I need in order to love something. Characters are everything to me when it comes to loving a book, so while I could enjoy and admire this book purely from the storytelling aspects, I never fell in love with it.
It might also have been nice to have had some viewpoints that were a little removed from Ludo and her world. I know this book is about Thousand Tales, but still, a wider world perspective would have been great. Also, when it came to the game itself, things did seem more skewed towards the darker side of humanity. There is one light-hearted tale, but it would have been nice to have seen more *fun*.
All of which sounds kind of negative, which is a shame, because this is a good read. If you like plot driven sci-fi that isn’t afraid to pose moral questions and play with philosophy, then you should definitely try this. It’s intelligent and cleverly weaves together the various plot strands to form one main idea. If, however, you enjoy well drawn and developed characters, you might find this a little lacking. There are quite a few characters, some we saw more than others, some who vanish for no particular reason (Brass Lamp, Tess and Zephyr), and all of them could have done with more depth. So it all depends on you and what you want your sci-fi to do for you. Regardless, Thousand Tales is a game that plenty of people would definitely enjoy playing.
(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)
March 17, 2018
Since the book contains AI and an avatar-based game, comparisons to Ready Player One are natural. However, this story is a whole different thing. Lots of fun, interesting and dark concepts are the strength of this story. I did feel thrown in at the beginning but recovered quickly and stayed on the journey. The character development could be stronger, and I did not connect to these characters in any form – human or Griffin. Morality was the core of this story, exploring lots of ideas. I was given a free review copy of this book and have voluntarily left this honest review.
June 4, 2019
The story was good, but a little to complex at times. It could have used a little more paring down. Overall, it was a very enjoyable and entertaining experience. I enjoyed the concepts it produced and the direction it went. I would like to read/listen to more in this world.
The narrator did an excellent job in bringing this to life. I doubt I would have enjoyed this in print as much as I did in audio.
Disclaimer: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
The narrator did an excellent job in bringing this to life. I doubt I would have enjoyed this in print as much as I did in audio.
Disclaimer: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
July 3, 2019
A solid possible-future tale. This was the first of these written, I believe, so it has a few more rough edges than Crafter's Passion, the one I'd previously read, but the same basic message -- that people of goodwill and imagination can make a better future for us than the dystopia all too many of us fear is coming.
August 15, 2018
Great story, although slightly convoluted.
Narration left a lot to be desired.
Narration left a lot to be desired.
March 21, 2018
This is the hardest one for me to review,
I actually had to listen twice to this book to really really get it and fully understand what's going on because it feels like that the author worked really hard to make this book spacial which I believe was a mistake, he already had a great story in his head, it was not necessary to add to it, make it to complicated that even me who loves hard core science-fiction had problems understanding or following the story line that as I said I actually re listened a second time to the book to really enjoy it.
The story is there and it's a great one, I would advise to the author to drop 2 hours and make the story less complicated, then it will become a masterpiece.
Every thing about the performance is perfect, each voice is right on and the sound Quality is perfect so no problems there.
Like I said this one is a tough one, I do recommend it, it's a good book !!!
Got this audiobook for free for reviewing.
I actually had to listen twice to this book to really really get it and fully understand what's going on because it feels like that the author worked really hard to make this book spacial which I believe was a mistake, he already had a great story in his head, it was not necessary to add to it, make it to complicated that even me who loves hard core science-fiction had problems understanding or following the story line that as I said I actually re listened a second time to the book to really enjoy it.
The story is there and it's a great one, I would advise to the author to drop 2 hours and make the story less complicated, then it will become a masterpiece.
Every thing about the performance is perfect, each voice is right on and the sound Quality is perfect so no problems there.
Like I said this one is a tough one, I do recommend it, it's a good book !!!
Got this audiobook for free for reviewing.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews