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Second World
Lured from his birthday celebrations by a Marilyn Monroe avatar, the US president finds himself abducted into cyberspace by a mysterious presence called 'The Voice'. With only twenty-four hours before it will become impossible to return his consciousness to his body, the secret services are thrown into panic. The one called in to solve the mystery of his disappearance is Conor Smith, a disillusioned GameMaster, who enlists the help of Andi and Tebor, two young people who are permanently 'missing in the Web'. Soon they are investigating every corner of the overcrowded area of WebWorld known as the Brick. Meanwhile a couple of mysterious murders escalates the tension, both in VR and Reality, and paranoia reigns as the hero gradually tracks down the mysterious forces that always seem a couple of steps ahead.
- GenresFictionScience Fiction
599 pages, Paperback
First published November 7, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 19, 2022
This book was honestly boring at the beginning and I had to force myself to give it a chance. It only became interesting as I was approaching the 200 page mark. I'm glad that I gave it a chance though.
I rarely read fictional books filled such heavy suspense, action and intensity like this one. The humour, the mystery and the lessons kept me going and are a great take away. But after finishing it and putting it down... I realise that I need a break from such action and suspense filled novels. It really stressed me as I was steadily approaching the end.
The plot twists are insane and your heart may be sore if you become attached to some of the characters. I'm glad that I took a chance and read this genre, despite it being very different from what I would usually go for.
I'll be on the look out for more of Eddy Shah's work.
I rarely read fictional books filled such heavy suspense, action and intensity like this one. The humour, the mystery and the lessons kept me going and are a great take away. But after finishing it and putting it down... I realise that I need a break from such action and suspense filled novels. It really stressed me as I was steadily approaching the end.
The plot twists are insane and your heart may be sore if you become attached to some of the characters. I'm glad that I took a chance and read this genre, despite it being very different from what I would usually go for.
I'll be on the look out for more of Eddy Shah's work.
February 11, 2020
I was pleasantly surprised b6 this novel! Eddy Shah is best known as a newspaper editor and this is a 12 year old novel, so my expectations were low.
It was actually a proper SF novel, the story was good, and very relevant in today’s age, the main characters were good, I got confused between some of the minor characters. I liked the story, I was never bored and it had a good end, a satisfying read!
It was actually a proper SF novel, the story was good, and very relevant in today’s age, the main characters were good, I got confused between some of the minor characters. I liked the story, I was never bored and it had a good end, a satisfying read!
September 13, 2020
Not a bad book but there was so much info dumping and it only really picked up around the 400 page mark
August 1, 2021
Underwhelming. There were some interesting ideas, but the execution wasn't quite right.
May 12, 2017
First posted at SF Crowsnest Dec 2008.
Set in the year 2044 when the virtual reality ‘Second World’ is indistinguishable from real life a la ‘The Matrix’ and the American President’s virtual avatar has been kidnapped, this book is surprisingly not science fiction. It’s a thriller, which gave me pause to wonder how a thriller writer’s treatment of the subject would differ from an SF author’s.
The first thing I noticed was the huge amount of information imparted in the first few chapters to bring the reader up to speed with concepts around which the book is based. I found it rather tedious, but I guess SF readers are more used to getting on with it and figuring out the new concepts themselves. The info-dumping didn’t stop there though. There was a lot of verbose and unnecessary explanation of world developments that would end with phrases like:
‘But all this was far from the President’s mind,’ with no attempt to subtly work the back-story into the plot.
There are also numerous contemporary references that would be meaningless in 2044 and other instances where the time frame has been overlooked. One example is the old farmer in ‘real world’ who is 77 and like a lot of other older people doesn’t like modern technology. He’s never had computer or mobile phone. Hang on, this is 2044. He’d have been born in 1967 – hardly of the pre-technology generation. Numerous gaffes like this left me frustrated.
Most of the book is set in Second World, which is adequately thought out and described, but has been disappointingly reduced to the simplest form. The explanation is given that the whole internet / second world is now controlled by governments and corporations. The centre of Second World is the Brick, a long straight road around which everything else has been built. This allows the plot to be much more linear than a more imaginative version of virtual reality; people have to travel as they would in real life, use doors properly, pay using real credits. The whole thing seems to have been designed to enable the plot to be moved from real life into a more exotic location without too much thought. At several points the author appears to be confused himself about what’s real and what’s virtual.
As for the plot, it actually does become quite gripping, but not until about page 400. The high-tech government agencies involved in espionage and investigations are well-developed and suitably Machiavellian. With this stronger aspect of the writing I suspect the book will be enjoyed far more by fans of thrillers than by SF readers.
Set in the year 2044 when the virtual reality ‘Second World’ is indistinguishable from real life a la ‘The Matrix’ and the American President’s virtual avatar has been kidnapped, this book is surprisingly not science fiction. It’s a thriller, which gave me pause to wonder how a thriller writer’s treatment of the subject would differ from an SF author’s.
The first thing I noticed was the huge amount of information imparted in the first few chapters to bring the reader up to speed with concepts around which the book is based. I found it rather tedious, but I guess SF readers are more used to getting on with it and figuring out the new concepts themselves. The info-dumping didn’t stop there though. There was a lot of verbose and unnecessary explanation of world developments that would end with phrases like:
‘But all this was far from the President’s mind,’ with no attempt to subtly work the back-story into the plot.
There are also numerous contemporary references that would be meaningless in 2044 and other instances where the time frame has been overlooked. One example is the old farmer in ‘real world’ who is 77 and like a lot of other older people doesn’t like modern technology. He’s never had computer or mobile phone. Hang on, this is 2044. He’d have been born in 1967 – hardly of the pre-technology generation. Numerous gaffes like this left me frustrated.
Most of the book is set in Second World, which is adequately thought out and described, but has been disappointingly reduced to the simplest form. The explanation is given that the whole internet / second world is now controlled by governments and corporations. The centre of Second World is the Brick, a long straight road around which everything else has been built. This allows the plot to be much more linear than a more imaginative version of virtual reality; people have to travel as they would in real life, use doors properly, pay using real credits. The whole thing seems to have been designed to enable the plot to be moved from real life into a more exotic location without too much thought. At several points the author appears to be confused himself about what’s real and what’s virtual.
As for the plot, it actually does become quite gripping, but not until about page 400. The high-tech government agencies involved in espionage and investigations are well-developed and suitably Machiavellian. With this stronger aspect of the writing I suspect the book will be enjoyed far more by fans of thrillers than by SF readers.
June 7, 2025
This is an interesting book. Written around the time cyberpunk was rocking the science-fiction world, it was published much later, in 2008 due to the fact that the publishers did not think much of its presence, until several years later, when the technologies mentioned in the book are no longer totally fiction.
The book depicts a world in around 2044, where Europe and the Western world has been separated from the rest of the world by walls and a mega-virtual-world called Second World (or The Brick) has permeated every aspect of real life. Regulated and monitored by governments and the United Nations, this Second World is as real as it gets. When the U.S. President gets kidnapped in Second World, a GameMaster from the U.K. is brought to find him. As he gets dragged into the controversy he realizes that he is becoming targeted as the prime suspect. Clearing himself requires him to go and beat the dragons and reach the ultimate goal of gamers.
Very interesting treatment and dynamic narrative. It has been re-written in 2020, after the corona epidemic, as “To Kill A President"
The book depicts a world in around 2044, where Europe and the Western world has been separated from the rest of the world by walls and a mega-virtual-world called Second World (or The Brick) has permeated every aspect of real life. Regulated and monitored by governments and the United Nations, this Second World is as real as it gets. When the U.S. President gets kidnapped in Second World, a GameMaster from the U.K. is brought to find him. As he gets dragged into the controversy he realizes that he is becoming targeted as the prime suspect. Clearing himself requires him to go and beat the dragons and reach the ultimate goal of gamers.
Very interesting treatment and dynamic narrative. It has been re-written in 2020, after the corona epidemic, as “To Kill A President"
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews