Otaku

by Chris Kluwe

Otaku is the debut novel from former NFL player and tech enthusiast Chris Kluwe, with a story reminiscent of Ready Player One and Ender's Game.Ditchtown.A city of skyscrapers, built atop the drowned bones of old Miami. A prison of steel, filled with unbelievers. A dumping ground for strays, runaways, and malcontents.Within these towering monoliths, Ashley Akachi is a young woman trying her best to cope with a brother who's slipping away, a mother who's already gone, and angry young men who want her put in her place. Ditchtown, however, is not the only world Ash inhabits. Within Infinite Game, a virtual world requiring physical perfection, Ash is Ashura the Terrible, leader of the Sunjewel Warriors, loved, feared, and watched by millions across the globe. Haptic chambers, known as hapspheres, translate their every move in the real to the digital—and the Sunjewel Warriors' feats are legendary.However, Ash is about to stumble upon a deadly conspiracy that will set her worlds crashing together, and in the real, you only get to die once…At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Science Fiction, Dystopia, Fiction, Fantasy, Cyberpunk, Audiobook, Young Adult

349 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 3, 2020

About the author

Christopher James "Chris" Kluwe (/ˈkluːi/; born December 24, 1981) is an American football punter for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 2005 before playing the next eight seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. He is currently with the Oakland Raiders. He played college football at UCLA.

Reviews

[Sachin Dev · Rating 2 out of 5]

Originally reviewed here on my blog: https://fantasy-smorgasbord.blogspot....

Otaku in Japanese refers to the anime/manga/video-game obsessed fans and the underground culture, who put their games ahead of real social interactions.

In Chris Kluwe's debut cyberpunk sci-fi thriller Otaku, he opts to have a young black girl named Ashley Akachi as the protagonist in a future techno-influenced post-apocalyptic world where online/VR games have become a cultural obsession among the youth, to the point of the game superstars being offered brand commissions/ fandoms treating them as demi-idols in real life. Ashley is a certified star, top of the leaderboards in this set of games called the Infinite Games, leading an all-star cast called Sun Jewel warriors. Ashley herself is the celebrated "Ashura The Terrible" who sets the tone for the book in this opening chapter that pits her against a dragon - no big deal this, just another encounter - she proceeds to solo-decimate the dragon by throwing herself down it's gullet and slicing it up from inside [Yeah i know. What a visual, huh!] Chris right away establishes the tone of the book - ultra-violent, take-no-prisoners, It's a grim and brutal world both outside and inside the haptic chambers.

Unfortunately for Ashley, the world outside hasn't given up it's misogynist attitude either. There are tons of people out there who hate her for being a ''girl" in this man-dominated game-world. And of course, the racists slurs abound in the form of hatemails and message-boards. Ash tries to block this out by dedicating herself to get the money for her mother's treatment and giving her support is her boyfriend Ham, who happens to be a topnotch game developer associated with the Infinite games. But pretty soon, Ash stumbles upon a conspiracy that involves a new model of the "Hap-Hood" that immerses the players into their VR environment, but this one seems to control the very mind of the gamer as well, rendering them puppets in the hands of whoever is operating the game. Her game-life and real-life collide dangerously and all the skills she has learnt inside the haptic chamber that render her to be one of the most tenacious, aggressive player might just come in handy to keep her and her friends alive as the conspiracy threatens to blow over into a full fledged war.

Chris is passionate about cyber-tech, weapons and fighting. That much is very clear. Even the world-building is impressive, the setting being a washed-out version of Miami where the sea-levels are always rising and mainlands are split into the spaces for the rich and the poor. Towering spires connected by skybridges dotted by areas where humanity huddles in anonymity, eking out enough to earn them water ration privileges and not much else. The VR landscape is brought to life time and again, imagination working overtime to paint this in the most colorful manner.

So much for the good stuff. Much as I wanted to like the book, the characters and the narrative were a massive let-down for me. While I am fairly new to hardcore cyberpunk, I felt the meat and potatoes of the book itself was not stuffed together well enough. Let's start with the central first person POV. As a reader, I am stuck around in her head for the entirety of the book. Ash herself, the symbol of resistance ( a dark-skinned girl, who kicks ass in the online VR game-play and also is capable enough to casually emasculate the misogynist goons who threaten to rape her in real life, without so much as breaking into a sweat? Phew! ) comes across as a parody of an empowered woman. Despite the repeated threats on her life, incessantly referred to as "bitch", "whore", "cunt" by everyone around her, her confidence levels are staggering. She goes through life, head held high. A fathead of a younger brother, blissfully unaware of his sister's problems with these racial extremists threats mounting? A mother stuck in a high security clinic, undergoing pschy-treatment for having lost her mind? No problem. Let's just escape that sucky reality. Slink into a haptic chamber and have wild sex with our loverboy, who happens to be a game dev extraordinaire. And who by the way, also harbours secrets that should ideally blow her game-fracked mind wide open, but all these revelations slide right off her iron-clad defences she actively builds to block out grief. And then again, despite knowing what the "missions" did to her mother's mind ( who is now under psych-ward care in some lockdown facility in the underground ) Ash readily accepts missions from this shady "boss" because she's the only one who can do it. Save the world, that is. Questionable mind, defies logic.

The writing flows and ebbs in parts. It is paced like a runaway freight train, yes. But my main issue with his writing style is the narrative typically veers off-course as Chris stops to indulge himself in 'tech-porn', going overboard in the detailing of the latest gadget or weaponry or VR equipment. Sure, there's plenty of action. The book is chockablock with the same but it's unsettling and staccato, never allowing you to settle down to watch the fight unfold in peace. Ash as the protagonist never had my sympathy even for a moment. Despite being the "victim" here, I just couldn't give her the sympathy vote, because she's cast in the "smart and strong" mold of women who can effortlessly switch between the sly flirtatious vixen to the avenging avatar of Ashura the Terrible. The rest of the characters flit in and out of the action sequences, being props or support staff to Ash's gun-devilry and her insane katana-skills.And that climax! Eye-roll.

Otaku promises such a wild-ride with a heady mix of online VR games, featuring a smart sassy heroine and a world-shattering conspiracy that would clash reality with virtual reality. Alas! This one fails to keep up the interest levels. Stick to William Gibson, if you like hard sci-fi, cyberpunk.

[Jareth Navratil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before getting to my review of this book, can we all take a moment to acknowledge and appreciate that this Science-Fiction novel, steeped in video-game and nerd culture, was written by a professional athlete?!? That’s right, plot of ‘Revenge of the Nerds’ be damned! Alpha Beta and Lambda Lambda Lambda have fused quite magnificently here in the future – and have hopefully expelled all their alumni (seriously though, if you break things down, every character in that movie was a terrible human being).

I was pleasantly surprised with this book overall. I had initially worried it would be too similar to ‘Ready Player One’, fearing an attempt to too closely replicate that ewxperience would have left a bad taste in my mouth. Gratefully, this was not the case.

Chris Kluwe wrote a masterful dystopian take on the future of gaming culture should it fail to evolve past the racist, sexist, and troll-ridden underbelly that ruins online gaming experiences for so many.

The story follows Ashley, or Ashura the Terrible as she is known in-game from her throne atop the leaderboards. Ashura and her guild stumble upon a government plot that would turn gamers into mindless soldiers to be used as pawns in war. Utilizing their in-game skills, Ashura and her guild must brave the real world to thwart this plot, knowing full well that there would be no respawning should they fail.

I wanted to give this book five stars, as I genuinely enjoyed it very much. Sadly, I did feel that many of the characters were two-dimensional, not enough time given to their development. As such, I found the last hundred pages or so a bit of a slog to get through since I found myself not caring about the characters fates through the action sequences.

Overall, if you enjoyed books like ‘Ender’s Game’, or ‘Ready Player One’, I think you will truly appreciate this novel and what it brings to the genre.
Cheers everyone!

[Mel (Epic Reading)]

eARC received!! This one sounds like it could be very exciting. Thanks TOR and NetGalley! Review to come closer to publication date.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice! In some ways, Otaku is an updated version of Larry Niven and Steven Barnes’ Dream Park crossed with Ender’s Game, and overlaid with a veneer of cyberpunk.

Ashley Akachi lives in Ditchtown, a city of skyscrapers sprouted from the sunken ruins of old Miami. She and her team, the SunJewel Warriors, are some of the best players that Infinite Game has ever seen. The Game is sort of an MMORPG on steroids. Players can be fighting a dragon one day, and piloting a starship the next. Gameplay is fully immersive VR, with players wearing haptic control suits inside of special chambers. Top physical condition is a must, as well as a byproduct of long term gaming. The best players earn a living from it, adored by fans worldwide … and reviled worldwide by the inevitable trolls.

Question is: how well do those game skills translate to the real world? And how much do you want to bet we find out faster than you can say, “Ender’s Game?”

I love the world that Kluwe has created here. It feels like a reasonable extrapolation from our present day. The characters are engaging. I love Ashley in particular. She's a heroine worth rooting for. The story is a bit on the broad side. It feels more like an action movie or an anime than a realistic drama, not that that's a bad thing. It was definitely exciting in all of the best ways. There's a subplot involving her brother that's maybe a bit too easy to see where it's going, though I will say that it didn't resolve exactly the way I expected (I can't really comment any more specifically without spoiling anything.)

Engaging. Entertaining. Everything a decent SF novel should be. Definitely recommended!

[Mogsy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2020/04/09/...

As a longtime gamer, I love to read books with a gaming angle. Needless to say then, Otaku immediately became a must-read, not to mention I was also curious to see how Chris Kluwe, a regular fixture in the online gaming community, would bring his passion for the hobby to his novel debut.

Sadly though, I was disappointed. But before I go into all the reasons why (and it’s quite an extensive list), here’s a bit about the story for context: Otaku takes place in a dystopian future and stars protagonist Ashley “Ashura the Terrible” Akachi, just one of millions of people around the globe playing the popular virtual MMORPG called Infinite Game. But as leader of the Sunjewel Warriors, one of the top guilds in the world, she is recognized for her physical skills and talents—all which must be honed to perfection in the real world so that they can translate to the digital one, where she and her teammates are pitted against all kinds of powerful mobs and raid bosses. This feat of technology is accomplished through the use of haptic chambers known as hapspheres that enclose the gamer, who, wearing specialized gear, would then be able to move around and feel as though they are actually in the game world itself.

Still, Ash’s reputation doesn’t come without a downside. Racism and sexism run rampant in the gaming community, and not one day goes by it seems without some guy threatening to rape or kill her. In her family life, Ash is also struggling having to deal with a hotheaded younger brother and a mother whose mind is almost gone. Her only solace is her boyfriend, but because of who is, they are forced to keep their relationship on the down low, which isn’t a problem for Ash—until, of course, it turns out that her lover has been keeping a big secret about himself from her as well. Next thing she knows, Ash is pulled into a vast conspiracy that involves Infinite Game, one that would bring ruin to both the virtual and real worlds unless the Sunjewel Warriors and other gamers fight back to take back what’s theirs.

Anyway, like I said, there were quite a few things that didn’t sit quite right with me, and I’ll start with the story of Otaku. Being a huge gamer and having personally sunk many years of my life into MMORPGs, the intro of the book immediately struck me as blatant wish fulfillment fantasy and thus was incredibly awkward to read. Now, there’s nothing wrong with wish fulfillment in and of itself, but the problem arises when the author sacrifices everything from characterization and plotting to actual plausibility in order to facilitate his own fantasies, like, oh I don’t know, soloing a dev-controlled raid boss dragon, for example? My eyes just about rolled out of my head, and at that moment I also had my first inkling that things were going to be rough from here on out.

Sure enough, the story just didn’t capture my interest or imagination. Speaking of which, the blurb describing this book as reminiscent of Ready Player One is also a huge misrepresentation, and not least because Otaku lacks the fun factor or depth of world-building. Kluwe seemed more concerned with sending a social and political message along with painting the gaming world as this horrible and no-good evil place, not to mention turning his protagonist into a parody by portraying her as a perpetual victim (but more on that later). Furthermore, while the author’s love for gaming and cyberpunk is obvious, unfortunately he expresses it in all the wrong ways, committing the sin of info-dumping and using a crap ton of technical jargon or gamer-speak that a reader not in-the-know would have very little interest or knowledge in. Again, I think this is a problem with misplaced priorities, where self-indulgence and showing off seemed to have taken precedence over crafting an engaging story.

And finally, I want to talk about our protagonist, the irascible Ashura the Terrible herself. While I can appreciate Kluwe’s attempt to write a diverse character (Ash is a mixed-race queer woman), I have to say, it’s a much less meaningful and significant gesture when the character doesn’t come across as genuine or worse, feels like a caricature. One has to wonder where he drew inspiration for his protagonist, because I can’t imagine there must have been much input from real-life average gaming women, most of whom would have noticed something very “off” with the way Ash is written. Everything—and I mean everything—for this girl seems to come down to dicks. Life is shitty? Well, it’s got to be my lack of a pale-skinned dick. Men acting shitty on the internet? Gee, must be nice to have a dick. Little brother having a shitty day? Oh silly Kiro, your problems couldn’t possibly be worse than mine, because—you guessed it—you have a dick. And that’s the sad part; Ash is so fixated on this one specific aspect of gender inequality, she doesn’t even see those close to her as complex individuals with personal hopes, dreams and struggles because in her mind, it literally all comes down to what’s between a person’s legs.

Not gonna lie, it made Ash incredibly hard to like, as much as I wanted to sympathize with and root for a fellow POC gamer girl. That along with virtually non-existent world-building and lackluster story made it impossible for me to give myself fully to this novel, and it’s a real shame because the premise itself had potential. At the end of the day, Otaku stood in the fire and didn’t survive the wipe, and quite frankly, I just felt relief when it was over.

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor for sending me this copy to review! Sadly, DNF @ 33%.

The future world Kluwe envisions includes a flooded landscape (thanks, global warming) with no anonymity online (hello, censorship), one where pro gamers are the new pro athletes and Florida is ruled by a theocracy. Sounds fun, right?

Let's start by saying Otaku is a book about gaming that is probably best enjoyed by gamers. The first chapter is a wash of lingo that fits the scenario. If you're familiar with rpgs, it's as easy to follow as clicking "load game" on a home screen, but if not, you're left afloat without a tutorial. For me, it felt natural and added credibility to the environment. Gamers talk a certain way, after all.

However, the same overwhelming approach is taken to introducing the world, and I found this less forgivable since anyone reading is a newbie to this possible future world. Country names, technologies, and slang inundate the writing as if I should be able to follow along. World history and social context comes via info dump disguised as conversation four chapters in.

The main character is Ashley, known online as Ashura, the best gamer (called an otaku) out there and a general badass black woman. While I appreciate the direct and appropriately angry discussion of the stigmas and discrimination she faces in the game and in the real world, it comes across as wooden in the writing rather than the living, breathing nightmare it represents.

I also have to say that the violence against women in this book was astounding and at times, triggering. I'm talking all kinds: physical, sexual, and graphically verbal. The stilted, shallow telling of these events I suspect to originate with the fact that the author does not share the identity markers of the character who is being attacked and lacks the necessary emotional connection with the situations to do it justice.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Otaku is a Japanese word for someone to whom fandom is life. They live their fandom day to day, in and out. It is everything, so much so that it can damage and even eradicate their social life. And it’s the perfect title for this book. Take Ready Player one, and mix it with Warcross and you get this book. The game is life. Most people play and even work within the game. Most everyone is in Candyland, but only the best can climb the ladder for all the fame and glory. However in future Florida (now called the Southern Protectorate) where society is based on religious rules, being a woman is somehow less than being a man, and being a woman at the top of the leader boards makes you target for those who want you put in your place. But the game is really just training missions to make better soldiers, and only the best can take over the world. Overall I really enjoyed this read. The ending was totally predictable, but the ride to get there was fun. I loved the kick ass females. I loved all the diversity, it didn’t feel forced. However, I wish it was more prominent that the lead was Black. It was almost buried and easily skipped over. You can not tell from the cover that the character is Black, and with an Asian world title it would not have been an easy guess. Other than that, no complaints. A fun escape read.

[Heather - hturningpages · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3/5 dragons killed from the inside

Format: eBook. I’d like to thank NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

What it's like: It reminded me a bit of Ready Player One, but the violence, cursing and feminism themes were more like Nevernight by Jay Kristoff.

To sum up: This story features a badass female gamer stuck in a futuristic dystopian society. A lot of people in this world play THE INFINITE GAME, which is a virtual reality type of game where players can wear “hoods” or an entire “suit” that has amazing realistic feedback to make them feel like they are really in the game. Interestingly, there are also “spheres” players can play in so that the motions their avatar performs are actually performed by them in the sphere as it moves around them. This means that the best players are also super fit, making The Infinite Game more like a real sport. Unfortunately, there is a real toxic masculinity situation going on in the virtual world, as well as the real world. Our main character, Ash, has to deal with constant physical and verbal abuse from men who find her performance (or just existence really) threatening. Then, when it appears gamers might be being used to fight a real war using some new, dangerous tech, Ash gets pulled into a conspiracy that GOES ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP. With help from her SunJewel Warrior gaming crew and some family friends, Ash tries to do everything she can to save the ones she loves, even if that might mean saving her shitty town along with them.

What I loved: I was expecting some cool tech and some action-packed plot, but I wasn’t expecting to feel deeply for our main character Ash. She is so relatable and admirable, I couldn’t help but start rooting for her from the first page. She has a lot of responsibilities and she juggles them with efficiency, determination, and sass that any fellow Aries and Type A person would admire haha She reminds me a lot of Mia Corvere from Nevernight. She is fiercely loyal to those she loves, doesn’t take any shit, and knows how to defend herself. I loved what the author had to say about what it is like to be a woman (or a person of color, although I don’t have experience with this personally) in this world. It felt real and I felt like he really understood the fear that can permeate your life when you’re in a toxic environment and ultimately, how to keep on fighting even if you don’t think you can. I was also really surprised by some of the twists, this book was hard to put down.

What was meh: I think the weakest point for me was actually in the action scenes, which was surprising to me. The author uses a lot of tech and societal jargon/nomenclature that seemed to pile up to a point where I couldn’t understand meaning from context anymore. The action sequences felt disjointed, but also over described in ways that didn’t quite flow for me. I found myself skimming them after about a third of the way through the book and I don’t feel like much was lost, unfortunately.

On that note, I had a lot of questions about how Ash’s city got the way it did, and whether it was like that all over the world. The focus is pretty narrow for most of the book, but when they did mention things outside their city, I had a hard time visualizing the specifics of space/distances and imagining what their wider world looked like. It wouldn’t be too big of a point to leave vague, except that her city (and later the world) and it’s dynamics are pretty crucial to the plot so I just wanted more concrete storytelling about that. I think maybe he tried to explain it in the beginning, but it was too much information and too much jargon for me to really absorb it? I might have to reread it to gain a better understanding.

Who I'd recommend it to:
Fans of Nevernight, Ready Player One, Snowcrash, and anyone looking for a virtual reality thriller with a dash of fantasy.

Favorite lines:
Turns out people love watching displays of incredible physical prowess all the more when there’s no actual risk of traumatic long-term injury, no messy cleanup of battered heroes who’ve outlived their glory.

The socials have never been welcoming for those without a pale-skinned dick.

Kiro has no idea the turrets exist, has never had to worry about some things I’ve had to worry about. Must be nice having a dick.

“I didn’t do anything to them, bro. I just happen to be better than they are at something they think is important, and I’m a girl. They’re a lot of boardshits out there living shitty lives, and blaming women’s their only escape. Same as it ever was.

War never changes, but it sure as hell changes us.

I lean the slightest bit farther forward, a deliberate motion, putting myself into his space, letting the words come out in a whisper, adrenaline singing its arpeggio across nerves and sinew and blood. “Lastly, you’re in front of me. You say you saw what I did to the boardshits, Sawyer? Then let’s go, round two, pick your fucking tune. I love to dance.”

I am Ashley, Ash, Ashura, Ashura the Terrible, and if ever there was a time to don that mantle, it’s now. Do the job, because there’s no one else to do it, and you find a way, even if it breaks you.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I REALLY enjoyed this, but I had the ending guessed pretty early on. It could have been a 5 star. Definitely still recommend it if you're interested in books revolving around virtual reality games.

[Brad Krautwurst · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book so badly. It has an interesting premise and the prospect of a light sci-fi read sounded promising.

But that's the first problem, is the book wants to be light while also still raising the stakes to "saving the world" (it's on the front of the book, to be fair, and it's a chapter title). That would be fine, except I didn't attach to our care about any of the characters by the time the stakes were supposed to be so high. I also thought much of the dialogue was clunky and sexist (honestly, when the *only* insult your villains call your female character is gendered...). Some of the similes and metaphors used really took me out of the book as well in a jarring way (at one point a rifle is compared to a black snout of a pig or something similar).

My last issue with the book is its extremely ableist ending. I saw it coming, but still - yikes. If you're an able-bodied author and your only use of disabled characters is going to be as an ableist plot device... maybe just don't use disabled characters?

Overall, I thought this book had a lot of potential but fell flat between the all-over-the-place plot, two dimensional characters, and clunky dialogue and metaphors.

[Chelsea · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 18%

When a book is pitched as "reminiscent of Ready Player One," I had high hopes. However, I could not get past the issues I had with this book. The author really tried to hook you in with the first big fight in the VR world (which I have to admit was not written horribly); however, the main character's fixation of the technical aspect of fighting/exercise (like her muscles' oxygen debt) kept taking me out of the fight.
After we move out of the VR world, everything else I read up until I DNFed was info-dumping. That is one of my big pet peeves in books, and I could not continue.
While I sure some people will really like this book, it didn't live up to expectations for me.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Dax · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was intense from start to finish with Kluwe never stopping to pull his punches. This felt like a scifi manifesto showing a mirror to just how messed up our world is. The lack of belief or complete downplay in harassment of female gamers, false prophets slinging judgement in the name of Jesus, corporations at war and more than willing to use whatever human causalities they deem necessary, PTSD and how we drop our soldiers once they're back, big brother watching everything you do - not to protect but to control.... When I write it all out this is seeming more like realistic fiction. Oh! And there are mech suits and complete immersion into game play, including pain receptors......so totally scifi.....

[Marochka · Rating 2 out of 5]

Скажу сразу: читать это (особенно в оригинале) невозможно. Абсолютно ничего непонятно. Куча новых названий, объяснений которым автор не дает. Язык поразительно грубый (у меня вяли уши и из глаз текла кровь от того, как героиня и остальные персонажи разговаривают, словно распоследние гопники).
Создавалось ощущение, что я читала книгу на неизвестном мне языке (из-за новых геймерских словечек и вообще «языка будущего», который автор никак не пояснял), в котором постоянно выскакивают английские ругательства.
Я настолько сложной книги не читала никогда, притом, что мне доводилось читать сотни фэнтези с совершенно новыми мирами. Не завидую я потенциальным переводчикам этой книги.
Половина имен (ников) говорящие.
Единственное, что мне понравилось в стиле автора, это то, что он попытался вначале книги придумать и разместить не просто глоссарий, а некий гид по миру. Это довольно оригинально, но ни разу не помогло ни мне, ни другим читателям (даже носителям языка, если верить отзывам). Уж лучше бы был глоссарий!
С сюжетом тоже все совсем плохо. Это далеко не первая книга о VR-играх и будущем, которую я читала («Первому игроку приготовиться», «Игра Эндера» и др.), но настолько плохо прописанных я еще не встречала. История начинается (и продолжается очень долго) без какого-либо введения. Главная героиня первые 70 страниц сражается в игре с драконом. Я думала, я помру от скуки. Ничего не понятно, суть мира, игры, что происходит. Но зато есть какой-то дракон, и героиня с диким матом бегает вокруг него 70 страниц! Потрясающе. Я уже не верила, что она вообще из этой игры выйдет. Читай я книгу по своей воле, бросила бы ее (как сделали многие) странице так на 20-ой.
Но, наконец, героиня «выпала» из игры, суть которой так и непонятна, и попала в жуткие женоненавистнический и расистский реальный мир, в котором каждый мужчина хочет ее изнасиловать и убить. Но из-за языка и странных описаний, суть мира опять не ясна.
Сюжет непонятен, скучен и просто бессмысленен.
Идеей книга ничем не отличается от «Первому игроку приготовиться». Все же про VR-игры и виртуальную реальность не так уж много книг. И теперь я начинаю понимать почему. Такое нужно уметь описывать… Не каждому дано.
Что касается ЛГБТ... Мне очень понравился один момент. У героини есть парень, но внезапно ее подруга начинает домогаться ее в ресторане. И дальше, цитирую: «Внезапно мы уже страстно целуемся». Это было действительно… «внезапно». Иначе и не скажешь. Но так как дальше поцелуев дело не пошло, хоть героиня и обдумывала идею заняться сексом с подругой, то можно сказать, что ЛГБТ второстепенное.
Если сюжет отфильтровать от мата и половины ненужных подробностей и новых слов, не кажется таким уж бредовым и нудным. Но на самом деле, как я уже говорила, книга довольно большая, крайне сложная для понимания и жутко скучная. У героев невозможно грубый и непонятный язык. Я бы в жизни не стала бы это дочитывать, если бы читала для себя. Даже, наверное, на русском языке.
Ко всему прочему, автору не удалось прописать и персонажей. Помимо Эш, все остальные герои исключительно фоновые. А сама Эш - словно робот без эмоций. Кроме как ругаться и злиться на мужчин, которые, все до одного, хотят ей навредить, Эш вообще ничего не может.
У нее серьезные проблемы в семье: мать в больнице в совершенно неадекватном состоянии, отец их бросил, брат ее не понимает, они постоянно ссорятся… Про мир, в котором они живут, я вообще молчу. Но Эш словно никак это не касается. Она только и делает, что каким-то образом убивает и кастрирует мужчина и в VR, и в реальности (последнее вообще бредово и невероятно неправдоподобно). Девушка никак не проявляет свои эмоции (кроме злости). Она действительно кажется машиной. Я подозреваю, что сам автор больше поглощен играми и книгами, нежели реальностью и изучением чувств людей, поэтому он просто не смог сделать из нее человека. Он собрал шаблонные образы «сильной женщины» из современных историй и получил Эш. А прописать героиню сам он просто не смог.
Что касается описаний игры и виртуальной реальности. Я не скажу, что я большой знаток всех геймерских примочек и сленга, но все же с играми я знакома и многое о них знаю. И даже для меня было читать это крайне сложно. Автор напридумывал кучу своих геймерских названий, которые непонятны любому читателю. Порой создавалось впечатление, что он пишет для себя, а не для других. И его не особо волнует, поймут ли остальные, что вообще происходит и о чем он говорит. Он словно сам, как и его герои, одержим играми и на все и всех вокруг ему плевать. Так и получилось, что все читатели просто остались в растерянности после прочтения: что это вообще такое было?
Что же касается женоненавистничества… Тут автор опять переборщил. Серьезно, сколько раз за книгу героиню пытались изнасиловать? Дурдом. А обращались к ней исключительно миленькими словечками типа "bitch", "whore", "cunt". Впрочем, она тоже в долгу не оставалась, разговаривая буквально со всеми не менее грубыми словами (серьезно, у меня из глаз от этого кровь текла!). И это притом, что обычно я вполне спокойно отношусь к ругательствам в книгах. Но не по три же слова в каждом предложении! Как будто герои не очень хорошо владеют своим языком и заменяют каждое второе слово матом (у нас в России в маршрутках и у подъездов пруд пруди таких «героев»).
В общем, мне было сложно найти в этой книге хоть что-то, что меня порадовало бы (хотя, как я уже говорила, если хорошенько отфильтровать сюжет от мата и ненужных подробностей, он становится не так уж и плох, но по факту при прочтении самой книги это никак не отфильтруешь).

Итоговая оценка: 3/10

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

What the fuck. How dare a person get to be a professional athlete *and* end up such a talented writer. I'll be honest, I picked this up as much to dunk on the NFL guy that thought he could write as that the story actually sounded reasonably interesting. Jokes on me, he can fucking *write*. Whoooo.

This was great from several perspectives, and the characters were excellently depicted as well as individuals. The world were shown is (imo) even more real and possible than ever before. This was an excellent read for me. All in one go.

[Paula Lyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a lightning-paced, exciting novel. It is also mind-numbingly violent, seeming to make little distinction between killing people in the game and killing people in the real. It is a Powerpuff fantasy about 3 girls who are better than men at fighting and aren't afraid to show them. I'm not sure that this is really a feminist fantasy. The ending comes quickly and without making sense. This guy can write, but I hope he has a better book to come.

I received an eARC from NetGalley.

[Aly · Rating 5 out of 5]

✨ Hey Nerds! This review is SPOILER FREE! I try to keep my reviews brief and not get into the content of the book so much as what I thought so you can go into it somewhat blind if you’d like!

✨ This book was sent to me by @tor & I’m BEYOND grateful for it. It gave me vibes of Warcross but on another level. It met issues within the gaming community head-on and laid it all on the table. Detailed messages of what women have received, harassment, & more. It takes it another level with the main character not only being a woman but a person of color.

✨ I felt so enveloped in the world & Kluwe definitely knows his stuff. I felt like I was in the game every time Ash was. The fights & mechanics of everything were badass & each to visualize in my head.

✨I felt very connected to this story & am quite passionate about this topic of the harassment & hate speech women receive in the gaming community. Sure, its much more accepted now but I won’t lie… I am TERRIFIED of talking in-game lobbies for fear that they guess I’m a female (or they ask if I’m a 12-year-old boy). For me to read a book that was basically a love/hate letter to the gaming community felt exactly like that.

✨I loved it too for the friendships. Ash’s connection to Wind, Slend, & Jace was incredibly tight. Reading about them going through encounters together made my heart sing because that’s me, my husband & brother running through a game together. It’s second nature when it's your team & nothing feels better than a smooth operating mission.

✨I will say, it’s dense with game information. So if tech & gaming aren’t your thing, this might not be the book for you. I loved this personally, it was detailed but not boring. The tech while advanced didn’t seem out of the realm of possibility at all. The weaponry was well researched & I’ll forever love the fact that he paid attention to the number of rounds people had & used.

✨Overall, I loved this book, I devoured it. It rips the pants off the issues in the gaming community & real-world issues of sexism, racism, & more. Kluwe didn’t sugarcoat ANYTHING. He put it out there clear as day & I’ve never felt more seen as a female gamer. Hats off to you sir. GG.

[Yael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so damn good it was a struggle to put it down. Fast-paced, action-packed, and definitely a page turner with so many twists and turns. It's honestly amazing how good the dialogue was; I found myself screaming "fuck yeah" whenever the badass protagonist had trouble getting through to the people around her. Even so, Otaku isn't at all preachy; Kluwe seamlessly integrates contemporary issues into the storyline--not just rampant harassment and how difficult it can be to survive and take care of yourself and the people around you, but also political tribalism, climate change, the dangers of obsessive gaming and the groups that take advantage of it. The novel takes place in a futuristic, flooded Miami, and though the dystopian cyberpunk universe is clearly fictional, it also completely made sense. Warning that the food descriptions might lead to intense cravings for noodles. My only complaint is that there is no screen adaptation. I've gotten spoiled watching Blue Eye Samurai, Scavengers Reign, and Delicious in Dungeon and would love to binge watch this in anime form.

[alana · Rating 2 out of 5]

On paper, this sounded like my jam. But the bulk consisted of detailed descriptions of military operation style action sequences which fuzzed the world building intrigue for me. And the girl talking to herself multiple times about her "ass" in motion or in clothing just served as a reminder a dude was writing from a woman's perspective. She is a badass though. Who eats a heck of lot of noodles.

[Nicole CeBallos · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was like a 3.5 for me. I liked it, but I thought the world building could have been better. I did appreciate the main point of the book and liked the characters.

[Vippi · Rating 2 out of 5]

~ I received this book from Netgalley, in exchange for my honest review ~

DNF @25%

My opinion regarding Otaku feels split in two, as the book itself.

On the one hand, there is the Game-world: vibrant with action, gripping, with a main character (Ashura the Terrible) you can't help rooting for.
On the other hand, there is the real world: boring, rough, where our main character is a dull and whiny version of her virtual self.

I loved the Game-part. Sadly, it was just a backdrop for the real story that bored me to death.

[Joe Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Topical & timely with a kickass main character! Action, humor, & gaming in a nonstop thrill ride! Loved it from the opening scene.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Protagonist I can't relate to. She's badass but in an over-the-top kind of way. She doesn't make mistakes. She's ends up winning every single time. So I barely cared about her.

Writing was okay at first, but ended up being nonsensical to me. Too much "technical/gamer" descriptions to make sense, especially during the fight scenes. Doesn't flow well...and therefore is hard to read.

A bunch of things being mentioned too flippantly. Rape. Racism. There's no sense of the gravity to the situation despite the writer's attempt at it.

I don't mind cursing in a book, there was just too much of it here that it felt like the writer just wanted to sound cool.

I picked this up because it felt like it might be a similar read to Ready Player One which i LOVED. But I only finished this book because I wanted to see how it ended. Even had to force myself to read the last 3 chapters just to end it.

[Hollowspine · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were some similarities to Ready Player One, mainly that both protagonists are gamers, involved in immersive MMORPGs and use haptic suits/chambers to interact in those worlds. Both novels take place in a future United States where things have not gone well for the majority of Americans. Both have elements of an escapist fantasy. The differences lie in the writers' experiences and goals. While Cline was content writing something that celebrated games/gaming while also taking a stab at a wider social commentary, Kluwe wanted to write a specific takedown of misogynist gamer culture, and add social commentary on religion, corporations, and racism, while also creating an edgy action-packed sci-fi novel. Of the two, Cline was much more successful in reaching his goals, in my opinion.

Kluwe simply takes on too much. Like Ash, his confidence is overwhelming and unrealistic. Sometimes white male authors should stick to their own lived experiences and not try to write from the perspective of others because it is really difficult to write from someone else’s perspective, especially someone who would have a completely different lived experience. You can have all the sympathy for WOC gamers but that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to accurately portray what it’s like to be one. Ash did not feel like a real person, she was just another escapist male fantasy, only this time taking down all the gamergaters (while still returning to her white male love interest). While I'm sure some do relieve tension by imagining rapists getting castrated, we all know that there’s no way in hell, or ditchtown, that a woman, especially a WOC would get away with that, it just wouldn’t happen. It’s a nice revenge fantasy, but truthfully it doesn’t really even satisfy because it’s just too ridiculous.

What I would ask this author is "why?" Why take space writing this book with a woman protagonist of color, when you could have made space for a woman author of color to do so far more effectively? Kameron Hurley has been releasing tons of amazing military sci-fi, and a book of essays that Kluwe should really read if he wants to get the perspective of a woman going through gamergate. You couldn’t talk sci-fi without N.K. Jemison whose Brokenearth Series I’m currently finishing and blown away by. Nicky Draydon has become one of my favorite authors...and she actually happens to be a queer woman of color. Wow, maybe read her works if you want more realistic WOC, LGBTQIA+ characters. Actually don’t maybe read them, go out and get The Prey of Gods and Temper right now, because now those are some amazing books.

I think Kluwe is a good writer, his book was entertaining, I liked reading it on a surface level, and I’m sure as he continues writing he will improve. But. The writers I’ve mentioned above are all far better at their craft, reading N.K. Jemison is like reading a master-class on world-building and plot across a series, not to mention her characters! Kameron Hurley’s action scenes are stellar, again, if you are interested in realistic military sci-fi, Hurley’s books should be studied and revered. Binti is a classic of the genre, and Nnedi Okorafor’s lyrical beautiful prose will make you want to read aloud, even as you’re blown away by her plots. Nicky Draydon’s books are true originals, they need to be given to a wider audience so that everyone can experience her worlds.

I feel like male-dominated gaming and popular culture and maybe Stephenson was consulted here, characters often seemed to have a cutout similar to Y.T. of Snowcrash...who is a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. If you want to write about women, have women as protagonists in your stories, you need to read women authors. Better yet, write what you know, and elevate women’s and POC’s writing if you want to support them. Don’t be a white knight.

Kluwe is already a well-known person with plenty of means to publicize his works and gain recognition and readership. He could self-publish whatever screed he wanted. His privilege as a white male has already afforded him many more opportunities than those AFAB or folks of color, not to mention his career as an athlete and those privileges. Why not use his platform to raise other voices, those who don’t have the privileges he doesn’t even seem to realize he’s capitalizing on?

Again, an enjoyable story, just not sure it is really needed, or is adding anything to the conversation.

[Liz (Quirky Cat) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of Otaku through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Chris Kluwe's debut novel is an impressive feat, made all the more shocking and impressive given his previous career. Otaku is a science fiction novel, one that dives headfirst into the realm of virtual realities, and a fight against corruption.

Ashley Akachi, aka Ash, is famous for her gameplay within the Infinite Game. You'd think that'd earn her more slack, but really all it's done is make her a target. A target for those that hate women succeeding. A target for those that want to use her.

One thing is certain, in this complex world full of politics, schemes, corruption, and more, Ash is about to find herself in the middle of it all. And it will be her actions that decide the fate for not just herself, but everyone she has ever known or cared about.

“It takes a special type of mindset to run endgame encounters, the toughest challenges Infinite Game's developers can nightmare up. No one knows if they have that mindset or not until they do their first run. Most of them head back to Candyland, home of the omnipresent computer assist. I decided to stay, the darkness calling to something inside me, a thrill I can't find anywhere else.”

Warnings: Otaku covers a lot of intense and heavy subjects. You'll find everything from racism, sexism, assault, classism, and so (SO) much more covered within the pages. It's all clearly designed to make a point, but it's still very much present.

Otaku was a shocking and breathtaking read. I knew that it was being compared to a blend of Ready Player One and Ender's Game, but honestly? That description does not do it justice. This is a novel of social justice, a fight against corruption, and so much more, all wrapped into one. It's all set within a brilliant world full of virtual realities, but that just makes the darker points all the more stark.

Where to start with this review? Let's talk about the setting first. The virtual reality of this world, the Infinite Game, is not as big of an element as I expected. It is important to the plot? Absolutely. But it isn't the main setting for a good chunk of the story. But it does set the scene.

I actually kind of love that it set the scene, but then allowed the characters to move on from that world. I didn't expect that at all, and I'll admit that at first I was even disappointed. But once I saw where it was going, I got over that disappointment quickly.

Ash's character was a delight. She was crass, strong, independent, yet unafraid to love. She was intentionally off-putting, and very much a fighter. But all of that just made me like her all the more. After all, she's been put into a world that is alarmingly dark.

On that note, I absolutely adore that Kluwe didn't shy away from the darker elements in this novel. Humans were true and proper villains here, showing off the worst that people have to offer. His inclusion of this behavior was very much intentional, and I believe it was done to make a point. That the plot involved a good chunk of this was appreciated. It made the fight feel so much more real (sometimes too real). It was a nice touch, all things considered.

I am honestly quite blown away by what I found in Otaku. I'll be frank here: I don't follow sports. So I had no idea who Chris Kluwe was before this. But now? Now they're on my radar, and I'm so adding them to my watch list, because I want to read any sequel or future novel they come up with.

Check out more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read by Chris Kluwe, but after reading it I hope it is not the last. If, like me, you first heard about this book on MPR, you may know that this is a story of a dystopian future. There have been wars over water and beliefs that have wrecked the world. The major groups remaining are the 'gummies' (religious fundamentalists), the 'silkies' (megacorporations), and a smattering of smaller groups and those on the periphery of society. The only way those not born into power can achieve major money and fame is through an immersive online experience called "The Game." Our protagonist and point of view character is Ash who, along with her online clan, is recognized as one of the best players of the game. The fact that she is such a good player though is a problem for many because she is female and dark skinned. We learn that Ash's combat skills are not just in virtual reality, but in the real world as well and that she needs them because her prowess has her receiving regular threats both within the game and in real life. She becomes embroiled in a battle to keep the world from another nuclear holocaust or worse.

The characters in this book are interesting. We only get to know a few of them well (especially Ash), the rest we see as somewhat one dimensional. This is a product of the perspective of the main character. We ate encountering each character through her eyes and only as she considers their perspectives do we learn about them. These worst characters are unfortunately the ones that are some of the most believable... these are the "boardshits", groups of males who regularly threaten Ash and other female players both in-game and in the real world. These reprehensible beings are believable because they already exist and behave exactly as described in the book. In fact, they are part of the reason the book was written... to draw attention to the problems of doxing and violent misogyny that can so frequently be found online. In the world of this book, it is aided by the laws and traditions of the "gummies", whose version of male superiority is straight from the ugliest of Christian fundamentalism. Sadly, in the real world, as in the book, they are also tacitly aided by those who just won't believe it is happening or will make excuses... even claiming that the victims are overreacting or deserving of the treatment.

The book is a page-turner and a quick read. This is both because it is a YA Sci-fi book and because it is very actin oriented... moving the story quickly along. That being said, I could not help but compare it to "Ready Player One" based on the tech. I feel like this book had a slightly more realistic premise and better social commentary however. I was worried about it being a book with a black (bi-sexual?) female protagonist written by a white man, but in doing some research I found that Mr. Kluwe made sure that some of his pre-readers were females of color and he used their advice to make the book more honest from their perspective. I respect that decision a lot.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys dystopian sci-fi. I think it would appeal most to those in their mid teens to early twenties and women especially. I wish I could say that men would enjoy it as much (they should, it is a good book), but I fear that many would write it off as overly dramatic in some scenes and would have trouble seeing the truth in the writing.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read a pre-release copy of this book.

[Sam Gor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Holy smokes.
What a chore.

Disclaimer: I read this because it was written by a white guy and he decided to name the book "Otaku". I was intrigued and it was a female Japanese mc, great.

Otaku is used twice in the entire book and it's an insult.
It's an insult that this book is even titled Otaku, more like "Another Encounter or Endgame Encounter" would've been better.
Anything better than otaku.

Anyway, let's get to the book.
I really love (/s) how he got by with the race. It was dropped early and this world is so 'far in the future' that race isn't important and people don't really know where they are from etc.
Sounds like "I don't see race".

I'm not sure what Ashley is. At first I thought she was Japanese, but then she was insulted and called 'black bitch / black something" and then later on "brown women". So I'm not sure. Probably the rich white guys in the books just name races who they find inferior.

The insults hurled at our lead also read very cringe. There's a lot of cringe here. The author in the acknowledgements signs off with "plenty of work to be done clearing up our misogynist, racist, sexist society" but the way he wrote this felt more like an outlet rather than a punching up against those things.

Whoever edited his book clearly loved minute details and extremes. Every time the mc is describing something it's very detail and always like "I did the impossible" or something so it's like 'impressive' that she pulled it off.

A lot of the stuff here also reads like a checklist: female lead, strong women, asian representation, black representation, bisexual characters, etc. It was a hard read.

Like it just felt like he sprinkled all these things to just be there and not have anything to do with the plot. Like the whole arc with her brother just felt flat and just sounded dumb. Was he trying to recreate how women feel when their own family members care more about their own image than a family member who almost got raped? Like the dismissal was just awkwardly written and just plain awkward.

The concept is 'interesting'. Imaging going into the Matrix and then when you come back to the real world, you retain everything you learned and you can actually do those things. Sure. Cool. But damn, the world building was pretty bad. It went from a videogame to pay for real life things to blowing things up and then saving the sector.

There's a lot of swearing to be edgy. Speaking of profanity, bitch and whore is used a lot in this book and it just reads weird. Because due to the lack of characterization, white rich folk just treat other people like crap but it doesn't read real. Just feels like they reciting lines and it gets boring really fast.

The writing overall is definitely in the "I'm trying my best to be edgy so I am relevant" category. I would say if he dropped all the profanity, this would've been fine as a YA book somewhere. But with all the profanity, it's gonna be in the sci-fi section and it just reads really dumb and simple.

Goddamn, the details irked me so much reading this. Like just drop some details and the flow would be so much better. It's so much worst when its the mc who is narrating and having thoughts and that being overexplained.

SO MUCH HAND-HOLDING.

This was a chore to read but I'm so glad it's finally done.

How bad is it? The last like 100 pages is the climax and I kept stopping cause I literally didn't care for any of the action scenes nor what the characters were doing despite this was when they were going to save the world type of thing.

yawn. next.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 4.0 of 5

Ashley Akachi is a young woman (a teen or recently former teen) living in two worlds. In Ditchtown, the slum dumping grounds for all the lowlifes and runaways, built on top of what was once a city called Miami, Ashley is a tough, scrappy girl, trying to deal with her brother who is slowly giving up on everything, and the hordes of boys and young men who want to keep Ashley in 'her place' through sex and violence.

In the other world, a digital, virtual world known as Infinite Game, Ashley is known as Ashura the Terrible. She is the leader of a group of gamers called Sunjewel Warriors. Special devices allow their every physical move to be translated in the virtual world and with tight precision and trust, the Sunjeweled Warriors are the dominant gaming team in the world. When they log in to a game, live streaming of their games sees skyrocketing numbers of viewers.

Though she tries to keep her in-game exploits separate from her real-world troubles, the same can't be said for those who compete around her and she must constantly prove herself. And when she learns about a conspiracy, the game gets real on the outside.

This was a quick, fun YA read. It will likely sell moderately well as much for the author's name (Chris Kluwe was an out-spoken professional, American football player [a punter for the Minnesota Vikings]) as for the story.

The writing is good. The development of Ashley/Ashura is done well and the building of the story flows nicely. The additional characters on the other hand...? We don't really get to know any of them too well. They are clearly there to support Ashley and whatever she is doing.

And the story itself...? Let's just say that you shouldn't be surprised if it all sounds familiar. Tron anyone? Ready Player One? Ender's Game? Make the primary character a tough, YA female (someone who's had to be tough all her life, so she's prepared for what's coming) as opposed to the passive, reluctant male hero who has to step it up, as in the previously mentioned books. Still, the story is essentially the same.

If I had a teen daughter who liked sci-fi/fantasy, I'd probably put this book in her hands, and she'd likely enjoy it. As an adult who often enjoys reading YA, this was good. Yeah ... I requested it based on the author's name, and not the story description. And while this doesn't turn me off to Kluwe's writing, it also doesn't make anxious for the next book, either. For his next book, I'll likely be more particular about the description and the early reviews.

Looking for a good book? Otaku, by Chris Kluwe, is exciting, but familiar, YA fantasy in which the virtual world and the real world collide where a wily young woman succeeds in both worlds.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, Chris Kluwe wrote a novel. And you know something? It was pretty damn good.

I picked up an eARC of Otaku a while back, courtesy of the fine folks at NetGalley, and I was very impressed by Kluwe’s fiction debut. While it wasn’t the first time he’d published a book, Otaku was a bold step in a new creative direction.

In a world ravaged by the Water Wars (or the Dubs), only one thing keeps the general public entertained: Infinite Game. Infinite Game is the ultimate virtual reality experience, fully immersive, played in a full-body haptic feedback suit. Players strive for physical fitness because real world skills transfer one-to-one into gameplay. And in the world of Infinite Game, one guild stands above the rest: the Sunjewel Warriors. Their leader, Ashura the Terrible, is one of the top-ranked players in the world, and people in-game and out are willing to do whatever they can to stop her. Threats of death and sexual violence follow her everywhere.

Ashura, aka Ashley or Ash, lives in Ditchtown, a series of massive towers that soar above the raging waters where Miami used to be. Her dad hasn’t been in the picture for years, and her mom was never the same after her time fighting in the Dubs. Most of Ash’s income goes to paying for her mother’s treatment. Then there’s Kiro, Ash’s younger brother. A newbie in Infinite Game, Kiro is struggling to find his own place, outside of his sister’s long shadow. She’s doing well enough in Infinite Game, with her streams bringing in viewers (and revenue) like never before, but things are still hard. So, to supplement her game income, Ash occasionally engages in real-world operations. Working through some members of her mom’s old unit, she puts her Infinite Game skills to the test, flying drones, conducting recon missions, and so on. No one needs to know.

Things take a drastic turn when one of Ash’s guildmates, Brand, vanishes, only to reappear on the opposing side of one of Ash’s less-than-public missions. Sent to infiltrate a supply shipment, Ash finds haptic suit components that override the gamer’s own control, leading them out into the real world while still believing themselves to be immersed in Infinite Game. Soon, people are dying, and Ash and the rest of the Sunjewel Warriors are “recruited” to find out who is trying to turn gamers into their own private army.

Reminiscent of Ready Player One and Snow Crash, Otaku is a great debut novel, full of clever technology, intense action, and badass women setting out to save the world. While Kluwe’s prose is not as strong as it has the potential to be, he’s off to a good start. His own experiences in online gaming (in World of Warcraft, League of Legends, etc.) and social media definitely shine through. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.

My thanks to NetGalley for providing me with the eARC in exchange for a fair review.

This review was originally posted here:

https://swordsoftheancients.com/2020/...

[Halez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free ebook copy of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to the publishers and netgalley!

This book reads a lot like Ready Player One, but with less of a teen boy's wish fulfillment feeling to it. It doesn't have the 80s nostalgia, but replaces it with better characters and a healthy dose of realism (in some cases)..

The good:
That opening battle was just *chef kiss*!
The game itself sounds really interesting without being the only setting described. The places we learn about in the real world also seem kind of cool (in a dystopian, scary kind of way). I like the introduction of the grey hats and several of the main characters. The girl gang makes me jealous!
My favourite character is Ash. I find her to be one of the better female characters written by a man, and I loved how badass she was while still being vulnerable around her mother and brother.
And maybe my favourite part:
The realistic description of what it's like to be a girl online and how men just brush it off was just so infuriatingly spot on.

The not so good:
I'm not American, which probably made this harder, but I got lost about what regions they were taking about sometimes. The international places I mostly got (I think. The lumping together of most of eastern Asia threw me off), but within the states I was lost. It would have helped me connect with the fighting a bit more to understand where they talked about (I think).
The ending kind of spiraled into a wtf, out-there scenario. I was on board until pretty much the very end, but it was so much that it kind of pulled me out of the story. I think I was meant to be sad, but it was such a quick change from the ready of the flow of the novel that I kind of wasn't. It wasn't necessarily bad, but it honestly felt kind of like scifi shifted into fantasy, which threw me off.

Overall, I would recommend it, and I kind of want this game to exist. Minus the mind control and dystopia.

[Naomi (naomi.reads.world) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars

Kluwe’s debut novel, Otaku, follows Ashley. resident of Ditchtown. Ash is also Ashura the Terrible, leader of the SunJewel Warriors and the scoreboards within Infinite Game, a virtual world requiring physical prowess and militant excellency. Stumbling upon a conspiracy that threatens to bring the virtual and the real worlds violently crashing and collapsing into each other, Ash and her team set out to save the world.

Some Notes
The first chapters of the novel felt a bit like Kluwe ranting. I enjoy a feminist rant as much as the next angry feminist killjoy, but I felt like the points he was having Ash state (over and over again) could have been woven in more eloquently. The conflict within the first portion of the novel consists of a lot of men attempting to unsuccessfully sexually assault the protagonist. Ash kicking their asses (among other body parts) is fun, but it got a little redundant. The protagonist is a queer woman of color, and sometimes while reading, I was very aware of the author’s white, straight and male identities.

I think I was a little disappointed in the villain behind the nefarious plan. Perhaps I wanted something bigger? The various bad guys throughout the novel were often made to look like bumbling idiots, which I suppose is accurate, but it doesn’t make for as interesting of a read.

I was also a bit confused by the last few paragraphs - someone tell me who it is!

Overall, Otaku is a feminist, kick-in-the-groin response to #gamergate, and a nod to gamers everywhere. Kluwe has a talent for description and for action-packed storytelling. If you’re into unapologetic female protagonists who can take care of themselves and save the world this may be your next sci-fi read.

Warning
This book doesn’t shy away from graphic violence, language, and difficult topics like sexual assault.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.