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Thousand Tales #1
Virtual Horizon
The future's getting better; the Game is here to help!
In 2036, college-bound Paul gets pushed into playing a video game called Thousand Tales. Its playful AI gamemaster, Ludo, wants a few favors from him and from his ambitious friend Linda. The reward? Immortality.
Ludo starts selling "uploading", a process that puts a human mind permanently into the game world. In there you can shapeshift, fight monsters, cast spells, even fall in love. The "hero discount" Paul and Linda earn is tempting, but ends up separating them. One friend is left to play Thousand Tales on an ordinary video screen, while the other wakes up in its fantasy realm as one of the first full-time residents.
Ludo's new recruit tries to turn Thousand Tales into a society that lets uploaded humans, AIs, and ordinary gamers work and play together. Meanwhile, there's plenty to do in the real world: live on an ocean colony, train cyborg raccoons, and start a new space program.
Can Paul and Linda work together between the real and virtual worlds, to make sure no one vision of the future ruins the others?
"Virtual Horizon" is an upbeat novel of the future frontier. It's part of the "LitRPG" or "GameLit" subgenre combining science fiction with the world of gaming. There's much more to see in the Thousand Tales setting, and most of it can be read in any order, but this is the best starting point!
(Note to readers of "Thousand Tales: How We Won the Game": This book is a massively rewritten and expanded story based on the core plotline, with a novel's worth of new material.)
In 2036, college-bound Paul gets pushed into playing a video game called Thousand Tales. Its playful AI gamemaster, Ludo, wants a few favors from him and from his ambitious friend Linda. The reward? Immortality.
Ludo starts selling "uploading", a process that puts a human mind permanently into the game world. In there you can shapeshift, fight monsters, cast spells, even fall in love. The "hero discount" Paul and Linda earn is tempting, but ends up separating them. One friend is left to play Thousand Tales on an ordinary video screen, while the other wakes up in its fantasy realm as one of the first full-time residents.
Ludo's new recruit tries to turn Thousand Tales into a society that lets uploaded humans, AIs, and ordinary gamers work and play together. Meanwhile, there's plenty to do in the real world: live on an ocean colony, train cyborg raccoons, and start a new space program.
Can Paul and Linda work together between the real and virtual worlds, to make sure no one vision of the future ruins the others?
"Virtual Horizon" is an upbeat novel of the future frontier. It's part of the "LitRPG" or "GameLit" subgenre combining science fiction with the world of gaming. There's much more to see in the Thousand Tales setting, and most of it can be read in any order, but this is the best starting point!
(Note to readers of "Thousand Tales: How We Won the Game": This book is a massively rewritten and expanded story based on the core plotline, with a novel's worth of new material.)
388 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 24, 2020
49 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 11, 2020
I’m a simple man. I see a sentient looking gryphon on a cover, I buy it. I enjoyed my time with Virtual Horizon and the general concept is appealing. I mean, who doesn’t want to be uploaded to a virtual heaven? The story of Horizon and Nocturne are what kept the pages turning for me but I found myself not caring for the other characters. The narrative is a twisted path of ups and downs without any sort of drive behind it. There’s breaks in the time line every couple of pages, which makes scenes disinteresting because you know it will be over in a page or two. It’s like watching a 5 minute episodic series that follows no order. There are times where it begins to feel like the plot is thickening and the story is advancing, then it quickly changes to something else entirely. You could skip around this book all day, have a nice read about an adventure, and continue at any other point.
I felt like I was at a buffet that only served pies, and you were allowed one spoonful of each. You enjoy a flavor, move on to the next, and try something else. After a while, it all starts to taste the same, but then you find that one pie that captivates your taste buds and has you refreshed, ready for more.
I felt like I was at a buffet that only served pies, and you were allowed one spoonful of each. You enjoy a flavor, move on to the next, and try something else. After a while, it all starts to taste the same, but then you find that one pie that captivates your taste buds and has you refreshed, ready for more.
Displaying 1 of 1 review