Duane, Diane -- Omnitopia Dawn

The first non-sequel book I've seen from Duane in a long, long time. (Fine; since 2002. That's a long time.) A slightly-future online-game company... what? You've read two such books this year already? Look, MMOs are a thing. People write books about them. It used to be spaceships. Let me continue. A slightly-future online-game company comes under corporate attack, and Things Are Happening Online.

The charm and weakness of this book (trilogy, I expect) is that it's about a future that doesn't suck. (Have you read two books like that this year? Sorry, that's James Nicoll's rant, not mine.) People are investing in solid progressive politics and environmentally friendly development, all over the country, because it's a good idea. Our hero is the CEO of a game company who wants everybody to play, have a great time, learn to build their own in-game worlds, and get a cut of the profit. The company is awesome to work for, too. Okay, I want that, but you'll notice I'm not in charge of a multi-million-dollar MMO company. The antagonist is an old rival whose company is ascribed all the bile ever devoted to Microsoft, Farmville, and WoW. (To be fair, he gets a little more interesting towards the end, but there's still a lot of spittle-flecking.) I am very nearly partisan enough on these issues to swallow the lot... and I do recommend the book; I just don't find anything in it challenging.


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