I've just been rereading the series of Larry Niven/Steve Barnes novels that starts with Dream Park -- it turns out that after umpty-mumble years they're doing another book. So while I wait for The Moon Maze Game to come out, can anyone point me at fanfic set in the Dream Park universe?
Precis For the un-initiated:
In the final years of the 20th century, the Big Earthquake happened, dropping a large slice of the California coast into the Pacific. Amazingly, this did not cause the collapse of civilization as we know it; indeed, by the 2040s things look pretty good, and at least to a degree, the geeks appear to have inherited the Earth. Now southern California's premier entertainment destination is Dream Park, where players and Game Masters come together to participate in high-tech live-action role-playing adventures...and if they play well enough, they can make serious money on the media rights. But that's not all Cowles Industries, owner of Dream Park, is up to; they're also involved in business and political deals that may just reshape the real world, too.
Dream Park is the story of the South Seas Treasure Game, involving real-life murder, corporate espionage, and what might be the largest treasure ever included in a role-playing epic, real or fictional. [Those of you who've read the book may snicker now.] The Barsoom Project is the story of the second Fimbulwinter Game, where some Gamers are playing for their health, some are playing for their sanity, and some are playing for the opportunity to terraform Mars. And The California Voodoo Game is the story of what happens when really experienced Gamers start thinking outside the box (and the Game map), with varying degrees of good and evil intent.
This being a Niven series, both the tech and the gaming logistics are worked out in impressively logical depth. This being a Barnes series, the action/adventure quotient is impressively high. And this being a series about game-geeks, there's a cheerfully wicked sense of the absurd in play at all the right moments. (Dream Park was written before LARP campaigns were really popular...and got the idea right enough that readers created a real International Fantasy Gaming Society spun off from the books.)
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timeasmymeasure
Request: Dream Park?
Date: 2010-10-19 02:04 am (UTC)Precis For the un-initiated:
In the final years of the 20th century, the Big Earthquake happened, dropping a large slice of the California coast into the Pacific. Amazingly, this did not cause the collapse of civilization as we know it; indeed, by the 2040s things look pretty good, and at least to a degree, the geeks appear to have inherited the Earth. Now southern California's premier entertainment destination is Dream Park, where players and Game Masters come together to participate in high-tech live-action role-playing adventures...and if they play well enough, they can make serious money on the media rights. But that's not all Cowles Industries, owner of Dream Park, is up to; they're also involved in business and political deals that may just reshape the real world, too.
Dream Park is the story of the South Seas Treasure Game, involving real-life murder, corporate espionage, and what might be the largest treasure ever included in a role-playing epic, real or fictional. [Those of you who've read the book may snicker now.] The Barsoom Project is the story of the second Fimbulwinter Game, where some Gamers are playing for their health, some are playing for their sanity, and some are playing for the opportunity to terraform Mars. And The California Voodoo Game is the story of what happens when really experienced Gamers start thinking outside the box (and the Game map), with varying degrees of good and evil intent.
This being a Niven series, both the tech and the gaming logistics are worked out in impressively logical depth. This being a Barnes series, the action/adventure quotient is impressively high. And this being a series about game-geeks, there's a cheerfully wicked sense of the absurd in play at all the right moments. (Dream Park was written before LARP campaigns were really popular...and got the idea right enough that readers created a real International Fantasy Gaming Society spun off from the books.)