When Dug's friend offers him a pirated new video game, Companions of Xanth, he isn't too interested in that fantasy stuff, but finds himself playing anyway.
In the game, various characters from the Xanth books lead the player through the world on an epic quest. The 3D graphics and stereo sound are remarkable: Dug can almost
convince himself he's looking into a real world. Despite himself, he finds Xanth's magic drawing him deeper and deeper into its clutches.
Kim, a lifelong fan of Piers Anthony, can't wait to get her hands on the new game, and is thrilled to be the first (at least, first legitimate) player. She can't even
stick to the rules of the game, as she's so excited to finally peer into the pages of her favorite books and meet long-beloved characters. If only she could step across
for real...
Unbeknownst to either player, the game actually connects people from "Mundania" (Earth) to the magical, pun-filled world of Xanth, specially designed to entrap the first
two humans to boot it up. Set up by a pair of bickering demons, the victory of one or the other player will determine the fates of Xanth and Earth. Story twists, challenges,
reluctant traitors, magic, mayhem, and puns galore await Dug and Kim in their journeys.
Review
I only read this book, once upon a time, because it came in the box with a PC game that followed the plot (roughly.) Like most of what I've seen of Piers Anthony's
works, it substitutes silliness for story and wisecracks for characters. (There's also a not-so-subtle sexualization of younger females...) It's entirely possible that
I would've enjoyed it more had I been a rabid fan of Xanth, as almost everyone Dug and Kim meet comes from previous volumes (or so I gathered.) But I'm not a Xanth fan,
so I didn't enjoy it much at all. A few fun moments here and there couldn't salvage predictable plot twists and irredeemably cardboard characters. To top it off, most
the story is credited to his "loyal readers" in the final part of the book; not a single pun came from Anthony's own head, and since Xanth is mostly puns, that makes him
one of the laziest authors I've ever read. Too bad none of his "loyal readers" could come up with a decent story for him to copy. This was my first-ever attempt to read
a Xanth book, and it'll likely be my last.
Oh, and if you're wondering, I wasn't too keen on the game it came with, either. Boringly linear, I solved it in a fraction of the time it took me to slog through the
book.
Walter Toland used to be a beat cop, until an encounter with a criminal left him in a wheelchair. Jobless, virtually immobile, prisoner of a body too damaged to
even walk, his real life was as good as over. Then he discovered the emerging world of virtual gaming. With sensory hookups, it provides an immersive, realistic
experience as good as - or even better than - anything in reality. He was never much of a gamer before his accident, but in the world of Killobyte he rediscovers
the thrills, the fears, the sheer joy of living an active life.
Eighteen-year-old Baal Curran plays Killobyte not for the adventure of living, but to flirt with dying. Ostracized from friends and classmates by chronic illness, her
heart shattered by the one boy who looked beyond the social stigma, she tells herself she's not suicidal, yet can't help wondering about the many deaths offered by
the simulated worlds... and whether any of them can make up her mind to end or keep living her worthless life.
When Walter and Baal meet in a fantasy adventure simworld of Killobyte, sparks fly... until a hacker named Phreak turns up. He gets his kicks by locking players out of
their own log-out commands, effectively trapping them online, while he torments them. Being trapped in the game isn't just a joke for these two players, though -
wheelchair-bound Walter needs daily medical assistance, and Baal needs insulin shots to keep from dropping into a diabetic coma. Only Phreak knows the code that would
release them... but why should he let his latest toys go? Thus begins a game more serious than any played before on Killobyte's servers, a virtual game whose stakes are
literally life and death.
Review
I'm not much of a Piers Anthony fan, but I found this for a buck at Half Price Books; for the price, I figured it would be worth a try. Written in 1993, the technology
described feels distinctly anachronistic; players immerse in full virtual reality with futuristic prosthetic sensory simulators, yet rely on telephone lines for modem
transmissions. But it's hardly Anthony's fault that gaming and internet technology have developed in unanticipated ways. Looking beyond that, the story itself is pretty
much what I figured it would be, a relatively simple adventure with characters just deep enough to fill out the roles assigned to them. Several stretches of prolonged
backstory and explanatory infodumps bog down the plot. Still, it read fairly fast, without Anthony's usual reliance on pun-heavy humor, and I didn't actively hate anyone
(except for the hacker Phreak, naturally.) I paid a dollar for it, and it killed a day. That's about all I asked of it, and it delivered.
The world of Kafka was created by human dreams. Flowing through the land in the form of the endless River of Thought, all life
in Kafka sprang from these mystic dream waters. Though all humans dream, only a handful are Creators, those with the power to
transform their dreams into Kafka's reality. As the dream world is invaded by dark forces that threaten the River of Thought itself,
Prince Michael must risk the perilous journey to Reality in order to find his own Creator. Once he finds her, he must bring her back
to save his land; but first, he must convince her that some dreams are worth fighting for.
Nola has spent most of her life in abusive relationships. Her dreams of a dark horse and a handsome prince are the only things she
looks forward to anymore. Now, a man claiming to be that same prince has appeared in her life. Does she have the courage to defend
her dreams, when she hardly has the will to live herself?
Tina, a hooker and drug addict, is also a Creator, unbeknownst to her. A chance meeting brings her along on the quest to fight the
evil clouding Kafka. Can she bring herself to drop her walls of cynicism long enough to remember how to dream?
Review
If you're wondering why I gave this book a shot, as my name indicates, I like the subject of dreams. To be fair, I must state that I
am not a big Piers Anthony fan. His books read too much like big in-jokes to me, and he repeatedly sells out stories for the sake of a
cheap pun. I find such gimmicks get old fast. Here, the puns aren't as thick, but the plot is hardly solid. The authors didn't do a
great job on characterization here, tending to simply explain what a character felt or how they changed instead of showing these
emotions and changes in more effective, less obvious ways. Even the dark, self-destructive lives of Nola and Tina seem muted and
stereotyped. If you want a light read without too much in the way of depth or emotional involvement, then I can suggest this book. I
suppose I just wanted a little more than the authors were willing - or able - to give.
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