Caverns of Socrates
Dennis L. McKiernan
Roc
Fiction, Fantasy/Sci-Fi
Themes: Artificial Intelligence, Cross-Genre, Diversity, Fantasy Races, Girl Power, Magic Workers, Thieves, VR
****
Description
In the near future, a team of award-winning role-playing gamers reunites for a very special quest. The Black Foxes, as they are known in gaming circles, have been invited to form the alpha team to test a new computer: AIVR (a.k.a. Avery.) This revolutionary virtual reality machine promises to do what no other can: using hypnosis an direct sensory stimulation, Avery can make the gamers into the characters they play - literally. Memories, skills, and personalities will to be simulated. While in the machine, the Black Foxes will be unaware of their real selves; they will believe they are living living in their fantasy world. In short, it'll be a gamer's dream come true. It's supposed to be so safe that the company president is going in with the alpha team, using a master thief character which Avery has integrated into the world of the Black Foxes. A team of doctors and scientists will be monitoring their vitals, and their progress, via a holographic display. It should all be great fun... until Avery develops an unstable mind of its own, an electrical storm threatens the power supply, and the observing scientists duel for power as the lives of the gamers hang in the balance, both online and off.
Review
I liked this book, mainly because I haven't read one quite like it before - at least, not one this well balanced. Both the world of the Black Foxes and the "real" world outside Avery were good enough to hold my interest; in many "split-reality" books, I tend to skim to get to the fantasy world sequences. The Black Foxes lean a little on genre tropes, but by design, and each manage to become more than flat character classes. Meanwhile, debates about the nature of reality and the ethics the experiment, not to mention the potential dangers of handing one's life over to an AI who might not have a human sense of right and wrong, play out. This was a fun read, with a good ending.