- Paperback
- Publisher: Ace Books (July 1987)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0441687911
- ISBN-13: 978-0441687916
- Product Dimensions: 17.3 x 10.4 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 136 g
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Simon Hawke meets the Matrix, Dec 2 2002
By Randy Brown - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Psychodrome (Paperback)
It's the twenty-fifth century, and Psychodrome is all the rage. But for Arkady O'Toole, it is a way out of his sad existence. After serving a term in the military, Arkady finds himself in Tokyo with enough money for a normal person to live for a month. Thanks to a love for alcohol and a compulsive gambling problem, O'Toole blows through his money and two days later wakes up hung over and married in the worst part of crime ridden Tokyo. As he is walking down the street trying to figure out exactly what happened, he wanders into a gambling establishment he had no business being in. Before the night is over he finds himself sitting a table with high rollers and no money. Normally that is a recipe for disaster, but luck decides to obey the law of averages and go Arkady's way. On his last hand, he bluffs his way to a small fortune and walks out a changed man. He moves to a plush apartment, opens a legitimate business, and his wife leaves him. Things are going great! And then Hakim Saqqara found him.Saqqara, the owner of the club where O'Toole made his fortune, doesn't like to lose. Hakim does some research on Arkady and finds out the terrible truth; He has been hustled. Saqqara makes it his life goal to make Arkady pay. And Saqqara-being a major crime lord in Tokyo-has the money and power to do it. Arkady, at the tender age of twenty-six, doesn't know what he is in for. Saqqara succeeds in destroy all Arkady has gained and then some. Once the goal is completed, Saqqara decides it is time for the hustler to die. Arkady O'Toole for all intents and purposes is a dead man. And then he checked his mail.
The letter read, "You have won the Psychodrome lottery!" Psychodrome is an escapist's dream. Any fantasy you can imagine you can find on Psychodrome via a small chip inserted into your body. Billions of people can participate in any number of fantasies in the comfort of their own home, but the high risk scenarios are where superstars are born. Winning the lottery places him with two of the games greatest players-Stone and Breck-for as long as he survives. Psychodrome has virtual reality scenarios and real campaigns, but players don't know which is which in the high risk campaigns. While not a fan of the game, Arkady sees this as an escape from certain death on Tokyo's streets. Once he accepts the invitation, he is whisked off to New York to begin his career.
While most new players die quickly, Arkady turns out to be a survivor, and he thrives in Psychodrome. However with each campaign, survival becomes more difficult. The three find themselves transported to a planet of shapechangers to find a fire crystal, the most valuable commodity in the universe. Between finding the crystals, escaping Haqqara's assassins, and avoiding being assimilated by the shapechangers, Arkady wonders if he is safer on the streets. Maybe he would be...
Considering this book was written in the 80s, this is a pretty good book. It has a very low cheese level. The futuristic view in the book doesn't feel dated like many older sci-fi novels. This is Lawnmover Man, Matrix, and Johnny Mnemonic all rolled into one. Hawke does a great job portraying the inner turmoil of Arkady while not beating a dead horse. On a scale of one to five I would rate it an three and a half.
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