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shane's review
Really did want to like this one. It started so well too. unfortunately I'm now onto the third story and none of them have instilled any desire to continue reading the rest. I think part of the problem is the Paranoia world. It basically consists of a covered complex controlled by am AI computer that insists on controlling everyone via endless rules and regulations. These things when combined don't really lead to the most exciting of stories.
Shame. I really did want to like it.
Shame. I really did want to like it.
standback's review
As most anthologies, some of the stories here are great, some are less-great. In this context, I'd define "great" as "beautifully capturing the spirit and humor of the PARANOIA roleplaying game while still succeeding as entertaining fiction." Whereas "less-great" is more on the lines of "makes lots of PARANOIA in-jokes" or "reads like a narration of a random PARANOIA session."
In my personal opinion, most of the stories were so-so; entertaining but familiar. A particular standout was "Market Research," which was a particularly nefarious scenario that was pitch-perfect for Alpha Complex.
Since it's freely available (e.g. on DriveThruRPG, if you're a PARANOIA fan you'll probably want to take a look. This book is presented as a sampler for a line of full PARANOIA novels; I can attest that I was very pleased with the novel I read, [b:Reality Optional|13251953|PARANOIA S1 Reality Optional|Gareth Hanrahan|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1345714301s/13251953.jpg|18452983].
In my personal opinion, most of the stories were so-so; entertaining but familiar. A particular standout was "Market Research," which was a particularly nefarious scenario that was pitch-perfect for Alpha Complex.
Since it's freely available (e.g. on DriveThruRPG, if you're a PARANOIA fan you'll probably want to take a look. This book is presented as a sampler for a line of full PARANOIA novels; I can attest that I was very pleased with the novel I read, [b:Reality Optional|13251953|PARANOIA S1 Reality Optional|Gareth Hanrahan|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1345714301s/13251953.jpg|18452983].
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