Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by couchnest
The God Game by Danny Tobey
4.0
I really liked the premise of this book and got sucked in fast!
There's a new augmented reality (AR) game that's going around and the stakes are high. The game is called the G.O.D. Game and is being controlled by an artificial intelligence (AI) that the players aren't sure about. Is it really God, or something more nefarious? A particular group of friends begin playing the game and as their reality begins to blur with the virtual world, so do the consequences of their actions within the game.
Actions are rewarded with either gold or blaxx and the players quickly figure out that "good" actions earn the gold and "bad" actions earn the blaxx, but just what exactly are blaxx? And by whose definition are we judging things as "good" and "bad"?
Soon the players are manipulated into actions that have sometimes wanted and unwanted consequences. When they experience unwanted consequences they are left to figure out how to reverse or lessen the negative consequences. Things become violent rather quickly and the stakes get higher and higher as they progress through the game.
I had a hard time deciding if there really were some supernatural elements going on, or if they were just getting caught up in the AR with the AI. With so many random players being "controlled/manipulated" by the AI, it's hard to imagine that there was anything supernatural really happening, but there were some things that there didn't seem to be any other real explanation for.
This book seemed very scary in the sense that some of the players were manipulated into what could be considered by some as some rather triggering things. TWs behind the spoiler:
I've been watching the new TV show, Evil, and there are some similar aspects between that show and this book... anyway, it's definitely worth a read if you are into this type of storyline!
I received a copy from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press in exchange for my honest opinion.
There's a new augmented reality (AR) game that's going around and the stakes are high. The game is called the G.O.D. Game and is being controlled by an artificial intelligence (AI) that the players aren't sure about. Is it really God, or something more nefarious? A particular group of friends begin playing the game and as their reality begins to blur with the virtual world, so do the consequences of their actions within the game.
Actions are rewarded with either gold or blaxx and the players quickly figure out that "good" actions earn the gold and "bad" actions earn the blaxx, but just what exactly are blaxx? And by whose definition are we judging things as "good" and "bad"?
Soon the players are manipulated into actions that have sometimes wanted and unwanted consequences. When they experience unwanted consequences they are left to figure out how to reverse or lessen the negative consequences. Things become violent rather quickly and the stakes get higher and higher as they progress through the game.
I had a hard time deciding if there really were some supernatural elements going on, or if they were just getting caught up in the AR with the AI. With so many random players being "controlled/manipulated" by the AI, it's hard to imagine that there was anything supernatural really happening, but there were some things that there didn't seem to be any other real explanation for.
This book seemed very scary in the sense that some of the players were manipulated into what could be considered by some as some rather triggering things. TWs behind the spoiler:
Spoiler
One player was nearly beaten to death. Another was knifed and on the brink of death. At once point other players had to decide whether to have one player beaten (possibly to death) in order to save the other player who had been knifed. One teen was suicidal. There was an attempt to blow up the school.I've been watching the new TV show, Evil, and there are some similar aspects between that show and this book... anyway, it's definitely worth a read if you are into this type of storyline!
I received a copy from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press in exchange for my honest opinion.