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reidob's review against another edition
3.0
This book is great fun, but in the end is really just pretty silly. Here's the basic premise: we are nothing but expressions of an elaborate computer program. That being the case, if you find yourself within that program and have the ability to manipulate it, you can also manipulate some of the parameters of reality and bend it to your will. There are some rules to this (which seem rather arbitrary, but whatever) and if you break them you pay a pretty big price, but with some practice and care, you can live a pretty good life.
However, if you go around living a pretty good life and can't explain where the money came from (which you created by manipulating the program, naturally), then people eventually come after you and you have to flee, not just in space but in time. Here is where the book begins to go a bit off the rails: of all of the times and all the places, lots of different people who have figured out how the program works have decided to locate themselves in...England in the 6th Century. Oooookay....
So, here's the deal: suspend your disbelief more than you would usually be comfortable doing and just wallow a bit in the silliness and testosterone. Oh, yes, about that last part. Of course, it would be deeply sexist to have only men be able to figure all of this out, so the author has tacked on a little side story (which had the feel of something added at an editor's insistence rather than an authorial choice) about how all of the women have decided to be in the same time (because...why?) but in a different place. Right. Uh huh.
Back to the recommendations, though: give up trying to have it all make sense and just revel in the sheer exuberance with which the book is written. You will not feel enlightened or comforted or enriched when you are through. But you will be amused. Perhaps sometimes that's enough.
However, if you go around living a pretty good life and can't explain where the money came from (which you created by manipulating the program, naturally), then people eventually come after you and you have to flee, not just in space but in time. Here is where the book begins to go a bit off the rails: of all of the times and all the places, lots of different people who have figured out how the program works have decided to locate themselves in...England in the 6th Century. Oooookay....
So, here's the deal: suspend your disbelief more than you would usually be comfortable doing and just wallow a bit in the silliness and testosterone. Oh, yes, about that last part. Of course, it would be deeply sexist to have only men be able to figure all of this out, so the author has tacked on a little side story (which had the feel of something added at an editor's insistence rather than an authorial choice) about how all of the women have decided to be in the same time (because...why?) but in a different place. Right. Uh huh.
Back to the recommendations, though: give up trying to have it all make sense and just revel in the sheer exuberance with which the book is written. You will not feel enlightened or comforted or enriched when you are through. But you will be amused. Perhaps sometimes that's enough.
bananagramzzz's review against another edition
4.0
I went into this book with no expectations... it’s a book I never would’ve read if I wasn’t doing the PopSugar Reading Challenge. It took a couple chapters to get going, but it turned into a truly FUN read. Ridiculous, but really enjoyable.
So take it from someone who’s generally not interested in this sort of book... I read it and enjoyed it. Good summer read.
So take it from someone who’s generally not interested in this sort of book... I read it and enjoyed it. Good summer read.
avatarofslack's review against another edition
1.0
I have only not finished a book once before, this one makes two. I cannot understand how an author would choose to make the main character a software engineer and make "programming" a key aspect of the plot yet do zero research on how anything related to software/programming actually works. It ruined the whole story. I was actively getting upset at the book for the utterly stupid writing.
If you have even a moderate understanding of computers, this book may drive you insane.
If you have even a moderate understanding of computers, this book may drive you insane.
muffinmantm's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
nimgimli's review against another edition
3.0
Back in the early days of computer gaming it was pretty common for players to edit save or data files just to see what happened. So say you were playing a game and you had 1,233 gold pieces. You'd look through the data (usually the save) files using a hex editor and find the number 1233 and change it to 100000 and then start that game up and see if your character now had 100,000. If it did then you'd found where the game stored the amount of gold your character had and could change it whenever you felt like.
That's the basic premise here, mixed with a bit of The Matrix. A computer geek discovers that the world (including himself) is just one giant computer program and that he can edit the data files and thus change the world he is living in. It's kind of the ultimate computer geek power fantasy.
It's a fun book and I enjoyed the humor in it, but the actual writing wasn't that strong. I'd call it 'workmanlike' and I guess I'm a snob about such things. Particularly at the start of the book when the main character is alone (so there's no dialog) it all felt kind of monotone. Some readers won't care a whit about this and those readers should add a star to my rating.
In any case, by the end when we are dealing with a cast of characters it picked up and got much better. I don't want to drift into spoiler territory but the author brings together characters that are both very similar in some ways and quite different in others, and uses those differences in some amusing ways.
A fun story; it's the first in a series and I'll probably read the others at some point in the near future.
That's the basic premise here, mixed with a bit of The Matrix. A computer geek discovers that the world (including himself) is just one giant computer program and that he can edit the data files and thus change the world he is living in. It's kind of the ultimate computer geek power fantasy.
It's a fun book and I enjoyed the humor in it, but the actual writing wasn't that strong. I'd call it 'workmanlike' and I guess I'm a snob about such things. Particularly at the start of the book when the main character is alone (so there's no dialog) it all felt kind of monotone. Some readers won't care a whit about this and those readers should add a star to my rating.
In any case, by the end when we are dealing with a cast of characters it picked up and got much better. I don't want to drift into spoiler territory but the author brings together characters that are both very similar in some ways and quite different in others, and uses those differences in some amusing ways.
A fun story; it's the first in a series and I'll probably read the others at some point in the near future.
pseudosara's review against another edition
4.0
This was really fun on audio. Luke Daniels is a great reader, and this us a fun story. I'm not sure I want to listen to the sequel, but I might read it.
loannie's review against another edition
3.0
This was quite a fun listen.
Some good ideas, entertaining characters, a decent female character to redeem a boy's club of a book.
The villain isn't 100% convincing as a villain, but the plot is decent if fairly predictable.
Can be read as a stand alone without neceessarily going for the whole series.
Some good ideas, entertaining characters, a decent female character to redeem a boy's club of a book.
The villain isn't 100% convincing as a villain, but the plot is decent if fairly predictable.
Can be read as a stand alone without neceessarily going for the whole series.
castlethirteen's review against another edition
3.0
This book is a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it, but its very simple and didn't really awe me in any way.