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Reviewed by Cecelia Hopkins for Readers' Favorite
META Game On by Xander Black follows Cyrus and Everett through their adventures in an immersive online game set in “Brith”. Everett has just lost his job at Arctik Studios, and the gamers decide to utilize Everett’s insider knowledge to retrieve the Tome of Leto. Along the route, they witness the cyber-murder of Edmund Blessed and Lord Scottish, a.k.a. veteran programmer Scotty Garrett. After Scottish’s death, the pair are joined by Ava, his custom-built AI. They are pursued by Meta gamers Alymere, Vanja, and Sir_Pendulous_Wang, who want the Tome, and cyber-detective Sol, who suspects Everett of murder. Can the party survive long enough to discover the origin of the Neverborn?
META Game On by Xander Black successfully combined a few of my favorite genres, science fiction, gaming fiction, and murder mystery. I enjoyed the cynical social comedy that predicted an isolationist generation, which has become more comfortable staying home and gaming than mixing in real life. I sympathized with Cyrus, who suffered from dysesthesia and experienced pain whenever not soothed by a virtual environment. I enjoyed following the dual story aims of completing the quest despite their low player status and working out who committed the crime. I admired the clever motivation established for the crime, which beautifully integrated both real and virtual worlds. The book is a long read, which meant it provided hours of entertainment. I felt there was plenty of potential for more adventures too. This will make a fine addition to my collection of unique game-based volumes.
