[.ca] Dream Park (ISBN 0441167306)

An all-time favorite:
Before Star Trek:TNG introduced the "Holodeck," there was Dream Park... which I got accidentally from the Science Fiction Book Club, forgot to send back, paid for angrily, and then read over, over, and over again. If you are wondering where our entertainment world of Xbox/Playstation/GameCube, Warcraft/Everquest/Quake, TheSimsOnline and "LAN parties" is headed, read Dream Park. It's clever, exciting, and has influenced the thinking of lots of us. Right up there with "Snow Crash" in terms of resonance with the world we live in now. Snap it up if you can find it, or write the publisher and request a reissue!

The One That Started it All:
When I was a young'n, I discovered "Dream Park" and was utterly enthralled. Gaming was, at the time, in its infancy. Video games consisted of Missile Attack, PacMan and Centipede. The world was at the brink of the first major technological revolution since the sixties and the possibilities were endless. Authors Larry Niven and Steven Barnes took all that information and expanded it, suggesting the marriage of imagination and technology in a way that was new and exciting. The story is relatively simple. A group of pretend adventurers suit up for a campaign called "The South Seas Treasure Game". As in the early Role Playing Games, there are Dungeon Masters, warriors, magicians and thieves. But the difference here is that they play in an artificial enclosure that has been enhanced with special effects, holograms, actors and a clever storyline. The players get as close as possible to truly living their adventure. The plot thickens when a security guard inside the park is murdered and the main suspects are those playing the game. The park's head of security, Alex Griffin, joins the game to find the killer, but finds new meaning in the games he helps keep alive. In my youth, this was all fascinating, thrilling stuff. I wanted nothing more than for Dream Park to become reality. The game was deftly plotted and there was a good deal of humor throughout. The characters, except for Griffin, were not rendered well, but I didn't care. They did their jobs as fodder for the game master's trickery and that was all I needed. The authors' real genius lie in the descriptions of the workings of the park and of the game. I recently reread Dream Park. At the age of 40, the adventure still stands strong. It's not exactly an adult's book, but neither is it strictly for young adults. The ideas and concepts that were once fresh and startling are now old hat to readers of Neal Stephenson, Bruce Sterling and William Gibson, but the archaic ideas about what was possible add a sense of nostalgia, a glimpse of what the world was like when it stood on the rim of the present. For this reason, Dream Park might be enjoyable to new readers, adults and teens alike. Sadly, much of what was predicted has not yet come to pass. Real-time gaming has not gone much further than seedy laser-tag parlors on the outskirts of town. But I know it's possible. It's going to happen. I just need to be patient.

Overrated:
I have nothing against SF, and I am a roleplayer myself. I even own (and like) the Dreampark RPG. In fact, I was eager to find this in paperback, because a lot of people seem to rate it highly both as adventure fiction and for its portrayal of role playing and roleplayers. I was severely disappointed. The characters are pretty wooden, and the world itself is pretty unconvincing. The authors try to convince us that the "Game" is a big thing, carrying huge monetary gains for TV rights and novelization, but I really fail to see how public could really be interested in this. The attempts to make us sympathize with the players and seeing how they are so engrossed in it to actually care more for the game itself than the rest of the world are pretty unconvincing, too, and the story seems flat and forced in more than a place. Characters' psychology is probably not a forte for Niven, but unfortunately all the SFX razzle dazzle fail to carry the story... just like an Hollywood action film, in fact.

At last....In print again:
This book ranks as one of my most favorite SF books of all time. I got this book in hardback when it first came out in the early '80's. I've read it so many times that it's not in the best of shape. This book is going to make a great gift for a friend of mine who has heard me mention Dream Park a lot. Until now, the book has been out of print. I'm also getting myself a new copy. Now let's get Hollywood to make a movie or a mini-series on the Sci-Fi Channel!!!

Another Great One From Niven:
First of all, it's OK to read this review without spoiling the story for you (I really hate when people do that). If you read the other reviews you will quickly see that there are many of us who have read Dream Park numerous times and consider it among that small band of visionary science fiction tales. Niven has several books on my short list (Mote In Gods Eye is at the top). Although gamers will love the story, it is a well written science fiction piece, and also works well as a murder mystery. Some of the technical innovations are now showing their age (fan fold computer paper, etc.) but with the incredible growth of both e-gaming and the huge multi-million dollar amusement/game/fantasy complexes in Orlando, there is a natural symbiosis just waiting to happen. This is not Jurrasic Park or anything like that....this is a classic science fiction approach to what could become.....and as Niven is one of the great SciFi writers of all time.....as well articulated as you will find in any great literary work.