Death Dream

By Ben Bova

Book Overview

It's the ultimate adult playground. Cyber World will use the latest technology in computer produced virtual reality to provide thrills and chills beyond any ever experienced at a theme park. Here children of all ages will live out their wildest fantasies: fly jet fighters in combat, take part in a gunfight in the OK Corral, play in the World Series, or take a walk on the moon or a trip inside the human body.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553762109
• ISBN13: 9780553762105
• Release Date: August 1995
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Length: 576 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Very Well Done

This book was written very well. Featuring a slew of fun, dysfunctional characters, it would only take a small stretch of existential angst for me to give it a 5th star. As it is, though, it is merely a precautionary tale of the dangers that virtual reality may bring to the world. Precautionary tales are nice, and sometimes they are fun (like this one is), but they don't really have the meaning to earn that 5th star. This is the first book I have read by Mr. Bova, and I think that it is good, with some small imperfections. He has a certain writing style that is somewhat stilted to me, and it is sometimes hard to read. I can't place my finger on exactly what it is, though. It may be overusage of the character's names, or it may be the fact that the characters are a bit hackneyed, but whatever it is, it is somewhat annoying, like a tiny piece of flesh hanging from the top of your mouth...you know what it is and you want to fix it, but you can't really get directly at it, so you just worry it around with your tongue. Other than the lack of any real substance and the small writing annoyance, the book was very good overall, and I am quite impressed. Don't get me wrong, the book is fun to read, and I will read it again sometime in the future, it just won't alter my perceptions of the world in any measurable fashion. It is an exciting book, though, and it is fun to see Kyle Muncrief's whole world fall down around his sick, twisted feet, and I can't see why anyone should have to face repercussions for the consequences of his last VR sim.That's just me though. Read it, enjoy it, and pass it on. Definitely a buyer.Harkius

entertaining...

My initial thoughts when I saw a VR related story made me cringe. All I could think of are all the Late Night B Movies that so make VR an unattractive subject.I got the audio version from the library on the simple fact that Ben Bova is an established fiction author. Suprisingly I enjoyed this quit a bit. The audio version had me anticipating what would happen next more from the story than from the reading of the story.If the reading was done a bit more like acting things out I probably would have gave this a five stars. At least they had some different sounding voices for some of the characters but the reader's ability to switch between character voices had some flaws.This story based on VR technology really did get my thoughts going on the dangers of other pieces of technology. Interesting and entertaining story.

scary

The theme of manipulation through virtual reality is unsettling in that it is so possible, but the book is well done and interesting to read. One of Ben's best efforts.

This is a tough book to review

How do you review a book that is perfectly enjoyable up until about page 450, and then you suddenly realize that the conclusion is not going to be a great revelation? Early on I greatly enjoyed this book and the occasional flashbacks into the characters pasts were quite interesting. I also realized as I was reading this book that there's not a whole lot of action and the book probably could have been trimmed by about 150 pages. But in the end, I feel as though I got led in circles. Who is the Inquisitor? Who does he represent? What about the foreign investors? What about Disney possibly buying out ParaReality? So many ideas are introduced and nothing comes of any of them. I'll give one of his other books a shot, but this was a bit of a disapointment. Good first 450 pages, though.

Hmm...whats one to do.

Well, this book is a hard one to rate, although I loved reading it, i'm not sure, I can read it again, its got an aweful amount of minipulation, on the worst possible level, and if you cant stand minipulation, perhaps you should get this book from a library before you buy it, so I gave it a 10. On the other hand, the book is well set up, and besides the minipulation, a joy to read, so if your a Ben Bova collecter, or just a fan, buy the book