The Wolf of Descarta
by Daniel Pike
Published: November 21, 2013
Series: The Dream Box
Genre: Sci-Fi /Fantasy
Publisher: The Zharmae Publishing Press (Zharmae.com)
Book Description: Jaren Reese is just another red collar trapped at the bottom of Descarta’s genetic caste system. But in the Dream Box, he has forged a new digital identity for himself: Balmus, the Wolf Knight.
Balmus has long since carried a torch for the Linker Petra, but he doesn’t know her, not really. Outside of the Dream Box she is just another one of his fantasies. But Brea Morgen is the real thing– a living, breathing person who desires Jaren for who he truly is, not merely what he pretends to be.
When the Dream Box that Jaren depends on crashes due to the evolution of a hostile A.I. life form, a secret military branch commissions a team of gamers and hackers to go back into the corrupted Dream Box to eliminate the threat and Jaren is given the chance of a
lifetime—though it comes at a price—and Jaren now needs to decide just how much he’s willing to lose because the war about to be waged will be one on two fronts - the corporeal and the virtual.
Balmus has long since carried a torch for the Linker Petra, but he doesn’t know her, not really. Outside of the Dream Box she is just another one of his fantasies. But Brea Morgen is the real thing– a living, breathing person who desires Jaren for who he truly is, not merely what he pretends to be.
When the Dream Box that Jaren depends on crashes due to the evolution of a hostile A.I. life form, a secret military branch commissions a team of gamers and hackers to go back into the corrupted Dream Box to eliminate the threat and Jaren is given the chance of a
lifetime—though it comes at a price—and Jaren now needs to decide just how much he’s willing to lose because the war about to be waged will be one on two fronts - the corporeal and the virtual.
My
Thoughts:
This
was a very complex novel. The characters live in two realities – the Meat
Space, where they live physically; and the Dream Box, which is an online game
in which their rendering lives. There are two classes of people, those who wear
the blue collar and those who wear the red collar. The blue collars have the
better jobs, better lives in the Meat Space. The red collars have the jobs on
the lowest end of the economic scale. They live in poverty and their lives are
very difficult. In the Dream Box, you can make yourself look the way you want
and you can be successful, much more successful than you could ever hope to be
if you are a red collar. Each person is only allowed a limited amount of time
per day on the Dream Box – 5 hours per day. And most red collars live for that
5 hours per day. You are not allowed to ever know who the real person is that
belongs to the Dream Box personality. You are not allowed to meet them in real
life. It’s against the law.
I
found this novel to be confusing for about the first third, as I had a
difficult time sorting out the characters, and who each one was in the Dream
Box and the real world. The story moved from one place to another, introducing
individuals involved in the storyline similar to the way a movie goes from one
scene to another. This book was much like one of those complex movies where you
can’t catch everything the first time you see it; it takes a second viewing to
fully understand everything. This book might even make a good movie as the
visual component would be an asset in the storytelling. If you like RPG
computer games and the idea of virtual reality as a method of interacting in
that game, you will most likely enjoy this book.
I
liked the premises of the story. One of the characters (I won’t say which one
for fear of spoiling things) moves his consciousness from the real world into
the on-line world. After all, what are our brains anyways, but computers housed
in a biological unit?
I
also enjoyed the romantic parts of the novel. Because Jaren spent so much time
in the Dream Box as Balmus, he started to have real feelings for Petra. It made
me wonder how people are affected when they really spend all that time in these
games. Could that happen to us? Jaren also has feelings for Brea, and it is in
this struggle that we watch his character develop.
This
was an interesting novel and I gave it three stars.
Thank you to the publisher, The Zharmae Publishing Press for providing afree copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All
thoughts are my own.
Author Bio:
Daniel Pike is a high school English teacher, author, blogger, and father of two energetic daughters, Aurie and Kiera. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from ASU as well as his Masters in Education. His first novel, Repressed Memories, was written when he was 17 years old and high on anime. He openly admits that most of the writing took place in his Algebra class. We may forgive him for that.
His most recent offerings include The Wolf of Descarta, book one in his Dream Box Trilogy
His most recent offerings include The Wolf of Descarta, book one in his Dream Box Trilogy
Connect with Daniel Pike
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