On the planet New Sonora, colonist Oliver faces a lethal technological onslaught initiated by distant corporations. The invaders are not professional soldiers, but wealthy Earth-based gamers who remotely pilot armored war machines for sport and entertainment. These players pay for the opportunity to slaughter colonists in what they perceive as a virtual simulation, while the reality on the ground consists of hardware, wreckage, and biological survival. Oliver must navigate a landscape of high-tech debris and hostile mechanical avatars to protect his home from an enemy that views his death as a high score.
Readers of military science fiction and survivalist thrillers will find this a dark examination of commercialized warfare. The book appeals to those interested in the ethical consequences of remote combat and the gamification of violence. Readers finish the story with a cynical perspective on how economic inequality and immersive technology can dehumanize distant populations. It serves as a gritty account of asymmetric warfare where one side fights for points and the other for their continued existence.
Practical, outward-looking, clear-cut and escapist; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Escapist Adventurer. Which reader are you?
- Publisher
- Ace
- ISBN
- 9780593820308
- Language
- EN
