Friday, August 26, 2011

The Restoration Game-Ken MacLeod

The Restoration Game
Ken MacLeod
PYR, Sep 20 2011, $16.00
ISBN 9781616145255

Her CIA asset mom Amanda who wrote the definitive mythology on Krassnia asks her game designer daughter Lucy Stone to create a special interactive multiplayer game based on their heritage. Lucy who has not been back to Krassnia, the former Soviet Autonomous Region since they left when she was a small child, looks forward to going “home”.

Amanda’s objective is to enable the country’s revolutionaries to use the game clandestinely to communicate and cohesively organize. As she readjusts to the locality’s language, Lucy hears tales about a power source high in the mountains that the Soviets never could replicate, but has renewed interests from outside parties not concerned about collateral damage.

Starting with Newton’s Laws of Motion combined with Murphy’s Law, The Restoration Game is an insightful satirical espionage thriller. The story line contains an incredible amount of information on Krassnia such as how the Soviets converted a nation filled with literates into illiterates with a stroke of a pen and the Post-Soviet government turned a nation filled with literates into illiterates with a stroke of a keyboard. Although there is so much going on in terms of culture, mythology and the power source, the story line rarely accelerates. Readers who appreciate a deep cerebral thriller will enjoy a visit to Krassnia.

Harriet Klausner

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