Fortuna - Hardcover

Stevens, Michael R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1933515775 ISBN 13: 9781933515779

Publisher: Oceanview Publishing, 2010

Synopsis

Longing for escape from his mundane existence as a Stanford computer science major, Jason Lind signs up to play Fortuna, an online role-playing game set in Renaissance Florence.From the first, fateful mouse click, Jason tumbles into the vibrant, lush, anonymous world of Fortuna. Swept up in this highly complex, highly addictive game of fame, fortune, and power, Jason quickly transitions from casual gamer to compulsive player.Soon tangled up in a steamy virtual love triangle, Jason becomes obsessed with breaking Fortuna's code of anonymity. But Fortuna is anything but fun and games, and when a sizable debt incurred in the game spills over into reality, Jason is forced to leverage the legacy of his father, a high-tech legend killed in a car accident years before, to pay off the debt.What started as a great escape may only leave Jason trapped, as the game that transported Jason deep into the past exposes a shocking, present-day reality.In the world of Fortuna, it's not how you play the game; it's if you survive.

About this title

About the Author

Michael R. Stevens is a contributing editor for several high-profile Web sites in the technology arena. Fortuna is his first novel.

Reviews

Role-playing gamers will best appreciate Stevens's debut, a far-fetched thriller that reads almost like a YA novel. Jason Lind, a Stanford computer science grad student, becomes addicted to Fortuna, an online alternate reality game based on Renaissance Florence and Machiavellian economics. As the line blurs between Jason's RL (real life) and his gaming persona's role as Father Allesandro da Scala, he falls heavily into debt. Frantic to stay afloat, he drops out of Stanford to work for Global Packet Control under his uncle, Frank Stöcker, who once employed his father, Nicholas, who died nine years earlier in a car accident. At GPC, Jason discovers suspicious business dealings, but while the action hurtles toward surprising revelations, the worlds of role-playing and global economics never quite mesh. And some will find the portrayal of the romance between Jason and a fellow Stanford student less than sophisticated. (May)
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Jason Lind discovers that being a computer-science geek at Stanford isn't quite as fulfilling as he thought it would be. So he signs up to join a new online virtual world called Fortuna. Bit by bit, Jason becomes obsessed with spending every moment he can in Florence at the time of the Renaissance, even though it's not real. Or is it? As his debts mount in the game, he discovers his real-world finances dwindling. Secrets and double crosses are the norm in Fortuna, and soon Jason's studies—and possibly even his life—are at risk if he can't uncover the truth behind the game. Debut author Stevens attempts to juggle two worlds here, but neither one really shines. The virtual scenario isn't as detailed or carefully put together as it would need to be to carry the story line, and the thriller elements are a bit tired. Still, computer geeks will find much of the novel intriguing, and fans of other virtual-world thrillers (e.g., Lev Grossman's much more successful Codex, 2004) may like Stevens' premise enough to forgive his novel's shortcomings. --Jeff Ayers

Edition details

• Publisher: Oceanview Publishing
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1933515775
• ISBN 13: 9781933515779
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 312