Any good novels about Virtual Reality?

[curtw]

Originally Posted by Kasper Hviid

Just to recap:

Just one typo (off by a letter); Gibson's book is Neuromancer, not Necromancer (the title of several different books).

[crich70]

The Veldt by Ray Bradbury deals with the topic I believe. It's a short story rather than a novel however.

[mbovenka]

Nobody mentions 'Donnerjack' by (well, kinda) Roger Zelazny and Jane Lindskold?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donnerjack

I still want this as an ebook...

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by crich70

There is at least one movie that I can think of that deals with it too.
"The 13th Floor." And there was the small mini-series "Wild Palms." Also the movie "Virtuosity" takes place in part in such a world if I recall correctly.

The 13th floor was based on Daniel Galouye's 1964 book Simulacron-3.

I really liked this book, I'm enclosing the plot in SPOILER tags because I think it tells too much.

From Wikipedia:

Spoiler:

Simulacron 3 is the story of a virtual city (total environment simulator) for marketing research, developed by a scientist to reduce the need for opinion polls. The computer-generated city simulation is so well-programmed, that, although the inhabitants have their own consciousness, they are unaware, except for one, that they are only electronic impulses in a computer.

The simulator's lead scientist, Hannon Fuller, dies mysteriously, and a co-worker, Morton Lynch, vanishes. The protagonist, Douglas Hall, is with Lynch when he vanishes, and Hall subsequently struggles to suppress his inchoate madness. As time and events unwind, he progressively grasps that his own world is probably not "real" and might be only a computer-generated simulation.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Pablo

The 13th floor was based on Daniel Galouye's 1964 book Simulacron-3.

I really liked this book, I'm enclosing the plot in SPOILER tags because I think it tells too much.

From Wikipedia:

Spoiler:

Simulacron 3 is the story of a virtual city (total environment simulator) for marketing research, developed by a scientist to reduce the need for opinion polls. The computer-generated city simulation is so well-programmed, that, although the inhabitants have their own consciousness, they are unaware, except for one, that they are only electronic impulses in a computer.

The simulator's lead scientist, Hannon Fuller, dies mysteriously, and a co-worker, Morton Lynch, vanishes. The protagonist, Douglas Hall, is with Lynch when he vanishes, and Hall subsequently struggles to suppress his inchoate madness. As time and events unwind, he progressively grasps that his own world is probably not "real" and might be only a computer-generated simulation.

Interesting. I had no idea that it was based on a book. I'll have to see if I can find a copy sometime so I can compare the book and the movie.

[drofgnal]

If you like the spy genre, try the Net Force Series.

[signum]

Nobody's mentioned _Ender's Game_.

[BenG]

Originally Posted by crich70

There is at least one movie that I can think of that deals with it too.
"The 13th Floor." And there was the small mini-series "Wild Palms." Also the movie "Virtuosity" takes place in part in such a world if I recall correctly.

there's also a 1999 Jude Law movie by David Cronenberg called eXistenz.

[taosaur]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

And I am completely the opposite.

I'm with you. Neuromancer did come off quite dated when I read it a few years ago, and while I love a lot of Neal Stephenson's work, Snow Crash was an early effort that promised more than it delivered. Still, it left an impression on some people - the creators of the "virtual world" Second Life cited it as their primary inspiration.

Stephenson's second-to-latest novel, Reamde, made good use of an MMO as one of several settings, though overall it was less sci-fi and more of a day-after-tomorrow techno-thriller.