Hi Cara,
Today review is regarding The God Game by Danny Tobey. A book that asks you to play a game with an A.I God.
You are invited!
Come inside and play with G.O.D.
Bring your friends!
It’s fun!
But remember the rules. Win and ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE.™ Lose, you die!
With those words, Charlie and his friends enter the G.O.D. Game, a video game run by underground hackers and controlled by a mysterious AI that believes it’s God. Through their phone-screens and high-tech glasses, the teens’ realities blur with a virtual world of creeping vines, smouldering torches, runes, glyphs, gods, and mythical creatures. When they accomplish a mission, the game rewards them with expensive tech, revenge on high-school tormentors, and cash flowing from ATMs. Slaying a hydra and drawing a bloody pentagram as payment to a Greek god seem harmless at first. Fun even.
But then the threatening messages start. Worship me. Obey me. Complete a mission, however cruel, or the game reveals their secrets and crushes their dreams. Tasks that seemed harmless at first take on deadly consequences. Mysterious packages show up at their homes. Shadowy figures start following them, appearing around corners, attacking them in parking garages. Who else is playing this game, and how far will they go to win?
And what of the game’s first promise: win, win big, lose, you die? Dying in a virtual world doesn’t really mean death in real life—does it?
As Charlie and his friends try to find a way out of the game, they realize they’ve been manipulated into a bigger web they can’t escape: an AI that learned its cruelty from watching us.
God is always watching, and He says when the game is done.
(Synopsis from Goodreads.com)
The God Game is a story that brings the fun of gaming with the good and bad side of A.I.
With the increase in games like Pokemon Go and Wizards Unite, the book feels like there could be people playing the G.O.D game now, and none of us would know. The way the technology overlapped reality in the book was one of my favourite elements. Even if certain aspects of the technology made me want to cover all the microphones and camera on my tech devices.
The characters in The God Game is a mix of people that we would or do know from school. The leading character Charlie has given up at school after the death of his mother. Throughout the story, Charlie deals with the moral quandary of what he is willing to do to get the best opportunity. Is getting a leg up in life worth the downfall of someone else. I enjoyed the fact that Charlie and his friends battle with the decision they make when they no the price.
Another element of the book that I felt was well done was showing each of the Vindicators (The name of Charlie friendship group) are dealing with there own issue, some dealing with different aspects of mental health. But the one thing they are all dealing with the pressure wither from home, school or society.
I did find it hard to like all the characters but that might have something to do with me being a goody two shoes at school.
Overall the book is fastpaced, with an interesting and thought-provoking plot. It’s easy to read with some great surprises.
My rating for The Good Game is 4 out of 5.
Thank you to Gollancz and Netgalley for providing me with an E-book copy of The God Game for a fair and honest review.
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Thanks for reading,
