Dream Park
A gaming park where visitors come to have their fantasies fulfilled turns into a nightmare when a game turns to murder.
Stats for nerds
5recommend
7mentions
6people
2012–2025years
86% recommend14% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- For anyone (like me) who likes their sci-fi fun and a bit cheesy I have a few recs:
Dream Park - Larry Niven & Steven Barnes: A group of pretend adventurers suit up for a campaign called "The South Seas Treasure Game." As in the early Role Playing Games, there are Dungeon Masters, warriors, magicians, and thieves. The difference? At Dream Park, a futuristic fantasy theme park full of holographic attractions and the latest in VR technology, they play in an artificial enclosure that has been enhanced with special effects, holograms, actors, and a clever storyline. The players get as close as possible to truly living their adventure. All's fun and games until a Park security guard is murdered, a valuable research property is stolen, and all evidence points to someone inside the game. The park's head of security, Alex Griffin, joins the game to find the killer, but finds new meaning in the games he helps keep alive.
The Long Run - Daniel Keys Moran: Years after the massacre of the Castanaveras genies, Peaceforcer Elite Commander Mohammed Vance still searches for the survivors. Now the gene-altered children have come of age. Denice – the world’s most powerful telepath – and Trent the Uncatchable – hacker, thief, and revolutionary – are about to come out of hiding. The world will never be the same. (It's book 2 in the series, but I'd recommend this as a stand-alone, or starting here.)
- More science fiction than just fiction:
* Spider series by W. Michael Gear
* Forbidden Borders series by W. Michael Gear
* The Change series (aka Emberverse) by S.M. Stirling (first 6)
* The Girl with all the Gifts by M.R. Carey
* Dream Park by Larry Niven and Stephen Barnes
* In The Country of the Blind by Michael Flynn
* Me by Thomas T. Thomas
* A State of Disobedience by Tom Kratman
* Merchant Princess series by Charles Stross
* Daughter of the Empire series by Raymond E. Fiest and Janny Wurts
* Ecolitan series by L.E. Modesitt Jr
* Freehold by Michael Z. Williamson
* The Game is Life series by Terry Schott
* The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jum Butcher
- You might also try Dream Park by David Niven and Steve Barnes. I've only read the first book, but apparently there are two sequels as well. A detective joins a LARP group when he suspects one of the guests of being a thief and murderer. The bulk of the story takes place in an amusement park that's a cross between Westworld and a holodeck.
- Usually things I get inspiration from;
Dream Park series
William Gibson Stuff: Difference Engine, Burning Chrome, Neuromancer
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Series
Hackers - Steve Levy
Graphic Idea Notebook & other pasteup era graphic design books
Greetings from Route 66
Old Travel Guides
Old Issues (50s-60s) of home technical Magazines Like Popular Science and Mechanics
- I think that's true. The 1780 stuff can usually be dismissed as being something that no-one seriously believes any more. The 1980 one can't.
It's not just the cultural stuff, though. I read Dream Park and the Barsoon Project when I was a kid. Loved them to bits. Recently I found a copy of The Voodoo Game in a second hand book store and finally finished the trilogy. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but it was like watching an original series BSG episode and expecting it to be as good as... modern BSG.
- Self Driving cars - despite resistance will keep surging in popularity - and self-driving trucks will put yet another blue-collar sector into decline. Catering to the automated travel market will become a new thing.
Drones - expect more eyes in the sky, law enforcement, news, emergency services, etc.
Augmented Reality - totally see this happening - and more https://vimeo.com/166807261 . Ever read the Dream Park series? (Larry Niven/Steven Barnes) Gonna be the future of gaming/sports.
