Matt Ruff

The critically acclaimed author of Lovecraft Country returns with a thrilling and immersive virtual reality epic—part cyberthriller, part twisted romantic comedy—that transports you to a world where identity is fluid and nothing can be taken at face value.
John Chu is a "sherpa"—a paid guide to online role-playing games like the popular Call to Wizardry. For a fee, he and his crew will provide you with a top-flight

...

Stephen Titus George finds the campus of Cornell University a site for talking cats and dogs, fairies cavorting, an emerald-green dragon, and the too-shallow grave of Rasferret the Grub.

A computer-generated plague sweeps the world, killing every black person in sight. This is one of a number of doomsday events contained in this futuristic novel where mayhem follows mayhem. In another, a shark is creating havoc in New York's sewer system.

"John Chu is a "sherpa"--a paid guide to online role-playing games like the popular Call to Wizardry. For a fee, he and his crew will provide you with a top-flight character equipped with the best weapons and armor, and take you dragon-slaying in the Realms of Asgarth, hunting rogue starships in the Alpha Sector, or battling hordes of undead in the zombie apocalypse" --

Teils Detektivgeschichte, teils Science-Fiction-Thriller - und ganz der neue, witzige Roman von Kultautor Matt Ruff. John Chu liebt seinen Job. Als Sherpa begleitet er zahlungskräftige Kunden in Online-Rollenspiele wie das populäre Call to Wizardry und zeigt ihnen die Kniffe des Games. Das Geschäft brummt, und John würde sich als glücklich bezeichnen, wären da nicht zwei klitzekleine Probleme: Zum einen hat seine Ex-Freundin nach einer unglücklich...

Jane Charlotte has been arrested for murder. She tells police that she is a member of a secret organization devoted to fighting evil; her division is called the Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons-"Bad Monkeys" for short. This confession earns Jane a trip to the jail's psychiatric wing, where a doctor attempts to determine whether she is lying, crazy-or playing a different game altogether. What follows is one of the most...