What do you think?
Rate this book
Killobyte
Walter Toland has the heart and soul of a hero - but his physical body is confined to a wheelchair. He lost both his legs and his job in the line of duty as a policeman. Baal Curran is a high school senior, full of the promise and heartbreak of her first love, and her first loss. The needle scarring from her diabetes drove away the only boy ever to care for her. Now she has retreated inside herself, determined never to be hurt again. Both of them have discovered Killobyte, an exciting new fantasy adventure game that promises to be the most realistic experience they can imagine. Once again Walter can have the strong legs of a hero, charging through a castle to rescue a captive princess, battling a ferocious dragon, matching wits with a sorcerer. With her face hidden behind a fictional character, Baal can forget her shyness and her fear that others will shrink away from her because of her lifetime of illness. She can laugh and have adventures, and dare to care about someone else again. But Killobyte is more real than even its creators can have dreamed. Within its programming lurks a flaw that has allowed one demented player a kind of power its creators never intended - a power that can trap and "kill" Walter and Baal time after time in the game scenarios. Of course, as long as this game of cat and mouse is kept within the world of computer-generated adventures, it's only a frustration. Walter and Baal seem never to win. But as the games continue, they begin to wonder whether the power of this mystery player can extend outside the framework of the game.... The mystery player is out for power - and the power he has in mind is far more than just racking up points against fictional opponents. He's coming after Walter and Baal in the real world, and his threat is death.
312 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
13 people are currently reading
807 people want to read
About the author
Piers Anthony
441 books4,214 followersThough he spent the first four years of his life in England, Piers never returned to live in his country of birth after moving to Spain and immigrated to America at age six. After graduating with a B.A. from Goddard College, he married one of his fellow students and and spent fifteen years in an assortment of professions before he began writing fiction full-time.
Piers is a self-proclaimed environmentalist and lives on a tree farm in Florida with his wife. They have two grown daughters.
Piers is a self-proclaimed environmentalist and lives on a tree farm in Florida with his wife. They have two grown daughters.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
March 25, 2017
Piers Anthony always has some interesting story ideas, and the plot works well in this standalone novel. He combines some outdated technology with ideas that aren't ready yet. Where this quick read breaks down is the characters, rendering it merely ok.
This novel hearkens back to the late 1980s, where stereotype players of computer games were kids and shut-ins. This novel also contains the stereotype hacker, Phreak. These characters are way over the top, and their backstory distracts from the plot, which is pretty good. The protagonists are new to the game, and their novice adventures allow the author to describe the setting well. Their creativity later on really makes the story.
It seems like Anthony leaves the ending up for a sequel (and fans of the author are not shocked), though none has been written to date. A good story, a quick read, and characters that are just too much results in an average rating. I selected this to read because I have read plenty from this author, and also as an early example of LitRPG, a genre I plan to explore this year.
This novel hearkens back to the late 1980s, where stereotype players of computer games were kids and shut-ins. This novel also contains the stereotype hacker, Phreak. These characters are way over the top, and their backstory distracts from the plot, which is pretty good. The protagonists are new to the game, and their novice adventures allow the author to describe the setting well. Their creativity later on really makes the story.
It seems like Anthony leaves the ending up for a sequel (and fans of the author are not shocked), though none has been written to date. A good story, a quick read, and characters that are just too much results in an average rating. I selected this to read because I have read plenty from this author, and also as an early example of LitRPG, a genre I plan to explore this year.
August 15, 2014
This is, if not the first work of Anthony's I actually read, the first I enjoyed so much that I recognised his name as a tour de force. Of course, I reread it for these few reflections, but I almost didn't need to: it's a book I devoured time after time after time. It’s on par with every big book, series or author that shaped my reading life, and there are many of those.
I have a very strong memory of listening to this book on a Road Runner or Book Courier, both of these are very niche reading machines for blind people. The Runner was developed in the late 90s and it's quite feasible that I read the book, more than once, on both devices. It's a matter of record that in march 2009 I added it to my Courier again, but as I no longer use the Courier now I can't be more specific. Even after adding it in 2009, I could have returned to it time after time. This wasn't the case with the Runner, which to give you some perspective only had 3 MB of memory which was flashed whenever you added new content.
Anyway, I've probably read it on both those machines, and almost every computer I've had or used since. I don't recall the first time I read it in any detail, it's not like the Philosopher's Stone where there's a great event going on, and of course in the mid-to-late 90s I wasn't cataloguing my reading.
There's a huge amount about the book that I absolutely love. The opening sentence “Draw, tenderfoot, or I'll plug you where you stand!” Is indelibly burned into my memory, and the way in which the Killobyte game is revealed during the novice chapter really starts the book off well.
Then, there are more esoteric things about the book which appealed, and it's only looking back at it now that I see why.
Baal impressed me at the outset, because she'd taken the time to read the game's manual rather than diving in, an approach my younger self would have fully supported. But Baal also pulled at me, because of her disability. It's interesting that Walter's story unfolds first, and we learn how he becomes disabled before we read about Baal's onset. And yet to me, Baal's story impacted more: in fact, had you asked me before this reread (remember, it's been a goodly time since I last read the book) I would've said we'd found out about Baal's condition first. we do, of course, in her introductory chapter, but it's not until later that we get the story of her discovering the Diabetes. In my mind, that story totally eclipsed Walter's injuries.
y, then? I think the bit that really pulled at me was Baal's summer camp reference. The complete dichotomy she experiences between her "friends" and the people at camp, her apathetic interest in going and her enjoyment when being, the frenetic pace of life at camp and the adaptations they make there to cater for the issues that arise due to the necessities of Diabetes and the nature of the relationships formed there all spoke, tremendously, to me somehow.
I don't think any of this was conscious at the time. I probably hadn't even considered this until now, but during this reread, things just clicked into place and I came to see Baal's situation as, if not an analogue of my own, at least a variant of it in some way.
The other psychological thing of interest to me was Phreak, especially his aunt. The sentences "All he needed from his aunt and uncle were food, a place to sleep, and ignorance. They gave him that." almost exactly mirrored my own feelings when I moved away from home. It's worrying, because although I don't see any of my actions in phreaks at all, I do see the potential, a path I could, I'm sure, have taken were circumstances different.
The lure of the book for me at a younger age was, of course, the technology. The game of Killobyte proved mesmerizing, and finding the things that wouldn't work with the technology of the era (such as NLP and the bandwidth constraints for such high-brow physical action and immediate high-quality vocal transmission) were as thrilling as suspending disbelief and just enjoying the thrill. The way in which the story unfolded kept my interest, even when young, and I find it astounding, looking back, that the whole psychological analysis angle completely flew over my head but yet must've impacted, somehow, for the book to hold such sway over me.
As to the writing, I do remember that I hadn't come across the word twain before I saw it here. Nothing else leapt out at me as being worthy of my lexicographical attention, but that also must've helped me soak up the work as a youth - it was so easy to read, so accessible to my vocabulary at that age. Reading it was effortless, enjoying it was practically guaranteed.
Trying to think objectively, there's nothing overwhelmingly innovative about the storytelling. The VR concept was early for its age, the people, just painted well but essentially ordinary. But there's some magic there, because had I been able to read a paperback of this book it would doubtless be falling apart by now, if it hadn't long-since disintegrated. This hasn't really been a review, has it? Wikipedia calls this book a character study, and I must say the story played less to me this time than did the people in it. The author's note went in my mind from being a reflection on the story, at the beginning of my relationship with the work, to a powerful message about the creative process, the research involved for such an undertaking and the people and stories Anthony draws from to make the book work so well.
I'm sure I'll read it again and again and, doubtless in another iteration I'll uncover even more. the books been published for twenty-one years now, so perhaps in another two decades I'll find it warn and old and tired. But I doubt it. This is one of those titles that holds a seed of my youth, part of the key that unlocks my tastes so precisely, an ingredient into that unique mix that is my own makeup. It can never lose that lustre and I think I owe the book more than I can articulate.
I have a very strong memory of listening to this book on a Road Runner or Book Courier, both of these are very niche reading machines for blind people. The Runner was developed in the late 90s and it's quite feasible that I read the book, more than once, on both devices. It's a matter of record that in march 2009 I added it to my Courier again, but as I no longer use the Courier now I can't be more specific. Even after adding it in 2009, I could have returned to it time after time. This wasn't the case with the Runner, which to give you some perspective only had 3 MB of memory which was flashed whenever you added new content.
Anyway, I've probably read it on both those machines, and almost every computer I've had or used since. I don't recall the first time I read it in any detail, it's not like the Philosopher's Stone where there's a great event going on, and of course in the mid-to-late 90s I wasn't cataloguing my reading.
There's a huge amount about the book that I absolutely love. The opening sentence “Draw, tenderfoot, or I'll plug you where you stand!” Is indelibly burned into my memory, and the way in which the Killobyte game is revealed during the novice chapter really starts the book off well.
Then, there are more esoteric things about the book which appealed, and it's only looking back at it now that I see why.
Baal impressed me at the outset, because she'd taken the time to read the game's manual rather than diving in, an approach my younger self would have fully supported. But Baal also pulled at me, because of her disability. It's interesting that Walter's story unfolds first, and we learn how he becomes disabled before we read about Baal's onset. And yet to me, Baal's story impacted more: in fact, had you asked me before this reread (remember, it's been a goodly time since I last read the book) I would've said we'd found out about Baal's condition first. we do, of course, in her introductory chapter, but it's not until later that we get the story of her discovering the Diabetes. In my mind, that story totally eclipsed Walter's injuries.
y, then? I think the bit that really pulled at me was Baal's summer camp reference. The complete dichotomy she experiences between her "friends" and the people at camp, her apathetic interest in going and her enjoyment when being, the frenetic pace of life at camp and the adaptations they make there to cater for the issues that arise due to the necessities of Diabetes and the nature of the relationships formed there all spoke, tremendously, to me somehow.
I don't think any of this was conscious at the time. I probably hadn't even considered this until now, but during this reread, things just clicked into place and I came to see Baal's situation as, if not an analogue of my own, at least a variant of it in some way.
The other psychological thing of interest to me was Phreak, especially his aunt. The sentences "All he needed from his aunt and uncle were food, a place to sleep, and ignorance. They gave him that." almost exactly mirrored my own feelings when I moved away from home. It's worrying, because although I don't see any of my actions in phreaks at all, I do see the potential, a path I could, I'm sure, have taken were circumstances different.
The lure of the book for me at a younger age was, of course, the technology. The game of Killobyte proved mesmerizing, and finding the things that wouldn't work with the technology of the era (such as NLP and the bandwidth constraints for such high-brow physical action and immediate high-quality vocal transmission) were as thrilling as suspending disbelief and just enjoying the thrill. The way in which the story unfolded kept my interest, even when young, and I find it astounding, looking back, that the whole psychological analysis angle completely flew over my head but yet must've impacted, somehow, for the book to hold such sway over me.
As to the writing, I do remember that I hadn't come across the word twain before I saw it here. Nothing else leapt out at me as being worthy of my lexicographical attention, but that also must've helped me soak up the work as a youth - it was so easy to read, so accessible to my vocabulary at that age. Reading it was effortless, enjoying it was practically guaranteed.
Trying to think objectively, there's nothing overwhelmingly innovative about the storytelling. The VR concept was early for its age, the people, just painted well but essentially ordinary. But there's some magic there, because had I been able to read a paperback of this book it would doubtless be falling apart by now, if it hadn't long-since disintegrated. This hasn't really been a review, has it? Wikipedia calls this book a character study, and I must say the story played less to me this time than did the people in it. The author's note went in my mind from being a reflection on the story, at the beginning of my relationship with the work, to a powerful message about the creative process, the research involved for such an undertaking and the people and stories Anthony draws from to make the book work so well.
I'm sure I'll read it again and again and, doubtless in another iteration I'll uncover even more. the books been published for twenty-one years now, so perhaps in another two decades I'll find it warn and old and tired. But I doubt it. This is one of those titles that holds a seed of my youth, part of the key that unlocks my tastes so precisely, an ingredient into that unique mix that is my own makeup. It can never lose that lustre and I think I owe the book more than I can articulate.
June 2, 2011
I really enjoyed this book. I thought that the total immersion game theme was fun and well done, a chance to put modern people in Medieval and other situations.
I didn't have any major problems with the plot or characters. I actually thought they were both very well-done. I would rate it higher except I think it may have become a bit dated in recent years, and it kind of threw me off at times.
Baal, the main female character, has diabetes, and is completely ostracized for it. Everyone is afraid of her and doesn't want to hang out with her because she has this disease they might catch. Maybe that's how it was in the early 90's, but I think people nowadays know better. At least, two of my friends' dads and one of my roommates have diabetes and I hardly ever even remember, let alone freak out about it. Since this was a major part of the storyline that I couldn't relate to, it grew a little old.
The computer/ virtual reality stuff, on the other hand, is surprisingly non-dated.
I didn't have any major problems with the plot or characters. I actually thought they were both very well-done. I would rate it higher except I think it may have become a bit dated in recent years, and it kind of threw me off at times.
Baal, the main female character, has diabetes, and is completely ostracized for it. Everyone is afraid of her and doesn't want to hang out with her because she has this disease they might catch. Maybe that's how it was in the early 90's, but I think people nowadays know better. At least, two of my friends' dads and one of my roommates have diabetes and I hardly ever even remember, let alone freak out about it. Since this was a major part of the storyline that I couldn't relate to, it grew a little old.
The computer/ virtual reality stuff, on the other hand, is surprisingly non-dated.
May 10, 2011
Probably the book by Anthony that I liked best. A little strained and such but an enjoyable read. Trapped in a virtual world unable to extract yourself due to a crazed hacker (a phreak). Interesting idea. The protagonist who's body is injured and restricted to a wheelchair but who can still be the hero in the virtual world of Killobyte is one of Anthony's better creations in my opinion...but then over all I can't be said to be an Anthony fan either. Still, some problems aside (the same ones I see in a lot of the author's books) I like it.
July 30, 2016
I picked this one up on a whim at the library - I was curious if they had any in the Xanth series, which I'm currently picking my way through, and I stumbled upon this gem instead.
It's not perfect. A book hardly ever is. However, this was pretty dang good. There's a good amount of romance, action, and humor - enough to make sure everyone is taken care of. The premise is interesting and doesn't let you down. And the writing, as usual, is excellent. I only wish there were more novels in this world so I can keep re-living it over and over again.
It's not perfect. A book hardly ever is. However, this was pretty dang good. There's a good amount of romance, action, and humor - enough to make sure everyone is taken care of. The premise is interesting and doesn't let you down. And the writing, as usual, is excellent. I only wish there were more novels in this world so I can keep re-living it over and over again.
September 24, 2014
Standard bit of Piers Anthony story-telling with Piers being mostly serious. His style is light and breezy even if the subject matter isn't. The info about the phone lines is a bit out-dated but otherwise it's a nicely built world.
Read
September 12, 2017This book comes straight out of a time when fascination and apprehension about virtual reality were very fresh in the public psyche. Anthony had stated at the time that he thought the technology for the type of game he created would exist by 2003. While this has not happened, the book is very prophetic in envisioning the future of what is now known as Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games and the culture of gaming and the types of relationships that would ensue from these kind of games. The characters are all intriguing. Oddly, I actually learned more about Diabetes from this book than I ever had before. The typical Anthony themes are present: Romance, nudity, games and puzzles, sex, and a blending of Science fiction with fantasy.
April 17, 2014
I got this book when it was new, which is a good 20 years ago now. Back then the virtual reality aspect seemed really cool and cutting edge. Now the gaming is all very dated and awkward. I can't imagine people enjoying it much today who aren't either Anthony fans or re-reading the book after having read it long ago. I still own my copy because of the nostalgia factor, but I can certainly recognize its flaws. I'd say one of the biggest, then and now, is Anthony's obsession with suicidal teen girls with sexual self-confidence issues. Back in the early 1990s I was very uncomfortable with it, and that's never gone away. I read Anthony when I was a young teen girl (age 12-14), and I always felt that he really believed he was doing a fabulous job writing young teen girl characters, whereas I felt he was doing a horrible job of it. He seemed so self-congratulatory about it, and mildly creepy. Even when I was reading his books constantly I never hoped to meet him because of the way he presented young girls in his books. Additionally, I always felt that he overdid it with the diabetes thing. I knew several kids with diabetes when I was young, it was not in any way a big deal. Yes, it sucked for them to be sick, to have to test, to have to deal with insulin, etc. But nobody else cared in the slightest. Nobody teased, nobody bullied, nobody ended friendships, nobody was afraid of catching it, it was not considered a problem. It was on par with being allergic to bee stings to the rest of us. So since the entire character of the female protagonist was built around how her diabetes had ruined her life, it just never rang true to me.
Strangely, my favourite parts of this book were what I learned about Beirut.
Strangely, my favourite parts of this book were what I learned about Beirut.
January 8, 2024
Not quite sure where to place this one actually... It makes a fair comparison, I would say, to Halting State. On the one hand, it has become dated, with Halting State feeling much more realistic with the ways technology has evolved. On the other hand, Killobyte was literally ahead of it's time, being published in 1993 when modem links were still being invented! There weren't any online games when this was written, and he got it right how things went!
On the gripping hand, if you're old enough to recall when dial-up was first sold, yet there wasn't even an 'web' to connect to, then Killobyte may work for you.
On the gripping hand, if you're old enough to recall when dial-up was first sold, yet there wasn't even an 'web' to connect to, then Killobyte may work for you.
November 13, 2016
I had a lot of fun. The characters were very strange.
First, the woman with Type 1 Diabetes who was still really good friends with her ex that dumped her because "his grandmother had to do the needles and he just couldn't deal." She falls in love with a cop who got ran over by a dude who's exgirlfriend was paying him in sex for protecting her from said boyfriend (what??). Anyway they fall in love in VR after being attacked by a "Phreak" aka a hacker aka a sad 14 year old boy. This Phreak is the son of a snake cultist who died from a snake bite. etc.
This book was really silly.
First, the woman with Type 1 Diabetes who was still really good friends with her ex that dumped her because "his grandmother had to do the needles and he just couldn't deal." She falls in love with a cop who got ran over by a dude who's exgirlfriend was paying him in sex for protecting her from said boyfriend (what??). Anyway they fall in love in VR after being attacked by a "Phreak" aka a hacker aka a sad 14 year old boy. This Phreak is the son of a snake cultist who died from a snake bite. etc.
This book was really silly.
June 15, 2021
That the author foresaw so much possibility in virtual gaming in the 1980s would surprise me more if I hadn't read so many of his books. His foresight and research shine in this book as they do in so many of his books. The amazing insight into the challenges individuals face and how our environment affects our life choices and reactions was beautifully overlaid by the counterpoint of the virtual world. So many recently written books reflect this book in virtual gaming possibilities that I wonder how many authors read Killobyte and were inspired. I certainly didn't want the book to end.
June 7, 2021
Mr. Anthony's popular Xanth series has quite a bit of humor running through them, mainly due to groan-worthy puns. But humor is notably lacking in this novel. Instead, we get people immersing themselves in ever-increasing levels of violent computer gameplay as a way of escaping disappointing reality.
Walter Toland's desire for wish fulfillment is understandable. He was an able cop until a jealous husband crushed his legs beyond repair. but Baal Curran's need to experience simulated demise is a kind of death-wish brought on by her first romantic heartbreak. If you're an adult, you'll side with Walter who's in his thirties. If you're a teenager, your sympathies may well lie with Baal, an 18-year-old diabetic.
As an older person, I was rather impatient with Baal's ongoing self-pity, her foolish attempts to fool her parents about her insulin routine and her rebounding from Tyson Blunt to Walter Toland. She knows the dangers of running from one hormonal entanglement to another (Tyson told her that's what he did with her), but she hurls herself into Walter's (digital) arms anyway. What happens in the game stays in the game, right?
Gaming scenario aside, Mr. Anthony's prose bogs down when he devotes several paragraphs to Baal's history of diabetes--a long-winded passage meant to be a flashback as she relates her past to Walter. It also drags as Baal wrestles with learning to drive a standard shift instead of automatic in a game car. Since I don't know how to drive a car, this bit was boring and confusing. Even if you are an experienced driver, I can't imagine you'd want to read about a novice's fumbling efforts to handle a car in what is supposed to be a thrilling chase scene.
But Baal blossoms from ashy wallflower willingly playing a damsel in distress to being a stalwart character in her own right. no, she's not doing Xena-like flips or excelling in martial arts combat. But she gains confidence, craft and inner strength from her online ordeals as well as a host of new friends. So my irritation with her gradually faded into a grudging respect. Allowances must be made for her initial immaturity; she is, after only, only a few years older than the petulant, peevish Phreak.
I can't wholeheartedly recommend this novel. But avid gamers who are willing to tear themeselves from their consoles may appreciate it.
Walter Toland's desire for wish fulfillment is understandable. He was an able cop until a jealous husband crushed his legs beyond repair. but Baal Curran's need to experience simulated demise is a kind of death-wish brought on by her first romantic heartbreak. If you're an adult, you'll side with Walter who's in his thirties. If you're a teenager, your sympathies may well lie with Baal, an 18-year-old diabetic.
As an older person, I was rather impatient with Baal's ongoing self-pity, her foolish attempts to fool her parents about her insulin routine and her rebounding from Tyson Blunt to Walter Toland. She knows the dangers of running from one hormonal entanglement to another (Tyson told her that's what he did with her), but she hurls herself into Walter's (digital) arms anyway. What happens in the game stays in the game, right?
Gaming scenario aside, Mr. Anthony's prose bogs down when he devotes several paragraphs to Baal's history of diabetes--a long-winded passage meant to be a flashback as she relates her past to Walter. It also drags as Baal wrestles with learning to drive a standard shift instead of automatic in a game car. Since I don't know how to drive a car, this bit was boring and confusing. Even if you are an experienced driver, I can't imagine you'd want to read about a novice's fumbling efforts to handle a car in what is supposed to be a thrilling chase scene.
But Baal blossoms from ashy wallflower willingly playing a damsel in distress to being a stalwart character in her own right. no, she's not doing Xena-like flips or excelling in martial arts combat. But she gains confidence, craft and inner strength from her online ordeals as well as a host of new friends. So my irritation with her gradually faded into a grudging respect. Allowances must be made for her initial immaturity; she is, after only, only a few years older than the petulant, peevish Phreak.
I can't wholeheartedly recommend this novel. But avid gamers who are willing to tear themeselves from their consoles may appreciate it.
September 14, 2020
Reading this in 2020 made me reflect on how technology has changed since this novel was published in 1993 (according to the author's note, it was completed September 1991). The Mosaic web browser was released in 1993. Wolfenstein 3D was released the year prior. Everquest, the first commercially successful 3D MMORPG, was released in 1999. Multi user games over the internet existed in the early 90s, but they were either text based or with very primitive graphics. While virtual reality technology still lags that shown in the novel, the novel fairly accurately shows what the MMO game experience would become.
The novel itself is enjoyable, but not Anthony's best work. Two of the main characters, Walter and Baal, are very interesting. Walter is confined to a wheelchair after an auto accident and Baal is an 18 year old woman who has lived with Type 1 diabetes since she was 10. The novel is a little slow until the characters meet, but the action moves along after they do. Unfortunately, the third main character, Phreak, is a disappointing stereotype - the socially awkward teenage boy hacker. To be fair, I don't remember how much of a stereotype this was in the early 1990s, but it is definitely worn out now. As a stand-alone novel, this serves as a good introduction to either science fiction or to the author.
The novel itself is enjoyable, but not Anthony's best work. Two of the main characters, Walter and Baal, are very interesting. Walter is confined to a wheelchair after an auto accident and Baal is an 18 year old woman who has lived with Type 1 diabetes since she was 10. The novel is a little slow until the characters meet, but the action moves along after they do. Unfortunately, the third main character, Phreak, is a disappointing stereotype - the socially awkward teenage boy hacker. To be fair, I don't remember how much of a stereotype this was in the early 1990s, but it is definitely worn out now. As a stand-alone novel, this serves as a good introduction to either science fiction or to the author.
December 9, 2025
This is my first foray into Piers Anthony, and Killobyte did NOT disappoint. In a world where I miss my Dungeon Crawler Carl books and my Ready Player One experience...Killobyte was the perfect salve.
The stakes are not huge. The world hasn't ended and the global economy isn't threatened as in the previously mentioned series. In the world of Killobyte, society simply has options for VR games...and we are introduced to one. Also...and most importantly...we meet three specific characters, given thorough backgrounds and motivations, and it solidifies the story in near perfect fashion.
Walter is a paralyzed ex-cop, Baal is a mousy teen with a severe medical condition, the Phreak is an incell hacker. The way their world clashes within the Killobyte game is NEVER boring and has some pretty poignant emotion. The Walter/Baal romance is a little creepy...but their backgrounds KIND of excuse it.
I had a GREAT time and I can't wait to continue my Piers Anthony experience
The stakes are not huge. The world hasn't ended and the global economy isn't threatened as in the previously mentioned series. In the world of Killobyte, society simply has options for VR games...and we are introduced to one. Also...and most importantly...we meet three specific characters, given thorough backgrounds and motivations, and it solidifies the story in near perfect fashion.
Walter is a paralyzed ex-cop, Baal is a mousy teen with a severe medical condition, the Phreak is an incell hacker. The way their world clashes within the Killobyte game is NEVER boring and has some pretty poignant emotion. The Walter/Baal romance is a little creepy...but their backgrounds KIND of excuse it.
I had a GREAT time and I can't wait to continue my Piers Anthony experience
July 6, 2022
2022 Grade C
This is basically an exploration of what might happen if an MMORPG is combined with full body VR equipment. Not only that but the two protagonists are damaged characters in the real world and might die for real if they are locked in and killed too many times in the game, which is exactly what a hacker does. Sadly there was too much introspection and tragic back story to hold my interest. There was enough interest to make me want to finish it but only with massive speed reading all the way to the end.
I found this in one of those curbside free book exchanges. It will be returned there tomorrow.
Not recommended.
This is basically an exploration of what might happen if an MMORPG is combined with full body VR equipment. Not only that but the two protagonists are damaged characters in the real world and might die for real if they are locked in and killed too many times in the game, which is exactly what a hacker does. Sadly there was too much introspection and tragic back story to hold my interest. There was enough interest to make me want to finish it but only with massive speed reading all the way to the end.
I found this in one of those curbside free book exchanges. It will be returned there tomorrow.
Not recommended.
April 18, 2023
This was an entertaining, if short read, that seemed almost prescient of some societal by-products of the internet. The book is simple and the story takes very few interesting turns, it stands as an interesting contrast to Piers Anthony's Xanth series.
It proposed an MMO style VR game, complete with a framework of human behavior depicted in that virtual world that did not yet exist in a major way when the book was published. The internet did exist and there were burgeoning online games, but they had not yet reached their zenith in a way the book describes until several years later.
It proposed an MMO style VR game, complete with a framework of human behavior depicted in that virtual world that did not yet exist in a major way when the book was published. The internet did exist and there were burgeoning online games, but they had not yet reached their zenith in a way the book describes until several years later.
February 28, 2023
Not as sweeping and philosophical as say Glass Bead game by Herman Hesse. But a good story about gaming, hacking and diabetics. I found the analytical soul of the writing boring towards the end. The characters stopped for mayonnaise, cold cuts and probably bread on way to Georgia…tiresome…the food break was at least in the story. The code fix is under written. The horror of diabetes is still with the public and pretty well explained.
March 11, 2020
This is a very interesting idea, but he lost me with his lead female character and her reason for doing the game -- and wanting to kill herself. He uses a very common sickness that affects millions but is absolutely no reason for someone to want to kill herself. I know. I have it myself, and it runs in both sides of my family. I expected very, VERY much more from such a popular author!
September 15, 2022
I only recently discovered the existence of this book by one of my favorite authors. I’ve no idea how I missed it really. It was an exciting and fun read. A bit dated but still I’m so glad I got to read it. Really interesting and intriguing characters. I really enjoyed knowing their thoughts process.
July 21, 2018
I'm not sure it's aged super well by today's standards, but this still remains as compelling a story as it was when I read it for the first time ten years ago. Gaming has come a long way since then, and it's nice to remember the technological roots! Easy, quick, and enjoyable read!
August 15, 2018
Not a great book, but it still has some interesting ideas about have design.
November 7, 2019
Amazing!
February 18, 2022
A light read. It has not aged overly well and the ending is a bit underwhelming.
January 16, 2024
It shows it's age in amusing little ways like a lot of older science fiction. If you like the authors style you will enjoy this book. It's one I like to re-read every so often. It's just a fun read.
January 6, 2016
The first book on my shelf to start my great 2016 Read-Off. I loved the Xanth series as a child, largely for the rampant puns, but I've only read this and
The Willing Spirit
of his standalone works. (At least, that I recall.)
I got rid of The Willing Spirit several years ago after a reread, and it looks like Killobyte is going to go the same route* for a lot of the same reasons. Neither has the charm that I remember Xanth having, and I find the characters somewhat off-putting.
Both of the protagonists of the book struggle with medical conditions that make them feel less of a man/woman. In the case of the male main character, now wheelchair bound, I find it fairly understandable. I wish I'd seen more of his joy at being able to walk again, though! It's almost brushed aside.
On the other hand, the female protagonist just falls utterly flat for me. Maybe it's because she's 18 and she's meant to be young and emotional and so on, but... she has diabetes, well-managed by diet and insulin. Between that, her lacking-in-curves body (ugh) and the end of a five month relationship, she's decided her life is over and wants to use the virtual world to test out suicide before going through with the real thing.
I've struggled with depression and body image issues myself, and I understand how devastating they can be, but I still somehow find her unrelatable. Maybe diabetes was much more difficult to deal with in 1993, though my grandmother handled it just fine for as long as I can remember, which includes that time period. Maybe I had an usually good family life or friends group as a teenager! I definitely can't remember anyone mocking another student who was diabetic.
Ultimately, between the very boring stereotypes of men and women's behavior and characters who are way too ready to just give up on their lives, I couldn't get into it on a reread. Thus, it's the first book to be removed from my shelf!
*Both donated to a library, not just thrown out!
I got rid of The Willing Spirit several years ago after a reread, and it looks like Killobyte is going to go the same route* for a lot of the same reasons. Neither has the charm that I remember Xanth having, and I find the characters somewhat off-putting.
Both of the protagonists of the book struggle with medical conditions that make them feel less of a man/woman. In the case of the male main character, now wheelchair bound, I find it fairly understandable. I wish I'd seen more of his joy at being able to walk again, though! It's almost brushed aside.
On the other hand, the female protagonist just falls utterly flat for me. Maybe it's because she's 18 and she's meant to be young and emotional and so on, but... she has diabetes, well-managed by diet and insulin. Between that, her lacking-in-curves body (ugh) and the end of a five month relationship, she's decided her life is over and wants to use the virtual world to test out suicide before going through with the real thing.
I've struggled with depression and body image issues myself, and I understand how devastating they can be, but I still somehow find her unrelatable. Maybe diabetes was much more difficult to deal with in 1993, though my grandmother handled it just fine for as long as I can remember, which includes that time period. Maybe I had an usually good family life or friends group as a teenager! I definitely can't remember anyone mocking another student who was diabetic.
Ultimately, between the very boring stereotypes of men and women's behavior and characters who are way too ready to just give up on their lives, I couldn't get into it on a reread. Thus, it's the first book to be removed from my shelf!
*Both donated to a library, not just thrown out!
July 3, 2009
I first read this book in what I seem to remember as fourth grade, as the Internet was coming into its own. Around this time I was first exposed to the burgeoning AOL chatroom scene, mysterious and inviting, with implications that could hardly be grasped. It was a new and total thing. A modern breakthrough, and the world was changed forever.
So when I read this book, I was immersed in the possibility that something like this was on the horizon, that virtual technology lay in the not-too-distant future.
Having said all that, the book itself is a whimsically fast-moving adventure story, set in a virtual multi-player game where two novices confront and befriend each other, able to relate through their real-world disabilities. But, before they can consummate their curiosity and desire to see how far the game can come in synthesizing a real-world connection, an interruption in the form of a game-crashing hacker, with the disconcerting ability to trap his prey within the game, disrupts their moment of rapport. Only, in this instance, the results are potentially dangerous...
The writing is rather conversational, and there are a number of typos throughout the text; however the premise and execution of the book is spellbinding, and although the informal style can detract from the enjoyment of the story at times, it frequently acts as its great strength, lending to the events a humor and believability that would be absent from more literary fare.
A very unique and enjoyable piece of reading.
So when I read this book, I was immersed in the possibility that something like this was on the horizon, that virtual technology lay in the not-too-distant future.
Having said all that, the book itself is a whimsically fast-moving adventure story, set in a virtual multi-player game where two novices confront and befriend each other, able to relate through their real-world disabilities. But, before they can consummate their curiosity and desire to see how far the game can come in synthesizing a real-world connection, an interruption in the form of a game-crashing hacker, with the disconcerting ability to trap his prey within the game, disrupts their moment of rapport. Only, in this instance, the results are potentially dangerous...
The writing is rather conversational, and there are a number of typos throughout the text; however the premise and execution of the book is spellbinding, and although the informal style can detract from the enjoyment of the story at times, it frequently acts as its great strength, lending to the events a humor and believability that would be absent from more literary fare.
A very unique and enjoyable piece of reading.
January 16, 2013
I enjoyed the lighthearted tone and easy to read style of this book, it made for a quick and easy read. In the end though, it was a bit too quick and too easy to make it all that enjoyable.
As a result, the few areas the authour put a lot of focus on, like the female lead's medical issues, and the religious factions in one of the settings ended up sticking out like sore thumbs.
If you could make yourself stop giggling every time the modem was running up user's phone bills and preventing phone calls from going through, the rest of the computer tech was left fuzzy enough it actually stands up ok for the first half of the book. Then you run face first into the villain of the piece and as a computer tech, the premise setting up the rest of the book quickly went from funny to absurd.
I held my nose and still managed to enjoy parts of it, then was let down again by the ending.
The less technical you are, and the less you expect of it, the more you might enjoy it.
Not all bad, a 2-1/2 for me.
As a result, the few areas the authour put a lot of focus on, like the female lead's medical issues, and the religious factions in one of the settings ended up sticking out like sore thumbs.
If you could make yourself stop giggling every time the modem was running up user's phone bills and preventing phone calls from going through, the rest of the computer tech was left fuzzy enough it actually stands up ok for the first half of the book. Then you run face first into the villain of the piece and as a computer tech, the premise setting up the rest of the book quickly went from funny to absurd.
I held my nose and still managed to enjoy parts of it, then was let down again by the ending.
The less technical you are, and the less you expect of it, the more you might enjoy it.
Not all bad, a 2-1/2 for me.
January 3, 2017
So I haven't read this in a couple of years (yes, it's a re-read). But I remember how much I loved it back then. In the re-read I can't believe that we haven't gotten to this technology yet! I mean the book was written in the early 1990s! (and from his Author's notes, was a concept in the '80s). Some of it is "old fashioned" with having modems and using the phone lines to connect to the internet, but other than that, it's still up there for the technology aspect. I also enjoyed having the characters be "flawed" and learn to accept and admit it to each other in the game where they could be anyone or anything! Really had fun reading about them becoming characters of the opposite sex. I don't know if I really like this book because of memories of liking it, or it is just one of those that will stand the test of time. It's also a really easy book (3hrs to read).
January 18, 2010
Perhaps it suffered from being read just after Spider Robinson's "Very Bad Deaths", but this book just felt sort of flat to me. Not Anthony's best work, by far. The plot was interesting, the pace was fine (although I think he achieved the never-stopping action imperfectly; yes, it never stops, but after a while it felt redundant rather than suspenseful). The characters were even fairly likable, but I didn't believe in them and the villain didn't strike me as a threat at all. It felt...hollow, somehow, like when you go back and read beloved childhood books and discover they're not nearly as masterful as you remembered. I still like Anthony's style, though, and will find other things by him.
August 25, 2015
This is one of those novels that you just overlook if you're going by genre. It's not fantasy, not really. It's some strange mix of science fiction, with just a little cyberpunk.
people compile lists of their favorite VR novels, and most of them never gave this a chance..because hey, isn't Piers Anthony that guy who wrote those stupid magic Florida novels we read as kids? (not to say that's MY view...I still have fond, fond memories of some of those punny novels).
It's got it all, a believable series of digital worlds. Believable, exploitable glitches. A soulless douchebag who enjoys making peoples lives hell because he can. A ex cop who wants to bang a barely legal teenage girl.
people compile lists of their favorite VR novels, and most of them never gave this a chance..because hey, isn't Piers Anthony that guy who wrote those stupid magic Florida novels we read as kids? (not to say that's MY view...I still have fond, fond memories of some of those punny novels).
It's got it all, a believable series of digital worlds. Believable, exploitable glitches. A soulless douchebag who enjoys making peoples lives hell because he can. A ex cop who wants to bang a barely legal teenage girl.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews