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NaBloPoMo Unofficial 2: Stuff I Do When I Really Should Be Writing
I'm in a phase where I'm absorbing more media than I'm turning out. I'm in the middle of reading a few books and playing/achievement unlocking some games.
One of my resolutions this year was to be more mindful about what I read, and I'm finally (ha) getting around to it. So, I was wandering around Barnes and Noble, like you do, and I saw Omnitopia Dawn. The only reason I got it was because Diane Duane, a wanka, wrote it. Also, I'd seen it reference on io9 a while back.
The book starts off rather slowly, introducing you to the protagonist, the Everyman, the antagonist, and the world at a decent clip. Basically, it's nearing the time where a big MMORPG is expanding. Everyone who is not excited about this wants to bring the thing down. And so, the conflict begins. The protagonist and antagonist are pretty much like the Goofus and Gallant of software engineering. Goofus thinks that money and wages should be their own rewards. Gallant is a Father to His Men and is in the trenches every day. Goofus only does charity work because he has to. Gallant is genuinely interested in charititable works, and does some of them anon.
This Goofus and Gallant exercise is extended to where their campuses are located. Gallant, Dev, is in a beautiful part of Arizona, with a tasteful campus that meshes nicely with the environment. Goofus, Phil, has a spraling, soulless complex in... Kearny, New Jersey. And of course the whole New Jersey = Midgar thing is brought up. Again.
Speaking of Goofus and Gallant, I'm kind of "..." about how the people with Latin@ sounding names are uncaring or somehow unworthy of the protagonists' time.
I'm also kind of "..." over the fact that female avatars in one of the worlds of this MMO have the chainmail bikinis. I'll just quote myself here: "Oh come on! This is supposed to be a 'perfect' MMO. WHY THE FUCK WOULDN'T THEY GET SENSIBLE ARMOR? Shit, [the] Dev's mom was a gamer! You told me so, book! Y U NO take that into consideration?"
Speaking of female depitcitions in this book, it's kind of awesome that there is female representation (and women of color, too!) in the main group of protagonists and around the campus of the good guys. There are also female players of this game. Huzzah! However, the main female characters are the supportive wives of the main protagonist and the Everyman. They're pretty neat in their own right, but I kind of feel like they're also there (along with kids, more on that later) to underscore that the antagonist is in the wrong because he doesn't have anyone.
Oh, and apparently part of the Great Divorce between the protagonist and antagonist was because the antagonist said he let the protagonist have the woman who'd be the protagonist's wife. I intentionally use Great Divorce, because in the antagonist POV sections, he sounds like he'd been through a bad breakup.Guys, I want slash.
The other main female depictions are the protagonist's daughter and the AI system that came to be thanks to the MMO's servers that sort of looks like his daughter but not really. There's something of a damsel in distress-ish feel to the fact that she has to be saved from the DDOS attacks that want to bring the company down, but at least she goes and does the saving herself... after the protagonist tells her what to do.
This was a pretty quick read, and rather fun. There was also a shout out to Fandom Wank that had me seal-clapping in my car. I think I'll continue the series as a tachi-yomi thing, or maybe through the library.
One of my resolutions this year was to be more mindful about what I read, and I'm finally (ha) getting around to it. So, I was wandering around Barnes and Noble, like you do, and I saw Omnitopia Dawn. The only reason I got it was because Diane Duane, a wanka, wrote it. Also, I'd seen it reference on io9 a while back.
The book starts off rather slowly, introducing you to the protagonist, the Everyman, the antagonist, and the world at a decent clip. Basically, it's nearing the time where a big MMORPG is expanding. Everyone who is not excited about this wants to bring the thing down. And so, the conflict begins. The protagonist and antagonist are pretty much like the Goofus and Gallant of software engineering. Goofus thinks that money and wages should be their own rewards. Gallant is a Father to His Men and is in the trenches every day. Goofus only does charity work because he has to. Gallant is genuinely interested in charititable works, and does some of them anon.
This Goofus and Gallant exercise is extended to where their campuses are located. Gallant, Dev, is in a beautiful part of Arizona, with a tasteful campus that meshes nicely with the environment. Goofus, Phil, has a spraling, soulless complex in... Kearny, New Jersey. And of course the whole New Jersey = Midgar thing is brought up. Again.
Speaking of Goofus and Gallant, I'm kind of "..." about how the people with Latin@ sounding names are uncaring or somehow unworthy of the protagonists' time.
I'm also kind of "..." over the fact that female avatars in one of the worlds of this MMO have the chainmail bikinis. I'll just quote myself here: "Oh come on! This is supposed to be a 'perfect' MMO. WHY THE FUCK WOULDN'T THEY GET SENSIBLE ARMOR? Shit, [the] Dev's mom was a gamer! You told me so, book! Y U NO take that into consideration?"
Speaking of female depitcitions in this book, it's kind of awesome that there is female representation (and women of color, too!) in the main group of protagonists and around the campus of the good guys. There are also female players of this game. Huzzah! However, the main female characters are the supportive wives of the main protagonist and the Everyman. They're pretty neat in their own right, but I kind of feel like they're also there (along with kids, more on that later) to underscore that the antagonist is in the wrong because he doesn't have anyone.
Oh, and apparently part of the Great Divorce between the protagonist and antagonist was because the antagonist said he let the protagonist have the woman who'd be the protagonist's wife. I intentionally use Great Divorce, because in the antagonist POV sections, he sounds like he'd been through a bad breakup.
The other main female depictions are the protagonist's daughter and the AI system that came to be thanks to the MMO's servers that sort of looks like his daughter but not really. There's something of a damsel in distress-ish feel to the fact that she has to be saved from the DDOS attacks that want to bring the company down, but at least she goes and does the saving herself... after the protagonist tells her what to do.
This was a pretty quick read, and rather fun. There was also a shout out to Fandom Wank that had me seal-clapping in my car. I think I'll continue the series as a tachi-yomi thing, or maybe through the library.