Dream Park

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 story line. 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.|PrefacePart OneChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 8Chapter 9Chapter 10Chapter 11Chapter 12Part TwoChapter 13Chapter 14Chapter 15Chapter 16Chapter 17Chapter 18Chapter 19Chapter 20Chapter 21Chapter 22Chapter 23Chapter 24Chapter 25Chapter 26Chapter 27Chapter 28Chapter 29Part ThreeChapter 30Chapter 31Afterword

A visionary science fiction classic from Larry Niven and Steven Barnes. The Barsoom Project is the direct sequel to 1981's Dream Park. Eviane's first visit to the state-of-art amusement arena Dream Park ended in disaster: the special effects had seemed more real than life ... until the holograms she was shooting with live ammunition turned out to be solid flesh and blood ... and very, very dead. Haunted by the past, rebounding from a lengthy spell in a mental hospital, she has returned to Dream Park to exorcise a nightmare that has become reality. But in Dream Park, nothing is what it seems. The Inuit mythology controlling the images is part of a "Fat Ripper Special" designed to implant new behavioral memes. The players are struggling against the game master, one another, and their own demons. And there is a killer who wants to ensure Eviane never regains her memory ... no matter what it costs. Blending together hard science fiction with virtual reality and RPG-like fantasy games, The Barsoom Project is science fiction at the cutting edge and a classic creation from two of the genre's most beloved writers.

Dream Park, the ultimate in amusement parks, was about to embark on the greatest game ever: the California Voodoo Game. Across the world, bets were being placed; fortunes and reputations hung in the balance. Gaming careers would be made-or destroyed. And the most advanced software package ever invented was going to be tested. But one of the players was a murderer-and worse. Only Alex Griffin, head of Dream Park Security, and Game Master Tony McWhirter guessed the extent of the treachery tainting the Game. Somehow, they had to catch the killer-but above all, the Game must go on...

The year is 2085, and humanity has spread throughout the solar system, a stable lunar colony is agitating for independence, and lunar tourism is on the rise...Against this background, professional "Close Protection" specialist Scotty Griffin, fresh off a disastrous assignment, is offered the opportunity of a lifetime: to shepherd the teenaged heir to the Republic of Kikaya on a fabulous vacation. Ali Kikaya will participate in the first live action role-playing game conducted on the Moon itself. Having left Luna-and a treasured marriage-years ago due to a near-tragic accident, Scotty leaps at the opportunity. Live action role-playing attracts a very special sort of individual: brilliant, unpredictable, resourceful, and addicted to problem solving. By kidnapping a dozen gamers in the middle of the ultimate game, watched by more people than any other sporting event in history, they have thrown down an irresistible gauntlet: to "win" the first game that ever became "real." Pursued by armed and murderous terrorists, forced to solve gaming puzzles to stay a jump ahead, forced to juggle multiple psychological realities as they do... this is the game for which they've prepared their entire lives, and they are going to play it for all it's worth.