A way for aging gamers to relive past glories
When Dreams Collide: The Dreamland Chronicles Book 2
By William Mark Simmons
Endeavour Press
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Pub Date 10 June 2016
Review
When Dreams Collide starts with an intriguing idea - if consciousness can be loaded into a virtual environment what happens if an artificial construct is downloaded into a human body. I liked the description. Unfortunately, not much time is spent on that idea and the blurb is the best part. Readers instead spend their time wading through a fantasy environment that caters to male adolescents both in the quantity of buxom beings who crave male attention and the numerous bad puns that are made manifest.
When Dreams Collide struggles too much, trying to be too many things at once. The result is a hodge pudge less appealing than badly made haggis. It isn't a comic romp. It isn't a classic adventure or even a successful parody of one. It isn't thrilling science fiction where we genuinely feel threatened by the artificial entity that escaped the game. We are told that when people die in the game, they die in life - but it all feels artificial. It is impossible to empathize with the characters. The "real spirits" have no more vitality than the artificial ones. The biggest, most impossible to ignore weakness though was the complete absence of structured plot.
I held out hope that the novel would improve, but by 75% in, I realized my hopes were unlikely to be fulfilled.
Unfortunately, I can't recommend When Dreams Collide to either science fiction or fantasy fans. But if you are a middle-aged gamer looking to relive adolescent glories, you might enjoy it. (To be honest if you are under 45 you won't get at least 2/3rds of the jokes)
2/5
I received a copy of When Dreams Collide from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
--Crittermom
Description
A world like no other… “A high-tech heroic fantasy full of adventure, puns, and damn good reading. Well thought out.” Pulsar The award-winning Dreamland Chronicles are now in ebook! When Dreams Collide is William Mark Simmons’ gripping sequel in Dreamland, the place where your wildest dreams – and nightmares – come true… Dreamland takes you out of your body and into computer-generated worlds where anything you can imagine is possible. People become avatars, battle dragons and wield swords, spells and their wits. In this thrilling second instalment, Robert Ripley thought he had things all wrapped up. But soon, he is feared dead along with seventy-one passengers and crew members in the crash of a Russian Aeroflot jetliner. Meanwhile, the psychotic Artificial Ego and the Superego of Dreamland have escaped…
