I picked up Reamde because the story involved an online game world where hackers that target the players and it seemed like an interesting topic for a novel. That premise turns out to be just the tip of the iceberg and this tale veers in many different directions. The online game world of T'Rain is a multi-billion dollar MMO with millions of players and that success makes it an attractive target. A ransomware virus is created that holds a players virtual assets hostage and then all hell breaks loose, in game and out. The main characters wind up all over the globe as spies, terrorists, smugglers, and the Russian mafia all get entangled into the plot. Every step of the way Stephenson ups the ante and the plot almost seems to run out of control.



Reamde was a quick read as the story moved along nicely but it was always just on the wrong side of being believable for me. The relationships formed by some of the characters were just too strong too quickly and the mechanics of the online gaming world of T'Rain were also just a little bit off. The plot based of the online game world is only a small part of a much larger story and it is not as central to the tale as it was in "Ready Player One". It is merely the catalyst for a real world battle that could rival the fights in any epic quest online.



It's a fun thrill ride that will head in directions that aren't obvious but only pick it up if you are willing to embrace a chain of highly unlikely occurrences. Malcolm Hillgartner does a decent job of narrating the audiobook and he deals with a lot of different character accents to various degrees of success. It is a Clancy-like novel for gamers and if you can suspend your disbelief a bit then it is worth a read or a listen.