Deep State by Walter Jon Williams

Deep State by Walter Jon Williams

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Jacket Blurb: In THIS IS NOT A GAME, Dagmar found that the Alternate Reality Game she was writing was being manipulated by a killer, and in her own turn manipulated the game players in order to solve mysteries and unmask the villain. In the sequel DEEP STATE, that progression continues. Once again, the boundaries between game and reality are breached, and Dagmar finds herself using game techniques to manipulate real-world events. Except that the stakes have risen - instead of solving a crime, Dagmar now finds herself in the geopolitical realm, trying to manipulate an entire nation.As in TINAG, Dagmar finds herself drawn farther and farther into the action in order to set things right. She finds herself in physical danger, and must utilize her own inner strength and her ability as a game Puppetmaster to escape death



This was book 2 in the Dagmar series.  Reading book one is a must.


This read a bit like a travelogue and history of Turkey which I thought straddled the line between interesting and annoying.  It was interesting in that I knew the author visited Turkey quite some time back and blogged about it.  It was annoying in that it made aspects of the story read like an organized bus tour. “And on your right, Ataturk Park….”

Now the reality of the political aspects of the book were  a bit scary - the use of social media to drive dissension and revolution.  I think what touched a nerve was the idea that a person, persons, or a government could actually manipulate the masses through technology to the extent that they would organize into a rebellion.  Sound familiar, anyone?  It’s happened.

Some of the computer technology stuff was very interesting, the search to find modems that didn’t have USB ports, or keyboards from a certain year, fascinating stuff the evolution of our technological resources. 

As for the story itself, I was disappointed but I couldn’t tell you exactly why.  It was a bit too similar to This is Not a Game when people around our protagonist started getting killed in their beds - it lost the refreshing, "this is kinds of different" feel to it and became a rehash of the first book.  The plot was  this long drawn out build up, some stuff happened, and then it was over.  It took me a couple of days to write my review because that was about it.

So, recommended with reservations. 




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