The Barsoom Project

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By Larry Niven & Steven Barnes

Publisher Description

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...noo matter what it costs.

Blending together hard science fiction with topical RPG-like fantasy games, The Barsoom Project is SF at the cutting edge and a classic creation from two of the genre's most beloved writers.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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17 Reviews

3.0

L B (Tay)

Created 19 days ago

Alexis Coleman

Created 7 months ago

James Millar

Created 10 months ago

“This one did not do well on the reread (3->2) stars. I found it unengaging, and missing most of the elements that made the first book work. To start with this is a "Fat-ripper" game, a minor issue as with the first book, overuse of the word chunky with respect to women. This style of game is not competitive, and so much of the interest in the game is lost as both the gamers and the staff are doing this for therapy not for points. The result is that the reader does not care about the game, the contestants or anything really. The other subplot with a nefarious middle eastern chap is also very poorly plotted, and has a frankly ridiculous conclusion with no setup or basis. Finally a lot of the tension revolves around some mental illness that seems ridiculously simplified in terms of how it expresses itself, and becomes more of a crutch for the plot than anything realistic. Probably won't return to this ever again...”

Amber DiTullio

Created over 3 years ago

“The Barsoom Project had always been my least favorite of the Dream Park series. The story was good, but it just didn't pull me in the same way Dream Park or did. This reading, I finally figured out why - the ending of the Fimbulwinter game is some serious deux ex machina. The gamer in me knows that I would be seriously disappointed if my party had done all this work for a god to come in and kill the big boss. That said, it isn't a bad story. I like the idea of a Fat Ripper game and wish something like that really existed - I would definitely go through it. I was rooting for everyone - Max and Michelle/Eviane in particular - to make the difficult changes they needed to be healthier. I also liked Michelle's story, coming back after 8 years to heal. And Gwen and Ollie were a couple of my favorites from the original Dream Park so seeing them back made me smile. For me, the game that's being run is always the more exciting part of the story. I couldn't really get interested in the machinations of the Barsoom Project that was happening concurrently though. It was a decent way to bring in the overall story's big boss, but it just felt kind of flat to me. It could be in part that science fiction isn't my forte. And it did help answer some of the questions from the previous books (along with bringing Tony McWhirter back and seeing Griff keeping his promise). Plus, the end scene for the big boss was a wonderful mind-screw. Like with the first book, I was also more aware of some of the stereotypes of the Inuit people put in. And like in the previous book, I'm willing to give leeway with it because I don't believe in judging yesterday's society through today's lens (not to excuse, but to understand and do better in future). I'm not terribly familiar with Inuit culture, though, so it's also possible that I was bothered by things that someone from the culture wouldn't be. In the end, this still is my least favorite book of the series, though it's not a bad read overall. I definitely recommend it, in large part because it helps complete the Dream Park picture.”

Jeff Borton

Created almost 4 years ago

About Larry Niven

LARRY NIVEN is the award-winning author of the Ringworld series, along with many other science fiction masterpieces, and fantasy novels including the Magic Goes Away series. He has received the Nebula Award, five Hugos, four Locus Awards, two Ditmars, the Prometheus, and the Robert A. Heinlein Award, among other honors. He lives in Chatsworth, California.

STEVEN BARNES' first published collaboration with Larry Niven, The Locusts, was nominated for the 1980 Hugo award. He has also written several episodes for The Outer Limits, Baywatch, and other television shows.