Otherworld

· Last Reality Book 1 · Sold by Delacorte Press
4.2
17 reviews
Ebook
368
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

“Full of high stakes, thrillers, and fantastic twists and turns, fans of Ready Player One are sure to love this addictive read.” —Buzzfeed

“A potent commentary on how much we’re willing to give up to the lure of technology.” —EW
 
"A fantastic journey from start to finish." —Hypable

 
New York Times bestselling authors Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller imagine a world in which you can leave your body behind and give into your greatest desires in the first book in a fast-paced trilogy perfect for fans of the hit HBO show Westworld and anyone interested in the terrifying possibilities of the future of technology.

That’s how Otherworld traps you. It introduces you to sensations you’d never be able to feel in real life. You discover what’s been missing—because it’s taboo or illegal or because you lack the guts to do it for real. And when you find out what’s missing it’s almost impossible to let it go again.

There are no screens. There are no controls. You don’t just see and hear it—you taste, smell, and touch it too. In this new reality, there are no laws to break or rules to obey. You can live your best life. Indulge every desire.

This is Otherworlda virtual reality game so addictive you’ll never want it to end. And Simon has just discovered that for some, it might not.

The frightening future that Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller have imagined is not far away. Otherworld asks the question we'll all soon be asking: if technology can deliver everything we want, how much are we willing to pay?

“An engaging VR cautionary tale.” —The A.V. Club

"[A] fast-paced adventure." Publishers Weekly

"Authors Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller keep the action nonstop.Shelf Awareness

Ratings and reviews

4.2
17 reviews
Ritu Nair
November 22, 2017
Content warning: Violence, homicide Otherworld will appeal to Westworld fans (I haven't seen the show but the premise sounds similar) in that it contains a simulated world where our characters visit. In the story, the namesake game is a virtual reality world run on anarchy, and where our main character has to find his best friend who is trapped. It relies on the cliche of an evil corporation with 'good intentions', and a lot of secrecy tying it all up. Simon starts getting suspicious about the 'experimental treatment' being offered to his best friend Kat, when it seems too coincidental for a lot of people to be admitted to the same. He goes poking around in Otherworld to find her, but has to cross the various realms created there to reach her, and realizes how much more complex this world was than advertised. The key point of the book is Otherworld, itself, even though the real world also has a bearing on it. Inside Otherworld, pockets of code have gone rogue, and the initial parameters on which the virtual world was built has changed. It plays with the idea of what is real, what is sentience, and how deeply connected they can be yet can be divorced from each other merely by the origin of the thing in question. The realms felt like they were designed in accordance with the Seven Deadly Sins (or at least the bad impulses in humans) and well, from there it is obvious why the concept of Otherworld as a game would have failed in their world. The Otherworld is in upheaval not just because of anarchy, but because this anarchy affects others. It also makes a study of how the worst human impluses unleashed can bring down civilization, and how too much free will can damage a utopia. If you had a world to unleash all your desires without consequence, how much would you let yourself go? Simon, however, feels separate from the cause of the Otherworld population - his goal throughout the book is to only save Kat. He doesn't feel very developed beyond the cursory attachment of his to her, and that being the driving force for his decisions. His concern for the people of Otherworld seems superficial, and it is never made clear why he considers only one part of them to be worth saving. (view spoiler) The characterization is where I feel the book could have improved upon - it is not bad, but it feels lacking in an otherwise richly constructed book. The ending was sort of abrupt, but I am looking forward to further stories in the series. Overall, it is a vividly imagined book, with a good plot and decent writing. Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Oneworld Publications, via Netgalley.
5 people found this review helpful
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Jacob Sidlowski
May 18, 2018
Great
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About the author

Jason Segel is an actor, a writer, and an author. Segel wrote and starred in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and co-wrote Disney’s The Muppets, which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Segel’s film credits include The End of the Tour; I Love You, Man; Jeff Who Lives at Home; Knocked Up; and The Five-Year Engagement. On television, Segel starred on How I Met Your Mother as well as Freaks and Geeks. He is the coauthor of the New York Times bestselling Nightmares! series—Nightmares!; Nightmares! The Sleepwalker Tonic; Nightmares! The Lost Lullaby; and Everything You Need to Know About NIGHTMARES! and How to Defeat Them. Otherworld is his first novel for young adults. Follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonSegel.
 
Kirsten Miller lives and writes in New York City. She is the author of the acclaimed Kiki Strike books, the New York Times bestseller The Eternal Ones, and How to Lead a Life of Crime. Otherworld is the fifth novel Kirsten has written with Jason Segel. You can visit her at kirstenmillerbooks.com or follow @bankstirregular on Twitter.

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