This Is Not a Game

This Is Not a Game is a solid cyberpunk thriller set in the near future, one where the real world and the virtual world blend together in unique and unexpected ways. The story mainly follows Dagmar Shaw, a successful creator of alternate reality games (ARGs), whose real life is disrupted when her vacation to Bali coincides with the collapse of the Indonesian economy. Now Dagmar needs help from her gaming friends to get back home. The book starts slow but it comes together nicely in the end, and Walter Jon Williams creates interesting characters drawn from the ARG subculture.