Killobyte
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Author | Piers Anthony |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Putnam Pub Group |
| Released | 1993 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 304 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-399-13781-5 |
Killobyte is a 1993 novel by Piers Anthony. This book explores a virtual-reality world in the context of the internet, and although originally intended to be an action-adventure story, it is more of a character study. It is a cult-favourite because of its forays into hard virtual-reality, as well as its technical inaccuracies.
The story follows Walter Toland, a paraplegic former police officer, and Baal Curran, an angst-ridden, diabetic teenage girl, get to know each other as they enter into a game that initially calls for them to rescue a princess from a castle. But then they find themselves trapped inside the simulation by a hacker named Phoney Phreak. While the character-bodies they wear in the computer world are in no danger, their real bodies (Baal's weakened by diabetes and Walter's by a bad heart) are very much at risk.
The novel features many different virtual realities, such as the Old West, a medieval castle, and a war-stricken Beirut.
