Review: Excitement and intrigue as virtual reality blurs with reality itself
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 21, 2013
Kick-Ass Guns & Samurai Swords is a sci-fi action/adventure novel that delves into the concepts of augmented reality and real-time game engines, as the characters experience the real danger of `Stillwater'; a video game that's `not really a game'.As the book description quotes, it really is a fantasy geek's adventure playground...though by no means does its appeal restrict itself to just this genre of readers.  Right from the get-go, the author cleverly grips you, by gently coercing you to `stay on top of things', as you battle to piece together exactly what's going on.Set in LA (but at the same time, all over the world...and into cyber-space!) we realize, right from the first chapter, that things have changed in the world as we know it.  Enter the concept of `Stillwater'; a technology which far exceeds what we've come to know as `virtual reality' and which, to quote character Ashvin, "most of the educated world refuses to believe...is even real."Let the games begin!  But beware; here your `actual' lives are at stake, not your `virtual' ones!Its author, Craig Askham, ingeniously brings `Stillwater' to life, with realistic descriptions that leave you questioning exactly where our digital era, with its rapid developments, is taking us.  Twists and turns aplenty, coupled with a dose of dark and dangerous, this is an all-enthralling read, which will have you completely immersed in its world before you've even realized you've entered.At 120 pages, it is classed as a novella, which sometimes I find lack substance.  However, this one's not only going to keep you hooked until the very last page, it's got a satisfying, well-rounded ending whilst at the same time keeping enough mystery and intrigue about it to keep you hanging until the release of the next novel in this trilogy.  A must-read.