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Fortuna | Review
AveryZoe
May 9, 2010
"Sometimes a game isn't really a game." And so begins Fortuna, a high-tech thriller by Michael Stevens. This decidedly modern novel follows the story of Jason Lind, a doctoral student at Stanford who also happens to be a computer genius. Jason, unsatisfied with the day-to-day life of a student, has become obsessed with a massively multiplayer online game called Fortuna. As Jason becomes more and more enmeshed in his duties in-game, his real life responsibilities are put on the back burner, with the exception of one: Paola. Paola is also a student at Stanford, and she and Jason have an instant connection.
The main thing that separates Fortuna from other online games is the connections it has to real life. Players pay a monthly fee, of course, which is standard for these types of games. But everything in Fortuna is governed by chance algorithms, which means even the monthly fee is not a set figure. Anything and everything in the game has to be paid for, and real fortunes are won and lost in the game. As Jason falls deeper into the spell of the game, and another player named Anjelica, Jason soon finds himself desperately in need of cash to satisfy his online debts.
As things heat up both in-game and out, Jason must deal with complications in all areas of his life. His work as a doctoral students and teaching assistant is suffering, his burgeoning relationship with Paola is threatened by his increasing closeness with Anjelica, and his debts are steadily increasing. Jason turns to Frank, CEO of Global Packet Company and former business partner to Jason's deceased father. Unfortunately, Jason soon finds out that the solution to his problems are really just more complications. With each passing day, he realizes that everything he believed to be true is illusion, and real life and the virtual world are hopelessly intertwined.
Michael Stevens has written a very engaging story that really draws you in. His work as a contributing editor for several technology sites is evident in the very detailed descriptions of programming and the Internet. While technical enough to satisfy tech-savvy readers, they are brief enough that they don't monopolize story and only add to the believability of it all. Any reader who has friends or acquaintances who play online games will instantly find the idea of an addictive online world completely plausible. The various twists and turns of the story will soon have you questioning how much is real, and how much is just a game.