Books on the metaverse to read during the Christmas holidays

Neuromancer by William Gibson

Often hailed as the book that introduced cyberpunk aesthetics to science fiction, the book explores a virtual world known as “cyberspace” where hackers or “console cowboys” use a virtual world to corporate espionage and the theft of private data.

The hackers of this world enter the virtual world with the help of a device called a platform, which is connected to the hardware mounted on the hacker’s head. When the hacker is in the virtual world, he can see the systems he hacks, represented by cityscapes of light or walls of green ice.

It’s a compelling book that also explores artificial intelligence, cybernetic enhancements, and digital awareness while having grounded characters that you can relate to.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

In this universe, the virtual world known as “Oasis” is peddled to the masses by one company with the ultimate goal of profiting (a theme that science fiction often discusses). Gamers of the game use helmets and even a custom bodysuit to experience all the sensations their avatar would experience in the game.

The central premise of the novel is that the creator of the oasis left Easter eggs in the game, and the player who discovered them all would inherit their fortune and the virtual world. The novel explores virtual reality games and how people become obsessed with them in the novel. Plus, the book is a love letter to 1980s pop culture.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick

How far would you go to own a real live farm animal? If you ask the protagonist of this novel, Rick Deckard this question, he’ll likely give you an elaborate test to see if you’re an android.

This classic story by famous science fiction writer Philip K Dick explores a world where disastrous war has left a substantial part of the earth uninhabitable. This has led a large part of humanity to leave Earth for colonies outside the world. When people move to a colony, they are given enslaved androids that seem indistinguishable from humans.

Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter who hunts six androids who escaped from Mars. Deckard has only one ambition in his life, and that is to buy a real living sheep thanks to the bounties of these six androids.

The book explores the idea of ​​artificial intelligence and its place in the world and whether they are created only to serve humanity or may have their own ambitions and dreams.

Snow accident by Neal Stephenson

Snow Crash is a novel that weaves together concepts that seem incompatible, such as Sumerian myths and a 3D virtual reality world. As mentioned above, Stephenson was the first to use the term metaverse that the world has now clung to.

It’s a cyberpunk story in the vein of Neuromancer, where the protagonist is a pizza delivery boy by day and a versatile hacker by night who roams the virtual world of Metaverse as a warrior prince trying to unravel the mystery of a mysterious virus. who is eliminating the pirates in the metaverse.

Although the snow crash metaverse is a satirical perspective of a corporate dominated future America, as opposed to the metaverse being developed in our world which is supposed to be decentralized and distributed. It’s always a fascinating look at the possibilities of a virtual world.

Demon by Daniel Suarez

Daemon is a heart-wrenching and exciting journey exploring the convergence of MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing) BotNets, viral ecosystems, and corporate dominance.

The death of a renowned game designer who created one of the world’s most popular games has resulted in the creation of a deadly swarm of artificially intelligent robots bent on destroying the world.

The novel explores the concepts of AI, hacking, and sensitive computer programs.

(Edited by : Vijay A, Yashi G)

First publication: Dec 24 2021, 22:22 STI