88 Names: A Novel

Matt Ruff has been my favorite author since about 1990. It was the summer before my senior year of high school when I stumbled across "Fool on the Hill" on a free book rack at my library. I spent the next few weeks devouring that magical book while sitting in a shaved ice shack parked in the lot of a grocery store. As 100+ degrees New Mexico sun baked the asphalt around me, Matt Ruff's tale of Stephen Titus George, Purple Bohemians, Rat Frats, Tolkien House, the Rubbermaid, talking dogs, Sprouted, and Mr. Sunshine and his monkeys brought joy beyond my understanding. Decades later, book after book....Matt Ruff continues to hold true. His books bring joy to my life. His imagination is magical and his writing style rivets and engages. 88 Names is as fantastic as his first book and all that have come between. Thank you, Matt Ruff may you always have a yellow polka dotted submarine to drive your dreams, an Ayn Rand lamp to converse with, a Lovecraftian imagination, and to always be willing to peer through the Mirage, handle those Bad Monkeys, whilst Setting Your House in Order.

Pretty much what you'd expect from Matt Ruff --- he picks an interesting speculative fiction concept, and deconstructs/reconstructs it in a literary fashion. Very well written, lots of food for thought. This (short-ish) novel is not as tight as "Bad Monkeys" or as original as "Lovecraft Country" --- hence 4 stars.It does sag a little in the middle (numerous VR detours that do not add much to the real-life plot), but quickly picks up the steam closer to the end.I am not a gamer, and I found the corresponding infodumps to be useful, gracefully handled and generally unobtrusive. YMMV.Overall, highly recommended --- precisely what I expected from a new Matt Ruff entry.

This started like a more serious and focused ready player one. The gaming detail and the mystery were really good. You know the author writes from a place of respect. The last quarter really lost me though. The twist was not what I was hoping and made the whole thing more silly than I was hoping for.

This was an interesting and well-written story to almost exactly the halfway point of the writing. The book meanders through some lengthy detours and a not-even-slightly-fun foray into the cyber sex of the future before returning to the plot. By that time I had lost interest, but it did turn out into a bit twisty, but ultimately unimportant denouement.

Loved it. It's Ready Player One with a One Word Kill feel. I look forward to reading more from Mr. Ruff. Original and a quick read. If you are reading reviews for this book, just stop, buy it and enjoy

Many years ago I read a book my Matt Ruff, Fool on the Hill. All of my friends loved it - I did not. I sort of put the author on the back-burner at that time.A few days ago, I was looking for a SciFi audiobook and the author's name came up. I read the recap and was interested.Solid, solid choice.Some of the reviews mention some dead spots in the book. I listened to the audiobook (which had a solid reader, btw) and I really didn't find that to be the case. I never felt like the narrative was going nowhere.Other comments mention similarities to Ready Player One, and I can agree with that. I felt it was better than Ready Player Two.The story is easy to listen to as well as engaging. I had no problem making my way through this narrative. Good stuffI'll likely pick up another book by the same author.

WARNING: Review contains spoilers.I loved Matt Ruff's "Lovecraft Country" and "Sewer, Gas, and Electric," so when I learned he was coming out with a new novel, I leaped at the chance to read it. The fact that it was about MMORPGs didn't deter me -- I don't play a lot of video games, but I'm familiar enough with them to not be lost by the jargon, and it's nice to come across a piece of media that treats video games as a fairly serious subject matter and not a hobby for losers. "88 Names" is certainly entertaining and gamers will enjoy the nods to their favorite games and genres, but sadly the plot falls apart to some degree halfway through, and there's quite a bit of info-dumping that feels out of place and unnecessary.John and his online friends hire themselves out on the massively popular MMORPG "Call to Wizardry" as sherpas -- paid guides who, for a price, will provide you with a high-level avatar and guide you on an in-game quest. His latest client is willing to pay an astronomical price just to be guided through as many popular video games as possible... but said client also drops hints that he may not be any ordinary wealthy client, but the dictator of North Korea. With help from his government-agent mother, John sets out to learn the truth about his client and uncover the real purpose of his research... all while dodging a Chinese agent and dealing with the distrust of his friends and a possible revenge plot from his ex-girlfriend..."88 Names" is one of the best in-depth dives into video games and the resulting culture I've seen in fiction, and it's obvious that Ruff has done his research on the topic. He also weaves some compelling new elements into this VR culture, helping to set it apart from others in the genre (such as "Ready Player One"). He does tend to info-dump quite a bit throughout, however, especially on things that ultimately don't mean much to the overall plot of the story (such as how cybersex works in this VR world). Still, I enjoyed learning more about this possible future, even his gentle jabs at pop culture (such as remakes of "Citizen Kane" and "Catwoman" being a thing and the "Fast and the Furious" franchise being on its seventeenth installment).The plot itself is intriguing and fascinating, at least for the first half of the novel. I enjoyed seeing all the threads and characters come together, and found myself wondering just what role each one would play in the story. Unfortunately, things started to unravel at the halfway point, and resulted in a climax that felt surprisingly anticlimactic. Also, the plot thread involving John's ex-girlfriend is brought up constantly without actually playing a role in the plot itself, to the point where it became obvious that the author was just waving it around in the reader's face to go "see? I'm foreshadowing the end of the story!"I wish I could comment on the characters as well... but honestly, the only one with any personality was Darla, the ex-girlfriend -- everyone else was pretty much interchangeable. And Darla's personality was so unlikable (purposefully so, I'm sure) that I almost found myself wishing she were as flat as everyone else. Not a good sign...I applaud Matt Ruff for his creativity and for the compelling concept, and I intend to give his work another chance. But "88 Names" fell a little flat for me, especially in its second half. There are great ideas here, and it's obvious he wanted to make it its own unique animal and not a ripoff of "Ready Player One." It just doesn't quite reach the level of excellence I expected after "Lovecraft Country." Oh well.

88 – so viele Identitäten hat John Chu im Internet, was ihm immer mal wieder hilft, wenn er oder ein Mitglied seiner Firma Sherpa Inc. in Schwierigkeiten geraten. Denn die Sherpas, die als 'native guides' gut zahlende Kunden durch komplexe MPORGs führen, werden nicht von allen Spielebetreibern positiv gesehen und diese reagieren dann oft mit einer weitreichenden Identitätslöschung.Nach einer turbulenten - und von seinem Team eher kritisch gesehen - Darla hat sich John wieder voll in die Arbeit gestürzt, wobei er auf einen Mr. Smith stößt, der für einen Mr. Jones arbeitet - und von dem John bald überzeugt ist, das er dem nordkoreanischen Diktator nahesteht - oder es sogar selber ist. Eine geheimnisvolle und sehr aggressive Mrs. Pang, die für den chinesischen Geheimdienst zu arbeiten scheint und John unanständig viel Geld bietet um an Jones herankommen zu können, macht dies noch plausibler, weswegen John seine Mutter einschaltet, die eine Cyberwar-Abteilung der amerikanischen Streitkräfte leitet - und die dies auch für plausibel hält. Bald geht es für John im Netz drunter und drüber - bis die Gefahr auch in sein reales Leben hinein reicht.Interessanter Cyberpunk-Roman der neuesten Generation mit vielen überraschenden Wendungen, einem sympathischen - wenn auch teils etwas pedantischen - Ich-Erzähler, ungewöhnlichen Ideen und viel fröhlichem Nerdtum.Ruff bleibt seinem erzählerischen und expositorischem Stil treu und schafft hier einen Cyberpunk-Roman, der Gibson und Stephanson und all den anderen Größen dieses Subgenres in nichts nach-steht.

Matt Ruff ist einer der Autoren, die jedes Mal wieder überraschen. Jedes Mal beweist er mit einem einzigartigen Stil sein Können. Und jedes Mal wagt er sich in ein neues Gebiet vor. Dieses Mal geht es um die Cyber-Welt. Der Thriller spielt in den virtuellen Computerspielen. Hoch modern und am Puls der Zeit. Gleichzeitig ist die Story aber spannend und bietet unerwartete Wendungen.Eigentlich ist die Cyberwelt nicht mein Ding. Daher war ich etwas skeptisch bei Ruffs neuem Roman. Doch dank seiner gekonnten Erzählweise, interessanten Charakteren und spannenden Plots fieberte ich von Anfang an mit. Bis zum Ende. Ich konnte das Buch nicht mehr aus der Hand legen.

matt ruff für mich einer der besten autorenaber bei diesem buch bin ich mit dem autor nicht ganz eine wellenlängeschadekann aber auch an mir liegen

Read it after watching LoveCraft Country, and Ruff didn't dissapoint. Looking forward to his other books