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Bedlam

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Bedlam

By: Christopher Brookmyre
Narrated by: Angus King
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About this listen

Would it be your ultimate fantasy to enter a video game? A realm where you can look like a hero or a goddess, fly space-ships, slay dragons, a realm where there are no consequences and no responsibilities. Or would it be your worst nightmare? Stuck in an endless state of war and chaos where not even death can offer an escape…This is where you find out. This is Bedlam.

©2013 Chistopher Brookmyre (P)2013 W. F. Howes Ltd Adventure Humorous Science Fiction Fantasy Emotionally Gripping Funny Witty Thought-Provoking Fiction Video Game
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As a gamer, I was enthralled by this book. It follows our confused central character who has been subjected to a mind scan in a piece of experimental technology; later he wakes up on an alien planet... To his horror he discovers that he is now an NPC in an alien army defending against the invading human horde. Thus begins a rip-rollicking rush through the gaming universe encompassing many old classics and referencing many current favourites. But beware, all is not as it seems in the "gamer-verse"!
I will warn you that as will all Christopher Brookmyre stories, the language used can be (and often is) VERY strong and descriptions of injuries and carnage can be graphic, but this is all part of Brookmyre's comic writing style.

The perfect story for the playstation generation

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loved it as I spent my earlier years playing Doom etc. and Chris brought it back

an excellent story from a brilliant author.

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Ever wished you could be the hero of a game. Ever picked up the controller or laid your hands on the keyboard and thought "Now I Will Be..." well Chris Brookmyre has considered it. This was my first Brookmyre book which was recommended by a long term fan as I am an old school gamer. The book follow the story of a young man waking up and discovering he is no longer in Scotland but battling his way through a first person shooter from his youth. Before long this blows up into a much bigger story where characters from the gaming universe are thrown from game to game in homage to many great environments that anyone who grew up gaming in the 90s/00s cannot fail to appreciate. THis is a well written, well executed tail of peril and intrigue with some excellent narration and evolving characters. I cannot say if you will enjoy it if you don't enjoy games, maybe not but for those of you who remember FPS death matches, frantic RTS wars and late night RPG immersion then you are going to love the story that weaves through all those memories and makes you go looking for the old copy of Unreal Tournament.

The Horror Of The Game

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I've always loved video games and science fiction so this book very much appealed to me from the get go. On listening to the sample the narrators accent also drew me into listening to the book. However, the book, in my opinion, had a very poor beginning. I am not a prude but the amount of foul language during the first few chapters almost made me stop listening altogether. I felt it unnecessary and jarring and that it disrupted my enjoyment of the story. Thankfully, the swearing decreased significantly as the book progressed and I suddenly found myself completely hooked! Despite the narrators best attempts at different American accents (not convinced they are his strong suit) his clarity in reading and fresh voice made listening a very enjoyable experience. I loved the parts of the story when Ross enters new worlds and during his descriptions of the new landscape or atmosphere I found myself attempting to guess the game he was in (was very chuffed when I got a few right).
The twist and ending of the story was very satisfying. I enjoyed the finished but not 'cookie-cutter perfect' ending.
I would indeed recommend this book but if you're not a fan of bad language (or intending it for a younger listener) some parts of the story may not be to your taste.
Enjoy having a full nostalgic and modern gaming geekfest with this story and be prepared to want to live in a video game just a little bit. ;P

Poor start but gets so much better!

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Clearly this book owes a huge debt to the Matrix and to a bunch of other science fiction books and films. Nevertheless, with it's own particular approach and sense of humour, it's a hugely enjoyable romp.

Brookmyre really has fun playing with the possibilities of a world of real life computer games and with the potential for totally conscious replications of human personalities. There are some real "I have no mouth and I must scream" type moments in here.

Angus King does a solid job of the narration. Very occasionally he seems unsure which character is speaking, but I only noticed this a couple of times.

Enjoyable, if derivative.

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