The Gam3: LitRPG with a little hacking
Synopsis
The Gam3 is a 3 book series by the young author Cosimo Yap. The series follows the literary RPG style which blends the conventions of role-playing video games with a science fiction novel. In this style, the main protagonist is interacting with an RPG game and we’re along for the ride.
My Reaction
The reason this series popped up in my recommended cyber security reading is that the main protagonist takes “Hacker” as his playable class in the game. While this “hacking” is more like the video game version than the real life version, it progressively drives more and more of the plot as the series goes on. The hacking is more on the level of “I would like to activate my hack skill on this door”, but sometimes does go into a little more detail.
The story itself is very entertaining where an alien race uses a virtual reality video game environment to ensure galactic peace in the real world. Wars are waged in the game instead of in real life, protecting people but allowing different cultures to work out their conflicts in a meaningful way.
The main protagonist is a human who is new to the game. We follow him through his tutorials and watch him develop into a meaningful player in the game. Through the first book his hacking skills are not really addressed, but he starts to develop them as he goes.
Recommendation
I recommend this novel if you enjoy RPG video games, have an interest in cyber security, and want to have a story that is constrained by video game like rules. You will see a character develop with stat increases and everything. If you do not like RPGs or video games in general, this is not the genre for you. There is nothing to be learned from this book about real life hacking, but is a fun distraction.