k.d. wentworth

“Run, Hero! You must save my city!”

Are you ready for the ultimate Role-Playing  experience?

            Kerickson is the main programmer of the Imperium Game, a three-dimensional re-creation of the Roman Empire, complete with slave market, public baths, and a pantheon of ingeniously programmed deities. The Game is incredibly popular, exciting and flawless—or so it seemed, until the god programs unexpectedly began to exceed their parameters. Now the gods run rampant, life is violent and chaotic, the Roman Emperor has been murdered—for real—and Kerickson is the prime suspect.

            Posing as a lowly gladiator trainee in the Game, Kerickson must find the identity of the true murderer, and quick—because if the authorities don’t get him, the gods surely will.

The Ultimate in Virtual Reality ...

He presented his game bracelet to the monitor. “identity confirmed” the computer’s monotone said. “Kerickson,Arvind G. game status: management.”

            The gate slid open. Kerickson walked to the front door of the bakery used to disguise the management gate from the general public and stepped out in the bustling streets of ancient Rome. Cold air flowed against his face, carefully conditioned to stimulate the atmospheric composition of over 2000 years ago—at the moment redolent of wood smoke and rotting vegetables and manure.

Review Quotes:

“An ingenious mystery with a background combining the glitz of high tech with the decadence of ancient Rome.”  -Walter Jon Williams, author of Rift

“This is old fashioned heroic adventure, mixing sf and fantasy with a reckless abandon that makes it fun.” - Locus