"Glitches of Gods" - Part 4 (Final)
An epic science fantasy book by Jurgen Appelo
To have all in one place and as reference for you, all my previous posts related to Jurgen Appelo's first playspheres novel.
Jurgen did spend "four bloody years or four thousand hours to come up with a story as complex as it is crazy". I fully agree as I finished pre-reading the book yesterday night.
On page 465 the main character Julien explains the whole story of the book in one paragraph, sounds easier than it is. Like in a computer game there are several stories with different characters on different levels, living in parallel. Complex and crazy.
I know that Jurgen is a friend of gamification, as we did spend a longer period of time with learning and training together during the COVID-19 years. We met regularly for weekly exchanges/meetups and did also cover personal stuff and non-business related details. I am following him on LinkedIn and realized he likes fantasy books and films. Some of them are used as small references in his book. There is a Terminator like scene and getting his programming colleagues and friends together for the final show-down did remember me of either Sneakers or some All-Star movies. Might not work for everybody as both films are from the previous millenium :-)
In summary "Glitches of Gods" is a good start in an out of comfort zone area for Jurgen. Complex and crazy as he describes it in is initial author note. When you like computer games and fantasy topics this could be a book for you? And it will get a 2nd part to continue the story, as the 1st book finished with an open end, there is more to come. I did enjoy the pre-read time under pressure in a small group of volunteers. It was definitely out of my comfort zone from a book content perspective, but a time well spend. You can make up your own mind when the book is available in June 2024.
Some helpful links related to the book:
The Terminator, 1984
What Is Benford’s Law? Why This Unexpected Pattern of Numbers Is Everywhere
Sneakers, 1992
27 Best Movies About Teamwork and Working Together
The 45+ Very Best Movies About Hackers
10 Great Action Movies With All-Star Casts Worth Watching
“There's a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it's not about who's got the most bullets. It's about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think... it's all about the information!” -- BEN KINGSLEY - Cosmo, taken from “Sneakers” quotes (1992)