World Leader Pretend: A Novel [Paperback]

James Bernard Frost (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 20, 2007

With over 100 million players world wide, virtual games are more than just a niche community, it's phenomenon. Now comes the first novel set in the world of virtual gaming World Leader Pretend.

Xeres Meticula is a failure.  A casualty of the dot.com bust, he now lives in his parents' basement and spends all day on one pursuit, winning The Realm.  Fortunately he's not alone. Joining him in his world is; Gek-Lin, an orphan in Thailand who spends her nights in an internet cafe; Dietrich Bjornson, a welder working in Antarctica; and Tres Rawling, a former Olympic skier for England whose career was cut short when an accident left him a quadriplegic; and many more. Together they communicate and connect, working to achieve virtual world dominance, but when tragedy on and off line occurs, can these real people trust each other enough to find the help they need in one another?    

World Leader Pretend is a provocative novel about virtual connection in the modern age that reads like Curious Incident of a Dog in the Night meets Indecision.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Debut novelist Frost captures the messy, human interaction of the Internet with the equally messy story of 32-year-old failed dot-commer Xerxes Meticula, who plays an online multiplayer strategy game called the Realm with allies as diverse as a technician in Antarctica and an exploited teen girl in Bangkok. Xerxes organizes his life online in ways that he cannot match in real life, where his twin sister, Gabriella, is struggling with schizophrenia and his business partner, Zahn Mendoza, is marrying Xerxes's ex-girlfriend. In the Realm, though, he is in control, until he runs into the Two-Headed Boy, a four-time game winner who's a quadriplegic former world-class skier. They set their rivalry aside after one of its online victims becomes a real-life suicide. Though Frost's year 2000 setting can feel dated and his character development occasionally schematic, he crafts an uncommon literary illustration of the split-identity common to gamers. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School—Xerxes Meticula is a 30-year-old man whose million-dollar dot-com company failed spectacularly. He is living in his parents' basement, trying to deal with his schizophrenic twin sister. He also has a virtual life in the massive multiplayer online game The Realm. In fact, most of the main characters in this debut novel are Realm players, and this is the story of the gamers and their "real" and "virtual" lives. From the ex-Olympic skier who is now a quadriplegic to the 14-year-old street orphan befriended by the owner of an Internet café in Thailand, all of the figures in this intriguing story are vividly drawn and fascinating to know. The title of the novel comes from a song by the rock band R.E.M., and all of the chapters open with lyrics from songs. Teens will like World Leader because Frost ultimately is writing about the connections between people and how those connections can fail or succeed in the manmade world of The Realm or in the real time, real world of the 21st century.—Jane Halsall, McHenry Public Library District, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (February 20, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312352239
• ISBN-13: 978-0312352233
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,444,464 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a Novel About Everything, February 24, 2007

By 

David Rochester - See all my reviews

This review is from: World Leader Pretend: A Novel (Paperback)

This thoughtful, engaging novel is about much more than virtual gaming -- it's about the marginalization of creativity in society, and it's about the ways in which people desperately seek to connect in an increasingly fragmented world. Anyone who has ever been excited to see a comment on their blog or website will immediately relate to the themes of connection, disconnect, and definitions of reality. The prose style is vivid, with an edgy contemporary rhythm; the characters are deftly-drawn, and the book is full of heart and thought. Although it's entertaining, there is also much here for the reader to ponder long after the final page has been turned.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ENTRANCED, April 10, 2007

By 

J. McMullen "want fries with that?" (pdx usa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: World Leader Pretend: A Novel (Paperback)

This book lures the reader into the world of anonymous internet relationships in contrast with relationships in the real world, in complete honesty. The book describes how much easier it is to converse and interact with people who are literally virtual and how this affects one's real-life social relationships. The characters are strikingly unique, interesting and full of grit. The detail leaves you entranced. A book full of characters you want to know everything about and then some.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't judge a book by it's cover, April 24, 2007

By 

B. Bowler - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: World Leader Pretend: A Novel (Paperback)

I loved this book. I'm kind of a lazy book shopper - I typically only buy books that certain friends have recommended or that have received (or nearly received) awards - because I don't have time to read bad books. But something made me pick up this book, read a few paragraphs, and buy it ... and I'm super glad that I did. The story is engaging, the characters are interesting, and the prose extremely well-written. I'm used to reading books with little gold seals on them ... and with any luck, World Leader Pretend will soon be one of those.