Killobyte

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Killobyte
Author Piers Anthony
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Science fiction
Publisher Putnam Pub Group
Released 1993
Media Type Hardcover
Pages 304
ISBN 0399137815

Killobyte is a 1993 novel by Piers Anthony. This book explores a virtual-reality world in the context of the internet, and although originally intended to be an action-adventure story, it is more of a character study. It is a cult-favourite because of its forays into hard virtual-reality, as well as its technical inaccuracies.

The story follows Walter Toland, a paraplegic former policeman, and Baal Curran, an angst-ridden, diabetic teenage girl, get to know each other as they enter into a game that initially calls for them to rescue a princess from a castle. But then they find themselves trapped inside the simulation by a hacker named Phoney Phreak. While the character-bodies they wear in the computer world are in no danger, their real bodies (Baal's weakened by diabetes and Walter's by a bad heart) are very much at risk.

The novel features many different virtual realities, such as the Old West, a medieval castle, and a war-stricken Beirut.