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The Player Of Games: A Culture Novel (Culture)
by Iain M. BanksThe Culture - a human/machine symbiotic society - has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh. Jernau Morat Gurgeh. The Player of Games. Master of every board, computer and strategy.Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel and incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game ... a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game, and with it the challenge of his life - and very possibly his death.
Player Piano: A Novel (El\ave Fenix Ser.)
by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.Vonnegut's first novel spins the chilling tale of engineer Paul Proteus, who must find a way to live in a world dominated by a super computer and run completely by machines. Paul's rebellion is vintage Vonnegut-wildly funny, deadly serious, and terrifyingly close to reality.
Players at the Game of People
by John BrunnerWar hero, jet-setter, gourmet - Godwin Harpinshield was all of those and more; his life was a game played among the Beautiful People whose fame, wealth and power set them above the law, and beyond the laws of nature. Because of a simple bargain that all the Beautiful People made, Godwin's every desire was his for the asking. Seduced by luxury, Godwin never doubted his fortune, never wondered about his mysterious patrons.Then the game turned ugly.Suddenly, the ante was raised and the game was real. The stakes were his future, his sanity and, possibly, his very soul. All Godwin Harpinshield had to discover was: What were the rules of the game? And who - or what - were the other players?
Players at the Game of People
by John BrunnerWar hero, jet-setter, gourmet - Godwin Harpinshield was all of those and more; his life was a game played among the Beautiful People whose fame, wealth and power set them above the law, and beyond the laws of nature. Because of a simple bargain that all the Beautiful People made, Godwin's every desire was his for the asking. Seduced by luxury, Godwin never doubted his fortune, never wondered about his mysterious patrons. Then the game turned ugly. Suddenly, the ante was raised and the game was real. The stakes were his future, his sanity and, possibly, his very soul. All Godwin Harpinshield had to discover was: What were the rules of the game? And who - or what - were the other players?
Players of Gor (Gorean Saga #20)
by John NormanIntrigue sets the stage for bloody combat in the series that &“draw[s] on a combination of philosophy, science-fiction, and erotica&” (Vice). The games of Gor are diverse, as are their players. There are the games of planetary politics, in which worlds are contested. And those of cities and ubarates, of ponderous cavalries and fleets of lateen-rigged ships. And smaller games, bloody games, played on a square of sand, in which the counters and pieces are edged weapons. And, too, there is Kaissa, common on Gor, played with pieces of wood, on a board of a hundred squares. The major land power in the northern latitudes of known Gor has long been the imperium of mighty Ar. Against her hegemonies on the continent, plans by her major enemies, the maritime ubarates of Cos and Tyros, have been carefully drawn to involve attack from without and subversion from within. Cabot, once of Earth, is drawn into these intrigues. Rediscover this brilliantly imagined world where men are masters and women live to serve their every desire. Players of Gor is the 20th book in the Gorean Saga, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
The Players of Null-A
by A. E. Van Vogt[from the back cover] Null-A Revisited Shadow of The Follower What strange being was The Follower? That question plagued Gilbert Gosseyn all during his efforts to track down this galaxy-threatening entity. Wherever Gosseyn went, the shadow of The Follower fell across the trail. Even Gosseyn's NULL-A trained double brain could not cut through that darkness....
Playfair's Axiom (Deathlands #97)
by James AxlerA legendary warrior of nuke-spawned America, Ryan Cawdor understands the hard-and-fast rule of Deathlands. Where there is life, death is only a matter of time. Still, staying alive is the dubious luxury of being quick, hard and willing to abide by a code of honor long abandoned to the wreckage of this postapocalyptic hell zone: truth and fair play. St. Louis is a concrete jungle of fetid heat, acid rains and cutthroats. With J. B. Dix gravely wounded, Ryan and his group become captive guests of a local barony. Freedom lies in the success of a deal: recapture a runaway teen, daughter of the ailing baron. But the dangerous power behind the throne rests with a self-proclaimed holy man. His gruesome manipulation of life and death are about to put the group in a race for their own salvation.
The Playground: A Short Story
by Ray BradburyFrom the iconic science fiction author of Fahrenheit 451, a chilling dystopian short story that became a classic episode of TV&’s Ray Bradbury Theater. The Playground, first published in the hardcover edition of Bradbury&’s legendary work Fahrenheit 451, tells the story of Charles Underhill, a widower who must protect his young son, Jim, from the horrors of the playground. Passing the playground on their daily walk brings Charles back the anguish of his own childhood—a nightmare of vulnerability and suffering. He will do anything to spare his sensitive son from the same torment. Charles&’s sister, Carol, who has moved in to help raise the young boy, feels differently. The playground, she believes, is preparation for life, and Jim will be more equipped to deal with the rigor and obligation of adult existence by facing it. Paralyzed by his own fear and his sister&’s invocation of reason, Charles learns of a way that Jim can be spared the playground. But it will come at a great cost . . . perhaps more than he can pay.
Playground: A Novel
by Richard PowersLONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 BOOKER PRIZESHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 KIRKUS PRIZEFrom the Pulitzer Prize-winning and #1 internationally bestselling author of The Overstory comes an epic tale of love, friendship and humanity&’s next great adventure.When two brilliant misfits bond at an elite Chicago private school—one a white legacy kid named Todd Keane and the other, Rafi Young, a Black scholarship student from the South Side—their friendship seems as boundary-breaking and limitless as the 3,000-year-old board game that brings them together. For a time, not even simultaneously falling in love with Ina Aroita, who grew up in naval bases across the Pacific, shakes them. Until finally it does, with a betrayal that launches all three of them on radically different paths. Rafi disappears into literature, and Ina into art. Todd, who once dreamed of escape into the world beneath the surface of the ocean, revealed to him by the legendary Canadian diver and marine biologist Evie Beaulieu, becomes instead one of the most powerful tech billionaires on the planet whose social media empire, Playground, is remaking the global order with its AI breakthroughs. But not even wild success can insulate Todd from mortality. As illness eats away at the brain that built it all, he dreams of the life that could&’ve been and the relationships he should never have let go.Before Todd&’s final act is up, past loves and present ambitions collide on the ravaged Polynesian island of Makatea, where an unnamed corporation hopes to build the first floating, autonomous city on the open sea. Traversing borders and oceans, connection and loss, ingenuity and transcendence, Playground brings to light the systems of competition, cooperation, commerce, exploration and love that tie the fates of unlikely humans together, in Richard Powers&’ most transporting work of fiction yet.
The Playgrounds of Babel
by JonArno LawsonFrom the international best-selling author of Sidewalk Flowers and a world-renowned illustrator, this picture book is about the power of song, inspired by the story of the Tower of Babel. This unusual, thought-provoking story begins with an old woman telling a tale to a group of children in a playground. One of the boys can’t understand what she is saying, so another offers to translate. The old woman’s tale is inspired by the Tower of Babel story: In the days when everyone spoke the same language, the people built a tower to reach God. But God was annoyed and sent a dragon to destroy the tower, then created new languages for everyone so that they couldn’t understand each other. Fortunately, two little girls find a way to communicate through song. Told entirely through dialogue, moving back and forth between the old woman’s tale and the exchange between the two boys, this original, sometimes funny story raises questions about what divides us and what brings us together, in spite of all our differences — it is the power of song in this case, which ultimately brings hope. Piet Grobler brings a masterful visual interpretation to this layered story, rendering the old woman and children in the playground in monochromatic tones and the characters in the old woman’s tale in a naïve style with vibrant color, complete with incomprehensible languages in hand-drawn speech balloons. An author’s note explains JonArno Lawson’s inspiration for the story. Key Text Features author’s note Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.6 Identify who is telling the story at various points in a text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.9 Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures.
The Playgroup
by Nancy WeberSingle mother Jill Everts brings three-year-old Daisy to New York, hoping her daughter will make friends and forget about her imaginary ones. But Daisy's new reality scares Jill even more than the precocious child's fantasy world. When Daisy meets Stephanie, James, and Nick at a Central Park playground, they recognize each other although they've never met before. Some wild circuitry seems to kick in; the four kids connect so powerfully, they can move objects without touching them. They can maybe even bring back the dead. What is their mysterious link? Why is a super secret government agent convinced that Daisy is the perfect human being--and why should Jill allow him to tap into her little girl's mind? Then there's the wife of Jill's lover--how far will she go to get her hands on Daisy? Although The Playgroup is about four extraordinary kids, it's also about the dazzling potential in all three-year-olds. As every parent knows, only a gossamer wall stands between our hopes and fears for our children.
Playing at Love
by Jennifer TaylorTwo-week fiancée...Louise couldn't believe her good luck in winning a luxury trip to Florida. And meeting hunky tycoon Wyatt Lord had seemed and unexpected bonus. Unfortunately, it soon became clear Wyatt wasn't interested in romance-only business. He wanted Louise but only as a temporary fiancée to secure a deal. Even pretending to be Wyatt's intended bride was tempting-if only Louise could convince him that this was one game he should play for keeps!
Playing at the World, 2E, Volume 1: The Invention of Dungeons & Dragons (Game Histories)
by Jon PetersonThe first volume of two in a new, updated edition of the 2012 book Playing at the World, which charts the vast and complex history of role-playing games.This new edition of Playing at the World is the first of two volumes that update the 720-page original tome of the same name from 2012. This first volume is The Invention of Dungeons & Dragons, which explores the publication of that iconic game. (The second volume is The Three Pillars of Role-Playing Games, a deeper dive into the history of the setting, system, and character of D & D.) In this first volume, Jon Peterson distills the story of how the wargaming clubs and fanzines circulating around the upper Midwest in the 1970s culminated in Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson’s seminal role-playing game, D & D. It augments the research of the original editions with new insights into the crucial period in 1972–3 when D & D began to take shape.Drawing from primary sources ranging from eighteenth-century strategists to modern hobbyists, Playing at the World explores the origins of wargames and roleplaying through the history of conflict simulations and the eccentric characters who drove the creation of a signature cultural innovation in the late twentieth century. Filled with unparalleled archival research (from obscure fanzines to letters, drafts, and other ephemera), this new edition of Playing at the World is the ultimate geek’s guide to the original RPG. As such, it is an indispensable resource for academics and game fans exploring the origins of the hobby.
Playing at the World, 2E, Volume 2: Three Pillars of Role-Playing Games (Game Histories)
by Jon PetersonThe second volume of two in a new, updated edition of the 2012 book Playing at the World, which charts the vast and complex history of role-playing games.This new edition of Playing at the World is the second of two volumes that update the 720-page original tome of the same name from 2012. This second volume is The Three Pillars of Role-Playing Games, a deep dive into the history of the setting, system, and characters of Dungeons & Dragons—the three pillars indicated by the volume&’s title. (The first volume of the new edition is The Invention of Dungeons & Dragons, which explores the publication and reception of that iconic game.)In this second volume, Jon Peterson covers the medieval fantasy setting—the first pillar—and addresses why the first role-playing game evolved around fantasy and medieval settings as opposed to some other historical setting. In the second pillar, the author explores how the rules of wargames, from their roots in chess variants from eighteenth-century Germany, developed into those of role-playing games. Finally, the third pillar focuses on character, perhaps the most elusive of the three pillars, and investigates how precedents governed the introduction of characters to games more so than the original D&D rule books.Filled with unparalleled archival research (from obscure fanzines to letters, drafts, and other ephemera), this new edition of Playing at the World is the ultimate geek&’s guide to the original RPG. As such, it is an indispensable resource for academics and game fans exploring the origins of the hobby.
Playing Cupid: A Heartwarming Contemporary Debut (The Mythical Creatures Collection #1)
by Sc AlbanA debut YA Fantasy for fans of Colleen Hoover! For the past five years, seventeen-year-old Megan Cooper has built a wall around her heart with little room to experience true feelings. Her mother's passing has left her family fractured, driving a wedge between her and her father that has only gotten deeper with time. The only solution: graduate high school early and get out of Dodge. With one final standing between her and the rest of her life, Megan is paired with a Home Economics partner who seems destined to dump all the work on her. Constantly bailing at the last minute, with more excuses than she can keep track of, Jay Michaels seems determined to ruin her plan. That is, until she hits Cupid with her car. With his shooting arm is significantly injured, Megan has no choice but to take his place. As she races to find Cupid’s final three love matches in order to meet his quota by the start of the new year, she comes face to face with the very emotions she’s been pushing away for so long. Caught between what her head is saying and what her heart longs for, Megan must face old wounds, find forgiveness, and track down the perfect match for the one boy with all the excuses. This YA debut is a touching and heartwarming shot through the heart for teen and adult readers alike!
Playing Doctor
by Robert T. Jeschonek Ben BaldwinCan a gnarly lab assistant find love with his smoking hot mad scientist boss? Faithful lab lackey Glugor lusts after sexy Dr. Medici, but Dr. M only cares about taking over the world. She uses him like a glorified guinea pig, turning him into rampaging monsters and strapping him into inventions gone horribly wrong. Poor Glugor takes the heat when the doomsday schemes blow up in his face...but can even the power of his secret passion stand between Dr. M and the deadliest doom of all? It might take a monster of an experiment to build the heart Glugor needs to save his heart's desire. Don't miss this exciting tale by award-winning storyteller Robert T. Jeschonek, a master of unique and unexpected science fiction and fantasy that really packs a punch.
Playing God: Playing God, Reclamation, The Quiet Invasion, And Fool's War
by Sarah ZettelTo save an alien world, a human architect must risk destroying itFor two centuries, the planet of the Dedelphi has been riven by war. Though delicate, swanlike creatures, the planet&’s natives are fierce in battle, and their ceaseless conflict has reduced their world to a wasteland. To save themselves and their world, the Dedelphi have forged a fragile peace and called for outside intervention. The Earth corporation Bioverse constructs a plan to heal the shattered planet. It&’s the most ambitious engineering project the universe has ever seen, and if it backfires, the result will almost certainly be genocide. Hired to oversee the massive undertaking is architect Lynn Nussbaumer. Rebuilding the planet will take decades, and Nussbaumer&’s first challenge is to arrange for a generation of Dedelphi to live out their lives in orbit around their home. When old conflicts and fresh violence emerge aboard the station and on the planet&’s surface, she finds that it takes more than a talent for design to draft a blueprint for peace.
Playing Hard To Forget
by Piper DooneEthan Robertson never asked to be the latest in a long line of werewolf hunters, but the war between his family and the werewolf Kinnairds has raged on for a millennium, and he is expected to fight like all the Robertsons before him. But then he meets Liam Kinnaird, a gorgeous, mysterious werewolf Ethan falls hard for. Despite the danger, they carry on a torrid affair until a terrible explosion destroys everything, including Liam and Ethan's memories of their time together. Twenty years later, Ethan is embroiled in battle once again and catches a glimpse of Liam. It triggers intense, erotic dreams that Ethan thinks might not be dreams at all. But he's never been anything but enemies with Kinnairds. He's certainly never been in love with one. Or has he?
Playing the Witch Card
by KJ Dell'AntoniaGilmore Girls meets Practical Magic in the latest novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Chicken SistersShe gave up on magic. But magic didn't give up on her.Three generations of magic. Two rogue exes. One Tarot deck.The perfect recipe for chaos. Flair Hardwicke knows three things: magic is real, love isn&’t, and relying on either ends in disaster. So while she&’s grateful for the chance to take over her grandmother&’s Kansas bakery after she finally leaves her cheating husband, she won&’t be embracing Nana&’s fortune-telling side-hustle. Hers is a strictly no-magic operation—until the innocent batch of Tarot card cookies Flair bakes for the town&’s Halloween celebration unleashes the power of the family deck, luring Flair&’s unpredictable mother to town, tempting Flair&’s magic-obsessed daughter, and bringing back Flair&’s first love while ensnaring her ex in a curse she can&’t break. Flair&’s attempts to control the chaos only make things worse, playing right into the hands of a powerful witch. Suddenly there&’s far more at stake than her status as the most reluctant witch in town, and the magic Flair has long rejected becomes the only card she has left to play.
Playing To Win
by Laurel AmesSera Had Always Loved a Challenge, but Tony Was Proving to be Difficult Even For Her Considerable Skills!Despite her bookish exterior, Sera Barclay was an imp with outrageous charm and depths undreamed of by London's stuffy ton. A woman who would risk anything for the sake of the husband who gave her his heart, and denied her everything else....A man of particular honor and pride, Tony Cainbrooke's inherited debt kept him estranged from his wife. But his distance was getting harder and harder to maintain...for Sera's antics to bring them together grew more outrageous by the day!
Playing Tyler
by T L CostaWhen is a game not a game?Tyler MacCandless can't focus, even when he takes his medication. He can't focus on school, on his future, on a book, on much of anything other than taking care of his older brother, Brandon, who's in rehab for heroin abuse... again.Tyler's dad is dead and his mom has mentally checked out. The only person he can really count on is his Civilian Air Patrol Mentor, Rick. The one thing in life it seems he doesn't suck at is playing video games and, well, thats probably not going to get him into college.Just when it seems like his future is on a collision course with a life sentence at McDonald's, Rick asks him to test a video game. If his score's high enough, it could earn him a place in flight school and win him the future he was certain that he could never have. And when he falls in love with the game's designer, the legendary gamer Ani, Tyler thinks his life might finally be turning around.That is, until Brandon goes MIA from rehab and Tyler and Ani discover that the game is more than it seems. Now Tyler will have to figure out what's really going on in time to save his brother... and prevent his own future from going down in flames.
Playing With Fire (Phoenix Fire Novel #3)
by Cynthia EdenCassie Armstrong has plenty to atone for. The daughter of the most immoral researcher ever to pick up a scalpel, she's determined to use her own brilliance in genetics to repair the damage her family has done to the paranormals. Especially Dante, the first of the phoenixes, the one they call the Immortal. He's been haunting her dreams since she was a little girl, and she's been trying to ease his pain for almost as long. If only he remembered any of it. . .Dante doesn't know what Cassie's story is. He almost doesn't care. The minute he sees her, all he can think is mine. But there's more to the pretty little doctor than meets the eye. And Dante isn't the only one to notice. He can't trust her, but he can't stay away--and if he wants to learn her secrets, he's going to have to fight like hell to keep them both alive. . .
Playing with Fire (Slayers #3)
by C. J. Hill Janette Rallison<p>Having superpowers is overrated. It requires Tori to go to way more team practices than can comfortably fit into a normal teenager's schedule. Being a dragon slayer has other drawbacks too--like fighting dragons and keeping one step ahead of power-hungry dragon lords, all without blowing her cover. <p>Tori Hampton is a presidential candidate's daughter, which means she not only has a public reputation to maintain, she also has a humorless bodyguard to ditch every time she needs to go on a mission. <p>And Dr. B has plenty of missions for the Slayers. When he discovers that someone is selling dragon scales on the black market, he's convinced the seller can give him the dragons' location. A surprise strike could turn the tide in the Slayers favor, but when they track down the seller, they find more than they've bargained for.Suddenly, strategies need to change, alliances shift, and Tori finds herself caught in the precarious middle. <p>Jesse, the captain of the other Slayers team, is everything she wants, but then there's Dirk, the dragon lord's son--who also happens to be her ex-boyfriend. He's determined to convince her that she should love dragons, and love him too. The fact that he and his father plan to overthrow the government? Details not worth arguing about. <p>Tori believes she can turn Dirk around and convince him to rejoin the Slayers, but he's just as convinced that she should leave the Slayers and become a dragon lord. Dirk can teach Tori how to control dragons, and it's a skill she desperately wants. It could make all of the difference in a battle. It could save her friends' lives. When Dirk offers to let her ride a dragon, she knows that meeting him is like playing with fire.</p>
Playing with Fire (Skulduggery Pleasant #2)
by Derek LandyWhen the evil Baron Vengeous escapes from prison, Detective Skulduggery Pleasant and his apprentice, Valkyrie Cain, have just two days to recapture him or the Baron's creature, the Grotesquery, may summon the Faceless Ones back to their world.
Playing With Fire (Silver Dragons #1)
by Katie MacalisterGabriel Tauhou, the leader of the silver dragons, can't take his eyes of May Northcott--not even when May, who has the unique talent of being able to hide in the shadows, has slipped from everyone else's sights. <P><P>May, however, has little time for Gabriel--not when she's hiding from the Otherworld law, hunting down a blackmailer, and trying to avoid a demon lord's demands. But her ability to withstand Gabriel's fire marks her as his mate, and he has no intention of letting her disappear into the darkness she seems to prefer. <P><P>Then May is ordered to steal one of Gabriel's treasures--an immensely important relic of all dragonkin--and he must decide which to protect: his love or his dragons.