User Hardcover – May 23, 2017

I started reading User when it 1st came out back in 2001 and after finally reading the whole series the only thing I could say is that this book caused more problems than it set out to solve! The lead character was struggling with her life while trying to forget the problems of everyone else around her. She thought by joining an online game that it might help relieve her of stress. Although she enjoyed getting lost in the virtual realm it didn't solve any of her problems and just made things worse! She finally figured out what she needed to do after she had time to think! So the lesson here was that it takes a strong mind to wake from a dream but it takes a even stronger will to solve a nightmare!

Whether or not you are a gaming fan (I am not), this book is an experience to read through. Set in the 90s, this story about a young woman named Mel who discovers the whole world of MUDs (think MMORPG in text form) and initially drowns in the delight of that experience. In real life, she is the elder daughter, who is helpless to save her younger sister, but in that virtual world, she is a bisexual French knight in a medieval fantasy. It makes her feel more alive than her life, that she has a purpose over there, a cause to fight for and gets to be the knight in shining armor. It also speaks to her gender fluidity in a way.At first, I had thought that the book would be a cautionary tale about losing yourself in your online persona. It happens to most of us - we prefer the virtual or online world than our reality, because there we can be something we are not. We can hide behind a strong personality, but this book takes a step further and shows that you can learn from what you built up as a persona. Mel eventually learns to emulate her character and be as valiant in real life as she is in the game, to take risks and be actionable than just living through life passively. She saves her sister from her abuser, and for herself, she finds a new relationship with someone who is as passionate as she about the game. (Side note: It does not, however, linger on the consequences of her getting lost in the virtual world, like her losing her job and her leaving her sister behind initially. Which, yeah, she is a flawed character and has to grow, but I felt wrong that she did not apologize for it)As for the artwork, it is amazing. There are two styles - the real and the virtual. The real is done in exquisite detail, and you can see some amazing artwork in the lineart - expressions, body language, setting, as well as some beautiful shading even in the greyscale-ish rendering of her life. As for the virtual, it seems more rudimentary in lineart (to emulate the gaming atmosphere) but is vibrant in coloring. Both, however, have markedly impressive amounts of work and detail put into them - the best one I've seen since Monstress #1.Overall, a feast for the eyes and an interesting story as well.

Any story that takes such a non-chalant view of rape doesn't deserve more than 2 stars. Well the main story is solid if not great, the b-story of the main character's sister being raped on a daily basis while Meg and her father are too busy not having a life is completely gross and inappropriate. Yeah, I'd help you not be raped everyday in the house I'm in, but I just discovered chatrooms so good luck escaping daily torture. The author does this to illustrate just how addictive chatrooms could be as the internet became commonplace, but he could have literally done anything else. Anything else would have been better then the daily rapings of Meg's sister. It's just so gross and despicable to use daily rape as a plot device. It completely tanks the story as a whole that the daily raping of Meg's sister by her father's friend in their house is a throwaway b-story. Atrocious story that could have been something good but carries deep-seated flaws.

User is a three part miniseries collected in a high quality hardback edition. Originally published in 2001, the series has its roots in 1990s MUD culture - the precursor to the MMORGS of today. Back then, 'gaming' was all text and imagination - a way to socialize anonymously, for free, with little hardware commitment, and often used to escape the pressure of real life. Of course, modern games such as League of Legends and Blizzard's World of Warcraft/Starcraft have since replaced the interactions with visuals and a true gaming experience. So younger gamers may not understand the allure of 'all text' but for older gamers, this will definitely bring back some nostalgia of sleepless nights spent online with 'friends' in a pseudo fantasy world.Story: Meg is devastated when her mother walks out on the family. Her father withdraws from reality, leaving her younger sister vulnerable to a sexual predator and she herself at a loss. A chance try of a fantasy social game hooks her completely - she becomes a chivalrous night, has adventures and interactions, and discovers new aspects of herself. More importantly, she finds in the game the strength to deal with her troubled home life. But it will come at a cost - her obsession with the game has a price for her real life.At first, this reads like a cautionary tale of how becoming obsessed with games can cost one everything in real life. Certainly, Meg's coworkers and boss are at a loss as to what to do with Meg completely withdrawing and suddenly calling in sick often. Meg herself resents all time away from the computer - especially in lieu of what is happening in her home. But it becomes clear by the middle that this is a book about a person finding oneself - using the virtual world to envision and then enable the virtues needed to deal with life's crises.A lot has been said about the gender fluidity of online gaming - where men often play female characters and even have 'relationships' with other male online players. In this case, Meg explores cybersex and, ironically, how a male/male relationship leads to a female/female one. At heart, this is one of the main focuses of the book since this is a very personal work from the author.There are some poignant insights - from meg's younger sister's cry for attention as to why she sticks with the sexual predator family friend, to the father who has completely withdrawn from reality, to the mother who has turned her back on responsibilities and run home, to the complete normalcy of the people at her work. Of course, none of the game characters are who what they seem, though all being so harmless does feel very disingenuous.The art is very 1990s but does convey nuances fairly well. The mundane world is bland and detailed. The computer world is bright, colorful, and nebulous. If I was to be honest, it felt very dated - the computer world as interpreted by a traditional artist and full of polygons and character strings. I wanted the fantasy world to be prettier and more imaginative.So the real question is whether this is too dated or not - has it aged well? Certainly, the art does ground itself in its milieu of the 2000 era. The story of MUDS feels like a far more innocent time than the catfishing we know today in modern MMORGS. And that our heroine finds her gumption and real life love interest from a game is idealistic at best. Most of the story is hyperreal and so loses any chance of feeling real as a result. Certainly, gender fluidity gaming doesn't have the lurid ring it did two decades ago.As someone old enough to have been in the original MUDs and still heavily invested in online social gaming, I found it to be a bit too pat and a bit too personal - almost a Mary Sue rather than a pointed story. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.