"In the Game, you learn quick or you die." Author and former NFL player Chris Kluwe's (Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies) first novel will grip readers with its riveting pace, fierce heroine and intense focus on combating social injustices. For Ashley Akachi--aka Infinite Game legend Ashura the Terrible--the Game is more than just sport: it's the freedom to be herself, an impossibility in the "Real" of the post-Water Wars theocracy where she lives. With the support of her SunJewel Warriors teammates, Ash has learned to navigate the vitriol of ultra-misogynistic trolls and to thrive in the VR encounters that call to "something inside [her], a thrill [she] can't find anywhere else."
When Ash stumbles on a plot to turn Gamers into unwitting mercenaries with technology "designed to infiltrate people's minds," she is horrified at the manipulation: "We've trained ourselves into a goddamned army." With the possibility of another world war looming, Ash and her teammates are conscripted by the military in order to uncover the foreign threat, and their game-honed skills are all that stand in the way of global collapse.
Trapped in a reality where the theocratic government subjugates women and minorities, Infinite Game offers a haven to many like Ash, "where you can make mistakes, learn who you are and what you believe, what you're willing to fight for." But Ash is a fighter in reality, too, and rooting for her in both the Game and the Real is an exciting (and often bloody) adventure. Regular nods to classic science fiction and fantasy alongside conversations about racism, toxic masculinity, religious persecution and socio-economic injustices make Otaku a great choice for fans of fun and insightful science fiction. --Jennifer Oleinik, freelance writer and editor