The Moon Maze Game

mass market paperback, 368 pages

Published Sept. 25, 2012 by Tor Science Fiction.

ISBN:: 978-0-7653-6544-6

(1 review)

The Year: 2085. Humanity has spread throughout the solar system. A stable lunar colony is agitating for independence. Lunar tourism is on the rise...

Against this background, professional “Close Protection” specialist Scotty Griffin, fresh off a disastrous assignment, is offered the opportunity of a lifetime: to shepherd the teenaged heir to the Republic of Kikaya on a fabulous vacation. Ali Kikaya will participate in the first live action role playing game conducted on the Moon itself. Having left Luna--and a treasured marriage--years ago due to a near-tragic accident, Scotty leaps at the opportunity.

Live Action Role Playing attracts a very special sort of individual: brilliant, unpredictable, resourceful, and addicted to problem solving. By kidnapping a dozen gamers in the middle of the ultimate game, watched by more people than any other sporting event in history, they have thrown down an irresistible gauntlet: to “win” the first game that ever became …

The Year: 2085. Humanity has spread throughout the solar system. A stable lunar colony is agitating for independence. Lunar tourism is on the rise...

Against this background, professional “Close Protection” specialist Scotty Griffin, fresh off a disastrous assignment, is offered the opportunity of a lifetime: to shepherd the teenaged heir to the Republic of Kikaya on a fabulous vacation. Ali Kikaya will participate in the first live action role playing game conducted on the Moon itself. Having left Luna--and a treasured marriage--years ago due to a near-tragic accident, Scotty leaps at the opportunity.

Live Action Role Playing attracts a very special sort of individual: brilliant, unpredictable, resourceful, and addicted to problem solving. By kidnapping a dozen gamers in the middle of the ultimate game, watched by more people than any other sporting event in history, they have thrown down an irresistible gauntlet: to “win” the first game that ever became “real.” Pursued by armed and murderous terrorists, forced to solve gaming puzzles to stay a jump ahead, forced to juggle multiple psychological realities as they do...this is the game for which they’ve prepared their entire lives, and they are going to play it for all it’s worth.

5 editions

Thom reviewed The moon maze game by Larry Niven

Review of 'The moon maze game' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Written nearly 20 years later, this book is quite a bit better than the third and former last book of the series. It seems likely that there won't be another. I found it good, not great, and unlike the others, the plot here covers a lot more than just the game.

One of the things that confused the previous book was a ton of characters. This book has a more reasonable cast, but not a lot of growth. Previous books tried to keep up with technology and felt dated, this one waves hands over the "game" bits. It mostly succeeds in keeping a level of hard science - the setting is a colony on the moon. Also missing is the postscript, describing the ideas behind the book and real-world things.