God Game (novel)

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God Game
1987 paperback edition
Author	Andrew M. Greeley
Cover artist	Boris Vallejo
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Science fiction novel
Publisher	Warner Books
Publication date	June 1986
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
ISBN	ISBN 0-446-51264-8 (first edition, hardback)

God Game is the title of a science fiction novel by Rev. Andrew M. Greeley which was first published in 1986. It was published in hardcover by Warner Books with a paperback edition by Tor Books following in 1987.

[edit] Plot introduction

In this book, told in first-person narrative, the lead character -- an unnamed Catholic priest -- volunteers to playtest a new type of computer game for a relative. Called Duke and Duchess (though the title is changed to God Game at the end of the book), it puts the player in the role of God for a small swords and sorcery world. However, after a violent lightning storm, the narrator discovers that the game's crude CGA graphics have become live video, and that he is now responsible for the inhabitants of a small, but very real, world somewhere else in space and time -- a world that threatens to run away from his control and into total chaos.

Worse yet, the walls between the "real" world and the game world are beginning to crumble...

[edit] Plot summary

Cast, reluctantly, into the role of God, the narrator, not to be confused with the narrator's author who also provides commentary, the priest strives to create peace between the two warring sides. He finds that both sides pray to him or to the Other Person, aka, God. His closest ally in trying to create this peace is Ranora, an ilel - something of a cross between a fairy and an angel- who has been assigned to the Duke, but dances wherever she wishes to go. The priest finds that it is "hell being God," as most of his characters, even when obeying, create further problems for him. Minor characters want to be major ones, then change their mind, and since he is not God, and lacks omniscience, he cannot always predict that outcome of his directives. There is comic relief provided by groups of dissidents who try to sabotage god's plans, which are always smote by "divine" wrath. At times, characters cross Planck's Wall to speak to him directly in his home, and he finds evidence that they were actually there, not mere figments.

Finally, he is able to broker peace and thinks he can walk away from the game, but when he turns his back, those opposed to peace strive to undo all his good work. Ranora crosses the Wall to implore him to return, and it takes a miracle to save the Duke's life, for the bad guys have convinced the Duchess he needs to be sacrificed in a pagan ritual. The minor characters will get their prayers answered as they become major ones and learn how much the Lord Their God loves them.