Immortality was a fringe benefit.
Pete signed up to have his brain diced, so he could become a better person. Now he lives in the virtual world of Talespace, where he beta-tests everything from new game rules to mental upgrades to robots that will let his AI boss help people in the real world. As brain-uploading technology starts to become more than a toy for the rich, the now-divided America isn't the only place where Talespace's new society, buggy as it is, is badly needed. Will Pete's new home become an irrelevant gamer heaven, or a force for liberty?
In Talespace you can change your body, fly, build starships, befriend native AIs eager to learn about the dangerous world outside, and try to find a home and happiness. Even if there's an unexplained asterisk on your account information.
Some days Pete pilots robots on diplomatic missions back "Earthside". Sometimes he learns magic and battles monsters. Oh, and sometimes he tries to outwit a rival AI god. It's a pretty good job to have.
Part of the emerging "LitRPG" genre that combines game-like elements with fantasy and science fiction. No knowledge of the other books in the "Thousand Tales" series is needed. Jump in here!
2016 Coyotl Award Winner For Best Novel
Pete woke in a comfortable bed atop a pillar surrounded by a lava lake. He stared over his tiny platform's edge and shuddered. The landscape looked ordinary for Talespace: peaceful grassland and hills, with a giant stone nose streaming lava into the lake. He called out for help. What had he been doing yesterday? The last thing he recalled was climbing a tower and talking about a map.
He still had his backpack, which now contained a leather book labeled "Quest Journal". One entry read:
"VISIT LUMINA: It was nice meeting you, though we won't remember. You make a decent robot commander for a human. If you ever visit the Cibola base, ask about 'new cities'. -Lumina"
The next page had another "quest" signed by Ludo: "BRAINS!: Lobby the US to have prisoners uploaded. Do that, and we not only help people who aren't having fun, but open the door to wider legalization there."
It seemed like a reasonable goal, though he didn't recall agreeing to it.
Minutes later, that phoenix-kid walked by and spotted him. The boy looked up toward the pillar and said, "You again! Were you that afraid of being ambushed in your sleep?"
"Help me, will you? I don't remember where I last saved."
Phoenix laughed at him. "Are you still crazy?"
"I don't think so."
The feather-headed boy raised one taloned hand, wearing some kind of power glove, and a ramp of stone began growing toward the platform. He hopped up along it, ignoring the heat-haze wafting from the lava below, and said, "How did you place the bottom blocks of that pillar?"
Pete slinked down the improvised ramp and kissed the ground. "Ludo teleported me. She does that a lot. Can't you fly with those wings?"
"Not here in Endless Isles, yet. Different physics in each realm."
Pete had seen the Endless Isles on the map of the worlds within Talespace. This area had infinite procedurally generated landscapes where even Ludo didn't know what people would find. Very different from Midgard where the map was pre-defined. He wondered what Midgard residents would do once they'd seen it all.
