In reality, Isobel is an unemployed music publicist. But in VR, she's the Queen of the Sparkle Realm, all-time leaderboard champ of a series of dance-music themed action-RPGs. And then things get weird, as it turns out that Magic is Real, she's roped in as a junior researcher at a PR firm working with the creepy Governor of California and a legally-distinct-from-Scientology religious movement. But these earthly villains are obstacles before the Thundercloud, a multi-dimensional reality devouring monstrosity that only Isobel and her allies can stop.

Snow Crash runs through this book like a skeleton, and there's a lot of ways in which this is a kind of Gen-Z update of Stephenson's classic. Our real-life pauper/virtual hero protagonist, the idea that language can become a magic weapon, two shadowy cabals battling it our for the soul of California. The difference is that Battle goes cosmological in scope, hopping into alternate dimensions and across the universe chasing its quest, with the main character assuming literal godhood and cutting down skyscraper sized demons with her signature Blades Per Minute sword.

But the difference is that Snow Crash was built around a solid mythological/scientific core, and Battle runs entirely on vibes. And I gotta say, the vibes are real mid. The first time you cut down a gigantic horned reality eating demon, that's dope. Fifth time is a chore. The plot and characters just kind of float around, with vaguely anarchist politics that power is bad, mmkay, and those currently in power are least situated to wield it. The lack of limits erases any stakes, and the only part of the writing that's consistently enjoyable are the EDM-themed puns. Shame.