I don't think this a perfect book but i surely know it's a book that made me live in another world for some hours and made me think that I could kill to work on a project like Insula Mirabilis (that's the project manager in me to talk) or travel there (that's the geek in me to talk).
I know that I loved every moment of this story even when the plot drags a bit or when my rational mind is tut-tuting (project manager talking again).
I loved Addie: she's so frail and so strong at the same time. She's no kickass heroine but she kick asses with her know of how the game can work.
The characters are fleshed out and I love them. I even felt for Dom, a man self-centered but also one with a vision.
This is the perfect book if you grew up reading tons of sagas and playing D&D. Or if you were a young developer dreaming of developing the impossible.
The senior high tech person found the description of the relationships amongst the Lang employees quite realistic.
Technology can be magic and magic is a technology.
I travelled to Insula Mirabilis with Addie and her friend and I would be happy to meet them again and see what happened to the island.
I assume that there's a small hope.
The world building is fascinating and I like all the references to books, movies and games.
I strongly recommend this book if you ever played D&D or worked on a huge IT project. You played the game and you know what it means.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine