Sometime back, I was reading about bitcoin and how
and why it is gaining popularity all across. BlogAdda gave me an opportunity to
review the first Bitcoin thriller titled 'God is a Gamer' by Ravi Subramanian.
I have already read the previous bestselling book of Ravi titled 'If God was a Banker'
and really appreciated that.
‘God is a Gamer’ is the book about a world where
money means nothing, martyrs are villains, predators are prey, assassination is
taught by the ancient Greeks, and nothing is as it seems. The story spans for
300+ pages from Washington to Mumbai to Delhi to Goa and is an interesting read
with some bit of technical knowledge on bitcoin, TOR, VPN etc.
The story is about elephantine egos of US
corporates, an innocuous organization which shook the US government to its
core, about Sakoshi Nakamoto and what not. The story is divided into 98
chapters with each chapter giving twists and turns to the story and making it
into a wholesome engaging read.
The story involves Indian Finance Minister and his
relationship, a phishing scam and ATM heist which affected New York Investment
Bank (NYIB) and its India arm, the connexion of drug peddlers and transfers of
bitcoins securely & secretly. These scandals result in engagement of FBI
and it’s agents to the point that it was a critical issue for someone close to
US President. It also fantastically
relates the ongoing events with a gaming company Indiscape and its new game
Townsville and how social media serves its purpose in success of the game.
Finally, all these events are intimately connected in the climax.
The story is also about professional relationships
between officials at NYIB and personal relationships between a father and his
son and that between a mother and her daughter apart from other romantic
engagements.
Like his previous work, this one is also filled
with some technical details and enlightens the reader about the new things
every now and then and hence one never gets bored with the flow of the story
which is smooth and at the same time, a good learning experience. The best part
of the story is the way he has connected all the loose threads perfectly. It
certainly is a better composition than his previous works.
A few Quotable lines from the book:
“A Leader who puts down her own people in front of
her superiors can never be an inspiring leader.”
“If you live, you get to fight your battle another
day.”
“It’s important to quit on a high. That’s when the
world will respect you.”
“We are all chasing illusory pleasures. Our real
wealth is not in our bank accounts.”
“Dissent fuels debate.”
“Clarifications cause complications.”
“The key driver of social networking is people you
don’t know but want to meet.
Reputation has no insurance.”
“Success is not always measured in terms of dollars
earned or turnover. It is measured in terms of the difference you have made to
the people around you.”
“The truth is stranger than fiction!”
P.S. Thank You BlogAdda for an autographed copy of
the book and thanks for bearing with me patiently.
This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!
