Synopsis
A man must fight for his planet against impossible odds when gamers from Earth attempt to remotely annihilate it in this epic, fast-paced novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl.
All colonist Oliver Lewis ever wanted to do is run the family ranch with his sister, maybe play a gig or two with his band, and keep his family’s aging fleet of intelligent agriculture bots ticking as long as possible. As a fan of Earth television and culture, he figures it will be a good thing when the transfer gate finally opens all the way and restores instant travel and full communication between Earth and his planet, New Sonora. But there’s a complication.
Even though the settlers were promised they’d be left in peace, Earth’s government now has other plans. The colossal Apex Corporation is hired to commence an “eviction action.” But maximizing profits will always be Apex’s number one priority. Why spend money printing and deploying their own AI soldiers when they can turn it into a game? Why not charge bored Earthers for the opportunity to design their own war machines and remotely pilot them from the comfort of their own homes?
The game is called Operation Bounce House.
Oliver and his friends soon find themselves fighting for their lives against machines piloted by gamers who’ve paid a premium for the privilege. With the help of an old book from his grandfather and a bucket of rusty parts, Oliver is determined to defend the only home he’s ever known.
Review
“And all it took was an invasion from another planet to get you to realize that I’m always right.”
I was very excited to get the ARC for Operation Bounce House – a non dungeon crawler, scifi standalone that is in some ways a reverse of his Dungeon Crawler Carl. Yes, in this tale gamers from Earth are attempting to invade another planet that is light years away from them. I had some ideas about how this would turn out because I’ve read a bunch of the DCC novels before, but after having the final page of the book I must simply say- “Holy mechanical armies, Batman!” I was not prepared for what Matt Dinniman had in store for me.
I loved this book cover to cover and am genuinely just thankful to Dinniman for writing this book. Just two months into the year, I am confident that this book will be amongst my top 10 reads for the year. Not since Kurt Vonnegut and Ursula K. Le Guin have I seen such incisive social commentary delivered in such an accessible and fun prose. In my opinion, Matt combines the punch and humor of Vonnegut with Le Guin’s evocative thoughtfulness while also making the reader’s emotions swell. I mean, even the guy who is never interested in politics and is adamant about sticking his head into the sand cannot come out of Dungeon Crawler Carl without realizing the hypocrisy of power structures and it also doubles as the gold standard in humor in modern sff books.
Now this book is markedly different from Dungeon Crawler Carl but in a similar fashion to DCC has characters that are engaging from the first sentence. It took only two chapters for me to love Oliver and Lulu. And as much as I love Oliver and Lulu, by the end of the book Roger pipped them both to become my most favorite character. I can write a whole essay on how much I connected with Roger’s characterization and how deeply Roger affected me but at this stage, any talk about Roger would be spoilery and I want to let everyone go in blind and enjoy the Roger experience.
Also when I say it is very different from DCC, that doesn’t mean fans of DCC will not find much to love here, it’s just that the style is different and this book gets deep very quickly. This book also parallels the ticking clock structure of DCC and the events are restricted to only five days in the world. I had not realized this before but the constant urgency and higher stakes creates such an engaging and emotionally invested reading experience. Sure, it might need a lot of things to click properly but at this point, Matt Dinniman is a master and I don’t need to tout his writing prowess. Big emotional arcs can happen quickly in real life and Dinniman reflects this expertly in his story. It also bares the true nature of each character in such a vivid way to the readers.
Another reason than character work as to why I love speculative fiction is how well they hold up a mirror to contemporary human issues. I will be asking the author when he wrote the book when I meet him because while he might have written the book at a time distance, it relates and continues to relate to every passing day of 2026 Earth so pertinently. Matt Dinniman is quickly cementing his place as my most favorite American writer of the 21st century because he handles all this while avoiding the constraints of current political biases. Plus, in keeping with the spirit of escapism, he also makes each of his books such fun reads.
In conclusion, I love this book for so many different things, and everyone should give it a try. Operation Bounce House will always have a place of honor in my bookshelves and I hope that Matt Dinniman revisits New Sonora someday.
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