“Fortuna” by Michael R. Stevens, starts out as a cautionary tale about the effects getting overly involved in a virtual world can have on real life. By the end of part 2, the book shifts genres and goes from an after-school special to James Bond meets the Sopranos. Basically, what starts out as a timely and realistic story, becomes something fantastical and improbable. The story is still interesting and exciting; it just becomes disjointed and a bit contrived.

In an effort to add some excitement to his ordinary life, Jason Lind signs up for the virtual world of “Fortuna”. An online role-playing game based on Renaissance Italy, Fortuna promises an escape that Jason can’t refuse. As he becomes more immersed in the game, Jason turns his back on the real world and soon finds himself in debt, with no job and no idea how to get himself out of this distressing situation. It is at this point that the book changes gears. We learn the back story of the death of Jason’s father and see what happens when real life and the virtual world intersect on a more personal and dangerous level.

Michael Stevens does an excellent job of painting the picture of Renaissance Italy and in particular, the city of Florence. His descriptions of the game and how it works are vivid and fascinating though sometimes a little technical for the novice computer user. Honestly, I didn’t need to read about the underlying operation of the game but those who are into that sort of thing should really enjoy those parts of the story.

Overall, I would recommend this book for its imagery and timeliness as well as the unexpected turn of events that leads to an exciting climax.   

Reviewed on 10/31/2010 by ReviewTheBook.com Member April Hanson

If you are looking for an adventure that is unfortunately all too real then this is for you. 

From Goodreads: Longing for escape from his mundane existence as a Stanford computer science major, Jason Lind signs up to play Fortuna, an online role-playing game set in Renaissance Florence. From the first, fateful mouse click, Jason tumbles into the vibrant, lush, anonymous world of Fortuna. Swept up in this highly complex, highly addictive game of fame, fortune, and power, Jason quickly transitions from casual gamer to compulsive player. Soon tangled up in a steamy virtual love triangle, Jason becomes obsessed with breaking Fortuna's code of anonymity. But Fortuna is anything but fun and games, and when a sizable debt incurred in the game spills over into reality, Jason is forced to leverage the legacy of his father, a high-tech legend killed in a car accident years before, to pay off the debt. What started as a great escape may only leave Jason trapped, as the game that transported Jason deep into the past exposes a shocking, present-day reality. In the world of Fortuna, it's not how you play the game; it's if you survive.


This is a book that addresses what could happen when online and real life intersect.  A Fact of life now is that many people become addicted to online games.  What happens when your online life becomes your reality?  You never know who is on the other side of that screen.  This is a Thriller with a capital T. 

Reviewed on 07/21/2010 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Mindy Detweiler

Reviewed on 07/09/2010 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Jessica Goodard

 Jason Lund, a computer science graduate student at Stanford, is bored and starts playing a role-playing online computer game, Fortuna. He is impressed with the graphics of the game that takes place in Florence during the Renaissance. He has played these types of games before but this one is even more addicting and he is soon obsessed with the secretive nature of it, and its focus on power. His studies and his relationships start to suffer because he is spending so much time on this game. He also is spending money and he begins to think that the game is somehow closely tied to real life. His good friend Marco is concerned that Jason is missing too much school and his girlfriend, Paola is also in concerned.

In Fortuna Jason plays a priest, Father Allesandro who listens to confessions and then skims some of the money from the confessor’s contributions. He desires to become a bishop and soon sees that his ambition comes with a financial cost that spills over into his real world. Because of this he realizes he needs to get some money and goes to his Uncle Frank who had been a business partner with his father to get a job. You find out that Jason comes from a wealthy father, Nick Fibonacci who was a huge contributor to Stanford and has a building named after him. His father died in a car accident about 9 years ago.

At this point in the book, the author takes us back 9 years to meet Jason’s father, Nick Fibonacci. We learn about his relationship with business partner Frank Stocker. Jason got his computer savvy from his father who created a computer program that was siphoning money from the business.

The story then goes back and picks up with Jason again who in working for Stocker and discovers what his father has done. Will this solve Jason’s own money problems? What really happened to his father? Who is the mysterious woman in Fortuna and is she actually someone he knows? Read this thriller to find the answers. Michael R. Stevens tells an interesting story weaving together Jason’s real life and his life as Father Allesandro that you will not want to put down.

Reviewed on 05/14/2010 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Janice Hidey