Dagmar Shaw

Imagine a game with no boundaries - waiting in parking lot, sitting at your computer, walking down the street. You could be called at any moment - and you'd better be ready. This is not a game. This is a novel of greed, betrayal, and social networking.

By day Dagmar Shaw orchestrates vast games with millions of players spanning continents. By night, she tries to forget the sound of a city collapsing in flames around her. She tries to forget the faces of her friends as they died in front of her. She tries to forget the blood on her own hands. But then an old friend approaches Dagmar with a project. The project he pitches is so insane and so ambitious, she can't possibly say no. But this new venture will lead her from the world of alternate-reality gaming to one even more complex.

Walter Jon Williams regularly draws praise for pushing the limits of the science fiction genre. His third novel featuring AR (augmented reality) games designer Dagmar Shaw, The Fourth Wall follows Sean, a washed-up child actor recruited to star in Dagmar's latest movie project. But when people on set start dying, Sean wonders if Dagmar's secretive behavior is hiding a more dangerous game.

With the publication of his debut novel, The Privateer, in 1981, Walter Jon Williams began one of the most varied and prolific careers in contemporary popular fiction. But much of Williams' best work takes place in the shorter forms, as this generous volume, filled to overflowing with award-winning and award-nominated stories, clearly proves. The Best of Walter Jon Williams reflects its author's affection for - and mastery of - the novella form.