Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bu Bir Oyun Değil | 2009 | Walter Jon Williams | N/A |
| 2 | This is Not a Game | 2009 | Walter Jon Williams | Buy |
| 3 | Deep State | 2011 | Walter Jon Williams | Buy |
| 4 | The Fourth Wall | 2012 | Walter Jon Williams | Buy |
| 5 | Diamonds from Tequila | 2017 | Walter Jon Williams | Buy |
The Dagmar series follows Dagmar Shaw, a designer of alternate reality games who discovers that her skills in manipulating networked crowds have dangerous real-world applications. This is Not a Game (2009) kicks things off when Dagmar gets trapped in a collapsing Southeast Asian country and has to use her online player community to engineer her own rescue. The premise sounds wild, but Williams grounds it in convincing near-future technology and real corporate politics.
Deep State (2011) sends Dagmar to Turkey to help foment a revolution using social media, while The Fourth Wall (2012) brings her to Hollywood where an ARG overlaps with a murder investigation. Diamonds from Tequila (2017) continues the pattern of mixing high-tech game design with real-stakes danger. The series reads like a tech-savvy update to the conspiracy thriller, with Williams drawing on his understanding of gaming culture and online communities to build plots that feel eerily plausible.