When he's not serving as science advisor on Land Of The Lost, Larry Niven is reinventing African politics of the future, with the help of frequent contributor Steven Barnes. The duo are writing a new book, The Moon Maze Game.
According to Publisher's Marketplace, The Moon Maze Game takes place in the same universe as the duo's Dream Park, inside a dome on the Moon, "where gamers who come to enjoy the most challenging of games, designed by the world's most brilliant Gamemaster." But then, the game is sabotaged, and the gamers' lives are put in danger, when two revolutionaries from an African country take over the dome, to hold the son of their country's president hostage. Tor's Bob Gleason bought the book from Spectrum Literary Agency's Eleanor Wood.
Barnes tells io9 the novel's fictional African country is a new one, carved out of the continent after a giant war, around 2020. The country's leader is the last remaining monarch on the continent. The games inside the dome involve both skill and survival, says Barnes: "Problem-solving and combat." Adds Barnes, "Larry and I have collaborated on about nine books over the years. He actually was my mentor in the field."