The Florentine Game — Michael R. Stevens

A Novel of the Metaverse    Jason Lind is bored with life in Stanford's computer science department. The Florentine Game promises escape –  into a world guided by Machiavelli's thought and driven by complex chance algorithms that no one can totally defeat.   Set in Renaissance Florence, the game's thousands of totally anonymous players are said to include celebrities, billionaires and even high-ranking politicians. Climbing the ladder of success in this society is thrilling, but it's also  expensive, because every victory has its price. Soon, Jason is deeply in debt. His only hope is to leverage the legacy of his father, a high tech legend who died under mysterious circumstances when Jason was a child. But when he looks into the past, he uncovers a frightening secret. Sometimes a game isn't really a game.