What
critics have said about Trading Reality…
“Michael Ridpath
plots his story tightly and smoothly and roams his worlds virtual
and otherwise with authority.”
New York Times
“Taught, strongly plotted with good,
believable characters... Trading Reality provides a rush of blood
to the head and stings your page turning fingertips.”
The Independent (UK)
“Commercial fiction at its purest.”
Sunday Times
“The plotting and pacing are all one
could wish for.”
Scotland on Sunday
Mark Fairfax's dynamic job as a trader suits him well. But when his brother Richard is found dead, Mark feels compelled to step into his shoes as Managing Director of a world-leading virtual reality company in an attempt to save it from bankruptcy. But soon Mark realises that his own life is in danger and he will need all his trader's nerve and quick thinking to survive...
Writing Trading Reality...
Trading Reality is my second novel. Initially, it was hard to write.
How could I follow up on the success of Free To Trade?
My first response was to try to write Free To Trade again, changing the plot and characters slightly. But my German editor gave me some wise advice: write about something else that you are interested in. And so I decided to write about virtual reality.
I worked for three years for a venture capital company called Apax Partners. We invested in a small virtual reality company called Virtuality. It was one of the world leaders in the field, and dominated the market for VR entertainment systems. It had a bright future. But it had very little cash. Apax gave it some, and then two years later the company floated on the stock exchange, giving Apax a profit of ten times it's initial investment, and Virtuality much needed cash.
The whole process had been very exciting, and fraught with risk. The company seemed to be constantly lurching from boom to bust month by month. Personalities were important, and the stakes were high. From this Trading Reality was born.
I am pleased with Trading Reality. I have learned something of the craft of writing since Free To Trade, and I think it shows. But I am very aware there is much more to learn.
A sad postscript is that in early 1997 Virtuality did in fact go bust. The VR market took too long to take off, some management mistakes were made and, inevitably, there wasn’t enough cash.
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