The Worlds of Android by Katrina Ostrander

The Worlds of Android Reviews

• 
  Jordan Steinhoff

  An excellent companion to the Android universe.
  
  It fleshes out the settings seen in the books, lcg and board game and gives details about the corporations, society and technology all while providing some beautiful art.
  
  If you love the Android universe this is a must have.
  
  
• 
  Keith

  In Which I Attempt to Annotate this Weirdly-Organized, Heavily-Subsectioned Monstrosity OR The Center Cannot Hold
  
  INTRODUCTION
  THE WORLDS OF ANDROID: Androids exist! It is the future!
  ARCHIVED MEMORIES: Corporations mapped brains to make androids and clones! Everyone hates them!
  ENGINEERING THE FUTURE: The company who makes androids is called Haas-Bioroid!
  Interlude: Floyd, the robot detective, discovers a murderous android.
  INFINITE FRONTIERS: HB makes many kinds of androids.
  PERSONAL EVOLUTION: Jinteki makes clones!
  Interlude: Jinteki Chairman Hiro is threatened by his grandfather.
  REPLICATING PERFECTION: Jinteki makes many kinds of clones.
  THE WORLD IS YOURS: Intro to NBN.
  Interlude: Noise hacks into something he shouldn't on HB's servers.
  THE NETWORK: A description of the internet.
  THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS: Brief description of New Angeles.
  BUILDING A BETTER TOMORROW: Intro to Weyland and the Beanstalk.
  MOVING UPWARDS: History and explanation of the Beanstalk.
  GATEWAY TO THE STARS: Anatomy of the Beanstalk.
  
  PART 1: IT IS THE FUTURE
  HAAS-BIOROID: History of the Haas family.
  BIOROIDS: A bioroid's weekly routine.
  Interlude: Cynthia Haas sees her ex-husband.
  ENGINEERING THE MODERN WORKFORCE: journalistic exposé on the bioroid phenomenon.
  Interlude: Ismina Parker runs for Congress.
  Interlude: Ulysses the bioroid is born.
  -
  JINTEKI: History of Chairman Hiro.
  ACCELERATING DEVELOPMENT/GENETIC PERSPECTIVES: Genetic technobabble.
  JINTEKI WINS CHRONOS PROTOCOL BID: Jinteki can reprogram clones in the field.
  CLONES: Advertising on Henry/Tenma/Molloy lines, as well as proper clone care.
  Interlude: A spy in Jinteki.
  -
  NBN: The company's information monopoly.
  WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW/LET US ENTERTAIN YOU: Suggestion that NBN not only controls all media, but intentionally offers 'countermedia' to offset concerns of monopoly.
  -
  THE NETWORK: History of the Blackout and rise of the Network.
  REALITY, AUGMENTED: Specifics on PADs and off-gridding.
  Interlude: Smoke breaks the Network.
  A DEEP BLACK SEA: Discussions of private and illegal networks.
  BUILDING NEURAL BRIDGES: netrunning gear & cyberspace technobabble/risks of running.
  MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF THE NET: sentient AI.
  JUST FUN 'N GAMES: You kids stop playing those compooter games!
  Interlude: Lily Lockwell gets a tip from Noise.
  -
  THE WEYLAND CONSORTIUM: Weyland owns the Beanstalk plus everything else...
  THE BOARD: ...and is likely horribly corrupt!
  THE NEW ANGELES SPACE ELEVATOR: I can't even be pithy on this one, this section is so long and is pushing the Real Science So Hard and I can't even, it is just so beyond me and possibly written by a crazy person.
  ***
  Okay, at this point I've abandoned the copious note-taking because 1) the book gets a little more clearly-organized and 2) I'm tired.
  
  Part 2: The World Changed covers the city of New Angeles -- this is like the only brief section in the book, and is complemented by a much longer and more detailed run-through in
  Shadow of the Beanstalk, the sister title. There's a decent rundown of other international superpowers (not specific enough for gaming, but enough to paint the world in broad strokes), plus a weirdly over-detailed discussion of the Moon colonies, and a slightly more balanced look at Mars. Balance of info is all over the place, really. I feel like someone different wrote each section and no one consulted with one another on the kind of information they'd been tasked to present.
  
  Part 3: People Did Not seems to have a balance of useful info that should have been covered already and really specific crunch that doesn't belong here. The first section here covers and interstellar war that's relatively essential to the setting. Then there's a long section on weaponry that feels totally out of place. More later.
  
  EDIT: Or not, but I'm pretty sure I finished it, shut up.
• 
  Owen

  If you're interested in the Android universe, the information here is interesting even though the bulk of the book reads like a Wikipedia page, or perhaps an RPG source book with no crunch.
  
  The art is gorgeous and the story fragments are excellent.
• 
  R Lobo

  Feels half way between a world-building book and a story book.
  
  If you're a casual A:NR player who enjoys the lore (like myself), you'll like a small story at the start where Noise makes a run using Femme Fatalle. There are a few such snippet through out the book, but now enough, and the rest is an attempt at a comprehensive world building that quickly becomes repetitive and even boring.
  
• 
  Mike

  A great, flavourful compendium of the setting that powers many great games from Fantasy Flight Games. Gorgeous graphics, good writing, and interesting remixes of many a cyberpunk/near future trope.
  
  Full disclaimer: yes, I play Android:Netrunner, so I am a bit biased ;D
• 
  David

  Excellent background information and art for the world of Android.
• 
  John

  I find it difficult to rate this out of 5 stars, and so I haven't. It's a textbook on the Android universe, and so it doesn't really work as something you just read cover to cover – and it strikes me that since it's been on my 'currently reading' slate for about three years now, it might be time to admit I'm probably enjoying books that actually have plots a little more than this. If I ever run an Android roleplaying game, though, this will definitely be one of my first ports of call!
• 
  Janet

  I like getting to know the Android universe and maybe hints of what's coming in ANR but this is, like, super repetitive. It's like the same history 5 times, they expect skimming and incomplete reading so it's filler.
• 
  Courtney

  This is quite the dense book. There's a ton of material here. If you're an Android: Netrunner fan then I highly recommend it. If nothing else, some of the best art used on cards is featured full-page here. The actual fiction is sometimes hit or miss. Bits are kind of dry like a history. But overall worth it for fans.
• 
  Taddow

  I really like the "Android" universe. The Blade Runner-ish feel with clones, robots, mega corps and limited stellar travel from humanity. I am a fan of the novels and this was a great source book to the setting with amazing artwork.
• 
  Kris Miller

  “Despite sounding clichéd” is the beginning of a line in the book.
  For a book on a background I like, the writing was clichéd. It took a long time to finish this book.
  Repetitive information made the read even more tedious.
• 
  Andy

  Take a deep dive into the setting of FFG's Android universe of board and role-playing games. Gorgeous art, reused from the Netrunner card game, essays on the megacity of New Angeles, the colonies on the Moon and Mars, tales of life in the new world.
• 
  Szymon Szymczyk

  Tylko dla fanów gier z serii "Android". Bardzo ładnie wydany opis świata. Tło społeczne opisane w sposób głębszy i bardziej przekonujący niż się spodziewałem. Tym większa szkoda, że brakuje czasu na granie.
• 
  Fraser Simons

  Exhaustive. I had to read it selectively because it goes into very granular detail. As far as serving as a sourcebook and an artbook, it serves both masters well. I can’t imagine needing any more detail than what’s provided and there is Plenty of art here.