© Klaus de Geus

publisher's reader Afonso Teixeira Filho

review the author and the publisher’s team

ilustrações Bruno Romão

cover design Teco de Souza

interior art Teco de Souza

printed by Forma Certa

Referência ABNT 6023

DE GEUS, Klaus. Invidia and the drawn sword: gateway to the land of Stauron. São Paulo: Musa Editora, 2023.

Dados Internacionais de Catalogação na Publicação (cip) Bibliotecária Aline Graziele Benitez CRB-1/3129 

D317i de Geus, Klaus 

        Invidia and the drawn sword: gateway to the land of Stauron / Klaus de Geus ; Illustrations Bruno Romão. - São Paulo: Musa Editora, 2023. 

        274 p.; 14x21cm. 

        ISBN: 978-6586629-15-6 

        1. Ficção científica - Literatura infantojuvenil. 2. Realidade virtual. 3. Jogos educativos. 4. Astronomia. I. Romão, Bruno. II Título: portal para a Terra de Stauron

cdd-028-5 

1. Science fiction - Youth and young adult literature

2. Virtual reality

3. Educational games

4. Astronomy

Based on his research history in virtual reality, combined with his taste for astronomy, Klaus created a universe that, based on a coherent evolution of technology, portrays the virtualization of most social processes. In this futuristic vision, many basic activities take place through virtual environments, whose technology was popularized and adopted by essential sectors of society, such as education. Starring four friends driven by an incessant curiosity and unhappy with the trivialization of social relations, the work illustrates a journey in the search for new values for their lives, bringing important questions to the standardization of academic teaching and other aspects of society.

Lucas Ludgero de Geus

Lawyer

Invidia and the Drawn Sword is an interesting fiction book, which takes place in the year 2054, in a world surrounded by virtual reality. It's a book about education, virtual reality games, astronomy, and friendship. It takes the reader to travel through virtual worlds with the four protagonists, the four friends Hyperion, Cygnix, Enceladus and Aldebaran. They study at the same school and grade level and, through missions to the Solar System, their adventures awaken the reader's interest in astronomy. In the virtual world, they explore planets and their satellites. On one of these trips, they find the “drawn sword”, meaning a sword out of its scabbard. When the object is found, other virtual worlds open up, enabling new discoveries, which reflect and influence the real life of the four friends, making them more creative.

Ian Pellegrini de Geus

Student

Lucas and Ian, sons of the autor, were the first to read the book. Lucas, born in 1990, read it and made valuable remarks. Ian, born in 2005, read the book with his father and made remarks appropriate to his age, for example, "I like the virtual world more than the real one".

I began to write this story as if it would be read by my two sons, Lucas and Ian, whose ages differ in fifteen years. I knew I had a big challenge ahead, but I intended to teach them some thoughts related to the principles that I consider basic and essential for life, for our attitudes towards specific situations, focusing especially on education and professional life. Although I do not use computer games, perhaps a simple matter of lack of time, I feel connected to the subject due to some research projects that I developed with other colleagues and my postgraduate students.

I consider computer games an important tool for the practical teaching and to improve the understanding of some phenomena as well as the theoretical context that rules them. There is nothing better than seeing a phenomenon happening to absorb its functioning and its nature. However, one cannot overlook the complementary learning methods, whose mechanism is extremely complex. As the technology develops, human beings should always exercise their critical thinking. We will never reach a point where effort, whether physical or mental, is not necessary any longer.

To interweave the virtual world with the real world seemed something sensible. The most important principles I want to pass in this story are shown in the virtual world, in what is now known as the metaverse, but the gap is open to the characters to seek a parallel in the real world. More than that, the virtual experiments provide new insights to the characters, which alter their attitude in their real world, particularly in school.

The metaverse described in this narrative is a “persistent” virtual world or, in other words, it is bound to time. That means time keeps running when you're away, just like it does in the real world. In 2054, technology provides the metaverse with fully sensory and interactional experiences. The inclusion of the senses of smell and touch practically nullifies, in sensory terms, the difference between real and virtual objects. In other words, the metaverse and the physical reality are just two places in the same world.

In the narrative, when the protagonists are transported to a virtual world that can only be accessed from the virtual reality itself, but not directly from the real world, a special case arises that could be referred to as “hypermetaverse” and that would best be translated as "a metaverse of another metaverse".

I never had the purpose of open wide, while writing this book, the principles I intended to explore. My intention was to incite readers to discover them for themselves because then these principles can be not only discovered, but also absorbed. It is obvious that the narrative is a parallel to events that I consider real, an allegory of some principles in which I believe.

The afterword of this book contains what would be an introduction or even a kind of contextualization of the narrative, with a forecast of how the learning tools in the year 2054 could be like. This part of the text was purposely placed at the end of the book so that the target audience, namely children and young people, would not lose interest in the story from the beginning. It is more aimed at adults, including in terms of language. It may also be interesting when the story is told to children by adults, and thus more detailed explanations can be given to them as they get interested or when it shows to be convenient for a better understanding.

An example of this aspect is the issue of how virtual environments worked. Throughout the text, nothing is mentioned about how characters initiate and finish virtual sessions. Therefore, to the reader who does not resort to the explanations presented in this afterword, this and some other technological aspects remain a mystery.

There is also, right after the afterword, a glossary containing the terms of astronomy and the names used in the story together with their origin and meaning.

The intercalation between what happens in the metaverse and what happens in the real world can also arouse different reactions. Children are likely to enjoy the story of the virtual world as it is a free world for the imagination, while the story that occurs in the real world speaks more about the impact of virtual experiences in everyday life and, in particular, in a school 

Klaus de Geus was born in Londrina, in 1962, and lives in Curitiba, Brazil. He is an electrical engineer from Universidade Federal do Paraná, MSc from the University of Manchester and PhD from the University of Sheffield, both in England, in the area of computer science. Among his R&D projects, he started a line focused on virtual reality for professional purposes, exploring the potential of applying gamification and virtual reality technologies in training and learning. This was an additional stimulus in writing this book. He is the author of “Mentes criativas projetos inovadores: a arte de empreender P&D e inovação” (free translation: “Creative minds, innovative projects: the art of undertaking R&D and innovation”) and “Rumo à terra do sol: leituras meditadas da Bíblia” (free translation: “Towards the land of the sun: meditated readings of the Bible”), both published by Musa Editora.

The narrative of this book intersperses two environments, that of the real world and that of the virtual world. The real world is characterized by aspects of education and the school environment. In 2054, teaching is heavily based on virtual reality technology and gamification (use of game techniques in other contexts). The four protagonists are influenced by their experiences in the informal virtual world and, thus, come to value creativity, experimentation and critical thinking. As they move away from the expected stance of simple receivers of knowledge, they begin to experience certain adverse circumstances.

The narrative of this book intersperses two environments, that of the real world and that of the virtual world. In the virtual world, the four protagonists create a virtual environment, whose setting is the Solar System. The goal is to explore the celestial bodies that orbit the sun. After exploring a certain orbit, they must find an object that contains a water molecule. This is the mechanism used to progress in the game, moving from an inner orbit to the nearest outer orbit.

When they were in the orbit of the asteroids, they find an object similar to what they were looking for. However, the object, instead of taking them to the next level, Jupiter's orbit, takes them to a new virtual world, called Stauron, which can only be accessed through the virtual world itself. In other words, there is no mechanism that allows direct access, from the real world, to this virtual world. Stauron's mysteries are gradually revealed to them, making them understand a new dimension, which also influences their real life and, in particular, their school life.

Ana Cândida Costa (Musa Editora)

Original posts in Portuguese - free translation into English:

Surprising book that innovates in the components of the plot, going from real to virtual with lots of adventure.

Invidia means envy. Two virtual worlds that antagonize each other. Stauron builds and Manipul sabotages. The boys study in real life, but discover an incredible new virtual world.

This book is a lyrical adventure until the apotheosis before the discovery of the great Planet. @klausdegeus designed his portal for 2054, but the pandemic reorganized virtual teaching in 2021, making creative solutions urgent. The Portal to the Land of Stauron opened first.

@klausdegeus wrote a very current, surprising, innovative book in terms of science fiction for children and teenagers, to the liking of educators, whether parents or teachers. Read to find out.

This book opens a portal from the real lives of four boys to virtual reality. Science fiction work for children (they always reach), pre-teens, young people and adults. Predicted for 2054, the plot shows that, in fact, all these virtual adventures start to happen today, in teaching and stimulating creativity.

@klausdegeus has extensive experience in the university-company relationship and as a fiction writer in the area. In his imagination, he travels with all scientific and artistic reason. He writes books with the clock ahead.

I dedicate this book to my two sons Lucas and Ian, to my two nieces Lis and Paula and to my two nephews Max and Luca. That the next generation be driven by curiosity and daring to surpass its own expectations.

It is difficult to list all those who, in one way or another, gave their contributions so that this book could be materialized. I wrote the book thinking about a legacy for my two children, Lucas Ludgero de Geus and Ian Pellegrini de Geus. As parents, we always want our children to absorb the concepts we teach them. I thank God for their lives and for the opportunity I have to attempt to leave them this legacy.

Mathematical discussions with two friends, Roberto Mário Ziller and Adonai Schlup Sant'Anna, allowed me to refine the presentation of an example of creative solution to a real mathematical problem. These discussions not only provided important contributions to this work but also gave us great pleasure. Thank you!

Debates on virtual reality and games with fellow researchers from the OneReal Research Group also contributed greatly to the writing of the book, especially Sergio Scheer, Awdry Feisser Miquelin and Walmor Cardoso Godoi.

The supervision of my doctoral students Ricardo César Ribeiro dos Santos and Alexandre Pereira de Faria, members of the OneReal Research Group, was also a great motivation.

I thank my friend Marcio Manoel Polonio Machado for his encouragement and assistance in the efforts to make the publication of this work possible.

I thank Luís Gustavo Severiano for the exchange of ideas and encouragement.

I received important opinions from people who enjoy fiction literature. With my friend “Meneer” Marcelo Rodrigues Bessa, I had conversations whose cultural value surpasses any attempt of measurement. I also had the pleasure of exchanging ideas about fiction with Marcelo Canestraro Nadolny and Fabiano Ari Locatelli.

I thank my relatives, friends and colleagues who have always listened to me and encouraged me. The artistic atmosphere experienced with my friends of "Ideias Humanas" (Human Ideas) played an important role in the creative process.

I remember, in particular, the “tertulianos”, present for so long and so intensely, sometimes distant, but always present, Markus Busch, Paulo Sergio da Silva, David Fehrmann, João A P Vaz de Lima (Toto), Udo Siebert, Ibanor Gasparotto (Iba) and Marcelo de Oliveira (Pepe), because the concepts and ideas that surround our atmosphere are also part of what I am and what I write.

I thank Lucas for reading the preliminary version of the book and for giving me important hints.

I thank Ian for being the first one to get to know the story during our bedtime readings.

I shall also thank my wife Mônica Sant'Anna Pellegrini de Geus, for once again supporting me on a journey with undefined destination.

The quality of the text would not be the same if it weren’t for the impeccable review performed by Afonso Teixeira Filho, to whom I am immensely grateful.

The brilliant illustrations by Bruno Romão play an important role in the setting of the book. He managed to translate the ideas very well using visual language.

Likewise, the design made by Teco de Souza represents a complementary language whose objective is to lead the reader to an essentially sensory experience.

I thank Musa Editora, represented by Ana Cândida Costa, for once more believing in a project outside the mainstream and for supporting conceptual decisions at the expense of marketing benefits.