William Sims Bainbridge situates his new volume at the intersection of religion and the culture of virtual worlds that exist within online games. Given the growth in online gaming—in the number of games, players, and detailed narrative worlds—this is a timely treatment, significant to the growing literature on virtual worlds, gaming, and the more established sociological study of religion. Before considering virtual worlds, Bainbridge in chapter 2 establishes the real-world context of gaming and religion by overviewing the political sparring over research funding and the culture war over religious values.

Within this sociocultural context, Bainbridge examines how online games co-opt, create, or catalyze religious traditions, particularly those of more ancient and magical varieties. He establishes from the outset that the seriousness of gaming...