Get in the game - videogame that is

Epic by Connor Kostick

Wow! Loved this one and so did loads of readers from last year - it's already gone out the door and it's only the second full day of classes (now that's saying something).

In Erik’s world, everyone clips into Epic—a computer game that is also the government and economic system. If you win in Epic, the easier things will be for you in the real world. If you lose, your real world life also suffers. The rich and powerful become more rich and powerful, while the working class has to slave away to survive both in the game and in the real world. Erik is fed up with this imbalance of power. When his father is exiled, Erik wants to change the rules of the game. Determined to defeat the committee, Erik leads his friends on a quest that, if completed, will grant them with enough riches to make them unstoppable.

I liked how this book had the combination of both video game aspects as well as role playing aspects. You choose an avatar personality for playing the game, along with various armaments and weapons. Erik has lost the game time after time as tough bomb totting character and finally chooses to go with something different - a girl, swashbuckler with a few magical powers named Cindella.

Fun stuff, even for a non-gamer like me. I look forward to the sequel Saga which will be coming to our library soon.

If you liked Epic by Connor Kostick you might also want to try:

Only you can save mankind by Terry Pratchett

From the back cover:

The alien spaceship is in his sights. His finger is on the fire button. Johnny Maxwell is about to set a new high score on the computer game Only You Can Save Mankind. Suddenly. "We wish to talk". Huh? "We surrender" The aliens aren't supposed to surrender- they're supposed to die. Now what is Johnny going to do with a fleet of alien prisoners who know their rights under the international rules of war and are demanding safe-conduct? It's hard enough trying to save Mankind from the Galactic Hordes. It's even harder to try and save the Galactic Hordes from Mankind. But it's just a game? Isn't it?

Till Next Time - Read on