that was a fun read! and I imagine that if this book had existed when I was a teenager i would've been absolutely obsessed. It took me a little bit to get into the whole "young adult" style at the beginning, because it is after all quite juvenile (you know, high school crushes and cliques and all that). But that didn't make it less enjoyable. I truly understand the desperation of wanting to play a game so badly that you literally stop living (like when the sims 3 came out and I RAN home to be able to play for a few minutes) there were points where I also was holding my breath because the stakes were literally that high (no spoilers, but something about tea). Really enjoyed it.

I thought the general idea was appealing, but got lost in the details of each of the individual characters, their roles, descriptions, armor, levels, etc. I found the minor role of Nick's real life to be more interesting then trying to read a story about a boy's experience within a virtual reality game that has a creepy real-life crossover. Nick's tasks from the game and how well he carries them out determine what rewards and improvements he receives in the game. It started out okay, but I lost interest by page 125. A No vote for me.

5 out of 5 stars

This one’s a reread for me, because I wanted to refresh my memory of it before the sequel comes out. Alas, Erebos 2 is only out in the original German right now, and I fear that an English translation isn’t even planned yet. Last time it took 2 years for an English translation to come out, so it might be a while this time, too. :(

But this is one of my favorite books, honestly. I’m a sucker for anything involving gaming, and the plot of this book is really unique. It’s about a video game that starts spreading around at this high school in London, but everything about the game is cloaked in secrecy and intrigue. It’s not a game anyone has every heard of, and no one at school will talk about it out in the open, so our protagonist, Nick, doesn’t even know what’s going on until he finally gets his hands on a copy from a classmate. The tagline on the cover is, “It’s a game. It watches you,” because the game knows your name, what you like, your secrets, etc. And at a certain point, the game starts giving you weird tasks to do in the “real world,” and things start to get really eerie from there.

Gah, it’s such a good book! One of those books that lives up to my original opinion of it on the reread. I don’t love the protagonist, Nick, very much, but the side characters were great, and I think Nick serves his purpose as our vessel into the story. You don’t have to love a protagonist to love a book, and plus, dude gets addicted to the game, and addiction brings out the worst in people. I can forgive him his faults.

But yes, highly, highly recommend this book. I can’t wait for the sequel! Maybe I should just learn German in the meantime…

(Cross-posted to Youth Book Review)

Die Geschichte war leider sehr sehr unrealistisch. Das ist ja prinzipiell OK wenn es Absicht ist, hier merkt man aber dass die Geschichte eben realistisch sein will. Das Verhalten der Charaktere ist teilweise einfach völlig unpassend, selbst für Teenager ist das Urteilsvermögen teilweise unterirdisch und es wirkt so, als ob die Nebencharaktere alle kein Leben außerhalb von ihren Auftritten im Buch haben, keine Eltern die sich um sie kümmern und merken wenn sie der Schule fern bleiben etc.
Am schlimmsten fand ich aber das Spiel. Sowas kann nichtmal ein großes professionelles Entwickler Team mit ordentlichem Budget programmieren. Ein Spiel, dass ohne Internet Verbindung derartig differenziert und klar auf eingetippte Fragen antworten kann, so dass es wirkt wie eine Unterhaltung mit einem realen Mensch, wäre eine richtige Sensation, an dem Punkt sind wir noch lange nicht. Eine KI mag zwar schon viel schaffen, aber eine entsprechende KI mit den notwendigen Daten auf eine DVD zu packen ist utopisch. Ich hätte da eine Auflösung erwartet die das irgendwie sinnvoll erklärt, aber die tatsächliche Auflösung ist einfach nur völlig enttäuschend.

Ich hatte beim lesen ein wenig das Gefühl, dass hier die Mutter von einem Teenager, der für ihren Geschmack zu viel Computer spielt, mit minimalem Rechercheaufwand versucht hat, ein Buch zu schreiben, dass die Gefahren von Videospielen zeigen soll, aber leider keine Ahnung hat was ein Videospiel tatsächlich zu leisten vermag und wie viel Arbeit die Entwicklung von einem kleinen Pixel Spielchen schon bedeutet.

This book is AWESOME
It's such an intriguing story. It's creepy, realistic, interesting and so so so wonderful.
The game can really freak you out, but at the same time it's so appealing because "it knows things".
It kept me hooked right from the beginning to its very end.
The action builds up gradually, and the game starts spilling over and intertwining with real life in a very scary but also very intriguing manner. It exerts strong control over the gamers while leaving them with an illusion of free choice. And in the end, everything ties together so beautifully.
5/5 stars
Would recommend for absolutely EVERYONE, gamers and non-gamers alike.