Terry Schott – The Game is Life Book 1: The Game

Well, recently I finished this book. I get deals from BookBub sent to my e-mail and whenever I see a book that is free for downloading, I read the description and when I read this one, I was hooked. Thing is, I have another book that I want to finish, but well, this one took precedent.

The genre of the book is, in my humble opinion, very hard to pinpoint. I’d say that it is the opposite of dystopia but not utopia. Which in itself is a bit of a mindfuck.

Most of the book takes place in a virtual reality called EARTH. And yes, it is an acronym. Only, the full name was only mentioned about twice in the entire book so I don’t remember it.

The premise is that kids in the real world are educated through the virtual reality where they live full lives. The first five plays are free and then they have to buy any additional ones with credits earned through playing. They can also use the credits to purchase different upgrades like long life, charisma and many others.

Zach is the main character and during this book, he plays his final game as he is nearing his eighteenth birthday after which he will “graduate” from playing and enter the real world as a productive member of the society. He did a lot of careful planning with his team and sponsors. But when he enters the game, a wrench is thrown into all the planes. A wrench in the form of Zach’s (ex)-girlfriend Alexandra.

Alexandra lost everything in her last play but has been awarded a free playthrough for the thirty-year anniversary of the game. Her goal? To treat the game itself as a game. Which may seem difficult to achieve considering that when a player enters the game, they forget everything about the real world. But Alexandra manages this even without her memory of the real world.

When she and Zach meet inside the game, they strike a friendship and later start dating. They both believe that their lives inside the game are indeed a virtual reality and later they amass a following of people which leads to Zach being assassinated in-game with a special weapon that is supposed to kill you even in the real life.

And if that is not enough, well, let’s just say that the game itself is sentient. And names Sylvia. Well, the game… More along the lines of the AI that more or less runs the game.

The whole book ends with the Game’s creator being told to not unplug Zach from the game as he is not yet dead and done for.

To express my feelings about the book in a single word: Awesome! It is written in an easy and flowing style and I was hooked after the first page. Which makes it my kind of a book. If I can’t get behind a book after the first three pages or so, I don’t consider it a good book. So this would be considered a great book. Only thing is, I got this one for free, but when I went to hunt down the following books, well… Headdesk.

Six and a half dollars! Are they fucking crazy? Guess I’ll be doing a bit more thorough search of the internet to see if there is a possibility of a free download. I’m sure I’ll find one.

But other than this little problem, I definitely recommend the book to all the ones who liked the Divergent series, the Giver movie or even the freaking Hunger Games. Heck, Star Trek fans might like it! And those who loved the Sword Art Online anime will lap it up and beg for more!

Brody’s Ghost books 1-3

So, after some time, I finally got my hands on Mark Crilley’s manga – Brody’s Ghost. I still haven’t read the fourth book, but the first three are great! Brody is an outcast of sorts and then he meets Talia – a Ghost. And he’s the only one who can see her. They become friends after some time and Brody trains his supernatural powers with this old grumpy ghost from a shrine.

All this while there is a murderer who kills young ladies and leaves a penny on their persons. And Talia cannot go to heaven till the murderer is captured.

And somehow, Brody gets a vision of his former girlfriend being the next target and dying on a rainy night. So, he starts stalking her. And she explodes on him. And then he finds something about how Talia died and that it might all be connected together.

And I love it all! So, Mark also wrote the Miki Falls series (Four books), but I didn’t read it. Somehow, it seemed like it would be too girly. And I don’t like girly. Seriously, I don’t mind Talia, but other than that, there are very little female protagonists that I like. One more exception might be Belatrix Lestrange… But that’s neither here nor there.

So, I love the way the books are drawn and all the details. Oh, and the fact that the main main character is a guy is a big plus! I don’t however like Brody’s ex-girlfriend. She’s so not likable. And I wouldn’t mind if the murderer got her. Only, it would be bad for Brody so I guess she can live… I don’t like her though. Never will.

See ya.

The Hunger Games – Chatching Fire

Hi,
Just yesterday, I finally saw the second Hunger games movie. And, I have to say that I liked the first one better. It was somehow a complete chapter. This one has too much of an open ending. Yeah, I know there will probably be another one, but still… Second movies in trilogies (tetralogies) are usually the worst. And I think this one is not an exception.

So, Katnis is elected to be part of some kind of special round of Hunger games. Okay. Understandable, since she’s the only female to ever win in district 12. There are revolutions and somehow the one who organized the hunger games is part of that. Yes, it’s complicated. And frankly, I didn’t even try to understand it all.

 

Another thing is I don’t like the mockingjay. Sure, it is the symbol of teh revolution or something. And there is some mysterious district 13 and waht not, but seriously, nightingale would have been better. I like nightingale better. However, if I were to choose a bird, I’d go with the Raven.

Well… That’s beside the point. One thing’s for sure. Do not try to watch it before watching the first movie. I think it would be too confusing.

All in all, it was kinda a dissapointment. Not completely, but still… Second movie and all that. Unlike the czech movie Babovřesky (second movie), this one was not better than the first, but worst. With Babovřesky, the second was as good as the first. I can’t say it was better, it was too different, but it was enjoyable.

Okay, enough of this. I’m getting sidetracked!

See ya.