Fighting Dreamer

The world of Erebos is amazing, full with challenges, quests and tasks. It's also terrifying and definitely not for the faint of heart. I mean it was one thing reading about it, but I'd never ever want to experience it myself. At the same time, I totally get how addictive it is. It's a multiplayer online role playing game, but looks so very real. And before you know it Erebos forces itself into your real life. It becomes the most important part of your life and you would do anything to stay in. In Erebos you could become someone entirely different than your real life self. But what happens in Erebos doesn't always stay in Erebos - it effects your real life, the real you.

Nick is a pretty normal high school kid. He has friends, a crush on a girl and is kind of a jock. He is not especially brave, clever or anything, but still likeable enough. (Well, there was this one point where he really annoyed me, but he got himself together.) Nick gets influenced by Erebos and starts to become someone else. And he almost does something terrible. He stops, but that's not enough, he has to get rid of this destructive addiction for good and stop Erebos. But to do that, first he has to find out the real goal of the game. And for that he needs help.

The Messenger in the game was one of the scariest villains I've ever come across.  And he wasn't even real. Well, he was real enough for the players, for me. I was scared out of my wits for the life of the players.

Tea addict Victor was my favorite, but you have to wait quite some time to meet him in the book, so be patient. To talk about the girl characters as well, I liked Emily, and it would have been interesting to see the story from her point of view too, not just from Nick's.

The story is set in contemporary London, but about half of it takes place in Erebos, the game. Erebos is written by a German author, and I read the English translation provided by Netgalley. And maybe that's the reason why Erebos doesn't have that British "feel" to it. We could have been in any city, anywhere in the world. But that didn't bothered me at all, as the game world was fantastically built, and that's what was really important storywise.

And while I liked the real life parts of the plot a little better, than the action packed game world, I really enjoyed this whole adventure.

The red cover, with that one creepy eye is perfect for the chilling atmosphere of this book. 

I'd recommend Erebos, if you like computer games (even if only reading about them), puzzles and thrilling action with a little bit of romance on the side. Or if you liked Ready Player One. 

Title: Erebos 

Author: Ursula Poznanski 

Blurb from Goodreads: 

An intelligent computer game with a disturbing agenda.  

When 16-year-old Nick receives a package containing the mysterious computer game Erebos, he wonders if it will explain the behavior of his classmates, who have been secretive lately. Players of the game must obey strict rules: always play alone, never talk about the game, and never tell anyone your nickname.   

Curious, Nick joins the game and quickly becomes addicted. But Erebos knows a lot about the players and begins to manipulate their lives. When it sends Nick on a deadly assignment, he refuses and is banished from the game.

Now unable to play, Nick turns to a friend for help in finding out who controls the game. The two set off on a dangerous mission in which the border between reality and the virtual world begins to blur. This utterly convincing and suspenseful thriller originated in Germany, where it has become a runaway bestseller.   Ursula Poznanski is an award-winning children’s author. She lives in Vienna, Austria. 

Published:

 January 19th 2012 by Annick Press

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