Solarversia: The One Year Game by Toby Downton - Book Review

Book to be published on 31st August 2015. You can pre-order it here Solarversia Pre-order here

I received this advance copy in return for an honest review.

This book is based on the premise that by 2020 a massive online virtual reality video game would exist. Solarversia imagines a virtual world representing our own solar system. The main story of the book tells the story of Nova’s journey through the one year game in Solarversia in 2020. The more you read Solarversia, the more you learn about the virtual reality world.

Nova’s story is the biggest strength of this novel because it adds a human element about the implications of creating a virtual world. Nova has to achieve a balance between playing Solarversia and her life in the real world. Nova wants to become a game designer, which could become a reality if she were to win the 2020 year long game in Solarversia. However, across the year she realises the value of good friends and family support. Nova’s best friends are Burner and Sushi. Both her friends play a key role in this novel, though I do not want to give anything away.

The parallel story which is linked to Nova’s journey is the Holy Order’s quest to create a super artificial intelligence called MAGI. The chapters related to the Holy Order are narrated by Casey. Casey murdered his girlfriend and felt worthless and felt his life was over until he joined the Holy Order. The Holy Order being a fanatical group, commit acts of terrorism to spread fear across the world. AI plays a major role in Solarversia as AI is used in the game to generate puzzles for the 10 million players to solve.

Although prize money is a big motivator for many of the gamers (called Solos) who play Solarversia, many of them have a passion for playing the game and there is the social aspect to Solarversia. Nova chose a place on the player grid to be next to her friend Sushi, so they could be Solarversia sisters. Not only is this book well plotted, it also tries the place virtual reality in a more realistic setting. The world today is dominated by technology and social media. For better or worse the world is well connected in cyberspace. Solarversia is what one would could the next step, a visual interactive space where people can communicate with each other and play games with each other.

My opinion on the Holy Order storyline is that it was well thought out and necessary to place this book in a real life context. Cyber warfare is a modern day reality with many systems getting hacked, including online game networks. Moreover, this novel is the first book by Toby Downton, and it was the first year long game, so there is room for a sequel.

I would recommend this novel to anyone who has read Ready Player One or other similar novels. The main character Nova is likable and her being British is a nice touch as many big Science Fiction novels are written by American authors and set in the USA, so this is a nice change. There is a small romance element to this novel, but it is not overbearing or unrealistic.

Rating: 5 Stars out of 5

The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn Book 3) - Book Review

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Publisher: Gollancz

Publication Date: 2010

The third book in the epic Mistborn series, and it ends with a bang.

Synopsis

Who is the Hero of Ages?

To end the Final Empire and restore freedom, Vin killed the Lord Ruler. But as a result, the deepness - the lethal form of the ubiquitous mists - is back, along with increasingly heavy ashfalls and ever more powerful earthquakes. Humanity appears to be doomed.

Having escaped death at the climax of The Well of Ascension only by becoming a Mistborn himself, Emperor Elend Venture hopes to find clues left behind by the Lord Ruler that will allow him to save the world. Vin is consumed by guilt at having been tricked into releasing the mystic force known as Ruin from the Well. Ruin wants to end the world and stopping it seems impossible.  

From the very beginning this novel is action packed and draws you in. Whilst reading the chapter where Elend and Vin are using allomancy to fight the Koloss, I could imagine it vividly as if I was there. Sanderson's writing draws you in and then there is no going back. Good fantasy, in my opinion needs strong world building to help create the reality of this book in my head, and this book and the two before it, achieve that. 

The Hero of Ages is more than an epic conclusion to the original Mistborn trilogy; it is also a great character study. Sazed has fallen out of love with his studies because of losing someone he loved. Vin blames herself for the terror that Ruin is causing. Elend is worried about the morality and ethical issues surrounding his decision to become an absolute ruler. Spook, a former member of Kelsier's crew, who now works for Vin and Elend, has to deal with the feeling of being weak compared to the Survivor Kelsier.

I really liked this book a lot and I feel it resolves most of the mysteries outlined in the first two books. The story is well written and certainly makes me want to try reading more novels by Brandon Sanderson.

Rating 9.7/10 

Out of this World Book Challenge

There is a lot of negativity in the world today, so I am challenging myself to a unique challenge. The challenge is to read books that take me out of the world and help change the way I view the world. This involves several reading challenges.

1. Read a fantasy book.
2. Read a classic piece of literature written before 1900.
3. Read a classic piece of literature written before 1800.
4. Read a book by an author that I have not read.
5. Read poetry daily.
6. Read a book that I have not read in a while.
7. Read a Science Fiction book.
8. Read a book that was translated into my native language.

The idea of this challenge is to wider my horizons about the world. As a bonus challenge I also intend to read the diary of Anne Frank to get an insight into the cruel reality of living in fear of your life.

I hope to finish this challenge no later than late August, so I better get on reading then. 

The Art of Storytelling

Last night I watched a documentary about the history of video games. The documentary did more than just chart the history of video games but it explored individual elements. One particular element of modern gaming being story. Games like Skyrim, Halo and many more, are very much story driven games.

As humans we have always sought escapism, due to the horrors of reality. As intelligent being we comprehend the world more and have far more complex thoughts. We like to try to escape anxiety by taking our minds out of this reality and into an imagined reality. In Ancient Greece you had the Greek myths and Homer's epic poems telling the story of Gods and heroes. The Enlightenment and the industrial revolution led to the growth of Romanticism and the human desire to re-connect with nature.

Tolkien's Lord of the Rings was a novel for lovers of pure escapism. Beautiful landscape and forests were described by Tolkien, which for me and many other readers helped ease my mind. Is the Lord of the Rings fantasy or is it a representation of the old world; a world governed by folklore, belief and love for nature. Looking past the orcs and trolls and one can see that the Lord of the Rings is much more than fantasy.

Books have been a popular source for escapism for over 200 years, though the 20th century is more significant due to higher levels of literacy across the social spectrum in the developed world. Movies have co-existed with books for a century, but now the video game industry has become a bestselling medium to tell stories. Moreover, video games have got more interactive, with the option to make decisions that effect the story.

RPGs are primarily story based but other genres of video games are starting to rely on a creation of a fictional world with history to create an amazing game. There is world building in games like Final Fantasy, Elder Scrolls, Halo and Mass Effect. I have not played all these games but I am aware of what game developers have achieved. Moreover, despite fears the video games would prove too addictive, there are many people who enjoy playing video games but also are avid readers of books.

Book sales for books aimed at younger readers are growing and the growing booktube community shows the extent of the popularity of YA fiction. Human imagination is being stimulated more than possibly ever before, so there is hope that solutions to the world's problems could be found and that human society could function better.