Erebos

Starred review from March 19, 2012
The lines between reality and fantasy blur in this stunning thriller, originally published in Germany. In London, a new computer game is making the rounds. Called Erebos, it's deceptively immersive, insidiously addictive, and so complex that it might even be alive. It insists on absolute secrecy and discretion from its players, rewards and punishes in strange ways, and recruits through word-of-mouth. When Nick Dunmore begins playing, he's quickly sucked in, learning the bizarre rules and advancing rapidly. However, he's forced to question his dedication after the game starts to exert its influence on the real world, asking him to perform "missions" with potentially hazardous consequences. When he and several other players investigate who or what is behind Erebos, they unravel a surprisingly personal vendetta at the heart of the game, driving players toward its ultimate, violent purpose. As the narrative moves fluidly between the real world and the game, Poznanski plays with expectations and perception, incorporating SF, mystery, and ghost story elements, along with solid characterizations. The result is a prescient page-turner and a provocative, believable portrayal of the seductive world of virtual gaming. Ages 12âup. Agent: AVA International.

July 1, 2012

Gr 8 Up-Students at Nick's London high school are behaving strangely. They look exhausted, pass strange packages to one another, and maintain a general air of mystery. The 16-year-old is dying to know their secret, and soon enough he does: they are all immersed in a multiplayer virtual-reality video game called Erebos. Its rules are not unlike those of Fight Club: you do not talk about it outside of the game itself; if you do, you will be kicked out for good. So when Erebos begins to make strange demands on its players, asking them to carry out violent acts in real life, the addicted players generally do as they are told without speaking to one another about their actions. Even though Nick becomes as absorbed in the world of Erebos as other players in his school, he eventually realizes how dangerous it is and that he must help stop it. Descriptions of the in-game action are exciting, but the ending, when the mystery of the game's genesis is solved, is a letdown. This book has some wooden dialogue and forced-sounding slang, both of which are likely issues with the translation. Nonetheless, it's a solid purchase where gaming is popular-in other words, most libraries.-Hayden Bass, Seattle Public Library, WA

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2012
Grades 9-12 The first rule of Erebos: don't talk about Erebos. Sixteen-year-old London student Nick observes the DVDs being secretly passed around school before he finally is given one. It's a computer gamea particularly immersive onein which you create an avatar and navigate a Tolkienlike, monster-filled world in the hopes of making it to the Inner Circle; the avatar will then take on the chief villain, Ortolan. Because the rules prevent speaking about the game, Nick wonders which characters (Blackspell, BloodWork, Xohoo) represent his actual classmates. Once you die in Erebos, that's it, but a mysterious game character will give you a chance to continue if you perform a task in the real word. Sometimes it's weird but seemingly innocent (Nick has to take out a girl he doesn't like), and other times deadly (poisoning a teacher). Though overlong, Poznanski's thriller effectively plays off the difficulty of balancing online and real-life personae, and the all-too-possible idea that gamers are being secretly shaped into an unwitting army is indeed a scary one.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)