I thought this was translated when I first read it - the language was clunky and simplistic. But, reading the others in the series and seeing no translator credited, I guess Kostick just... really improved his writing style between now and Saga (either that or he was trying to convey the image that New Earth is pretty simple and rustic, which is pretty advanced)?

The plot is great - I love all kind of books about virtual reality and AI and revenge quests, so this was right down my alley. ( )

On New Earth, violence is illegal. Epic (a MMORPG=Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) was created for people to clip up, enter the world of Epic, and take out their agression on fictional characters rather than doing harm to a real person. Life is hard for all but the uber rich and central committee. Erik's family suffers, especially since his father committed an act of violence in defense of his wife, but Erik makes a bold move in Epic, choosing to be an very rare character (swashbuckler) and a woman, spending all of his points on beauty, rather than weapons or protection. He and his friends score some amazing victories against the central committee and then slaying a dragon, drawing attention from the wicked elements of the central committee.
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LitRPG isn’t one that I’ve been involved with much, but after this wonderful read, I’m definitely going to seek out more work in this genre.

In Epic, we see a society that has been shaped by VR. Instead of conflict in the real world, issues are settled with fights in VR. Everything is settled in this manner from little scrapes to problems that are much bigger. Like any game, there are characters who are stronger and those who are weaker. When someone dies, they must start all over. With this basic computer game ideas, we explore the politics of the government over this society and see the way that corruption effects every facet of this world. There are plenty of twists and turns and lots of suspense.

It has the same kind of adventure vibe that Ready Player One had so if you were a fan of that, you will eat this book up.

Narration was beautiful, bringing life to each individual character in intriguing ways.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.
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A AY group of teens destroy the regime, via the world spanning game EPIC by which it's oligarchs are selected. ++for yet another red haired, green eyed heroine, though in this case she is a boy's player character. More positively involved adults than usual for a YA. ( )

"A video game is the main focus of everyone’s life including the adults."