Epic

by Conor Kostick

Overview

#WELCOME TO EPIC: PRESS START TO PLAY#.

On New Earth, Epic is not just a computer game, it's a matter of life and death. If you lose, you lose everything; if you win, the world is yours for the taking.

Seeking revenge for the unjust treatment of his parents, Erik subverts the rules of the game, and he and his friends are drawn into a world of power-hungry, dangerous players. Now they must fight the ultimate masters of the game — The Committee. But what Erik doesn't know is that The Committee has a sinister, deadly secret, and challenging it could destroy the whole world of Epic.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780862788773
Publisher:	Irish American Book Company
Publication date:	11/25/2004
Series:	The Avatar Chronicles , #1
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	186,798
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x (d)
Lexile:	810L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Conor Kostick is a writer and historian living in Dublin. As a novelist he 'was awarded the 'Farmleigh 'writer's residency for the summer of 2010 'and a place on the nominees list for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2012 and 2013. 'At their 2009 awards, the Reading Association of Ireland gave him the Special Merit Award in recognition of his significant contribution to writing for children in Ireland'.

As an historian, Conor Kostick holds a PhD and a gold medal from Trinity College Dublin. He won 'first prize in the 2001 Dublinia Medieval Essay Competition, and has held fellowships from the Irish Research Council and the University of Nottingham. In 2013, he was awarded a Marie Curie research grant from the EU.

Conor was twice chairperson of the Irish Writers' Union.

Editorial Reviews

Irish author Kostick's powerful debut imagines an agrarian world where violence is illegal, except within a massive computer game that provides the economic and governmental structure for society. When they're not working in the salt mines of New Earth, everyone spends their time in the online game, Epic, accumulating resources and completing quests. Erik is frustrated both with the game and with his father, Harald, who refuses to play. Harald does eventually appear in the arena to demand more solar panels for his community, but his appearance unearths a secret in his past, and he is sent into exile. Erik finds a loophole that allows him to defeat a red dragon, making him one of the wealthiest players in the game; suddenly he is a threat to Central Allocations, a team of powerful players that are the world's de facto rulers, even though they do not fully understand the system they are manipulating. As the game becomes self-aware, there are whispers of a revolution among those who would use the game's technology for conversations and elections rather than endless fighting. Kostick manages to aim his allegory at two separate targets: the pointless wastefulness of a government too big to correct its course or even know its true nature, and, on a slightly more trivial note, the waste of time gamers spend in their online "second lives." The elegant conclusion will linger with readers. Ages 12-up. (Apr.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Publishers Weekly

Gr 8 & Up - Where fantasy and video games meet, there is Epic. In a society where violence is banned, people must settle their disputes in Epic, at the same time that they are trying to stay alive in order to accumulate wealth and status in both the game world and in reality. Impulsively, Erik creates his new Epic character to be female, and spends all his allocated start-up funds on beauty and attitude for Cindella rather than weapons, but something tells him that this is the way to go. She and his friends' characters use a succession of unusual methods to save Erik's father from exile and to challenge Central Allocations, the representatives who run the game, and thus, the society. Believable and realistic characters take readers through a thought-provoking story that juxtaposes a simple life working the land with the technology of a society simultaneously operating in a virtual world. Frequent turns of events that teens will know are coming, but not exactly when and how they will play out, keep the story moving along at a steady pace. There is intrigue and mystery throughout this captivating page-turner. Veins of moral and ethical social situations and decisions provide some great opportunities for discussion. Well written and engaging, Epicwill easily draw in avid readers and video-game players. Appealing to fans of both fantasy and science fiction, it is destined to see limited shelf time.-Dylan Thomarie, Johnstown High School, NY

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

School Library Journal

Kostick offers an engaging examination of an agrarian society whose economy and legal system operate inside a planet-wide computer game. New Earth has little technology-people ride in donkey-pulled carts and drink from clay mugs-except the vast, sophisticated computer game brought to their planet centuries ago. Physical violence is banned between real people, and all forms of commerce and justice take place between characters inside Epic. Fourteen-year-old Erik is spurred into action when Central Allocations, the ruling power, exiles his father for an old crime (a single moment of justified violence). Erik creates a new Epic character, Cindella, and takes her along nontraditional paths inside the game: Rather than drudge for years accruing tiny bits of money like his friends, spirited Cindella attempts world-changing adventures. Kostick's clunky phrasing and tendency to explain what he's already demonstrated are outweighed by the genuinely ambivalent relationship between humans and Epic. How far can this game go, and who will be served? The thought-provoking ending is oddly beautiful. (Science fiction. YA)

Kirkus Reviews

The action is nonstop, and the story flows seamlessly...A surefire winner. —Booklist, starred review

A captivating page-turner. —School Library Journal, starred review

From the Publisher