thomcat's review
2.0
The main characters hack into a virtual reality role-playing game. The narrator is a teen boy whose mom is in the game also. Utilizes aspects of dungeons & dragons, but is less PC than most books of the era. I understand a sequel, released 12 years later, is much better.
This book is one of the early examples of LitRPG, where characters enter (or are trapped in) an MMO, and that's probably how it ended up on my reading list. It is also the first Vivian Vande Velde I have read, and was apparently written for the young adult market. I will at least read the later book, to see what some of the hype is about.
This book is one of the early examples of LitRPG, where characters enter (or are trapped in) an MMO, and that's probably how it ended up on my reading list. It is also the first Vivian Vande Velde I have read, and was apparently written for the young adult market. I will at least read the later book, to see what some of the hype is about.
vermidian's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
So I read these out of order and started with Heir Apparent. Heir Apparent is fantastic and I reread it recently. So, considering I liked book 2 so much, I was excited to backtrack and read the first book. All of them are separate stories in the same world so it wouldn't be too difficult to just jump in.
This book was NOT what I'd hoped for. It felt like every D&D group I'd ever avoided and the plot was honestly kind of predictable, jumping from trope to trope. The characters were basic and frustratingly toxic children. Maybe that was some of the point, but it was not fun to read. I will not be giving this book a reread, even though Heir Apparent has earned a permanent place on my bookshelf.
This book was NOT what I'd hoped for. It felt like every D&D group I'd ever avoided and the plot was honestly kind of predictable, jumping from trope to trope. The characters were basic and frustratingly toxic children. Maybe that was some of the point, but it was not fun to read. I will not be giving this book a reread, even though Heir Apparent has earned a permanent place on my bookshelf.
kerost's review
3.0
I think the other two books in this series are stronger, but if you life DnD this is a quick easy read.
manwithanagenda's review
adventurous
funny
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
I had been such a fan of 'Heir Apparent' growing up, I was surprised I'd never heard of, let alone read, the companion books featuring the Rasmussem Corporation. I tracked down a copy of 'User Unfriendly' and discovered early on, that I actually had tried to read this. I just had the good sense at 12 to put this down and walk away. The original cover brought back the memory. The plot is simple: a group of friends and a mom use a pirated copy of a Rasmussem game and have a terrible time when it starts glitching.
The book barely introduces us to the main character, Arvin Rizalli. He wakes up in a stable in-game and we receive a long list of the people huddled in his "hacker" friend's basement den. We receive no information about them other than a couple references to grade level, two are a couple, and one of them is his mom. Why is his mom in his friend's basement den? At the end of the book we have a reference to her "begging" him to let her play the game with them, but it was weird. That long list of names ends up not mattering because there's an odd choice to have most of the characters have secret identities. Their digital selves look completely different from their physical bodies and they call each other by their character names. Arvin speculates about identities, and it just adds to the general confusion. Oh, right. One of the many characters is actually Giannine from 'Heir Apparent', for what it's worth.
The book isn't that long, but it took forever to get anywhere and the very little of the humor landed. There was one good bit about the other party having zero issues in catching up to the lead. 'Heir Apparent' at least had some knowing gamer winks and playfulness, but 'User Unfriendly' just makes a couple of tabletop game references. Arvin's self esteem issues don't make me feel for him, they just make me want to skip ahead a few paragraphs every time. The glitches also don't seem that severe, except where Arvin's mom is concerned, and there is no sense of urgency until the last few pages. Read with caution.
Rasmussem Corporation
Next: 'Heir Apparent'
The book barely introduces us to the main character, Arvin Rizalli. He wakes up in a stable in-game and we receive a long list of the people huddled in his "hacker" friend's basement den. We receive no information about them other than a couple references to grade level, two are a couple, and one of them is his mom. Why is his mom in his friend's basement den? At the end of the book we have a reference to her "begging" him to let her play the game with them, but it was weird. That long list of names ends up not mattering because there's an odd choice to have most of the characters have secret identities. Their digital selves look completely different from their physical bodies and they call each other by their character names. Arvin speculates about identities, and it just adds to the general confusion. Oh, right. One of the many characters is actually Giannine from 'Heir Apparent', for what it's worth.
The book isn't that long, but it took forever to get anywhere and the very little of the humor landed. There was one good bit about the other party having zero issues in catching up to the lead. 'Heir Apparent' at least had some knowing gamer winks and playfulness, but 'User Unfriendly' just makes a couple of tabletop game references. Arvin's self esteem issues don't make me feel for him, they just make me want to skip ahead a few paragraphs every time. The glitches also don't seem that severe, except where Arvin's mom is concerned, and there is no sense of urgency until the last few pages. Read with caution.
Rasmussem Corporation
Next: 'Heir Apparent'
jmanchester0's review
3.0
I've always like stories about virtual reality. I've always loved fantasy. And I've always been into stories where people are pulled from our world into a fantasy world. This is a book that pulls all 3 together, so it was kind of cool. It's an good story, but obviously written for a younger crowd, and didn't exactly suck me in. But it was creative, and enjoyable enough. I see that there are sequels, but it's not likely I'll pick them up, unless I have some overpowering reason to. Also, it ended a bit suddenly, and I'm not sure I figured out what the entire point of the game was...
elevetha's review
2.0
It was all right. I mostly was just bored and\or didn't care. The characters were bland. The story was sub-par. Writing was decent. Humor was barely there and definitely not as funny as some of VVV's other books.
Why was it such a big deal that no one know the real identity of the characters in the game? Just to improve the experience and make it more of a mystery to figure out? I didn't get it.
I thought that it was a neat way to get to where they needed to go for the purpose of the story with Arvin and his mother though.
I would suggest reading [b:Heir Apparent|213652|Heir Apparent|Vivian Vande Velde|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328875660s/213652.jpg|1032171] over this one.
Why was it such a big deal that no one know the real identity of the characters in the game? Just to improve the experience and make it more of a mystery to figure out? I didn't get it.
I thought that it was a neat way to get to where they needed to go for the purpose of the story with Arvin and his mother though.
I would suggest reading [b:Heir Apparent|213652|Heir Apparent|Vivian Vande Velde|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328875660s/213652.jpg|1032171] over this one.
juliemawesome's review
3.0
I've read a few books about video roleplaying games. This one is different because it was written in 1990. The main character a few times would draw comparisons with tabletop gaming, which frankly is a more likely to be unfamiliar to the modern reader than the concept of a full-immersion video one. There were also a few instances where someone had to explain different concepts like the idea of the program being stuck in a loop.
Still, it didn't seem too dated beyond that.
Oddly, compared to other books I've read, very little of the action took place outside of the game. So that I never even really had a clear picture of what the 'real' world was like. Related to this, I felt the ending was very rushed, so that it almost had the element 'and then I woke up and it was all a dream'.
The other real negative I have to say about it is that one of the characters plays an 'Indian' and another a 'gypsy'. Even though the setting was more typical D&D type setting with wizards and orcs and whatnot. It's explained that the players can be whatever type of character they want, even if it doesn't fit with the setting. Which seems silly to me. And so it was unnecessarily racist. There's no reason that character couldn't have been a ranger or a huntsman or something, since the only thing he seemed to use his character type for was tracking and being stealthy. :P
Also, the blurb on the back is misleading and does not represent the contents of the book. The main character is not a 'hacker'. His friend is the hacker, although not even really that, since all it is is a pirated copy of the game. He doesn't seem to have done any actual hacking personally.
Oh, there was also a lot of fighting and action scenes and I find too much of that boring. So, yea.
Still, it didn't seem too dated beyond that.
Oddly, compared to other books I've read, very little of the action took place outside of the game. So that I never even really had a clear picture of what the 'real' world was like. Related to this, I felt the ending was very rushed, so that it almost had the element 'and then I woke up and it was all a dream'.
The other real negative I have to say about it is that one of the characters plays an 'Indian' and another a 'gypsy'. Even though the setting was more typical D&D type setting with wizards and orcs and whatnot. It's explained that the players can be whatever type of character they want, even if it doesn't fit with the setting. Which seems silly to me. And so it was unnecessarily racist. There's no reason that character couldn't have been a ranger or a huntsman or something, since the only thing he seemed to use his character type for was tracking and being stealthy. :P
Also, the blurb on the back is misleading and does not represent the contents of the book. The main character is not a 'hacker'. His friend is the hacker, although not even really that, since all it is is a pirated copy of the game. He doesn't seem to have done any actual hacking personally.
Oh, there was also a lot of fighting and action scenes and I find too much of that boring. So, yea.
wealhtheow's review
4.0
Arvin and his friends hack into a virtual reality D&D game. It's all fun swashbuckling action until the game starts getting deadly...I was really impressed by the natural tone of the characters, and how familiar and believable their arguments and personalities were.