For a reviewer who can’t stop saying things like “I’m a fan of intelligent YA books” I haven’t been exactly reviewing any books that would somehow illustrate my point. Thus for that, today I present you a hidden gem by the name “Erebos” that first wrecked Germany and then proceeded to take the United States by surprise.
4/5 Stars
Recommendation: For those who spend as much time playing videogames, and like me MMORPGs, than as they do reading. Or for those readers looking for a good thriller interlaced with an intelligent read. Erebos is a fast paced mystery that I would very much recommend for those in need of a break from YA romance (even while it does include a small, romance arc)
This is a very, very creepy read. In a good way. But that is all you need to know when you first come in to it.
If you’ve ever played any MMORPGs (Multi Mass Online Roleplaying Games) in your life—Think World of Warcraft, Final Fantsy XIV—, even if only once or have sold your soul to them, then it is most likely this book will fuck you over and freak you the hell out. And then it’ll urge to get back into videogames because it includes every aspect we love about them, in the same way that we enjoy watching “The Game” or watching Youtubers play videogames in our stance. But with a plot, and one that you’ll be stuck thinking about for more than a couple of weeks. It’s kinda that good.
Erebos isn’t really the story of sixteen year old Nick or his school, or the city or even the country as they become engrossed in a new videogame that secretly seems to spread like a plage but that no one will talk about. Erebos is in fact the story of its namesake, an MMORPG of the fantasy genre who’s only means of spreading is by the copying of their members and kept a complete secret by the same. Though no one talks about it, people seem to be extremely secretive and acting dicey, skipping school and speaking in whispers without trusting even the closest of friends. Nick’s life will begin to spin around him and change the day he is handled a copy of the rumored game and sinks head deep into the fantastic world of Erebos. It is then he will learn the three keys about it: 1) You must always play alone. 2) You may never talk about the game or reveal your username. 3) Erebos knows you.
I withdraw my consent from reality.
I deny it my assistance … and throw myself wholeheartedly into the endlessness of unreality.
Erebos knows you. It knows who you are, what you are doing and what it wants out of you. We journey besides Nick in this cleverly written novel and are placed alongside him as he plays through the videogame. In fact, the book merges the duality of both the fantastic world in which Nick spends his afternoons in Erebos and his real life as several of his pillars of normality begin crumbling. In no way were either of these every boring— When Nick played, you truly felt like you were watching behind his shoulder, and feeling why he enjoyed the game as much as he did because it engrossed you to the point of wanting to keep playing. And when Nick logged off, you watched his life and the people’s who surrounded him going down as everyone begins lying and acting weirder than ever. And when both worlds collided? I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.
See, the heart skip worthy part of the entire ordeal is how you level up. An Erebos NPC will ask you to complete a task… In real life, and the worse part is it knows when you’ve completed it and in which state. Despite this being weird, everything appears to be fun and games until Erebos asks Nick to commit a crime, and from then on changes his life forever.
Erebos is a fun, fast paced novel that can be best described as creepy, mysterious and thrilling. The main character Nick is lovable and relateable, but not exactly strong or anything special, just like most of the characters of the novel. However I don’t present this as a complaint, as Erebos isn’t driven by its characters, or about his characters, but how all of them fit in the bigger picture as the mysteries begin unveiling. In fact, one of the most fun parts for me were trying to figure out who was behind each username in the game and how they were webbed across Nick’s life, unable to reveal themselves until the climax of the book.
On a few side points I’d love to give a forewarning on, as great as this book may be, I should begin by explaining its original language is in fact German. By consequence, the American version is of course translated and… Rather wonky, when it comes to reading it. It’s not something that was exactly a big detail, but it is important to mention his book takes place in London, and despite this the novel feels terribly American because of lack of proper translation— Something like the book’s nationality is very important, and it helps giving the book a proper tone and personality in the way that American author Rainbow Rowell managed to do in British novel Carry On. The story in the end felt rather anonymous, and could’ve happened elsewhere, so that was definitely points off for it.
Nick can sometimes come out rather dumb and stalker-ish, but honestly, it’s not unlike most teenagers refreshing your crushes facebook page over and over or fawning over pictures of them (we’ve all been there, you know it) though depending on the perspective, his actions in few instances could come off as unreal (if a game knows your real name all of a sudden, run, it ain’t cool). But the most unbelievable aspect of the book would definitely be the parents that true to their YA genre, are absent and uncaring to the point of child neglect— And we’re talking about a book about a super intelligent videogame that knows your every movement.
Nevertheless, this was a hard to put down fast paced thriller that you should not be missing on if you enjoy a good YA thriller or simply want to find yourself engrossed in a fantastic world of videogames. I’ll definitely be out on the lookout for Poznanki’s next works.
Nick took advantage of his friend’s change of mood and asked one last question. “Has the game ever actually crashed on you?”
Now Colin laughed. “Crashed? No. But I know what you mean. … Sometimes … it just doesn’t want to work. It waits. It tests you. Know what, Nick? Sometimes I think it’s alive.”
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