Epic
by Conor KostickSign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
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Read in July, 2008
Epic was a surprisingly good young adult novel, contrary to my initial expectations. I originally read the book merely because the premise sounded like an interesting, if incredibly nerdy, one, basically that the government and economy of a non-violent society was based upon a MMORPG (massively multi-player roleplaying game). Although Epic was originally for entertainment and social networking, as are MMORPGS like the now-popular WoW (World of Warcraft), it developed into a system which...more
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Read in June, 2008
What if the quality of your life depended on how well you played a MMORPG? What’s a MMORPG you ask? It is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. Well, on New Earth that is exactly the way life is.
On New Earth, violence is illegal. Epic (the MMORPG) 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. However, over the years, the purpose of the game shifted and became the det...more
On New Earth, violence is illegal. Epic (the MMORPG) 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. However, over the years, the purpose of the game shifted and became the det...more
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Read in July, 2007
Long ago, the people of Earth were sent to the planet New Earth to escape the violence and destruction that mankind had wrought. In order to rule New Earth in peace, no violence of any kind would be tolerated – no yelling, hitting, or kicking, no matter how just the cause. Knowing that it would be necessary to ease tension and aggression somehow, the forefathers created a computer game, Epic, where the citizens of New Earth could fight in the arena and settle disputes. Generations later, Ep...more
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
gr. 6+
On New Earth, violence is not allowed and society is controlled through an on-line game called Epic. All disputes are settled through playing and citizens spend their spare time in the game trying to better their chances to enter a university, win advantages (such as supplies) for themselves and their community, etc. All is not well though. Because people must play Epic, no progress is being made or maintained supplies as well as medicine and resources are harder and harder to come by - soc...more
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Read in August, 2007
YA treatment of societally-mandated online gaming as a society's escape valve for violence. Pretty good on MMORPG stuff (impenetrably so, I suspect, for those wholly unfamiliar) although serious gamers will undoubtedly have quibbles. It's well-enough done, but like the games in which simply grinding through the quest and not making major mistakes provides for a successful outcome, there's not a lot of plot tension or subplots. And the fact that characters in the game die without characters dying...more
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
high school and up. Specifically, mmorpg gamers.
First, I do not play any MMORPGs. No Second Life. No World of Warcraft. But I really enjoyed this book. In a nutshell, Eric lives in a world where violence has been eradicated. All disputes, legal and otherwise, are settled in the online game Epic. How well you play the game dictates your position in real life, whether your town will receive solar panels or not, for example. However, Epic is just a means for the oligarchy to subjugate its people, and when Eric and his friends take on the players...more
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This book was surprisingly good! It's not my typical choice (I need to stop thinking that I like or don't like a certain "Type" of book) in reading material, but I was enthralled the entire time.
Erik is a teenage boy living far into the future, after earth's destruction (brought on by violence). His society has one major rule: No violence. And therefore, they work out their conflicts as avitars through a virtual reality game, Epic. This game was originally created for fun, but i...more
Erik is a teenage boy living far into the future, after earth's destruction (brought on by violence). His society has one major rule: No violence. And therefore, they work out their conflicts as avitars through a virtual reality game, Epic. This game was originally created for fun, but i...more
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Epic, by Conor Kostick
#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...more
#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...more
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Read in January, 2008
When many years have passed since earth was evacuated and earth is nothing more than a legend, the surviving people are caught up in a world where stations in life, wealth, and posterity are all tied to a game. A game called “Epic” which was brought along in the journey from earth. However when medical attention, food, and wealth can be tied to “Epic” it is anything but a game. There is one peasant boy who does not subscribe to this, however, and soon finds that his unorthodox way of ...more
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New Earth. A planet where violence has been banned and disputes are settled in a computer game called Epic. But as so often happens with any means of settling disputes, a power structure grows, and that structure grows corrupt and unwilling to give up its cushy positions, hanging onto them at any means. So when Erik's family is at risk of being sent to the salt mines and separated, he does something unusual--he creates a character of an unusual class that doesn't go out to kill orcs for pennies ...more
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Read in August, 2007
I was completely sucked into this book - basically I sat down and read the whole things straight through! It was a great adventure story, and even though I've never been into video games I thought the video game world was presented vividly and the back-and-forth between the game and real life was fascinating (they do battle with a dragon, then unclip and run to do their farmwork). From a pure enjoyability perspective, I would have given it a five, but I did have a few quibbles with the plot an...more
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Read in February, 2008
Set in a world in which violence between people is a serious crime, Eric and his friends resolve their conflicts while playing the game Epic. As events unfold that take his loved ones away, Eric begins to realize that the game has become more than a game, that it in fact dominates and controls his real life. Surrounded by his friends, Eric and his game character Cindella undertake a quest that might result in the end of the game, and the freedom of those around him.
Like the Utopian world gon...more
Like the Utopian world gon...more
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Read in January, 2008
Surprisingly addictive. Halfway through. My houseguests want to be fed, but I've got this book to read!
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Excellent exploration of a world whose economy and legal system are run through a MMPRPG. That the Central Allocations committee is composed of the strongest players is a little weird -- you'd think it would be composed of bureaucrats who would then enlist the strong players as hired muscle to do their bidding, but that's the only glaring hiccup in the premise. Nicely done, very quick...more
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Excellent exploration of a world whose economy and legal system are run through a MMPRPG. That the Central Allocations committee is composed of the strongest players is a little weird -- you'd think it would be composed of bureaucrats who would then enlist the strong players as hired muscle to do their bidding, but that's the only glaring hiccup in the premise. Nicely done, very quick...more
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
Teen Sci-Fi and fantasy readers, Runescape / MMORPGers
Kostick interweaves concepts plucked from an introductory course in political science with a world torn between operating in science fiction and ”reality” (don’t let the philosophy students get a hold of this one…). The characters spend time dissecting complex ideas such as, in a world such as New Earth where violence of any kind is strictly forbidden, are there circumstances under which violence is a good thing? Or, in this violence free world, why are there still inconsistincies and in...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
Angela
An interesting look at society descended from ours where all physical violence is outlawed. People live in two worlds: the physical world where struggle and poverty are common except for the wealthy and elite; and the world of Epic a VR game. How well a player does in Epic determines his or her wealth and position. The best spots at a university go to strong and powerful Epic players. That is until Erik a young man from a farming community decides to go on a quest to kill a dragon and gain th...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
No one.
Such a waste of time!!! It's such a pity too, because the author had the coolest idea, and could have done wonders with it. But, oh yeah, he doesn't know how to write. The plot was close enough to the idea of The Matrix to be cool and strike up interest, but then got lost in its effort to be young and happenin'. I don't even know what to say... It gets a star for originality, but loses 4 for plain stupidity of writing.
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Read in February, 2008
From the catalog summary: "On New Earth, a world [whose real-time economy is:] based on a video role-playing game, fourteen-year-old Erik pursuades his friends to aid him in some unusual gambits in order to save Erik's father from exile and safeguard the futures of each of their families."
A good idea but only an okay read - limp character development and descriptive prose. Reads like a first novel.
A good idea but only an okay read - limp character development and descriptive prose. Reads like a first novel.
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Read in January, 2006
I think this book was a great book. Although I it's science fiction, it has a typical Fantasy toutch which I appreciate of. The story and the characters are well made, although Cinderella seems a bit unrealistic at times.
This book is political and has a high moral, but even politically not interested people like me shall be fascinated by it. It's a great addition to any book collection.
This book is political and has a high moral, but even politically not interested people like me shall be fascinated by it. It's a great addition to any book collection.
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An okay story, I read a lot of books in the virtual world genre, and this one didn't seem to be as good. I suppose the moral is that nothing lasts forever, and that we are a warlike species, but many other books say that just as well, and usually even better than Epic. Also, I didn't like the whole epic/erik thing. It was just too similar for there to have been a coincidence.
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
RPG nerds, Second Life enthusiasts
Pretty darn good, considering that it is basically a novelized role-playing game. Kostick manages to maintain suspense, give good descriptions of in-game action without sounding rote, and simultaneously address class issues. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who doesn't play video games though. It's the first of a trilogy, and I will be reading the next installment.
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