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Idlewild (Idlewild #1)

3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 · rating details · 1,402 ratings · 149 reviews

It is a not-too-distant future in our all-too-recognizable world. It is the late twenty-first century and a deadly virus has seeped into human kind's genetic make-up. In only a few generations this plague will have wiped us off the face of the planet, but we're not going down without a fight. Teams of scientists, geneticists and programmers race to find a cure, but time is...more

Hardcover, 275 pages

Published August 2nd 2004 by Bantam (first published August 8th 2003)

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May 07, 2012 Gwen rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 21, 2011 Nenia Campbell rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: x-2003s, x-series-bk-1

I feel like the best way to sum up this book is Morpheus's famous quote from the Matrix: "What is real? If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain."

And this one:
"Neo: I thought it wasn't real
Morpheus: Your mind makes it real
Neo: If you're killed in the matrix, you die here?
Morpheus: The body cannot live without the mind."

I liked this book, but I'm not in love with it, if you know what I mean. Nick Sagan has a brilliant i...more

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Nov 16, 2010 Logan K rated it 5 of 5 stars

Idlewild by Nick Sagan is a science fiction and mystery book. I think it is a great page-turner full of suspense and action, and the characters, setting, and story pull you in so you just can not stop reading. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery, suspense, and action in books. Idlewild is one of the best books I have ever read.
Idlewild is about a teenage boy named Halloween who wakes up with no memory of who he is. He soon learns that he is in a school that is in virtual re...more Idlewild by Nick Sagan is a science fiction and mystery book. I think it is a great page-turner full of suspense and action, and the characters, setting, and story pull you in so you just can not stop reading. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery, suspense, and action in books. Idlewild is one of the best books I have ever read.
Idlewild is about a teenage boy named Halloween who wakes up with no memory of who he is. He soon learns that he is in a school that is in virtual reality, and he knows that someone is trying to kill him. Halloween also finds out that his rival has disappeared without a trace, and his childhood crush asks him to him to help find the missing student, Lazarus. Halloween soon learns that there is more to Lazarus’s disappearance than anyone could have imagined.
There are many characters in Idlewild, and most of them are students in a virtual reality school for the extremely intelligent, and they are separated into two groups, the clods, and the pets. The pets are the well-behaved students who listen to the teachers and believe whatever the teachers tell them, and the clods are the more rebellious students and question what the teachers tell them. The main character is Halloween, a clod who has no memory of who he is or what happened to him. The rest of the clods are his friends Mercutio, Tyler, and Fantasia. Halloween is the smarter, more of the tech geek of all the students. The pets are Simone, Halloween’s love interest, Lazarus and Isaac, Halloween’s biggest rivals, Pandora, Halloween’s good friend, Champagne, Tyler’s girlfriend, and Vashti, the smartest of all the students. There are also many computer programs who are teachers and tutors. There are many interesting characters the book, and many more than the ones I listed.
I think that the author, Nick Sagan, wrote this book superbly, with a first-person writing style unlike any other. Sagan wrote the book so well that you experience the book as if you were Halloween. He also wrote the story very well with a great plot and many good details. Nick Sagan did a great job writing Idlewild.
I think that Idlewild is a great book that deserves five stars. Nick Sagan wrote the book with a magnificent writing style. The book’s characters and plot both pull in to the book. I would recommend Idlewild to anyone who enjoys reading.

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Jun 16, 2010 Keri rated it 4 of 5 stars

When I started reading this, I had a distinct mental image of the exact setting described in the first few pages. And that mental image kept going through the whole novel.

The story, a mix of sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, and loss of innocence is good for YA and adult readers alike. As I was reading, I couldn't decide which it section it fit best in...before I gave up. A good book is a good book so who really cares?

Halloween is our main character and immediately, he's not exactly the best narrator, c...more

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May 10, 2010 Rich Stoehr rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The first 20 or 30 pages of "Idlewild" frankly had me wondering if I should bother reading the rest of the book. The characters and situations seemed just a bit fake, and the early premise seemed trite. Now, having stuck it out and read the whole book, I think that was intentional. The odd beginning sets up expectations for the reader early on, and then the story carries on to improve upon itself almost constantly. By the end, I was left fairly impressed and pleased with a book I hadn't been sur...more The first 20 or 30 pages of "Idlewild" frankly had me wondering if I should bother reading the rest of the book. The characters and situations seemed just a bit fake, and the early premise seemed trite. Now, having stuck it out and read the whole book, I think that was intentional. The odd beginning sets up expectations for the reader early on, and then the story carries on to improve upon itself almost constantly. By the end, I was left fairly impressed and pleased with a book I hadn't been sure I wanted to finish at all.

"Idlewild" is a story of some gifted kids living a mostly virtual existence, a world they can shape to meet their own needs and whims, and in which they can't ever really be hurt. It is in this virtual world where they receive their education and are protected. That is, until one of them is hurt in a power surge and loses all of his memory. The rest of the book consists of Halloween, the protagonist, rediscovering who he is through his interactions with the other students, his parents, his virtual Nanny, and the virtual instructor Maestro. As he discovers more about himself, he also discovers more than he ever knew about the world in which he exists, and why he's there.

Sagan does a nice job of creating different worlds in "Idlewild," peeling back each layer of reality like the layers of an onion, keeping the readers always a little uncertain about the meaning of what's going on. While the story of Halloween and the other students is the main focus of the novel, there is another story that runs parallel to it, one which doesn't really become clear until halfway through the book. By the time I understood what was going on, I was hooked into the story and anxious to see how it came out.

Sagan's writing isn't great, but it is serviceable with moments of true talent. The characters, seeming a little flat early on, are given life and depth as the story progresses, and evolve beyond their stereotypes. The prose is mostly transparent and unpretentious, allowing the story to spin out naturally, a style which works nicely.

When I read that Nick Sagan was the son of the late astronomer and writer Carl Sagan, I wasn't sure what to think. I was pleased to find that Nick has at least made the attempt to forge ahead in some original territory, unlike what his father wrote of in his fiction or scientific work. Even better, Nick's attempt was laregly successful, and has resulted in a fun book that's an easy read but not a shallow one. The ideas are thought-provoking and original, the story is entertaining and will keep you turning the pages. Not bad at all for a first-timer. (less)

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Nov 26, 2012 Nicole Tuttle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: dystopian, post-apocalyptic-dystopian, read-in-2012

Halloween wakes up disoriented, confused, with no memory, and is temporarily paralyzed. All he knows is someone (something?) is trying to kill him via electrocution, but he has no idea how to even begin to investigate.

Slowly but surely, our protagonist reunites with his friends and his environment, the pieces of the puzzle slowly clicking into place as time moves forward. Plagued by intermittent holes in his memory, Halloween re-integrates himself back into the land of the ... living?

Sort of.

Qu...more Halloween wakes up disoriented, confused, with no memory, and is temporarily paralyzed. All he knows is someone (something?) is trying to kill him via electrocution, but he has no idea how to even begin to investigate.

Slowly but surely, our protagonist reunites with his friends and his environment, the pieces of the puzzle slowly clicking into place as time moves forward. Plagued by intermittent holes in his memory, Halloween re-integrates himself back into the land of the ... living?

Sort of.

Quickly we learn that Halloween and his quirky and enigmatic friends are living in a inter-conscious virtual reality termed IVR (Immersive Virtual Reality) where they are receiving an education unlike anything they'd find in the "outside" world. With virtual nannies, instructors, vampires, and the ability to travel anywhere in the world instantaneously, what could be better? What could go wrong?

Pesky time to interrupt and remind the reader of the paralyzing electrocution - a failed, yet very much attempted assassination.

Through searching for simply his own memory, Halloween uncovers an epic reality nobody could have imagined. Peeling back multiple layers (a la Inception) bring the reader to a shocking and haunting realization, and hurl our cast of characters into a sobering pit of responsibility that they won't all survive.

Nick Sagan's Idlewild is disorienting at first, and fairly so given the state of our protagonist. I am confused as much as Halloween is. As the light of understanding brightens slowly upon him, so do I gain my bearings and try to make sense of this world around me. As the story progresses and the intensity increases, I find myself enlightened and darkened at the same time. What a wonderful thing to gain understanding, but when what you're understanding is fraught with danger and the threat of being buried alive? You long for a sense of normalcy. My emotions were highly charged while reading this book, and I am already well into book #2. I look around and appreciate the world around me, all the while wondering if what I'm perceiving is what really IS. (less)

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Nov 06, 2011 Ryan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fic-speculative

This book follows the life of a teenage boy -- the archetypal bright, world-weary loner with authority issues -- who is being educated at a special virtual reality-based boarding school along with several other teenagers, while the world outside progresses towards apocalypse. Of course, nothing is exactly what it seems, and a conspiracy reminiscent of The Matrix and other cyberpunk-ish works begins to come to light.

The story has some flaws besides its familiarity: a few of the characters feel in...more

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Oct 05, 2011 Z rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

Idlewild starts out part Orson Scott Card, part Neil Gaiman, and part Chuck Palahniuk - so much so that you start to wonder when the author will find his own voice. Gratifyingly, about halfway through, the themes cohere to hit a note that is uniquely Nick Sagan. I finished this book in two days flat and found myself thinking about it and admiring various aspects of it during the time (read: working hours) that I couldn't read it.

Halloween is a special, genetically gifted student at the Idlewild...more

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May 28, 2009 Sean Randall rated it 4 of 5 stars

People are calling Sagan everything from a revolutionary to a thief, this debut novel has folk up in arms with rapture, for the most part.

I like Paul Skevington's character summation - he writes: "we are presented with a very realistic and credible depiction of a group of teenagers who are teetering on the edge of a grim precipice that they will be lucky to escape from."

I agree with the point, also; rather than just liking the sentiment - the characters are certainly nicely done and their world...more

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Sep 18, 2009 Riah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, science-fiction-fantasy

I agree with other comments here. The less you read about Idlewild ahead of time, the better it will be. This was the most fun I've had with a book since those "Choose your own adventure" books I read in the 3rd and 4th grades! I don't know if I care enough to keep on with the series (Edenborn, & Everfree), but I definitely enjoyed this book. (I fear sequels may lose their ability to jolt me in any given direction).

That being said, I truly think that to enjoy this book you must already have...more

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Jun 25, 2011 Michele rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopia-apocalypse

Intriguing and original: braids together AI, virtual reality, post-plague-apocalypse, adolescent rebellion and more into a strange and unusual tale that keeps you guessing, wondering what's real and what isn't. In some ways it previews ideas played out in the movie Inception, in that there are layers within layers of things going on. Although you're uncertain what's happening a lot of the time, the author doles out information at a proper pace so you're intrigued and drawn on, rather than frustr...more

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Mar 01, 2011 Jessi rated it 2 of 5 stars

Ok this is very Sci-Fi, so if thats not your thing then this , this is not your book. A lot of people seemed to have given this a good rating on Goodreads, me not so much.

I hate when a book makes me feel dumb, like I don't get the joke that they are still laughing about 2 pages later.The characters make reference to things that have not been covered in the book,I am sure that this is a tool the author used to show the comradery between the teens it sort of annoyed me.

It was like "Inception" if...more

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Jun 23, 2011 Rodrigo Sepúlveda rated it 4 of 5 stars

De inicio confuso, que refleja perfectamente lo aturdido que está su protagonista. Con racontos que van y vienen de forma un tanto inconexa que no hacen más que aumentar la confusión. Así parte ésta historia, que de a poco va entregando los elementos que permiten ir construyendo el mundo que habitan sus personajes e ir despejando la niebla que lo cubre todo.

Es imposible describir algo si arruinarle la sorpresa al posible lector. Lo que sí puedo decir es que Nick Sagan se encarga, con elegancia,...more

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Feb 08, 2013 Clackamas rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, apocalyptic-fiction-dystopias

I disliked the first 75 pages of this book intensely and would not have bothered to finish it if I didn't have the sick drive to read every book in the post-apocalyptic genre. I didn't see how or why this book even belonged in the genre until about half-way through. And then toward the end the book got very Matrix-ian, with who-done-it angle.

But the parts between... there was good stuff here. The question of what it means to be alive was presented several different ways, with lots of speculation...more

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Mar 07, 2012 Janna Ross rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book definitely threw me for a loop. As others have pointed out it is very Matrix-esque in mythology, and yet at the same time it's a very character involved mystery. The Scifi elements are fun and inventive, makes me wish virtual reality was so involved that you couldn't tell the difference. The cast are so unique and the war games they played almost reminded me of a nod to "Ender's Game." Bottom line, I really liked this book, the twist at the end was surprising to me, and the whole journ...more

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Jul 05, 2010 Jesi added it

Shelves: sci-fi, unrated

Okay, so I lied. I didn't actually read this book. But, seeing as GR doesn't have a category for "started reading it and then got bored halfway through and have no plans on completing the book," I'm stuck with saying I read it. At least you've been warned.

I got the book because a friend suggested it. As I've enjoyed some other books she suggested, I got it. This was one of the "it's a bit too fancy and artistic for me to bear with" so I really have no idea if it's any good or not. Kinda like giv...more

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Aug 30, 2009 Adam rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I enjoyed this book, and finished it the same weekend that I started it (hooray for lazy afternoons with nice weather for porch reading!). As a long time William Gibson fan, this book hit a home run with me. Where Gibson's early works were very much cyber and very much punk, this book dials it back from eleven to a more approachable level. The characters are a full of angst, as any brooding, privileged teenagers are, but it isn't hyper-angst. The technology is a means to an end, not the focus of...more

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Sep 21, 2012 Christy rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a tough one to rate. It deserved a 5 for the twisty yet gradual reveals, the characterization, and the writing. It was interesting and weird and sometimes dark and to explain too much about it would be giving away too many spoilers.

I didn't really like where they left the character at the end of the book though. It just didn't seem like the right place/mood for the character even if it might be more realistic. (Give me a happy ending over realism every time) Not that it was a terrible...more

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Aug 13, 2011 Ike Sharpless rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed, speculative-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 14, 2010 Dylan Beeman rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. While, we live in a world where we have life overflowing everywhere, such isn’t the case for Halloween and his friends in the post-apocalyptic world after the entire human population is destroyed by a plague called Black Ep. Humanities only hope is left to the genetically altered human experiments a corporation called Gedaechtnis as a last ditch effort to save humanity. The only problem, who will raise them?
That’s where human ingenuity comes in; they built a virtual reality around the kids sin...more While, we live in a world where we have life overflowing everywhere, such isn’t the case for Halloween and his friends in the post-apocalyptic world after the entire human population is destroyed by a plague called Black Ep. Humanities only hope is left to the genetically altered human experiments a corporation called Gedaechtnis as a last ditch effort to save humanity. The only problem, who will raise them?
That’s where human ingenuity comes in; they built a virtual reality around the kids since they were literally babies and plugged into machines that monitored their health. But, one of the 10 kids Gedaechtnis engineered snaps from the pressure when he finds out before he was supposed to be released and kills 1 of the others and attempts to kill Halloween. And that’s where this story picks up.
After the attempted electrocution of Hal ( Halloween), he wakes up to find himself suspended in blackness and has temporary amnesia. After discovering he was in a virtual reality he tries to regain some of his memories by talking to his fellow students at idlewild and slowly becomes convinced of something out to get him and eventually finds out that he’s living inside of a virtual reality inside of a virtual reality life. After that he must stop his best friend from killing all of the other children, and that’s where the story climax’s in a gunfight between his best friend (Mercutio) and himself. But… I wouldn’t be doing much good if told who won would I?
To be honest, I loved this book. But, sadly that wasn’t until the near middle of the book where I started to become immersed in reading this book. When you start off with Hal and the first few chapters you’ll be wondering what’s going on here? Amazingly though, once he starts to pull you in the book becomes amazing with all of the twists and turns he gives you to try and figure out who the killer is.
Another thing that Sagan had me amazed by was how he shaped his characters. Halloween for example; he seems like your typical hero who doesn’t want the spotlight, and even seems like an antihero at times. Except, Sagan gives him a twist by him acknowledging that he has to be the one to do it. Another is Simone, Hal’s crush throughout the book. While she gives off this attitude of calmness and seems inquisitive, he shows how weak someone can be once she’s freed from the IVR and finds out her love, Lazarus has been murdered. Shortly after she becomes addicted to heavy pain medications.

Sadly one thing I have to say Sagan didn’t pull of well was the beginning and ends to the book. Both of them start and leave you wondering what just happened and the ending actually was actually a bit anti-climactic in my opinion. There wasn’t much of a build to the final confrontation and in 5-6 pages the fights already over and your left with a short ending that tries to explain how everything happened as it did.
But (and this is a big but), Nick Sagan still did a wonderful job of pulling the book off as he did. There were rough patches here and there, but overall it flowed into each other pretty well, and was an immersive fun book. So if you like books that can be darker and have more of a realist type of theme/characters. Then this book is definitely one you should pick up.
Lastly I have a question the readers of this review; If you were stuck in a post-apocalyptic world with a group of people, would you want to be the leader or follower in the group? Explain your answer.(less)

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Dec 07, 2011 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: repeat-reads, fantasy-favourites, dystopian-favourites, high-school-reads, sci-fi-goodness, summer-reads

I read this book years and years ago when I was a freshman in high school. I still love it. I couldn't get into the sequels (Edenborn and Everfree) but I can read this book a million times and never get bored. It was so smart and I liked the stream-of-consciousness tone that Halloween narrates in. My friend literally handed me the book and told me to read it. So I did. And it was awesome. It's the kind of book that you shouldn't research too much before you read-discover it as you go. I can see...more

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Dec 26, 2012 Vorbis rated it 4 of 5 stars

When I picked this up it was on a throwout table and had a recc from Neil Gaiman on the cover, enough to give it a chance but not hold great hope.

The imagery in this book is wonderful. The things that this guy comes up with are gorgeous and primal and really tap straight into the imagination.

It almost seems like three stories woven together, the transitions aren't completely smooth and I can't recommend it on a technical level, but I loved it as a whole and as its parts. I'm surprised I'd never...more

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Jul 23, 2011 Logophile rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, audio-book, speculative-fiction, reviewed

I'd forgotten entirely whatever I'd read about this book when I finally started it, which made the disorienting opening surprisingly effective. A person wakes up, in pain and somewhat to be surprised to be alive, with complete amnesia. He slowly pieces together who and where he is, or so he thinks, but unexpected layer after layer of reality reveals itself. I haven't read any science fiction in quite some time, and this was a good reintroduction. Author Nick Sagan is the son of Carl Sagan, so I...more

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Aug 12, 2010 Julie rated it 4 of 5 stars

A friend brought this book to me out of the blue and I couldn't put it down. He said not to read the back cover and just start reading it blind--so I did. I found it to be highly compelling, loved the characters, loved trying to figure out what was going on through the twists--it was great fun. In the end, there were so many twists upon twists that I had a good laugh/suprise when I realized I had no idea what was going on. This is a series of 3 books and I've just picked up the second and will s...more

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Mar 06, 2012 Wr4ith0 rated it 5 of 5 stars

From the first this drew me in, the particular edition had a pretty cover, what can I say, I'm an artist and these things catch my eye. The plot starts out with the amnesiac hero in a V.R. simulation, trite right, maybe good for a laugh or satire? But the author wrote around it as if he didn't even suspect it was a cliche of video game convenience and mysteries that try too hard. Fifteen or so pages in I realize that he's not even going to acknowledge this thing. He has better things to worry ab...more

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Aug 31, 2010 Juan Valera rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Sarcasm. Plain, unadulterated self-loathing, nicotine addiction. None of these are good in the grand scheme of things, nor are they good for you. I love them now. Why, I hear you ask? Simple. Halloween likes them. And Halloween is the single most fascinating character I have ever read. I've never smoked in my life, but just reading Sagan's "Idlewild" makes me crave the cloves Hal is constantly lighting up. Hal is the protagonist, but he's one of the best examples of an anti-hero ever: he's sulle...more

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Apr 11, 2010 Deozaan rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Allen, Chad, Kenya,

Recommended to Deozaan by: Challis

I am still reeling from the ending of this book.

In the first chapter or two, I wasn't sure I would like the book. The writing style is different from what I'm used to. It's more a stream-of-consciousness written from the first person. And it starts out extremely vague and confusing. Lots of questions but very few answers, or answers that just bring more questions.

But it's definitely gripping. I read it in one sitting, taking perhaps 5 or 6 hours.

The story unfolds slowly, methodically, and layer...more I am still reeling from the ending of this book.

In the first chapter or two, I wasn't sure I would like the book. The writing style is different from what I'm used to. It's more a stream-of-consciousness written from the first person. And it starts out extremely vague and confusing. Lots of questions but very few answers, or answers that just bring more questions.

But it's definitely gripping. I read it in one sitting, taking perhaps 5 or 6 hours.

The story unfolds slowly, methodically, and layer by layer, much like an M. Night Shyamalan movie. If you've ever listened to the beginning of Daft Punk's "Around the World" where at first the audio sounds extremely muffled but every few measures becomes more and more clear; and each time it becomes more clear you start to think you're finally hearing it at a perfect clarity until once again it refines again ever so slightly. If you have heard that and you can relate to that, then you'll have an idea how this book unfolds.

In the beginning it's extremely muffled. You have no idea what is going on, but the puzzle is intriguing enough that you'll stick with it a little while longer to see if there are any clues. Then a layer is removed and you gain a little clarity. You think you have a better idea of what's going on, but there are still many questions left unanswered; it's still confusing and doesn't make sense. Another layer of clarity, and once again you think you're closer to understanding what is happening.

The story continues like that, and you honestly think you've got it figured out (and maybe you really have, I may just have been slow to catch on) when everything speeds up and crescendos toward the climax. At last, at the acme of the tumultuous noise, the final true clarity is reached and it's not what you were hoping for. It declines steadily, much like a greek tragedy.

Nearly 24 hours later, I'm still dazed by the ending; I'm still trying to get the puzzle pieces together and understand why things ended up the way they did. There's just such a contrast from the way it began to the way it ended. In the beginning it was beautiful and fantastic and romantic (not the lovey dovey definition of the word), and the end so bleak, depressing, barren, defeating.

It doesn't have a happy ending, but I wouldn't necessarily say the ending was "bad" either. It's a strange feeling. I'm having a hard time accepting that things happened the way they did. It was beautifully tragic, and though I'm left saddened by it I suppose that's just how life is sometimes.(less)

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Oct 28, 2010 Silver Thistle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: end-of-the-world

Idlewild is very Matrix-esque. It starts when we meet a confused young man, who appears to be in a dark sinister place, and who seems to know as little about his world as we do. It's all very confusing (for him, and for us) but also intriguing. It seems to be a chilling place on the one hand, but as things develop we see that it's actually a place of friendship and fun......until things start to go Pete Tong.

The confused young man we meet on the first page is Halloween (how cool is THAT for a na...more Idlewild is very Matrix-esque. It starts when we meet a confused young man, who appears to be in a dark sinister place, and who seems to know as little about his world as we do. It's all very confusing (for him, and for us) but also intriguing. It seems to be a chilling place on the one hand, but as things develop we see that it's actually a place of friendship and fun......until things start to go Pete Tong.

The confused young man we meet on the first page is Halloween (how cool is THAT for a name?!!) and in his little corner of the world everything is orange and black. The colours are his 'call sign' or 'gimmick' and help distinguish him from his friends who each have their own colour combo's and quirky names.

However, his circle of friends and the world as he knows it are about to become thrown into disarray and come crashing down around him. He comes to the realisation that his survival depends on what amounts to nothing more than computer pixels. He realises that his world is actually a lot smaller than he first thought. A LOT smaller.

He's not who he thought he was, his friends and teachers are not who he thought they were and his life depends on being able to work out what's real and what's not.

Confused? So was I......but it's a great confusuion! I loved this book! I haven't read anything like it before and I'm so glad it's a three-part'er. I like the character Halloween a lot in this first installment and can't wait to see where he goes from here. This is a great book to lose yourself in. It's one of my favourite subjects in works of fiction; apocalyptic, end of the world scenario with a bit of plague and 'last man standing' thrown in for good measure.

I didn't realise when I read this that Nick Sagan was Carl Sagan's son (how could I NOT have known, with a name like that? Duh!), but I don't think it would have made much difference if I'd known in advance because I've never read any of his dad's books to compare with. He's a talented author and regardless of who his dad is, he's got a book here that holds up well against some of best SF writers around. (less)

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Apr 09, 2009 Eric rated it 5 of 5 stars

In a future world devastated by the disease known as Black Ep, humanity's last hope comes down to ten brilliant young minds being educated in a virtual-reality school. If they succeed, they will become humanity's saviors. But inside their virtual school, something has gone terribly wrong, and one of the students, Lazarus, has died. A combination of 'Outbreak' and 'The Matrix.' The novel introduces the character named Halloween, one of the coolest and most cynical of unlikely heroes in science fi...more

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Nov 02, 2008 Jean Tatro rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, favorites

A book I picked up on a whim when I needed a few extra dollars for free shipping. A piece of fanart first brought it to my attention and the main character's name caught my attention.

First off - everyone compares it to the Matrix, and I can see why, but really the comparison is only superficial. People plugged into a virtual world, yada yada yada. It's like comparing paranormal romance books because they contain vampires.

The style of narration puts me in mind of my early days on the internet,...more

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Addicted to Book ...: Idlewild by Nick Sagan	1	7	26. November, 21:20 Uhr
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Science Fiction

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Apocalyptic > Post Apocalyptic

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Fantasy

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Science Fiction > Cyberpunk

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Science Fiction > Dystopia

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Young Adult

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Speculative Fiction

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Science Fiction Fantasy

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Science Fiction > Apocalyptic

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Mystery

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Trivia About Idlewild

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Quotes from Idlewild

“When I think of Simone now, I think of butterfly wings. Beautiful and excruciatingly delicate. Touch them once and they might disintegrate.” — 16 people liked it

“No existe justificación divina para el mal. Tal y como afirmaba Darwin: "Dios debe ser débil o perverso".” — 2 people liked it

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avg rating	preview: Idlewild Goodreads rating: 3.81 (1402 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/216351.Idlewild?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1303080693l/216351.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/216351.Idlewild?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Idlewild by Nick Sagan[/url]

Idlewild (Idlewild #1)

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