Conor Kostick

Saga is set in a recoded game of Epic. Saga is a dystopian, cyberpunk-ish city ruled by a Dark Queen. But one character is still left over from Epic. Cindella.

This book was such a let-down. You had a great book in Epic, then this.. Cindella is barely in this book. It focuses mostly on a mysterious girl called Ghost. She and her punk friends fight the system by tagging and looting. :0/ The Dark Queen hooks up Erik's world to Saga and drugs them to become addicted to it. It makes no sense, but whatever. Hopefully the last book isn't such a let-down.… (más)

I thought this was translated when I first read it - the language was clunky and simplistic. But, reading the others in the series and seeing no translator credited, I guess Kostick just... really improved his writing style between now and Saga (either that or he was trying to convey the image that New Earth is pretty simple and rustic, which is pretty advanced)?

The plot is great - I love all kind of books about virtual reality and AI and revenge quests, so this was right down my alley.… (más)

On New Earth, violence is illegal. Epic (a MMORPG=Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) 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. Life is hard for all but the uber rich and central committee. Erik's family suffers, especially since his father committed an act of violence in defense of his wife, but Erik makes a bold move in Epic, choosing to be an very rare character (swashbuckler) and a woman, spending all of his points on beauty, rather than weapons or protection. He and his friends score some amazing victories against the central committee and then slaying a dragon, drawing attention from the wicked elements of the central committee.
… (más)