About the Author

Vivian Vande Velde has written many books for teen and middle grade readers, including Heir Apparent, User Unfriendly, All Hallow's Eve: 13 Stories, Three Good Deeds, Now You See It ..., and the Edgar Award-winning Never Trust a Dead Man. She lives in Rochester, New York. Visit her website at www.vivianvandevelde.com.

Reviews

"Readers...will not be able to put this swashbuckler down."--Publishers Weekly
"Vivid and diverting."--Kirkus Reviews
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Gr 6-10-- As this fantasy adventure begins, eighth-grader Arvin Rizalli has just become Harek Longbow, warrior elf, in the first stage of a fantasy role-playing game that simulates reality. He is on a five day quest, goal to be discovered, with six other teenagers in various roles, and his mother, impelled by curiosity to play the game for the first time. As the quest progresses, Arvin realizes first that the program has some glitches complicating their activities, and later that his mother seems to have some other, unrelated problem that interferes with her ability to play but adds to the urgency with which they must finish the game and return to reality. Just as the game is missing certain levels and controls, this novel is lacking in some basic levels of character development, motivation, and relation to a real world. In their fantasy roles, the seven players encounter giant rats, trolls, werewolves, and more, with each meeting an excuse for swordplay and general mayhem, usually accompanied by death and destruction. Arvin describes his fellow players and speculates on which roles they have assumed--this is the extent of the characterization. The mechanism or procedure by which the program simulates reality is also not explained. Velde begins this game on page one and finishes it only four pages before the end of the book, leaving little room for further developments. Fantasy game players will enjoy this story as another level of the game, but readers looking for more may be as anxious as Arvin/Harek for the game and the novel to be over. --Susan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy, PA

"Readers...will not be able to put this swashbuckler down."--Publishers Weekly
"Vivid and diverting."--Kirkus Reviews
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