About the Author

Conor Kostick is the author of the acclaimed Epic Trilogy -- Epic, Saga, and Edda.
He was a designer for the world's first live fantasy role-playing game, based in Peckforton Castle, Cheshire. He lives in Dublin where, having completed a Ph.D on the subject of the crusades, he now teaches medieval history at Trinity College Dublin. He has published widely on history, culture, and politics, including coauthoring The Easter Rising: A Guide to Dublin in 1916, and co-editing Irish Writers Against War, an anthology of writings by Irish authors in response to the war in Iraq. He has twice been elected chairperson of the Irish Writers' Union.

Reviews

STARRED REVIEW Just as Saga (2008) exploded beyond opener Epic (2007), this third volume ratchets up this science-fiction gaming series to a whole new level.Inside electronic world Edda, created and once played but now long deserted by humans, sentient Lord Scanthax rules all. He vanquishes other electronic realms via portal, killing everyone--sentient or not, he doesn't care. But Scanthax, lacking DNA, can't script new weapons. For that, he's preserved the life of the only human left on the uninhabitable planet that houses Edda's servers. Scanthax-controlled robots tend 15-year-old Penelope'sunderused physical body inside an airlock. Penelope's brain and consciousness are healthy and angry: Her avatar, Princess, has the run of Edda, but only as long as Penelope scripts the weapons Scanthax demands. Penelope wants, as Princess, to search other electronic worlds for avatars with humans behind them; having known only Scanthax her entire life, she craves human connection. Meanwhile, across this chain of worlds that were once games, electronic but very real Ghost from Saga sets out with human Erik from New Earth--as avatar Cindella--to find the conqueror threatening Saga's sentient inhabitants. Combatants clash; worlds clash (techno/punk, traditional fantasy, military); philosophies clash (pacifism, preservation, revenge); loyalties hold steady.Humans, electronic beings and servers are separated by light years and metaphysics, but Kostick's action-filled series conclusion is immediate and relevant. (Science fiction. 13 & up)

STARRED REVIEWJust as Saga (2008) exploded beyond opener Epic (2007), this third volume ratchets up this science-fiction gaming series to a whole new level.Inside electronic world Edda, created and once played but now long deserted by humans, sentient Lord Scanthax rules all. He vanquishes other electronic realms via portal, killing everyone sentient or not, he doesn't care. But Scanthax, lacking DNA, can't script new weapons. For that, he's preserved the life of the only human left on the uninhabitable planet that houses Edda's servers. Scanthax-controlled robots tend 15-year-old Penelope'sunderused physical body inside an airlock. Penelope's brain and consciousness are healthy and angry: Her avatar, Princess, has the run of Edda, but only as long as Penelope scripts the weapons Scanthax demands. Penelope wants, as Princess, to search other electronic worlds for avatars with humans behind them; having known only Scanthax her entire life, she craves human connection. Meanwhile, across this chain of worlds that were once games, electronic but very real Ghost from Saga sets out with human Erik from New Earth as avatar Cindella to find the conqueror threatening Saga's sentient inhabitants. Combatants clash; worlds clash (techno/punk, traditional fantasy, military); philosophies clash (pacifism, preservation, revenge); loyalties hold steady.Humans, electronic beings and servers are separated by light years and metaphysics, but Kostick's action-filled series conclusion is immediate and relevant. (Science fiction. 13 & up)"

STARRED REVIEW Just as Saga (2008) exploded beyond opener Epic (2007), this third volume ratchets up this science-fiction gaming series to a whole new level.Inside electronic world Edda, created and once played but now long deserted by humans, sentient Lord Scanthax rules all. He vanquishes other electronic realms via portal, killing everyone--sentient or not, he doesn't care. But Scanthax, lacking DNA, can't script new weapons. For that, he's preserved the life of the only human left on the uninhabitable planet that houses Edda's servers. Scanthax-controlled robots tend 15-year-old Penelope'sunderused physical body inside an airlock. Penelope's brain and consciousness are healthy and angry: Her avatar, Princess, has the run of Edda, but only as long as Penelope scripts the weapons Scanthax demands. Penelope wants, as Princess, to search other electronic worlds for avatars with humans behind them; having known only Scanthax her entire life, she craves human connection. Meanwhile, across this chain of worlds that were once games, electronic but very real Ghost from Saga sets out with human Erik from New Earth--as avatar Cindella--to find the conqueror threatening Saga's sentient inhabitants. Combatants clash; worlds clash (techno/punk, traditional fantasy, military); philosophies clash (pacifism, preservation, revenge); loyalties hold steady.Humans, electronic beings and servers are separated by light years and metaphysics, but Kostick's action-filled series conclusion is immediate and relevant. (Science fiction. 13 & up)
STARRED REVIEWJust as Saga (2008) exploded beyond opener Epic (2007), this third volume ratchets up this science-fiction gaming series to a whole new level.Inside electronic world Edda, created and once played but now long deserted by humans, sentient Lord Scanthax rules all. He vanquishes other electronic realms via portal, killing everyone sentient or not, he doesn't care. But Scanthax, lacking DNA, can't script new weapons. For that, he's preserved the life of the only human left on the uninhabitable planet that houses Edda's servers. Scanthax-controlled robots tend 15-year-old Penelope'sunderused physical body inside an airlock. Penelope's brain and consciousness are healthy and angry: Her avatar, Princess, has the run of Edda, but only as long as Penelope scripts the weapons Scanthax demands. Penelope wants, as Princess, to search other electronic worlds for avatars with humans behind them; having known only Scanthax her entire life, she craves human connection. Meanwhile, across this chain of worlds that were once games, electronic but very real Ghost from Saga sets out with human Erik from New Earth as avatar Cindella to find the conqueror threatening Saga's sentient inhabitants. Combatants clash; worlds clash (techno/punk, traditional fantasy, military); philosophies clash (pacifism, preservation, revenge); loyalties hold steady.Humans, electronic beings and servers are separated by light years and metaphysics, but Kostick's action-filled series conclusion is immediate and relevant. (Science fiction. 13 & up)"