Epic

EPIC; Conor Kostick; New York: Viking, 2007; 364pgs. Young Adult

"Epic" is the name of a computer game that takes the place of representative government and societal ebb and flow in an unnamed country were actual violence has been outlawed and
people's lives and livelihoods are determined by their facility in playing the game. Outside the game, conditions are primitive and workers are assigned to their jobs, transferred to new tasks, or exiled completely depending on their facility at gaming. Erik is a young man who seems not to play well, because rather than slogging away with a faceless character for the slow accumulation of coppers, he challenges difficult opponents and often fails. His parents are afraid that he will be reallocated, but can't convince him to go conventional. Erik's team play becomes dangerous when he and his friends attract the attention of Central Allocations by doing things no one has been able to do before and the Council unleashes the "Executioner" into the game to protect their own power. The book reflects to some degree the current confusion of game life with real life--the Epic scenes in this story are often more vivid than reality, and it isn't always readily apparent whether Erik and his team are in or out of the game--sometimes it is startling when they unclip to go to bed or to eat supper. Kostick, himself a sometime game designer, argues in this well-wrought fantasy against confusing electronic victories with actual achievement. The freedom to grow, learn, and serve is balanced against freedom from violence in this gripping novel of parallel worlds.

LW