Kostick, Conor.
EPIC
New York : Viking, 2007, c2004
IL YA
ISBN 0670061794

(2 booktalks)

Violence in New Earth was banned a long time ago. If you have an argument with somebody or need to get into a fight, you do it through the Virtually Reality game EPIC. Most people spend countless hours inside the game attempting to better their position in life. Your future life and career, and even whether or not you go to college, is based on what you do and accomplish throughout the game. Erik should be studying and earning points towards his graduation and hopeful entry into the university, but all he can think about is the Red Dragon and how to beat it, even if he does have the most unlikely character. As Erik and his friends get strong and become more and more famous, they realize that something is very wrong in the game, and in the real world as well. They must work together to end the tyranny of the Committee, the main governing force on New Earth.    (New Hampshire Isinglass Award Nominee, 2008-2009)

Booktalk #2

We've all wished that we were someone else. Games like Second Life and World of Warcraft allow us to design how we look and what we can do with digital avatars. What would everything be life if we could do that full time?

Now, imagine living in a society where violence was banned generations ago and the penalty is banishment. The only way to succeed in life is to succeed in Epic, the fantasy computer game that is used to govern the society. Eric finds himself in just such a society. He’s been practicing in the game for years and knows if he can find wealth or fame in the game, his future is secure

Now, he has created this hot and talented new avatar, and he is ready to try to be the best hero New Earth has seen in a generation. Unfortunately, the game becomes all too real when his father is banished for a long-ago crime, and Eric must convince his friends to risk everything and help him slay a dragon in order to win some influence with the leaders. Instead of solving all his problems, this merely creates more, and before he’s done, Eric ends up taking on the game itself with only his friends to help. Will he prevail, or will he end up exiled or dead, like his parents?  (Rhode Island Teen Book Awards, 2008-09)