The Story:
Tark and Zyra are teenaged thieves on a quest. In a world of magic and science, where dragons and mages exist alongside drones and lasers, they endeavor to reach the haven of Designers' Paradise. But their world is not what it appears to be and their haven is about to come under threat of destruction. Can Tark and Zyra save Designers' Paradise ... and their own world?
My Thoughts:
I read Gamers' Quest a while back during a period when I was putting down almost every book that I started. One of the things that struck me most was that even though the book is targeted at an MG audience and is decidedly science fiction which isn't usually my genre, I enjoyed reading Gamers' Quest nonetheless.
Gamers' quest follows the adventures of Tark and Zyra, two opportunistic thieves hell bent on saving or stealing enough money to buy their way into Designers' Paradise. These two characters are the epitome of the word underdog and you can't help but root for them despite their unconventional methods of acquiring wealth. All is not what it seems though and before you know it, Tark and Zyra are thrust into an adventure that they didn't necessarily sign up for but one which changes their lives irrevocably.
Gamers' Quest is non stop action and twists from the very first page. There aren't any huge chunks of exposition to slow the pace down and just when you think our heroes are going to catch a break the rug is pulled from underneath them. This is one of those tales where the bad guy just won't die. Tark and Zyra are surprisingly fleshed out characters despite the relatively short length of the book and I loved their thoroughly rebellious appearance because it's so different from anything else out there.
There was one thing about Gamers' Quest though that spoiled my complete enjoyment of the story and that was the dialogue style. One of my pet hates is dialogue that's written in distinct dialects and accents. It's a personal preference and I know it's tiny in the scope of things but it drives me nuts. It was especially pronounced in this instance because it was used as a tool to highlight Tark and Zyra's lowly status but it really pulled me out of the story.
Overall, despite the dialogue distraction, I enjoyed Gamers' Quest and would recommend it to those who want to dip their toes into the sci/fi genre without too much of the heavy tech descriptions to slow down the pacing.
The Rating:
3.5/5
There are two more books to go. If you can get to the third, you'll find the dialogue changes and the reason for this style. I know, it drives a lot of people nuts! :-) So George fixed it. And there's a twist at the end.
ReplyDeleteWeird dialogs and accents can be so annoying. The story sounds fun though.
ReplyDeleteIt is. Interestingly, this started as a short story, would you believe!
ReplyDeleteI love how Charles Dickens did his different class accents. I suppose, unless you're a talent like him, it's tough to read phonetically written words.
ReplyDeleteHi Lan,
ReplyDeleteSometimes dialects--or at least if they are written in with a whole bunch of apostrophes, missing letters etc--can take me out of the story as well. Sounds like an interesting story, though, with all the plot twists and villain who keeps coming back. Sci-fi isn't really my bag either, but I enjoy it every now and then, and I'd love to find some really great books in the genre :). Hope you're doing well!
Ninja Girl
The dialect thing bugs me too! I don't mind if there's a little here and there to remind me that they speak differently, but when it's constantly there it totally distracts me.
ReplyDeleteOh, dialects! Sometimes it's fun, but too much dialogues in different dialect give me headache haha. Glad that you enjoyed this book although this is not your usual genre, Lan! Thanks for the fun review! :)
ReplyDeleteI myst say, the cover for this one would have turned me completely off. The dialect issues only tell me to avoid it even more. I've always had trouble with books with strange dialects/accents/slang. I can never quite get into it.
ReplyDelete