The game was over! Or so they thought.
With hands tightly clasped, Tark and Zyra watched as all they had ever known melted away.
And then they were moving through greyness. It was like swimming through treacle. Up ahead, two intense points of white light called to them.
The greyness swirled around them, tugging and pulling.
Their fingers slipped and their hands parted. They were whisked away from each other and towards the light – towards the unknown.
In this third and final of the Gamers trilogy, Tark and Zyra who have lived all their lives inside a complex computer game, have escaped. Real life, they’re hoping will be calmer and less frenetic than their life in the game. But they discover as much drama and as many secrets in the real world. Yet again, they’ve been separated, and are pawns of the battles of others. They both need to again work out who to trust and how to find each other. And instead of being just in one world, their battles are fought across various game world environments and the real world. They are helped and hindered by brilliant scientists, rebels, clones and others as their goal of freedom is widened to include myriad others.
The action zips between worlds with jet-propelled speed, tension rising with each world-crossing. Tark and Zyra are not just fighting for their own destiny, they are learning that they exist in a greater world where there are injustices that cannot be ignored. They are awakening beyond themselves and their digital world to assume their roles as leaders. There are plenty of gadgets and technology to please science fiction readers set in a powerful and engaging narrative. There are plenty of topics to generate classroom discussion eg ethics, moral responsibility, even the notion of what constitutes ‘life’ and ‘living’. But readers will come to Gamers’ Rebellion having enjoyed the first two instalments of the trilogy. Gamers’ Rebellion could stand on its own, but why miss all the fun and adventure of ‘Gamers’ Quest’ and ‘Gamers’ Challenge’? Recommended for secondary readers.
Gamers’ Rebellion, George Ivanoff Ford St Publishing 2013 ISBN: 9781921665974
review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author
www.clairesaxby.com
Available from good bookstores or online.