Review: Gamerunner by B.R. Collins

Rick is a Gamerunner. His job is to test there are no glitches or bugs in The Maze - the computer game that is much more than just a computer game. In The Maze you physically become your avatar. You fight, run and loot, all the time avoiding the deadly slicing traps - whirling blades that appear from nowhere. Rick has known nothing outside The Maze and his life at the headquarters of Crater, the company that created The Maze. When Rick's father falls out of favour and Rick is faced with being thrown out of Crater HQ into the outside world - a world of flesh-dissolving acid rain and ferocious, feral roving gangs - Rick has some life-changing decisions to make ...


This book had an exciting start which quickly got me interested in the book.  One of the first things I noticed was how the author wrote in third person, but instead of using the character's name sometimes, always used 'he'.  Later, when the character's name (Rick) is found out, it's used a bit more, but it made me feel like the book was from the point of view of someone who is watching Rick, rather than Rick himself.  This writing style also stopped me from getting to know him more, and I think I would have liked him more as a character and liked the book more if it had felt more as if it was from Rick's point of view, rather than from someone watching's point of view.

I really liked the concept of this book though!  The whole idea of video games where the player is actually IN them was definitely a good idea, and a *great* change from the usual very similar sci fi/dystopian YA books that have been popular recently.  However I found that everything wasn't explained nearly enough - why was 'the maze' made?  What is 'Crater' and the building Rick and the others live in?  What is it like, and what does it look like?  What happened  for it to be dangerous to go outside?  I had so many questions about this book.  Rick often wonders whether Daed is his father or related to him, and I expected this to be explained as it came up quite often.  But it wasn't.

There were quite a few loose ends left at the end of the book, not just the mystery of Daed being related to Rick.  I didn't like the ending.  WHY did Rick want to go outside so badly, and why did he **spoiler** burn everything in his room **end spoiler*?  It seemed like a pretty random thing for him to do.  The only major part of the plot that was cleared up is what Asterion was, which was a good conclusion I didn't expect, but apart from that I disliked the ending.

I'm not sure if there's a sequel that might tie up the loose ends.  If there is, I might look out for it.  I liked the concept for Gamerunner, and I didn't really get bored by it, but no much else.

Rating: 2/5