Adventure

Another fantastic adventure in this still-inspired series. This time around, we learn about what happens when people decide to fully give in to their fantasies - fully rejecting "real" life! A territory on the absolute verge of collapse... and Saint Dane's victory! Lots of stuff going on, including a lot of growth for the characters left on 'earth', brings many, many changes to the world of "Travelers" and their quest to stop Halla from being destroyed.[return][return]Wonderfully creative and a pleasure to lose yourself in! ( )

Onwards! This time around, Pendragon has come to the territory of Veelox, dealing with a virtual reality addiction crisis. It's a topic that comes up over and over again in science fiction and even in real world media coverage, warning that as virtual reality gets better and better, it will be harder and harder for people to leave, leading to society decaying. Regardless of what you think about the idea of such a thing happening in the real world, it's an interesting enough take to build the story on.

Characterwise, Aja is actually one of the more interesting travelers we've been introduced to. She's so confident in herself at first that she nearly refuses Bobby's help, but as could be expected, things go sideways. She seems to learn from her mistakes and finally admits that perhaps she can't save the world all by herself.

The main problem I had with this story was the final battle with the eponymous Reality Bug when it made it into 'reality' didn't make any sense. They don't even try to explain it really or even hang a lampshade on it. Kind of annoying that...

Beyond that, I still don't really care for Mark and Courtney's storyline. Oh they're in High School now. Cool. It's nice that they're looking to get more involved by looking into becoming acolytes, but it takes yet another entire book for not much to happen. I'm still not convinced the books wouldn't be made better just by removing those sections.

It's fascinating to see Saint Dane actually win one though. He's been getting closer and closer through the series. Really makes me want to see what the fallout from that is in the next couple books. He's still not a super interesting villain though. Just evil for the sake of being evil and... that's about it so far as character goes.

So it goes.

Interesting enough, on to the next one. ( )

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It seems that the imagination of D.J. MacHale knows no bounds. Each world that Bobby Pendragon finds himself in is more amazing than the last.

It's finally time for Bobby to face Veelox, the technological territory where everything is supposedly under control. But Veelox's smart, overconfident Traveler Aja may not be as in control as she believes.

On Veelox, everyone is safely ensconced in a virtual reality program called Lifelight, where your perfect fantasies can brought to life. But the reality of Veelox is dying out because no one is living in it anymore. So Aja develops a computer virus called the Reality Bug, designed to gradually ease the population away from the perfection of Lifelight. But viruses are designed to do one thing; cause chaos.

Bobby, with the help of the warrior Loor and the slowly thawing Aja, must go in search of Lifelight's creator, Dr. Zetlin, before the Reality Bug does Saint Dane's bidding...and destroys Veelox.

Bobby's journal narration is as strong as ever, and the concepts of this new world are easy and exciting to jump into. And back on Second Earth, Mark and Courtney are beginning to get the adventures they've been hoping for, as they learn about becoming acolytes. And the ending of this one...well, let's just say I hope I get the next book soon! ( )