‘Escape Room: Game Zero' A Book Review
Christopher Edge is one of those authors who offers slender novels packed full of ideas. It ought to be impossible to include the broad sweep of technology and science that he brings to his stories and get them under 200 pages. Even harder if you're aiming at a middle grade audience. Yet he has done it time and again. His latest novel, Escape Room: Game Zero, is a return to the world of a book that I reviewed in 2022, Escape Room .
Whilst arguably not a direct sequel, it would still be better to read Game Zero after Escape Room. They share similar concepts that are more overt in Game Zero, and hidden in Escape Room. The rest of the review may spoil the first book, so if you don't want to know anything about it, stop reading now!
Eden has followed the clues to a parking lot outside a huge warehouse. She is looking for the ultimate Escape Room experience. When the sky fills with birds, Eden finds herself transported into a new world. The World of 'The Escape;' a simulation filled with puzzles and challenges.
Eden knows she's in a simulation. Soon, she meets Ted, who claims to be The Escape's first player. It's an open-world simulator created by his dad. Ted is testing it, wearing a VR helmet, sitting in his bedroom. Yet Eden is in the simulation. Ted doesn't believe she's anything other than an NPC, albeit a helpful one. How can this be?
Together, the two try to solve the secrets of The Escape, while avoiding a terrifying monster called the 'Terra.' For Ted, being caught would simply mean game over, but what will happen to Eden if she dies inside the simulation?
Once again, Christopher Edge has delivered an exciting and thought-provoking read. The concept of being trapped inside a computer game and being unsure of what will happen to you if you die is terrifying. The puzzles are intricate and well thought out, and while the twist is perhaps not as audacious as that in Escape Room, the end of the book will still get readers (young and old) thinking.
As mentioned above, it's Edge's economy of words that sets him apart from similar authors and places him alongside Nosy Crow stablemate, Alastair Chisholm. Both writers pack so much into their books. Edge understands that attentions need to be grabbed and held. If you're going to write about a computer game, you need your story to be at least as compelling as Fortnite or Minecraft .
Does Chisholm succeed? On balance, yes. For a start, my assertion is an oversimplification. My children love their screen time, but they also enjoy book time too. There is a time and place for both; gaming, after all, is just storytelling in a different form. In Game Zero , Edge manages to invoke the thrill of games. The excitement of playing them, with the added what-if frisson of the consequences of being pulled in to a digital environment.
If you enjoy games and understand their structure, you'll enjoy the world Edge has created all the more. There's still much to enjoy here for non-gamers too but the gaming hook is a useful way to pull in children who perhaps might not pick up a book based on a different premise. Gamer or not, ruminaitons on the nature and capabilities of AI as well as thoughts on the depth of virtual worlds is sure to intrigue every reader.
As a pair, the Escape Room books are fun adventure reads. Like many Christopher Edge books, they ask their readers to think a little deeper about reality and existence. It's invigorating stuff!
If you would like to pick up a copy of Escape Room: Game Zero, you can do so here in the US (but not until February 2026) and here, in the UK – Available now! (UK Affiliate Link)
If you enjoyed this review, check out my other book reviews, here.
I received a copy of this book in order to write this review. Liked it? Take a second to support GeekDad and GeekMom on Patreon!
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