I have another book review for you today, and hold on to your seats, because this one is a thrill ride.
Twelve thousand years ago, they came. They descended from the sky amid smoke and fire, and created humanity and gave us rules t
o live by. They needed gold and they built our earliest civilizations to mine it for them. When they had what they needed, they left. But before they left, they told us someday they would come back, and when they did, a game would be played. A game Twelve thousand years ago, they came. They descended from the sky amid smoke and fire, and created humanity and gave us rules to live by. They needed gold and they built our earliest civilizations to mine it for them. When they had what they needed, they left. But before they left, they told us someday they would come back, and when they did, a game would be played. A game that would determine our future.
This is Endgame.
For ten thousand years the lines have existed in secret. The
12 original lines of humanity. Each had to have a Player prepared at all times. They have trained generation after generation after generation. In weapons, languages, history, tactics, disguise assassination. Together the players are everything: strong, kind, ruthless, loyal, smart, stupid, ugly, lustful, mean, fickle, beautiful, calculating, lazy, exuberant, weak. They are good and evil. Like you. Like all.This is Endgame.
When the game starts, the players will have to find three keys. The keys are somewhere on earth. The only rule of their Endgame is that there are no rules. Whoever finds the keys first wins the game. Endgame: The Calling is about the hunt for the first key. And just as it tells the story of the hunt for a hidden key, written into the book is a puzzle. It invites readers to play their own Endgame and to try to solve the puzzle. Whoever does will open a case filled with gold. Alongside the puzzle will be a revolutionary mobile game built by Google’s Niantic Labs that will allow you to play a real-world version of Endgame where you can join one of the lines and do battle with people around you.
Will exuberance beat strength? Stupidity top kindness? Laziness thwart beauty? Will the winner be good or evil? There is only one way to find out.
Play.
Survive.
Solve.
People of Earth.
Endgame has begun.
I finished this book on Monday, I have been chugging through it for a while now; not because it was bad, in fact, I thought that it was really good. I have only three words to describe this book. Those would be interesting, strange, and simple. I have never, ever read a book quite like this one. They never appealed to me at all, but I saw this one in an unboxing video by Sasha Alsberg(ABookUtopia), and, I just knew that I had to read it. For some reason, this strange book peaked my interest, and I don’t regret a single second of it.
“Hate me if you must, but know that I will never hate you.”
The writing style of this book can only be described as one word: simple. It’s not the deepest book I’ve ever read, it’s about a shallow as a tide pool. The only emotions we see from any of characters are Sarah and Christopher. The vanilla writing style, however, absolutely did not stop this book from being killer, literally. It was action packed for the entirety of the novel, all 461 pages of it; which is really hard to do with such a large novel. I was gripped from page 1 all the way to the very last words. The short chapters and simplicity made the book easy to read and to follow what was happening within the plot. Though i normally don’t like 3rd person point-of-view, as it often doesn’t allow for me to envision myself in the story and become close to the characters, it was absolutely essential for this story to work. The 3rd person point-of-view and simple, short style of writing were crucial to the flow of the book. The story is told from 14 different points-of-view including the 12 players: Marcus Loxias Megalos, Chiyoko Takeda, Sarah Alopay, Alice Ulapala, Aisling Kopp, Baitsakhan, Jago Tlaloc, An Liu, Shari Chopra, Kala Mozami, Maccabee Adlai, Hilal ibn Isa al-Salt, Sarah’s boyfriend: Christopher Vanderkamp, and one God/Alien/Sky Person/Mystical Being: Kepler 22b. This would have been absolute chaos had it not possessed these characteristics.
Overall
I give this book a 4 out of five stars. I loved the simplistic layout and the original plotline. I also love the fact that there is a real puzzle, in the real world with a real prize of gold if you win. I loved the pictures and the hidden messages in the book as well. All the different elements of this book just came together beautifully and made absolute storytelling magic. I will definitely be reading the rest of the series, and I cannot wait.
802 Book Review 