2. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline The year is 2044 the world is an over populated, wasteland. The world is gripped by an energy crisis and global warming is just one of the many issues face by the planets current occupants. As life on Earth is so dismal most of the employed humans spend their time logged into the oasis, a virtually reality simulator with thousands of galaxies and millions of worlds. In the oasis people can be whoever they want to be no matter who they are in real life. When the creator of the oasis, a reclusive billionaire called James Halliday dies he sets a competition where the winner not only becomes master of the oasis but also inherits all of Halliday’s fortune.
Wade Watts is a poor orphan who lives with his aunt and her boyfriend. Wade lives in the stacks, a slum-like residential area that is ravaged by poverty. He attends school with in the oasis but does not have enough money or points to leave and go in search of the golden egg which is the aim of the game set out by Halliday. When Wade stumbles onto a serious clue to finding the egg he becomes a celebrity inside the oasis but when a large multinational corporation known as IOI tries to hire Wade to find the egg, Wade refuses, but sadly this results in the attempted assassination on Wades life which fails. Wade then flees the stacks and teams up with some fellow gamers to find the egg and destroy IOI once and for all.
I was recently admitted to hospital which as you know is one of the most boring and mind-numbing situations one can be in. This book was a Perfect way to pass the time and was practically impossible to predict the end result. This book shows a version of the future that not only could happen but most likely will.
Teen Rating: One of the greatest science-fiction books I have ever read. 4.5/5 14+
2. Angels and Demons by Dan BrownWhen Robert Langdon, a prestigious symbolist professor at Harvard is sent a message relating to the death of an acclaimed physicist that whose murder proves the resurfacing of an ancient society. Langdon is then put on the first plane to Switzerland, once there Langdon is taken to CERN and discovers that the physicist killed developed a new technology known as anti-matter which proves the existence of god. Anti-matter is incredibly reactive and could demolish a small city. Robert accompanied by genius physicist, Vittoria Vetra races off to the Vatican in order to stop the assassination of four cardinals and the destruction of the Catholic Church.
This book is incredibly intricate and was thoroughly enjoyable. It is utterly unpredictable and requires your immediate attention. This book is phenomenal it is so complex the outcome is impossible guess. Every time a suspect appears promising the novel takes a completely different term. This book is food for thought and is one of the greatest mental exercises that I have read in ages.
Teen Rating: An amazing book with twists and turns after every page. 13+ 4/5
3. Harry Potter and the cursed child by Jack Thorne
The book is set eighteen years after the deathly hallows, the final Potter book written by J.K Rowling. Harry and the rest of the order of the phoenix are all 40 with slight bellies and desk jobs. Albus Severus Potter, is not enjoying Hogwarts and his sole friend; Scorpius is son to none other than Draco Malfoy. It is not just school that Albus is finding unpleasant, he feels trapped by being the son of the boy who lived. This is not helped by the fact that he is in Slytherin. One day whilst home from school for the holidays Harry gets a visit from Amos Diggory, Amos begs Harry to go back in time and save Cedric Diggory from his death at the hands of Voldemort. Albus then sets out on a daring rescue through time to save Cedric and correct the mistakes of his father. However darkness is closing in on Albus and soon he will be forced to save the world or watch it be destroyed.
Just like everyone else in the world I loved the Harry Potter books and could not resist the temptation to buy it. Originally I went in with very low expectations as it wasn’t written by J.K Rowling but I was more than pleasantly surprised. This book was not written by Rowling but that does not matter this book is better than a tribute and I am looking forward to being able to see it on the stage as it was originally intended.
Teen Rating: An amazing follow-up to one of the greatest fantasy series’ ever written. 4.5/5 12+
