Ellinor's Litventures

I absolutely don't understand the hype about this book. When it wasn't boring, Erebos was completely improbable: At a London school a computer game is making the round. Once you receive a copy you are to talk to no one about the content, the characters you are playing or what you experienced while playing. Nick notices that something is going on and is very keen on playing the game, "Erebos", as well. When he finally is asked to enter he starts playing at once. Erebos is a role-play. Like in other role-plays Nick has to chose a character and fight in several quests. The aim of the game is to become part of the so-called inner circle and fight in the final quest. So far nothing new. Now page after page of very boring descriptions follow. The reader learns about Nick starting the game, meeting the messenger for the first time and fighting his first quest. Everything starts out pretty harmless except that the messenger seems to know certain things about Nick and asks him personal questions. To reach higher levels Nick often doesn't just have to fight in the game but run certain errands in real life. These start out quite harmless (take a box from one place to another, win a new player for the game) but end with him having to kill someone. That's when Nick finally refuses to run these errands. When one of his friends who refused to play the game is kill, Nick and some of his friends finally try to find out what's behind all this.
Apart from the very boring descriptions - when I'm interested in computer games I play them but don't read them - my main point of criticism is that it is totally improbable that a whole school is so much into one game that everyone forgets everything else and would do absolutely everything for this one game. They are always people who aren't interested in computer games and especially not in role plays. Even if you start playing a game you aren't usually totally absorbed by it. There is nothing so special about Erebos that it would rectify the student's strange behaviour. Also, if you notice something strange about a game - like the messenger and his questions - a great number of people would at once get suspicious and quit playing. The other half would leave after the first real life quest.
In my opinion Erebos is much overrated and definitely nothing I'd recommend.