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I was charmed by the setup of this story, in which a teenage boy passionate about a fantasy VR MMORPG called Omen Galaxica convinces his pregnant mother to sign up for the beta of the next expansion of the game. The idea is intriguing: the expansion is going to be controlled by an AI that will modify the game experience based on the evolving choices of the players. To qualify for one of the twenty beta test slots, gamers need to be popular streamers and they have to partner with someone who's never played Omen before. But Jonah, creator of the game, wants a dark horse--and he and the AI (also created by him) add a twenty-first slot just for Nick and Amanda.

This is a fun, relaxing read, and not typical gamelit; one strong theme centers on the VR experience and whether gaming in such immersion makes one more or less satisfied with the real world. There is no Sword Art Online-style crisis that locks the players into the game, and half the story is about Nick and his family and friends and their lives outside the game. I liked Nick's character development, and I found Amanda's cluelessness (she not only doesn't play Omen, she doesn't play computer games, period) endearing because it reminded me of how my own mother would react in that situation.

The other half of the story is about the game, not just the story the players create, but the development of the AI. Its developer Jonah called it/her Galatea, and with Jonah now in a coma after a terrible accident, Galatea is left to figure out her growing awareness by herself. The storyline was fun, and the growing interest in Nick and Amanda's low-key play style compared to the other gamers amused me.

Technically, this would be a four-star review--it's good, the writing is interesting, and I liked the characters, but it's not mindblowing--but after I finished reading it, I found myself thinking about it. A lot. As per my tradition, this gains it a full star.

One aspect of the story really stood out: (view spoiler)[There's a team in opposition to Nick and Amanda whose "newbie" player is a MOBA elite (note: this stands for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, and I had never heard the term before despite my children being obsessed with League of Legends), famous for his battle arena-style games. That team plays PvP and likes to slaughter NPC villages, etc. So when it turned out that "KillzYourFase" was a young man who wasn't a psychopath, just dealing with his anger at life, I was so relieved. He's a complex character, and the resolution of the in-game story was perfect. (hide spoiler)]

Anyway, it was a great read, and I hope there's an audiobook eventually, because my dyslexic daughter will love it.