Review: Read in one sitting
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 18, 2014
This is a really well thought out story.  I really liked it, and -had to- immediately start book 2.  Fair warning- there's a cliffhanger (Which isn't such a spoiler, given that there are 4 published books as of this review).I know, I know, the whole world-as-game/dream thing is kind of meh, but this.... Oh, this was VERY well done.  I found the story interesting and engaging right from the beginning, I appreciated the characterization, and I began to really root for the two main characters.  I was sad for them when a very bad thing happened - that means the author did their job of making me care about our heroes.If I had to describe this book using other stories, I'd say its The Matrix plus Hunger Games-ish.I was impressed with the way the author combined explaining the way the world(s) work with some backstory and the events happening now.  There wasn't a lot of "I'm a new author and I don't know how to explain the stuff underneath the action" type of passages.  I thought the foreshadowing was handled well.Something that irked me, and yet I completely understand and support its inclusion, are the constant little mysteries.  Nameless yet detailed good and bad (or both?) guys, hints at the world beyond the surface, characters doing things for reasons that seem suspect or unexplained...argh!  It's maddening, and a tease, and eventually things get explained.  It really keeps the tension and the interest high.I didn't find any glaring format or grammar errors in book 1 - either I'm un-observant, was carried away by the story, or they've been fixed.  Book 2, at 85% complete, has several instances where sentences run together or the next words continue a few line spaces down from where it should - not story killers, but they exist.Overall - get this book, it's reallllllly good.