A review of James Starling's Arteess: Conflict

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James Starling's Arteess: Conflict was published by Elsewhen Press in a digital edition in July 2013. The paperback edition was published in November 2013.

Information about James Starling:

James Starling is, by any definition of the word, a gamer. From the mean inhospitable streets of a lovely little community nestled deep within the Devon coastline, James finds himself caught between two distant generations. Dragged along with the modern and the technological, he revels in the virtual environments and endless community entertainment of this millennium's gaming scene. However you view it, he's certainly caught up in the rush of gaming to the point where it’s become a bit of an obsession.

Bridging the chasm-like void between literature and gaming, James brings together both the disturbingly amusing black humour of the gaming community and the focus, scope and monumental scale possible within modern literature.

He's quite fond of the end result... Of course, he's also been heard to furiously defend the potential virtues of chocolate-coated bacon, so his opinion might be somewhat invalid.

Information about Arteess: Conflict:

Arteess: Conflict is the first book in the Arteess series. We are introduced into the world of Arteess alongside the Shard squad, a group of friends specialising in Conflict arenas, playing as a cohesive unit led by Splint. Though each member possesses unique talents, they are ultimately defined by their personalities, their own personal battles and the moral choices they make in the consequence-free virtual environment. They are thrust into Arteess to serve under the Sapphire faction, an alarmingly casual outfit holed up in the middle of a metal mountain. Surrounded by sociopathic technicians, facetious pilots and a potentially insane commander, Splint and her squad must carve out a place for themselves within the virtual battlefield while surviving not only the onslaught of rivals but also the antics of their own teammates.

A REVIEW OF JAMES STARLING'S ARTEESS: CONFLICT

Arteess: Conflict is the first volume of James Starling's four-part science fiction series, Arteess. Arteess: Conflict is a story about a virtual gaming world and how the players play the game. It's an interesting and bold experimentation in combining modern science fiction and gaming.

Before I write more about Arteess: Conflict, I'll mention that it was fun to read this book, because it was a different kind of a science fiction book. I don't normally get excited about books that tell about what happens in a virtual gaming world, but this book is one of the few exceptions that manage to convey the hectic action and the addictive atmosphere of the gaming world to readers, because the author writes enthusiastically about the quests and action scenes. (When I read this book, I thought to myself that the author must know quite a lot about games, because he manages to write convincingly and fluently about the different choices and action scenes.)

What makes Arteess: Conflict different is that the author concentrates fully on writing about the virtual world, action scenes and what kind of decisions the players make. I've read a couple of books which are slightly reminiscent of this book, but none of them are fully similar to it in terms of storytelling and story, so it's easy for me to say that the author has created something new.

It's good to mention that this book will probably split the readers into two groups - to those who enjoy it and to those who don't enjoy it - because it differs greatly from other new science fiction books. If a reader isn't familiar with online games etc, it's possible that it may be difficult to understand the contents of this book.

The events take place in the near future where computer games and online games have been developed to a much higher level than what they are now. Consoles have died out and internet has developed a lot, and gaming and internet have merged together.

Arteess: Conflict is a bit different kind of a vision of a vast virtual world, because the game world has been created to be realistic and large. The world of Arteess is almost like a complete replica of reality, but there are a few exceptions that separate it from reality.

The protagonists of this book consist of a group of friends who specialize in conflict arenas. They enter a secret level of a game and find themselves in Arteess. The world of Arteess gradually opens to the reader as the players get to know the gaming world. I think that this book revealed only a glimpse of the virtual world, because it's the first book. The author probably several surprises in store for his readers and will reveal them in the sequels.

In this book the author reveals interesting things about the game world. Here's a few examples of them (because this book is a fast read, I'll try to avoid writing too many spoilers):

- The players will be compensated for their time.

- A spec ops player can do anything and learn to use anything, but can't create anything. Techies take care of creating things etc.

- Sports players are imported into the game. They're vehicle pilots - they specialize in using armoured, flying and fast-moving vehicles.

I think it's interesting that the author explores the differences between the players by writing about what choices they make in the virtual world. The consequence-free virtual environment allows players to do several things. For example, looting is easy.

Arteess: Conflict is James Starling's debut book. In my opinion he has lots of potential and he writes well, but because Arteess: Conflict is a debut book, there are a few rough spots in it. Although I liked this book, the story raised a few questions. For example, when I read this book, I thought that it would have been interesting to know what happened outside the game world and how the world had changed. Because Arteess is a huge virtual world, it would also haven been nice to read more about the technology etc. These things would've added plenty of depth to the story.

Before I write the final words of my review, I'll mention that the story will continue in Arteess: Fortification. I think that everybody who enjoys reading this book will look forward to reading the sequel, because this books ends in an interesting way. I look forward to reading the sequel, because I'm interested in seeing how the author continues to develop his story and the world of Arteess.

I have to confess that it's a bit difficult for me to decide how many stars I'm going to give this book on the scale from 1 to 5 stars, because I liked the story, but wished that they would've been more depth in it. After careful consideration I decided to gived this book 3.5 stars: 4 stars for the bold and addictive experimentation with combining science fiction and gaming and 3 stars for the lack of depth.

Arteess: Conflict is an interesting and a bit different kind of a science fiction book. I think that readers who are interested in online games, war games and other similar kind of games will love this book and will be able to immerse themselves fully in the story and the happenings. It has everything that these readers could ever hope for, because it has action, suspense and surprises. In my opinion Arteess: Conflict is a dream-come-true book for readers who enjoy playing action packed computer games and spending time in virtual gaming worlds.

Interesting science fiction entertainment!


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