Name: Invitation to the Game
ISBN: 9780671866921

Monica Hughes

Unemployed after high school in the highly robotic society of 2154, Lisse and seven friends resign themselves to a boring existence in their "Designated Area" until the government invites them to play The Game.

Invitation to the Game

Kirsten Simkiss

If I had half stars, I'd give this one a solid 3.5 stars out of the 5.

I didn't really like the main character. She was always kind of the dead weight of the group, but nobody generally seemed to notice. It's great that she's sympathetic and good at reading classes and philosophy, but when it comes down to killing a purple rabbit or dying, you kill the rabbit. Just saying. Even the more reluctant characters serve more of a function in their group than she does. Even Rich, who's a pain in the ass to deal with on a general basis, has a decent medical knowledge and is able to keep the others alive. She isn't a bad character at all, but she just didn't jive with me as I'd hoped. 

Having read it all in one sitting, I find it's actually somewhat difficult to recall each character's name now, having finished it. Some names stick out, but many of the male characters are a blur to me thinking back on it. That's a bit unfortunate, but it is the side effect of a short book with ten main characters.

(view spoiler)[The concept of going from video game to real world was very interesting. I certainly wasn't expecting it. I think the way they chose the teams to enter the game was interesting, especially since it makes me wonder if every graduating class is split up with this opportunity in mind. I do also question how long, exactly, they were kept in those eggs while on route to the game. Space travel is not instantaneous, even with advanced robotic technology. They zapped these kids from Earth to the other end of space, practically. So how long were they cryogenically frozen or whatever during transit? I know we don't know the answer because Lisse doesn't know the answer and it's her story, but this seems a little illogical. (hide spoiler)]

The theme of being wary of how far we let technology go is certainly a message in this book. I can't imagine a reality where people would let robots do everything for them to the extent that there was nothing left for human kind to do, but, should that ever happen, I suppose it is something to consider.