The Seventh Glitch by Ronel van Tonder
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this ARC!

I was pretty much hooked from page one with the immersive D&D online virtual gaming setup, but this was just the intro for us poor readers. The rest of the novel is a tour-de-force romp through a MUCH larger virtual realm full of trapped individuals very nicely reminiscent of .hack video game or especially the Anime (or manga) of Sword Art Online.

Was I absolutely thrilled by this? You bet! And let us not forget Ready Player One or movies like the Gamer. This is a new genre, and it shouldn't be limited only to gamers like us. It should be open to anyone who just loves their imagination. :)

As for story, I was loving the dynamic between Lucy (lucifer) and Kitty. It wasn't an easy one and plenty goes on between the hacker and the newb to make this feel like a Training Day. I even see all the same things going on that made me fall for Geekomancy, too!

LoL. If all I do here is drop names for titles that no one may even recognize, then how is anyone going to know whether they like this? Okay! Fine! It's a huge virtual reality game in the future that becomes the target for hackers wanting to bring down the top elite corporate types, but in the meantime, the kids are getting trapped inside. All the while, we are inside with them as the game slowly crashes down around our heads and all the safety protocols are going with it. The best part is that we get to fly between all these different kinds of games, from sword and sorcery to kid's animal games to call of duty while all the while having to deal with interpersonal issues, lies, and conspiracy. :) Want a health potion? How about a bazooka? No? How about a root-kit? :) Now we're talking. :)

This novel is pretty damn polished and it's great fun. It's also the second novel I've read by this author from South Africa and I'm pretty much stoked and set to read everything she's got. This is high-caliber SF. :) Rock on!

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