Saga (The Avatar Chronicles) - Softcover

Kostick, Conor

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0862789796 ISBN 13: 9780862789794

Publisher: The O'Brien Press, 2006

Synopsis

How do we know we are real and not just some character in an elaborate game?

In the virtual world of Saga, Ghost is a fifteen-year-old airboarding anarcho-punk, with no past, no memories, only a growing realisation of her own strange abilities. But who is she really and why is she becoming embroiled in a battle with the warped leader of Saga -- the Dark Queen? How have Erik and Cindella Dragonslayer fared since their adventures in Epic?

And what happens if you dare to reach outside your world, or to question your identity? Is that simply the road to madness, death and destruction?

Praise for Epic , Cindella Dragonslayer's first adventure:

'The most important Irish novel of the year.' Sunday Independent

See the thrilling video trailer created for Saga by the US publisher, Viking Children's Books:

About this title

About the Author:

Conor Kostick is a writer and historian living in Dublin. As a novelist he 'was awarded the 'Farmleigh 'writer's residency for the summer of 2010 'and a place on the nominees list for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2012 and 2013. 'At their 2009 awards, the Reading Association of Ireland gave him the Special Merit Award in recognition of his significant contribution to writing for children in Ireland'. ' Epic 'is Conor's most successful book, selling over 100,000 copies worldwide. It was awarded a place on the International Board on Books for Young People "White Ravens" list for 2006 and on the 'Booklist 'Best Fantasy Books for Youth list for 2007. As an historian, Conor Kostick's holds a PhD and a gold medal from Trinity College Dublin. He won 'first prize in the 2001 Dublinia Medieval Essay Competition, and has held fellowships from the Irish Research Council and the University of Nottingham. In 2013, he was awarded a Marie Curie research grant from the EU. Conor was twice chairperson of the Irish Writers' Union. His facebook readers page is here.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 9 Up—Living under the oppressive rule of a 2000-year-old Dark Queen, the inhabitants of the violent world of Saga are downtrodden. To survive, Ghost and her friends raid malls, ride airboards, and try to subvert the class-driven system. When they meet the swashbuckler Cindella Dragonslayer, first introduced in Epic (Viking, 2007), they are perplexed. Her clothes, her mannerisms, and her magical abilities are absurdly out of place. Saga is a virtual-reality game and Cindella is the avatar of Erik Haraldson, the winner of the previous iteration of the game. Saga's characters are now sentient beings, and the Queen has enslaved Erik's world with a drug that forces them to play or die. She will only release them if Erik makes her children immortal, but if he complies, the people of Saga will suffer. Erik and Ghost must each find their own way to defeat the Queen. The plot elements of this complicated, fast-paced novel are not fully integrated, and readers who have not read Epic will be puzzled by the importance of Cindella/Erik. The moral conflict between Erik's peaceful society and Ghost's violent one has the potential to be an interesting examination of how the worlds function, but this idea is never fully addressed. Despite these flaws, readers will find the adventures of anarchic teens on floating skateboards compelling. Give this to fans of video games and readers of James Patterson's "Maximum Ride" series (Little, Brown).—Heather M. Campbell, formerly at Philip S. Miller Library, Castle Rock, CO
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About this edition

• Publisher: The O'Brien Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0862789796
• ISBN 13: 9780862789794
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320