Book Review : The Otherworld

The Otherworld. A new virtual reality game that seems too real to be true, until it is. 

In Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller’s 2017 science fiction novel, The Otherworld, Simon, the protagonist, journeys into the Otherworld to find his best friend, Kat, discovering dangerous secrets in the process.

Simon Eaton, the 18 year old son of two rich lawyers, is one of the two thousand lucky gamers who are chosen to test the new virtual reality game, the Otherworld. However, his best friend, Kat is rendered comatose in a horrific building collapse, and is connected to cutting edge technology that allows her mind to remain free in the Otherworld while her body is immobilized. However, when one of her IV tubes burst, Kat starts screaming. Simon then ventures into the Otherworld to discover The Company destroying people’s lives to increase their profits.

Along the way, Simon unveils mysteries of the Company and the plots of Wayne Gibson, Kat’s dangerous stepfather. While Milo Yolkins, the CEO of the company, remains in the Otherworld, Gibson plans to take control over the company. Kat, and many others,  are not victims of ‘locked-in’ syndrome at all, but are being sedated, and used as test subjects for the Disk, which allows you a better experience in the game. However, while using the Disk, if you die in the game, then you die in real life. The people stored in the test facilities are being killed one by one, and Simon races against the clock to save them. 

This is quite a good book. Through the book, Simon eventually embraces his role as the ‘One’ who will save the Otherworld, after realizing that people are willing to die for him. The book shows that you can run away from reality but you can never run away from its consequences. I also was very interested in the virtual reality aspect. Unlike most books on virtual reality, a large amount of time is spent in the real world too, as Simon faces challenges both in the real world, and in the Otherworld. I also liked the idea of the Disk, since the Otherworld became more than just a game. If you die in the Otherworld while wearing a Disk, you die in real life. This was quite scary, since it added higher stakes to Simon’s quest to find Kat. There was a lot of suspense used in this story, and it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time.  However, apart from Simon, none of the characters were really developed, since it mostly focused on Simon coming to the rescue. The book was also a bit too fast paced, since they kept bringing topics up one after another. Apart from that though, it was an interesting book, and I rate it 4/5.

Since this is my first book review, I will explain my grading standards. A 1 out of 5 is a book that has no excitement, and has little to no character development. A 2 out of 5 is a book that develops its characters, but is still not captivating. A 3 out of 5 is a book that has good character development, and uses the element of suspense. A 4 out of 5 is a thrilling book that is well written. Lastly,  a 5 out of 5  is a book that is impossible to put down, due to an excellent use of suspense, character development, and literary devices.