Epic novels

EpicIs a novel written by Conor Kostick. It is the first book in the follows the life of a boy named Erik Haraldson and his involvement in a game called Epic. Epic is a virtual game, but is considered by all the inhabitants of New Earth as much more. A generic fantasy game, Epic echoes World of Warcraft and Everquest, but the entire population of New Earth play the game, as its rewards directly affect their income, social standing and careers. Epic is used to control violence, which, in their society, is illegal and is treated with extreme severity. A growing injustice has emerged in the world, as the game of Epic has progressed to a point where, since the game's currency is used as money in the real world, it is nearly impossible for poor people to actually advance in the game, unless given money by those who inherited wealth and powerful equipment, or finding treasures. Poor citizens of New Earth play their entire life, slowly building up their characters to try to become powerful enough to go to a university to study Epic, or - if they choose - to study fields of real life. If a community wishes to redress a perceived injustice, they may challenge Central Allocations or C. A., which is a powerful, select group of nine individuals that controls all of the world's resources and funds the most powerful characters in the game world. All of the members of C. A. are extremely rich, which results in them having nearly unbeatable characters in the game, especially to the great number of weak players in the game. The challenges are held in a special arena where the various players can attack each other. The challenges are simply a fight to the last man between the two opposing teams. If you win against the Central Allocations team, then you get what you want, be it a new law, a medical procedure, or a material object. If you lose, though, then you lose everything your character owns (including items and money) and you have to begin all over again. Dying in the game outside of the arena where challenges are held also yields the same results, so dying is a disaster, meaning that however many hours you have played are completely wasted, and you have to begin again from scratch.