My Favorite Book (and Why I've Read it 11 Times)

My favorite book is Heir Apparent by Vivian Vande Velde. I first read it in seventh grade. I got it in a “tag bag” sale at the Champaign Public Library, where you buy a bag filled with a random assortment of books for a great price. Opening the bag and looking at all the random books is a really fun experience.

Anyway, when I first looked at the book, I thought it was kind of weird. The cover definitely intrigued me. Here’s a picture of the cover I have on my book -- although there are a couple different versions.

Image found here.

As you can see, on one side there’s a knight. Knights on book covers almost always make for an interesting read, in my experience. But, on the other side of the sword, there’s a teenage kid with a bunch of different wires and stuff connected to them, surrounded by green circuit-looking things. So, you may be thinking, how the heck do you have a book combining fantasy and sci-fi, like this cover would seem to suggest? And that’s what I was thinking too!

The book opens in a futuristic setting. The main character Giannine is on a bus to a gaming center, and we get a little bit of background information through the way she interacts with the bus. (It's a talking bus.) However, when she gets to the gaming center, there’s a protest outside. The protesters are called the CPOC, or Citizens to Protect Our Children, who basically oppose everything that the video game center promotes. Giannine still somehow gets inside and begins to play the games.

There’s one important thing that I haven’t mentioned yet. Being that this book is set in the distant future, the games are totally immersive. Like the cover suggests, the gamers are hooked up to an intricate system of wires and sensors, and the game induces an interactive dream-like state in the player’s mind. It’s a really complicated system, but I think Velde does a good job of making it seem simple and everyday.

Giannine chooses a fantasy game, coincidentally named Heir Apparent. The premise is that the king has recently died, and the player was named his heir. The player then has to navigate the ins and outs of the royal court and survive all sorts of dangers. She gets a pretty good way into the game before the main conflict arises. The CPOC demonstrators break into the gaming center and destroy enough of the equipment that it would be dangerous to remove Giannine from the game. She has to complete the game so the medical team can safely remove her. But, if she stays in the game too long, it could literally fry her brain. Basically, it’s win the game, or die trying.

The reason I love this book so much is in part due to the fantasy aspect. I love a good fairy tale, especially when it’s relevant to real life. Even though the world of the game is fictional, it brings up a lot of important topics, like family and relationships, by relating it back to Giannine’s real life. It also has some well-developed characters; everyone from the heroine to the most minor character is given such a distinct personality that it really makes the whole story stand out. In addition, the emotions that you get from the first person narration are impressive. Every time Giannine’s character fails and her progress is reset, you can absolutely feel the frustration.

The book is also short and to the point. The language it uses isn’t fancy and difficult, which is part of the reason I’ve read it so many times and still am not tired of it. It’s a perfect level of reading for both younger and older readers, which is why it’s been my favorite for so long.

I think Heir Apparent is the perfect blend of science fiction and fantasy. The plot is well-developed, the characters seem real even though they’re in a game, and it’s concise, making for a quick, fun read. I would definitely recommend you read this book -- in fact, I’d recommend you read it several times!



Rating: 5/5


-- Anna Williams