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Happy Family - James Ellis


I'm so pleased to be on the blog tour for this book today.


 REVIEW

This book was an absolute joy to read. The writing is exceptional and the scene setting ensured I felt right there in the action. A little bit like the virtual reality game that gives the name to the book "Happy Family".

For the author to create a virtual future world as he has, I think, shows a remarkable imagination. It's not an alternative world such as Terry Pratchett might write, but a parallel virtual world to our own accessed through the user wearing new technology called iLets.

Alongside all this virtual reality there is still plenty of action in the real world. In fact most of the book takes place there with several sub plots adding to the main story line. Germaine who uses the      Happy Family game wants to interview Tom, the creator of the game for her book on art. Lots of things and people (and 3 dogs) stand in her way though It may sound a little pedestrian, but I can assure you this book is probably not like anything else you've read before.

There is a little bit of farce thrown into the mix also which had me laughing out loud. In my head I could see this being played out on a stage. I am still marvelling at the ingenuity of this book and the skill of the author to be able to tell it in such a marvellous way. His character descriptions and dialogue really brought every character life in a way you don't often find in a novel.

I'm not a gamer but I do love tech, and I love the idea of virtual reality and avatars. So, if that is not your thing or you don't like that world, this is probably not going to be the book for you.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Random Things Tours for the invite to this tour and to the author for a copy of the book to review.




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