Terraworks by Richelle Manteufel carries the reader into TerraWorks, a fast-paced, virtual roleplay gaming-world crafted with great visuals. The cyberpunk vibe of this world melds with fantasy/sci-fi elements to create protagonist, Ean Lightcross, a half-elf avatar who lives her virtual life at breakneck speed as a skyboarder willing to ignore the rules of skycraft to get out of a fix or win a race. Her hecidecimal sidekick (Hex) warns such disobedience to the TerraWorks code of skycraft must be reported, but Ean trusts her instincts and takes risks that often prove to her benefit. She has her eyes set on winning the SkyRate Grand Championship race against the undefeated fay sorcerer, Gale Emodicus.
For fun, she takes a break and goes to a Spectral Tyrants concert. Her curiosity piques when she sees the lead singer’s rare avatar type. A skeleton. Skeleton avatars are not a good choice for combat among gamers, but they make exceptional mages and sorcerers. Most players don’t have the patience needed to improve skills as a skeleton. His rarity intrigues Ean, and she moves for a closer look at the skeleman, Elias Mage. She gets caught up in the music. Her fists clench in passion as she watches his every move. After the concert they meet at a vending machine, and as the saying goes, the rest is history. What starts as a friendship quickly transforms into something more, but what are the chances of a romantic relationship forged in virtual reality making it? Ean and Eli fall in love, but have never met in the real world. It’s more than a crush. They have real feelings, hopes and dreams, but what can the future hold for them. At first, they keep their relationship secret, but the compelling question for the reader is: who are they in real life?
Richelle Manteufel does a magnificent job of immersing the reader in a virtual world that feels believable while totally different from real-world reality. She engages the senses and intellect while altering factors that can be omitted or stretched. I don’t want to say too much because I want readers to experience it for themselves. And the use of avatars as main characters brings the romantic relationship to a new dimension. A whole new level of hidden identity romance.
This fast paced near-future science fiction combines gaming concepts with popular fantasy tropes. If you enjoyed Arena by Holly Jennings, I think you'll enjoy this book. I give it a strong four stars and recommend it to gaming enthusiasts, romance fans, metalheads, and of course, sci-fi and fantasy fans. TerraWorks is book 1 in the Terraworks series, and I look forward to Helios (book 2) in the future.
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