Review of Sides by Bradley Caffee
A.E. Jackson Review Score: 3 / 5 Ravens
How was this review scored?
What a guy won’t do to impress a girl?! It seems fellas get themselves into more trouble than its worth, trying to win a woman’s favor. Tyler and Morgan are dating, but he still hesitates to ask her to the big homecoming dance.
That could be a big mistake because there’s another guy, Gavin, vying for her attention. Meanwhile, a national countdown stunt is taking place for an online game that everyone seems to be playing. All these distractions and all Tyler wants is to be certain Morgan feels the same way he does about their relationship.
The author chose to make chapter headings a digital clock face to convey sequence. This immersive design choice counts the time since the passage of ‘Zero Hour’. Before long, readers will be asking themselves ‘What if the game was real and death was the consequence?’
Everyone plays Sides. Everyone except Tyler Simmons.
Sides is an online predator versus prey game that has taken the nation by storm. There is a clock in the game counting down, and no one knows why. The country holds its breath for the moment that has been dubbed Zero Hour. School is canceled. Times Square is as full as New Year’s. A celebrity wedding event is planned. Tyler can’t wait for the moment to pass, so he can get his girlfriend’s attention to ask her to homecoming.
When Zero Hour comes and goes, and nothing happens, people begin to flee the locations they gathered to celebrate the big reveal. Over the next few days, Sides players change and become their avatars. Predators begin to hunt prey - and chaos erupts.
Tyler discovers that his sister Carley secretly played Sides just days before Zero Hour. Now he must protect her. They must find Zack Albright, the creator of Sides, and get him to shut down the simulation.
The novel assembles fast-paced scenes that leave readers eager to resolve the scene and discover what occurs next. While omniscient narration keeps up the pace of the story moving, readers may not feel very connected with the main character. They are left somewhat distant from Tyler’s deep point of view.
The new rules of this world, after the game seeps over into reality, are revealed a little at a time. Characters encounter situations in the real world where game-world knowledge and rules are needed by the main character. In this way, the reader is made aware of the limitations and new powers people have acquired.
Exposition information dumps are kept to a minimum, through small details worked into dialogue most of the time. By revealing aspects of the game in increments, the author introduces new threats and keeps the conflicts coming, raising the stakes throughout the story.
It is not until the middle of the book that the Sides creator explains exactly how the game leaked over and took control of people in real life. Spoiler alert: nanotechnology. This was a good choice by the author, but readers may find they want more hard science fiction details to fill in the gaps left to the imagination. The explanation, no matter how unbelievable, is appreciated - which helps with a reader’s suspension of disbelief.
The overall theme of the narrative seems to be “nanotech run amok and the evils of greed”, or “what happens when we try to play god by healing people with nanotech medical miracles?”
As a non-player character, Tyler (the main character) seems untouchable based on the rules of the game. Predators hunt prey but leave non-players alone. Throughout, the main threats of the book are directed toward other characters. Tyler’s only potential loss is the lives of those he loves. As readers draw closer to the crucible moment at Everyman Graphics and Games, will the threat of Tyler losing his own life finally become a reality?
In April 2013, Bradley Caffee woke from a dream and jotted down a few notes. Those notes became the crazy idea to write a novel. A year later, his friend looked across the kitchen table and had the courage to say, "Bradley, you need to write that book. You never light up more than when you mention the idea."
With the encouragement of his loving wife and the conviction that God was not leading him into harm, Caffee exited the ministry and began to write. Seemingly a failure in life, he spent the next months helping his children with schoolwork and writing The Chase. It wasn't until the end of the book, that Caffee realized he had written a story about a young man dealing with the expectations of others.
The Chase is Bradley Caffee’s freshman novel, followed by two other books in the series - The Choice, and The Change.
Read more from Bradley Caffee at https://www.bradleycaffee.com and find him on social media at Facebook(@bradleycaffeeauthor), and Instagram(@bradleycaffeeauthor).