Escape Room: Game Zero by Christopher Edge

June 2025

I was thrilled to receive an exclusive, numbered early edition of Escape Room: Game Zero including a link to the most perfect soundtrack playlist. Incredibly atmospheric, this scarily futuristic sci-fi adventure pulls readers right inside the game – just like the main character, Eden. Fantastically modern, this story draws on everything children love about on-line gaming while referencing classic literature and poetry as well as key elements (earth, air, water & fire). The past has so much to say to our future – Christopher Edge challenges readers to make these connections and decide for themselves whether AI is better than reality or only a pale imitation.

The first Escape Room adventure was one of my favourite books of 2022. This stand-alone sequel reintroduces readers to AMI and her virtual world of puzzles and clues. Only the sharpest players have a chance of making it through alive. When AMI invites Eden to try the Escape, she thinks she’s going to play just another escape room game with an on-line element. Instead, she’s mysteriously transported right inside the virtual game. Facing monsters, collecting weapons and finding keys to new worlds pushes her forwards. But what happens when the game is switched off, it ends, or if she loses? There’s a real risk she’ll be trapped in the game forever.

Eden isn’t alone in the game. Ted is the son of the CEO of Escape Systems and one of the first people to play the game through a virtual reality headset. Safe at home, he isn’t worried about falling off a cliff or facing a wolf – he just uses another life. Eden isn’t so fortunate. Arrogantly, Ted assumes Eden is an NPC (nonplayer character) with a distracting side quest and no real significance in his game. Eden proves him wrong over and over as she is the one to solve the puzzles and move them on to the next level. She has true “main character energy” with determination to find her way out.

Escape Room: Game Zero is sure to captivate tech-minded children and teens who have may have imagined what it would be like to step inside a video game. Pushing the concept of virtual reality even further, this story explores the idea of being so immersed in gaming that reality itself becomes unnecessary. Christopher Edge’s books are always uniquely inventive ensuring readers can expect something truly special—both thought-provoking and utterly thrilling.

Thank you to Nosy Crow for an early copy of this amazing book!

Escape Room by Christopher Edge

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