A near-future teenager trapped in a full-immersion virtual reality game finds herself racing the clock to beat non-virtual death in this plausible, suspenseful outing. Safety precautions come to naught when a group of anti-fantasy do-gooders breaks into a games arcade and damages the equipment. Stranded in “Heir Apparent,” a game in which she, as the illegitimate but designated successor to a medieval throne, has to claim and keep her position, Giannine discovers that she can only escape real brain damage, or worse, by finishing the game within three “days.” Vande Velde (Being Dead, 2001, etc.) keeps readers in touch with the outside world with substantial but not distracting subplots, surrounds her bright but amateur gamer with magic implements, allies or rivals with unknown allegiances, and other standard game devices, and creates a believable plot line for the game to follow. Though Giannine is repeatedly (to her vast annoyance) forced to start over after being “killed,” she learns from her mistakes, survives increasingly tricky, sometimes hilarious, challenges, and wins both crown and life at the last possible moment by not only overcoming opponents, but by using newly developed diplomatic skills to win allies. It’s riveting reading for experienced gamers and tyros alike. (Fiction. 11-13)
