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eBook Category: Science Fiction
eBook Description: It was supposed to be just another Sunday night fantasy game--and that's all it was to David, Tyrone, and Scott. But to Melanie, who had set down the Rules of Gamearth and carefully crafted the world map, the game had become so real that all their creations--humans, sorcerers, dragons, ogres, panther-folk, cyclops--now had existences of their own. And when David demanded they destroy their made-up world in one last battle, Melanie tried every trick she knew to keep the fantasy campaign going, to keep the world of Gamearth alive. And on Gamearth itself, the inhabitants--warriors, scholars, and the few remaining wielders of magic--banded together to keep their land from vanishing. Now they must embark on a desperate quest for their own magic--magic that can twist the Rules enough to save them from the all-consuming evil which David created to destroy their entire world...

eBook Publisher: Fictionwise.com
Fictionwise Release Date: October 2004

24 Reader Ratings: Great Good OK Poor

Available eBook Formats [MultiFormat - What's this?]: Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [1.5 MB], eReader (PDB) [298 KB], Palm Doc (PDB) [308 KB], Rocket/REB1100 (RB) [271 KB], Microsoft Reader (LIT) [240 KB] - PocketPC 1.0+ Compatible, Franklin eBookMan (FUB) [299 KB], hiebook (KML) [666 KB], Sony Reader (LRF) [292 KB], iSilo (PDB) [254 KB], Mobipocket (PRC) [315 KB], Kindle Compatible (MOBI) [342 KB], OEBFF Format (IMP) [412 KB]
Words: 91846
Reading time: 262-367 min.
Microsoft Reader (LIT) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Format:  Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud DISABLED
All Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED

Sunday night, like every Sunday night, they played the Game.

Melanie carried four glasses of soda to the table, hating the real-world role of hostess. "We can make popcorn later, if you guys want." She flipped a strand of brown hair behind her ear and stared at the master map on the table. Gamearth, their beautiful fantasy world....

"Forget popcorn--try my dip instead," Tyrone said. "Black bean and shrimp this week. And I brought some sesame crackers, too."

David arrived, late as usual. He stuck the keys from his Mustang in the pocket of his denim jacket. His dark hair looked soft, but his eyes were hard. "We ready to play?" he asked, finding a seat at the table. He bent over to frown at the map and did not say hello. Melanie made him get his own glass of soda.

Her parents had found someplace else to go, as they always did when the group met at Melanie's house. At first her mother and father had stood on the sidelines to watch, curious and condescending. But the concept of a role-playing game seemed beyond them--where it was all pretend and no one really won or lost. They (use another pronoun or names here?) played the parts of characters through adventure after adventure in a world created from their own imaginations.

The colorful map beckoned from the table. Flat, with precise hexagonal sections of forest, grasslands, mountains, ocean. She touched the smooth paint and thought of the characters they had played, generation after generation after generation. In her father's study she had used the computer to generate scores and to keep track of all their characters.

Scott cracked his knuckles. "Hey, Tyrone--you know when geese fly south for the winter, how they always fly in a vee formation, right? And one side of the vee is always longer than the other, right? Why do you suppose that is?"

Tyrone pondered and shrugged. "Why don't you tell us, Mister Science?"

"Because there's more geese on that side!"

Tyrone coughed on his own dip. Melanie found Tyrone's reaction more amusing than the joke itself. Scott blinked behind his glasses, looking proud of himself but baffled, as if he hadn't considered the joke very funny in the first place.