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| View Larger Image | The Reality Bug (Pendragon Series #4)
by D. J. MacHale
| | List Price: | $8.99 |  | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours | | | | | Sales Rank: | 14884 | | Studio: | Aladdin | | | Binding: | Paperback | | Reading Level: | Young Adult | | Number Of Pages: | 384 | | Publication Date: | September 01, 2003 | | Publisher: | Aladdin |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
VIRTUAL REALITY?The territory of Veelox has achieved perfect harmony. Fifteen-year-old Bobby Pendragon arrives on this territory in pursuit of the evil Saint Dane, but all is peaceful on Veelox -- because it's deserted. The inhabitants have discovered a way to enter their own personal dream worlds, where they can be whoever they want, wherever they want. Their bodies lie in stasis while their minds escape to this dream realm. Fresh from his battle with Saint Dane in 1937 Earth, Bobby is confident that they can defeat whatever Saint Dane has planned for this world. But once Bobby enters the virtual world will he be able to resist the lure of the ultimate in escapism? |
Amazon.com
Fifteen-year-old Bobby Pendragon has visited the alternate dimension of Denduron (The Merchant of Death), explored the endangered underworld territory of Cloral (The Lost City of Faar), and traveled back in time on his own planet Earth to uncover the evil plot of the fiendish Saint Dane--the evil force behind all these interworld exploits (The Never War). Now he "flumes" (a kind of time/space travel) into the territory of Veelox expecting to wage another battle against evil... only to find all is peaceful. He quickly discovers the peace is due to the fact that most of the citizens of Veelox have become addicted to Lifelight, a virtual reality lifestyle. Unfortunately, what once seemed so safe and enjoyable has taken a frightening twist, and Bobby must rely on a Veelox Traveler named Aja to help him find a solution--and save the territory. His antagonistic relationship with the brilliant Aja grates on his nerves as she spits out cryptic words of wisdom: "Salvation here can be found in only one place: the imagination. If you can't understand that, you might as well flume out right now." Fans of D.J. MacHale's Pendragon series will enjoy this latest entry, and look forward to the forthcoming fifth title. The attraction of the series is not so much great writing or character development as fast-paced action and edge-of-seat danger. (Ages 9 to 12) --Emilie Coulter |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 46 reviews)
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The Reality of Pendragon. 
Fast pacing and nonstop, suspenseful plots make it impossible for the readers to put down the book. Readers of this book will love Bobby Pendragon. Put down the wands and spellbooks and get ready to hop into a flume. Hobey-Ho!
August 28, 2008 | |
Pendragon The Reality Bug
Hobey-Ho!
"People don't communicate with real people anymore, they're too busy living inside their own heads and creating characters to act in their own personal dramas. Nothing is happening. Nothing is moving forward. Nothing is real. Veelox is dead."
Prophecy about our own future? Possibly. Description of what happens to a world that is so engrossed in their own fantasies that reality is ignored and the world deteriorates. Definitely.
Saint Dane has outdone himself on Veelox. Aja Killian, the Traveler from Veelox, believes she has the answer to defeat Saint Dane and resents the appearance of Bobby who we find out in this edition has been designated (by whom we do not know.....Uncle Press?) the "lead Traveler". Aja is very smart, but she is also arrogant and naive. A bad combination when you have to fight the ultimate evil.
Veelox is a world in neglect. The inhabitants spend their lives "jumping" into a fantasy world within their minds using a technology called "Lifelight". A jumper lies down in a bed of sorts, is connected to Lifelight, is fed via electrodes attached to their skin and enters a perfect world of fantasy where all their dreams can come true. The perfect fantasy is something everyone wants and gets. It is also something Saint Dane has been planning to use to bring down his first territory. When everyone is jumping, there is no one to fight a takeover.
To fend off Saint Dane, Aja realizes that she must make the fantasy world a little less appealing so that people will jump less and return to their deserted homes and back to reality. To do this, she has developed a "reality bug", a software program that injects just a bit of reality into every jump.
For example, in my ideal fantasy I am spending my life on the beach in Kauai. Since I am perfectly happy, I want to spend my entire "life" there and reality can take care of itself without me. But the reality bug might produce a hurricane, or I might get bitten by a thousand mosquitoes....anything to force me to spend less time in my jump and more time taking care of my home..... and reality.
Aja explains the reality bug plan to Bobby. They agree to load the reality bug and, hopefully, save Veelox. Unfortunately, Saint Dane is not only evil, but, he is patient (often setting up the path to destruction years and years in advance), and clever. Once the reality bug is introduced into Lifelight something terrible happens. The bug is far more dangerous and lethal than Aja meant for it to be (guess who had a hand in helping Aja design it?). Fantasy crosses over into reality. The reality bug feeds on the jumpers fears and grows into a monstrous killer as it is fed by millions of jumpers.
While Bobby, Loor, and Aja struggle to save Veelox, Mark and Courtney on Second Earth find out that they have been pre-ordained (Bobby's journals are sent to them) to be acolytes (people who help the Travelers by providing clothing, food and other assistance in each territory). And Gunny has followed Saint Dane to Eelong to try and head off his attempts to bring down that territory.
"Pendragon The Reality Bug" is a tremendous book full of action, thought provoking ideas, and plot twists that will leave you sitting on the edge of your seat until the very end of the book.....and beyond. The Pendragon series has taken a sharp turn to the dark side and the rules have changed. Bobby, Mark, Courtney, Loor, Gunny, Aja and the rest of the Travelers and acolytes are in for a real battle in the books ahead. They will need to step up to the challenge or Halla will be under the rule of Saint Dane. If one territory falls, they may all fall like dominoes.
Saint Dane makes He Who Must Not Be Named look like a wimp.
By TracyReaderDad
June 01, 2008 | |
WOW... That's all I can say.(SMALL SPOILER BENEATH) 
I have a love/hate relationship with this book. On one hand it's one of the most AMAZING scifi books I've ever read. On the other hand it's just sad.
If you've been following the series you'll know that Bobby hasn't lost a territory yet. Well in this one he does. That's all I'm going to tell you. You'll just have to go and read it for yourself but be warned. It's not what you think it is.
You find out really interesting things when you read this book. You also watch Bobby mature into a young man. He becomes solemn, tired, and worn out. This battle isn't about a little kid being a hero anymore. It's a real fight between good and evil and there's a chance that evil will win out in the end.
Definitely one of the best, but also a very sad book.
December 14, 2007 | |
Not Living Up To Expectations
This book was pretty good especially the amazing detail of all of the crazy things such as lifelight. However, thats just as always (especially the things on Cloral.) Although it was detailed I really wasnt as " i cant wait to read this book whn i get home" as i was with the others. Its definatley worthy of a 4 star but nothing more because it kind of lagged in certain spots like with lifelight the same thing keeps happening. But as i said earlier, its worthy of a 4 star but nothing compared to the others; I hope book is going to be good and all the rest (especially book 8.)
February 27, 2007 | |
Awesome!
This book seemed just a tad bit dreary as far as the world goes but nonetheless it was a totally great read!
January 29, 2007 | |
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