Non-Player Character

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Veo Corva: Non-Player Character (EBook, 2021, Witch Key Fiction)

eBook

English language

Published Oct. 4, 2021 by Witch Key Fiction.

ISBN:
978-1-9161009-8-5
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5 stars (2 reviews)

32-year old Tar feels like a Non-Player Character in their own life. They’ve been utterly sidelined by their anxiety and they spend all their spare time playing video games. Then they get invited to play Kin, a table-top roleplaying game their friend swears will change their life. And it does, but not in the way Tar expects. Friendship, it turns out, is even better than escapism.

But what none of them knew was that it would change their life a second time. Because the world of Kin is real. And the whole party soon discovers that changing your setting doesn’t change you.

Non-Player Character is a cosy, queer portal fantasy for adults featuring a non-binary autistic protagonist and their found family of fantasy-loving nerds.

2 editions

Magical Mystical Tour

5 stars

A lot of fun here. A lot of angst. A window into what it's like on the inside looking out.

The characters weren't exactly fun, but they felt real, even when they played new roles. I couldn't help but like them as they struggled to work together, to support each other, and to find a way through they each could live with.

When I started this story, I wasn't sure which world represented the NPC. Was it the one being held up as real life? Or the one in the game? Like is Tar's job at the museum the NPC role or is it their role in the game? Neither? Both?

The tension gets resolved nicely before the story ends but it really made me think about how that game space exists for me. Digitally or mentally. Digitally AND mentally.

Highly Recommended!

A Wonderful Book

5 stars

Content warning minor spoilers maybe