Endgame: The Calling is not for the squeamish. If you can’t handle vivid, tremendously gory violence, then you shouldn’t pick this book up. The carnage doesn’t seem out of place—the book is about a deathmatch, after all—but it can get excessive.
Despite its bloody trappings, Endgame (which appears to be the first in a trilogy) is surprisingly well crafted. The novel reads like a fast-paced thriller, with an abundance of intrigue that makes it hard to put down. The different theaters of action created by the multiple points of view only add to the fun of the novel. The plot twists are expertly timed, and the buildup to the last one is deliciously subtle. While the novel isn’t really saying anything profound (the environmentally themed apocalypse has been done to death in young adult literature), it’s still a ridiculously enjoyable ride.
Almost all of the characters are ruthless teenagers who have been trained to kill since birth. While a couple characters are likeable and relatable, most of them range from being slightly disturbing to being shiver-inducingly creepy. They’re all very interesting and well developed; their acrobatic assassinations can stretch one’s suspension of disbelief a little. Don’t get attached to any particular character—almost anyone can (and will) die.
Endgame revolves around teenaged Players who each represent a ‘line’ of humanity. Supposedly, every human on Earth belongs to one of these lines. The Player who manages to collect three Keys from across the globe will save their line; everyone else will perish. An enigmatic alien race manages this apocalyptic game; their reasons for doing so are anyone’s guess. For whatever reason, the only member of this species that has shown up calls itself kepler 22b, which is both cool (it’s a planet outside of our solar system) and a little gauche (why would a being that scoffs at humankind and its technology use a human designation system to name itself? For that matter, why would it choose to name itself after a human astronomer?).
What makes this novel unique is the variety of Google-powered media it’ll be paired with, including a set of movies, an augmented reality mobile game, and a website. The website is run by a character named Stella and has information on the twelve lines the Players in the book hail from as well as a series of fairly difficult puzzles; I haven’t been able to make sense of any of the puzzles I’ve looked at. It reads like a conspiracy theory website, with cryptic allusions to ‘the Truth’ and assertions that modern-day historians are woefully misguided because they’re unaware of this Truth. Stella communicates with players regularly through the comments section of her website and will be hosting Google Hangouts and other interactive events. There’s also a series of URLs at the back of the book which appear to be linked to sets of coordinates; I think they’re for the upcoming mobile game but I’m not sure.
If you can stomach lots of gore and you’re a fan of The Hunger Games, then you really need to give this book a try. If the sight of blood makes you queasy, then stay far away from it.
