Jurassic Park + Lord of the Rings, Questland imagines a theme park island that brings D&D to life. A LARPer's wet dream. The game developers have hijacked the island, and the billionaire in charge of funding the project sends in a team of ex-military grunts + one of the developer's ex-girlfriends to try to get the project back on track.

Honestly, this book was a bit messy. I liked all of the references, but the plotline seemed like it could have used a few more rounds of editing. The character development was essentially non-existent (and what little there was didn't make much sense). Overall though, I thought it was a fast and fun read, and I'd recommend it if you are into nerd shit and don't mind reading around the rest.

Have you ever wanted to be transported to Hogwarts, the Middle Ages, or Lord of the Rings? This is a perfect book for anyone who has ever wanted to experience one of those worlds. Addie is a English literature college professor but with a past that includes a traumatic experience. She is also a lover of all things fantasy and gaming. She is hired to go to an island that was designed as every sci-fi/fantasy lover's paradise filled with everything mythical such as dragons and unicorns. The island was designed as a new adventure park but the creators/designers have taken it over from the owner. Addie must go in with a trained group of navy seals in order to prevent anyone else from getting hurt. What follows is a full out adventure filled with surprises, drama, twists and turns.

This was a quick novel to read as it kept me engaged. I wanted to know what challenge Addie was going to come up against next. I also loved the fact that there were references to ancient literature such as The Odyssey as well as pop culture hits like Labyrinth and Harry Potter. This novel was a great escape and I really enjoyed reading it. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who loves fantasy/sci-fi and is looking for a little adventure!

Thank you to NetGalley and John Joseph Adams/Mariner Books for the advanced copy.

A contemporary adventure on an island where advanced technology brings fantasy and magic to life, Questland is a story of both quests and corporate takeovers, as well as a personal story about living through trauma and finding meaning. It's entertaining and moving, and will absolutely appeal to anyone who grew up on D&D and fantasy movies.

This book was a fun time! I thought the story took a minute to get going but once it did I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I will say, I was not a huge fan of the main character and for some reason I kept thinking she was a guy and I’m not sure why. Other than that, I thought it was a fun premise and definitely something for anyone who loves fantasy and roll playing games.

Fans of Carrie Vaughn and games should rejoice, as the two merge beautifully for Questland. This is her latest novel, one that is fun, chaotic (in the best ways), and full of that iconic RPG aesthetic.

Dr. Addie Cox is a literature professor, and she loves her job. She loves everything about her quiet life. So she certainly never expected to be approached with a job offer from somebody like Harris Lang – an extremely wealthy tech genius.

Yet, that is the turn her life has just taken. She's been tasked with entering a secluded island, one full of experimental tech. Tech that is specially designed to mimic a fantasy world that gamers would give anything to dive in. That's the goal, after all.

Only, something has gone wrong, and apparently, Addie Cox is one of the few people who actually stand a chance of getting onto the island alive. Insula Mirabilis here we come.

“Fantasy is about what you can't patent. Honor and heroism and... and... hope.”

Picture D&D fantasy meeting Jurassic Park, and you'll find Questland happily tucked into the folds of that merger. This is a wild ride, one that is full of intrigue and some very iconic vibes, which I couldn't get enough of.

I'll confess that it did take me a little bit of time to get into Addie's character. Her personality is a quiet one, and it shows. Yet once I found myself connected to her story and everything happening around her, I was sold.

Actually, I take back my earlier comparison. On further thought, it would be more accurate to say that this novel is the child of Ready Player One and Jurassic Park. There's a lot of chaos, running, and so many references and fun tropes.

If that is the sort of book that you enjoy diving into, then you're absolutely going to adore Questland. If that isn't your cup of tea...well, at least you know what to expect! Still, it was a fun read, one that I'm happy to have picked.

Thanks to John Joseph Adams/Mariner Books and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Very interesting ideas around the creation of a real-life Dungeons & Dragons theme park that goes awry. Think a medieval Westworld.

The story follows Addie, a Literature professor who gets approached by the founder of the park, Harris Lang. Lang's got a team that's currently developing the park and was recently cut off with all access and communication outside it via a forcefield. Addie's approached specifically for this mission because of her previous romantic relationship with Dominic, one of the park's senior leaders and Lang's prime suspect behind the revolt.

From there, we follow Addie's journey getting access to the park alongside a small military team and navigating through to the main control room to reset the parameters and drop the forcefield. We start to learn some of the interesting technology along the way and some of the challenges and puzzles that Addie and the team must overcome to get to the control room, located centrally in the large castle in the middle of the park.

Addie herself was somewhat likable and easy to root for. Though she often undermined herself along the way and kept identifying as the "damsel in distress." Addie also had a traumatic event in the past that get's mentioned frequently throughout the story, though it felt underdeveloped.

I won't dive much deeper into the story as to avoid spoilers, but you can expect lots of D&D and other related pop culture references and tropes as you work your way through the story. Worth a read if those fit your interests.

This is a clever scifi/fantasy book, that follows the protagonist Dr. Addie Cox as she journeys with her team to an amazing island. A group of tech geniuses, funded by an eccentric billionaire, have used the latest technology to create realistic imitations of fantasy creatures on the island. The tech geniuses have mutinied and broken off contact, and now Addie has to help her team reach the lead designer, who happens to be her ex boyfriend. There are 29 chapters, told from Addie's first person perspective.

The technology used in the story is science fiction, but it is used to create tons of fantasy lore creatures.
Anyone who is familiar with D&D will immediately get the many references to the game. Within the first few chapters, Addie has assigned classes to each of her “party” members in her head, (making herself the useless Bard of course), and gripped her d20 tightly as she wonders about her odds of success. There are other references too like, the riddle of the Sphinx, and Monty Python.

I would recommend this book to anyone that is a fan of fantasy lore, especially D&D. The story is solid, but the tons of references are really what makes it great for the fantasy fan. Scifi fans might enjoy this too, though I would call it average scifi story.

This book was everything I needed to get myself out of my reading slump. It was fast paced, incredibly interesting, and left me wanting more!

I’ve seen this book described a couple of ways in other reviews, and agree that this book is a cross between Westworld, Jurassic Park, and Lord of the Rings. The author borrows elements from a lot of different worlds, books, and lore, but always credits them which I thought was awesome to see. This book had me jotting down notes on interesting lore to look up and books to add to my TBR. To me, that is writing done right!!

Questland revolves around a multi-billion dollar “theme-park” that institutes insane technology to create a game world. You want to hang out with elves? Done. See an actual unicorn in person? Alrighty! This theme park is set up on an island and funded by a big tech company.

After months of work, a force field goes up around the island/world, blocking all signals and traffic from the outside. The tech company that is funding the new world is less than pleased, and hires a team to infiltrate the island and return control of it to them. Questland follows their journey to an epic conclusion!

I absolutely adored this book as a quick and very fun read. I got elements of The Hike by Drew Magarty from this (although less vulgar and comical.)

Definitely check this out if you love fantasy, Scifi, RPGs, gaming in general, and fun adventure reads!

**Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the eARC of this awesome title!**

Imagine Jurassic Park and Westworld but made for people who play Dungeons and Dragons on the weekend, read and re-watch Lord of the Rings on repeat, and quote Harry Potter like the bible. Run by the equivalent of Jeff Bezos. You get a catalog of fantasy tropes playing high-tech unscripted LARP. The employees run native, overtake the island, and go full Braveheart. “Jeff Bezos” hires a mercenary group and a professor to regain control of the theme park (Jurassic Park). Read like a D&D campaign, the group travel through the island going through dungeons, eating with the villagers, and protecting themselves from pissed off mini animatronic animals and flying monkey drones. Sometimes someone in an invisibility cloak kidnaps you and you find yourself surrounded amongst elves.

I have been meaning to read Carrie Vaughn’s famous Kitty Norville series for a minute and after reading this, I will be bumping it up higher on my to read list.

I was really anticipating reading this book. I've really enjoyed her other series and I was excited to see what Carrie Vaughn would do with a more sci fi book. And it was a really great read! I loved to see this technology that makes it seem like magic!

Addie was a fantastic character. Her friend and her boyfriend were killed by a school shooter right in front of her, which understandably causes a trigger whenever she's reminded of guns being fired. But she's also a literary professor, knows the classics and myths and such, as well as being a pretty big geek/nerd. And her ex was one of the 3 leaders on Insula Mirabilis. So it's a mixed bag on how suitable a candidate she is for this mission.

One thing that I have to say is that the company's owner, Lang, really annoyed me and made me mad to differing degrees and at different times. I mean, really? That's what you're going to spend your time and money on? With that paranoid atmosphere, it's like maybe that's not the best of thing to be doing in this kind of project? Given what happened with the mutiny, well, I'm not surprised happened!

All in all, I can see why all of this happened, I really enjoyed these characters, watching Addie shine with the various science created magic, and the rest of the team with the security stuff. And that ending, well, I enjoyed it, but I would've liked a little more at the end, just a little more detail. But I did thoroughly enjoy reading this book!

I had such a great time reading this book, it was just so easy and great to read!

Vaughn's story is about Adrienne 'Addie' Cox - Lit. Professor at a university. "The cool professor". Roleplayer. She gets invited to the engendered roleplaying island Mirabilis, created by a multi-millionaire from her past. The conflict lies in that the island is going haywire and Addie is part of a team that sets out to - if I remember right (I read this in November 2020) - deactivate a forcefield the island has produced around it.

This sounded supercool to me! However....

I'm a nerd, I'll gladly embrace that, but I found that Questland was just too much. Too many references to everything from The Witcher to Tolkien to D&D to British folklore to Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nothing really wrong with that - I really like and enjoy all of the above - I just thought it took away from the interesting concept of having an engendered roleplaying island (which sounds amazing to be frank) when I was constantly referenced in that way.

I thought that the story tried too hard to be relevant to a specific reader demographic and I think the story would progress better if the referencing bit was toned down. It was fun the first few times but as it's happening in almost every chapter it takes away all the fun and just make it seem like Vaughn tried too hard to make it "relateable".

I'm sad to say that this probably was my most disappointing reads last year...

Really enjoyed the ride that the main character is taken on as she joins a crew of ex-military that is tasked to infiltrate an island theme park that it’s founder no longer has contact with after a suspected staff mutiny. The island was meant for a theme park of a LARPers dream of a fantasy island straight out of a Tolkien novel but not belonging to any outsider trademarks.

It is the wonder of seeing a realistic dragon and unicorns while having to complete a task while trying to not be hurt in the process.

This book was absolutely everything I expected it to be and more. There’s always that worry when someone’s writing a geeky book that it is going to be horribly cringe-worthy, and I was pretty sure that this was in good hands, but having read the book and then Carrie Vaughn’s acknowledgement’s I can confirm that we’re good folks – she’s one of ours. Vaughn is a self-acclaimed geek (it’s blazed across her website header proudly) and she’s certainly screaming it from the rooftops with every single moment in Questland. From the premise of an island where fantasy has come alive and has been designed and brought to life by teams of designers and engineers who are all geeks themselves, to the quotes and random pop culture moments thrown in at perfectly timed intervals.

Then there’s the protagonist Addie Cox. Addie is a literature professor teaching a pop culture course (aka any book geeks dream) and is essentially the wizard of her party because this isn’t a military operation, it’s very much a quest to find out what’s happening and Addie is the only one who speaks the arcane language of fantasy, geeks and gamers. But like all geeks, Addie isn’t super confident, and that’s not because she’s an introvert stereotype who doesn’t go out at all. No, as a geek Vaughn is very aware of the stereotypes and Addie has a complicated backstory that is all too believable in modern-day America. The tragedy and trauma that Addie went through led her to tabletop RPGs and the concise rules of gaming ruled by the throw of a dice helped her get through the darkest times of her life.

It means she speaks a language that none of the soldiers in her party speaks, and as Addie remarks to herself throughout their time together, they may have high stats in strength and constitution like a barbarian but she has the high stats in intellect. Addie sees the world as a roleplayer, thinking of things in terms of dice rolls for perception and at one point she even tells the Captain to make sure he does a perception check. By this point, she’s proved her value to the team and he doesn’t look at her twice, he just takes it under advisement and checks for traps.

My only issue with Questland is how heavily it draws from Tolkien because as regular readers of my blog know, I’m not a fan (an admirer of his skill, but not a fan) and this book is filled with hero worship. Many of the elements of this book and the character themselves are Tolkien hero worshippers and many people forget that Tolkien didn’t actually create elves or dwarves. He just borrowed them from mythology and folklore, and while there is a moment where things are correctly credited to the legends Tolkien admired so much, it is a fleeting moment. It’s understandable; Vaughn is a huge fan herself, and it is her book, I just wish that a book about geeks and filled with geek characters didn’t essentially fall into the stereotype of “all fantasy fans are obsessed with Lord of the Rings”.

Despite my one misgiving about Questland what Vaughn has achieved in one novel is to be commended. There are so many random genuine snippets of conversation that would be at home in any group of geek friends or work colleagues. References to video games, film and book quotes and other pop culture moments are not awkward added to make it look real. It is real. These are like conversations I have on a daily basis with my fiance. Just a couple of geeks being geeks. These dialogue moments compliment Addie’s inner dialogue as a geek seeing fantasy and magic brought to life by technology which is on point at every turn. Vaughn’s rich narrative describing the wonders of the island makes you feel as if you are right there with Addie, uncovering this magical place one step at a time.

Welcome to Questland; are you ready for your quest? 😉

Jurassic Park meets fantasy in this special ops mission featuring D&D and LoTR references, combat with dragons and drones, a taste of the meaning of belonging and nerd culture, as well as what it means to create or destroy the magic of escapism. The element of wonder and immersion would make this an awesome video game, and seeing each feature of the island through Addie's appreciative eyes really makes it feel real in just how great it would be to be able to enter a real life fantasy quest.

Addie gets a little annoying as a character. She feels underqualified for the mission, but everything she does ends up being kind of perfect. So, she's fun, but other characters felt more nuanced, and the ending seemed to still ask the question of what it was all for.

**Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC**

What an absolutely brilliant story this was! I'm a fan of Carrie Vaughn from way back, and the concept behind this one delighted me from the beginning. I've never been a fantasy gamer, but I was still captivated by the love Addie felt for the idea of the island and its way of life, and for the Geek Love undertones throughout this one... the setting, the characters, and even the slightly far-fetched plot we're all a fabulous distraction from real life and wholly engaging and immersive fantasy. I know it is perhaps not the most original story concept in the World - hello Jurassic Park franchise - but I didn't care, I found everything about it enjoyable!

Plot

“Literature professor Dr. Addie Cox is living a happy, if sheltered, life in her ivory tower when Harris Lang, the famously eccentric billionaire tech genius, offers her an unusual job. He wants her to guide a mercenary strike team sent to infiltrate his island retreat off the northwest coast of the United States. Addie is puzzled by her role on the mission until she understands what Lang has built: Insula Mirabilis, an isolated resort where tourists will one day pay big bucks for a convincing, high-tech-powered fantasy-world experience, complete with dragons, unicorns, and, yes, magic.

Unfortunately, one of the island’s employees has gone rogue and activated an invisible force shield that has cut off all outside communication. A Coast Guard cutter attempting to pass through the shield has been destroyed. Suspicion rests on Dominic Brand, the project’s head designer— and Addie Cox’s ex-boyfriend. Lang has tasked Addie and the mercenary team with taking back control of the island at any cost.

But Addie is wrestling demons of her own—and not the fantastical kind. Now, she must navigate the deadly traps of Insula Mirabilis as well as her own past trauma. And no d20, however lucky, can help Addie make this saving throw.“

Standouts
This book doesn’t stand out because of its many references to geek pop culture. I’ve seen tv shows and read other books that pull that rabbit out of their hat. What stands out about this book is its commentary about escapism against the reality of the world around us. The main character is grounded despite her love and want that the fantastical things around her. She’s not always brave and she’s not always making the right decision but she has a good heart. I love the supporting characters of ‘the team’.

Setbacks
Trigger warning for those who are dealing with trauma and the effects of gun violence. This aspect however I feel was important to the main character’s motivations and reactions. Some of the geek/nerd references are a little much especially when it comes from all sides. The addition of the ‘Team’ helps break up these geek out moments. The antagonists served their purpose, but I felt there weren’t entirely dimensional. This book had two “UGH” moment for me.

Verdict
“Questland” was a quick read that I finished in a day. I was happy for it because I wasn’t feeling my best and the book brought me out of the day with a smile on my face. It’s a book I want a sequel for if only because of the last scene in the book. There is a vast amount of potential for some a thicker story. I would love to read more about Professor Addie and the Team.

Star Rating Rundown
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 7 out of 10.
This was a great idea for a book so that gets 3 stars at least.
Main female character with flaws and growth in the book.
Addie/Torres
Great action at a good pace
I feel like it needs a sequel to know more about the Professor and the Team|
Quick read
Love the cover

I don't think this a perfect book but i surely know it's a book that made me live in another world for some hours and made me think that I could kill to work on a project like Insula Mirabilis (that's the project manager in me to talk) or travel there (that's the geek in me to talk).
I know that I loved every moment of this story even when the plot drags a bit or when my rational mind is tut-tuting (project manager talking again).
I loved Addie: she's so frail and so strong at the same time. She's no kickass heroine but she kick asses with her know of how the game can work.
The characters are fleshed out and I love them. I even felt for Dom, a man self-centered but also one with a vision.
This is the perfect book if you grew up reading tons of sagas and playing D&D. Or if you were a young developer dreaming of developing the impossible.
The senior high tech person found the description of the relationships amongst the Lang employees quite realistic.
Technology can be magic and magic is a technology.
I travelled to Insula Mirabilis with Addie and her friend and I would be happy to meet them again and see what happened to the island.
I assume that there's a small hope.
The world building is fascinating and I like all the references to books, movies and games.
I strongly recommend this book if you ever played D&D or worked on a huge IT project. You played the game and you know what it means.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Regrettably, "Questland" suffers from the same incurious style of world-building that plagued Carrie Vaughn's Kitty Norville series. Ideas are sprinkled throughout as if they occurred to the author while writing the first draft, but never re-interrogated. Coupled with the increasingly problematic cliché of the billionaire who can get people to just "do science fiction" by throwing money at it, I found myself with zero buy-in almost immediately.

As a result, there was little I could do but nitpick it. From the inefficient "Let's hire a team of people to solve this problem, but not tell them what they're really facing" setup, to the public domain fantasy lands that populate the would-be theme park, to the fact that there's no tea and only one espresso machine on an island that is ostensibly going to host tourists, let alone currently staffs dozens of high-strung programmers, it seems like very little thought was put into the premise or the setting.

Which is a shame, because the acknowledgments imply otherwise. This was clearly a passion project for Vaughn. Yet like many other books inspired by geek culture, there's this pervasive, dated perspective in Questland (and perhaps us nerds of certain cohort) that gamers and fantasy geeks are somehow rare. About 20 years of pop culture at this point that proves otherwise, and this makes assumptions like the main character's role in the story seem like embarrassing wish fulfillment.

Also, it really should have been called "Questworld."

All told, an entertaining romp. It's fast-paced, tightly plotted, and entertaining. One could argue some characters could use more development but I won't be that guy.; it's really rather cool as it is.

Review up for Wild Card author Carrie Vaughn,
Questland (Paperback)
by Carrie Vaughn
I have been anticipating this book since Carrie Vaughn's first announcement on FB. She is a wonderful writer for the genre of RPG. Questland is the the ultimate RPG novel. The story of a Jurassic park like construction of a RPG world, with full immersion is goal for many people in the RPG world. To live in a world of Robin Hood, King Arthur or even Riverdale, this book has that in spades. The premise is island that has been developed in this fully immersive world had been cut off from its benefactor, people have died in an accident and someone needs to find out what's going on. The references to pop culture, movies and historical books is so expertly inserted into the story, the imagery is like having your own Never Ending story moment. I really found this a great summer read. https://theresahulongbayansbookblog.wordpress.com/...