Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for an honest review, my thoughts are my own.

This was a let down, I have no other way to put this. I won't go into details in this review as I don't feel like dwelling on a book that will eat up my current reads time and will just make me even more annoyed about what it could've been.
So this is pitched for fans of DnD and as an hybrid between westworld and jurassic parc. I thought this would be somewhat humorous and from the description thought they (Our MC's) would be thrown into the world of a fantasy as they are playing DnD. Nope think more along the lines of, this is westworld with mythical creatures made by man. Also I hate the thrope of a random person going into a military base as an expert, like don't they have people that were hired while making those things that know more about it than this random lady ???

Anyhow, our MC (a nerdy doctor) has PTSD which okay, but why would you put her in a situation that would constantly trigger her and make her cry and revert to child-like behavior or revert to acting super scared and unable to act ?!?!!? HELLO WASN'T THERE A BETTER CHOICE or could you at least give her tools to help her not be triggered or emotionally distraught ???? I could not get attached to any characters, they all felt meh to me.
I found myself not caring about what would happen, good thing is the authors overall pacing otherwhise I would have DNF'ed it FAST.

2/5 stars Bookarina.

I devoured this book in maybe four hours! Vaughn's action packed navel is a fantasy lover's dream: a real Dungeon's and Dragon's campaign brought to life. The ending was a little rushed, but I was completely enraptured by the journey through Mirabilis. Highly recommend!

Categories: Pacifist protagonist / Rolling the d20 for Bard stats / Epic-urban fantasy-sf mash-up
Carrie Vaughn's Questland is an ode to the geek. With plenty of fantasy and sci-fi references, as well as a huge D&D influence, this was a fun ride that didn't take too much energy to read. It moved along at a clipped pace and the first-person narration kept the focus small so it wasn't hard to keep track of the characters and plot. I especially liked how the protagonist, Addie, acted as a kind of surrogate for the reader without losing any depth or complexity. She suffers from PTSD and is vehemently non-combatant, which I felt was handled wonderfully and was a delight to read.
At times, the plot and themes did feel a little simple, but I actually didn't mind too much as it kept everything light and easy to digest. I would say this is the perfect book to take away on a holiday, where you can dip in and out of it but still feel inclined to pick it up and engaged when you do. I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for more of Carrie Vaughn's writing.
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Please note, I have not yet published this review online. When I do, I will update this review to include the links.

Questland was the fun adventure book I'd been hoping for, and so much more! Imagine if D&D was real life. A crazy smart and crazy rich person has actually created a dungeons and dragons land full of adventure. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't do it without his development team, one of which happens to be slightly... evil? And the fun adventure-filled land isn't all it's cracked up to be, now with potential death traps around every corner. I love a female protagonist, especially one who is smart, motivated, and not a damsel in distress.

5/5 Stars!

Thank you to Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, John Joseph Adams/Mariner Books for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As soon as I read the synopsis for this book, I was sure that it would be up my street. A mash up between Westworld, Jurassic Park and a touch of Ready Player One. Say no more, I am in.
In Questlqnd, we follow Pr Addie Cox and a team of mercenaries into Insula Mirabilis, an isolated resort where you can live a full-on fantasy world experience.

I was sure that I would absolutely enjoy my time reading this book, trying to find all the hidden fantasy references through the pages. It was a really fast paced story, with hardly a moment when you can catch your breath. Also, I was like Addie and I would give anything for a chance to stay living with elves for a while.

The pace however did have some downsides as well. I felt like we were jumping into the story far too quickly. I would have enjoyed spending some time with Addie before she embarked on her journey to the island. We hardly know her outside of this adventure.
Overall, I think I enjoyed most of my time reading this book. I wished that it was longer and that we got to explore the island a bit more. I am afraid that it would not be quite memorable.

Questland: A Review
By: Jake Duell



I recently finished reading Questland by Carrie Vaughn. Questland is a book that is not afraid to ask how Moby Dick and Pokemon are symbolic of rampant capitalism. This amazingly fun book will be released on June 22, 2021. Questland comes from the same love of geek culture that books such as Ready Player One do, the main difference being the world of Questland is not nearly as dark, very real and not so mixed up in complicated geek culture references it becomes overwhelming at times.

At the heart of the book is a D&D adventure brought to life by the amazing advances of technology. This conflicts very well with people trying to “live” the medieval life having to interact with modern day mercenaries on a mission to retake an Island which has been lost. We follow Dr Addie Cox, a literature professor who is brought in on a mission to retake the Island of Mirabilis, a live D&D game island, not un-similar to Westworld. The only reason Addie is brought in is her ex-boyfriend, Dom, may be at the heart of the island's take over, and the rich Elon Musk like financier wants his property back. Addie has to team with a group of former soldiers now mercenaries while dodging deady puzzles and traps, and absorbing the mystifying world of Mirabilis. Mirabilis has it all, from unicorns,to dragons, to self-sufficient villages, to complex puzzles, it truly is a larper's dream world.

One of the things I loved about this book was how easy it was to read. Most nights I didn't want to put the book down. Not only was it fun and engaging but it was downright addicting. At the end of the book I knew I wanted more. All I can hope is that Carrie Vaughn is not done with Dr Addie Cox's Story and that we will get more in this world in the future.

With that said I want to get into my spoilery fun review of this book. So if it wasn't clear from the sentence before: Spoilers Ahead!

I cannot say enough about the character of Dr Addie Cox. She was so well written and that is in part because she was extremely flawed, but in a normal human way. To start out she had a very compelling and sadly modern backstory. She was the survivor of a school shooting in her teenage years, a shooting that took the lives of her bestfriend and boyfriend. Both of which died in front of her before the shooter took their own life. This has left her with trauma which shapes who she is. I enjoyed this backstory as it is all to real in our modern world to have people who survive mass shootings but it is not something that has been explored very much in pop culture, the only other example I can think of is American Horror Story which actually tried to humanize the shooter by having a haunted house be a source for his shooting. This is one of the few pieces of media I have encountered with the victim being a main character and it is done very, very well.

I also love that Addie is a geek. She truly loves what is being attempted with Mirabilis, and oftentimes that gets her and the group in trouble. She treats it like D&D Game, looking for hidden puzzles, great creatures, and of course loot. Though treating it like a game does not only get her in trouble, at times it saves her as well. The thing about Mirabilis is it is a game, it's just a game that has gone wrong, and went from being set to the difficulty of I'm here for the story to hard mode.

One of the hardest things I found about Addie's character is her relationship with her ex, Dom. Though he is not outwardly abusive, of course maybe he is as he has Addie kidnaped, there is a level of abuse with him. I find it hard as he built some of the areas of Mirabilis for Addie, and when she first meets up with him she falls back under the spell of the familiar. That does break, but I found this section of the book uncomfortable, though I think that is intentional

Though the merc's are "main characters" they seem secondary. Their characters are not nearly as fleshed out, but yet they are fun characters. At times they fill out D&D archetypes, which I doubt wasn't intentional. I am interested if a second book happens in this series to see how these characters are used.

Finally, the most interesting group of secondary characters are the engineers on Mirabilis. They are split into 3 factions, with each being led by one of the heads of the project. Before the Island was locked down they knew what they were working on could have now public uses, and could be used by governments. This was actually how the Island would pay for itself, though contracts to sell some of their items, like drones with tasers attached. What is most interesting about this group is the paranoia and infighting that has been driven into their minds by the company's founder. This book without a doubt explores the issues around toxic corporate culture, and how rich tech types may not be the heroes we think they are.

I truly recommend picking up a copy of Questland at your favorite local bookstore, and maybe you can find out how Moby Dick and Pokemon are related?

Questland was a fun romp through the myriad of fantasy worlds that many of us grew up on in the 70s-80s and continue to love to this day. Chock full of asides and references that only the geeks among us would recognize.

Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Netgalley for an advance copy of Questland by Carrie Vaughn, in exchange for an honest review!

Ready Player One meets Lord of the Rings meets Westworld?!?! Sign me up! This sounds like a fantastic summer read! I am so excited to start this today! Full Review to come on June 22nd 2021! Stay tuned....

I had so much fun reading this story!! This really is every nerdy SFF fan's dream, an island that is created with realistic realms, creatures and gameplay?!?!!! You would not have to convince me to go work there, not sure about the mutiny part though!! Harris Lang is a multi-billionaire recluse who has created Insula Mirabilis, an island where he has spared no expense to create 3 magical realms based on fantasy tropes and games like D&D. He has used his incredible wealth and tech genius to create mythical creatures like unicorns, dragons and wargs, game play and quests for guests. While the island is still in development, the teams working there have mutinied and cut the island off from the outside world and Harris Lang. Lang builds a small strike team to infiltrate the island and regain control. One of those people is Addie Cox, a professor of literature focusing on fantasy, who also happens to be the ex-girlfriend of one of the project managers. This team not only has to figure out who is really behind the mutiny but they must survive the creatures, traps and hidden agendas of the various players in this now deadly game.
i think anyone who loves fantasy books, movies and games will love reading this book. So easy to dive into the island world created here and I feel like I would react just like Addie when seeing unicorns and dragons!! Come on!! Who wouldn't want that possibility even if you knew in your mind that they were just mechanical creatures. The characters are a fun mix, I really liked Torres and you can understand how easy it would be to lose yourself in the fantasy of the island. There are so many wonderful pop culture, book and movie references that really make this book just so engaging and fun to read, highly recommend!!! Now, where do I sign up???

Thanks so much to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this book not entirely sure what it was going to be about, but I honestly had a pretty fun time. Imagine D&D meets Jurassic Park meets Westworld, and you'll have a fairly good idea of the premise of this book. The whole island at the center of the plot requires its visitors to suspend their disbelief and just enjoy the magic, and thats what I ended up doing with this book. Were there aspects of it that weren't perfect or entirely plausible? Absolutely but I was having so much FUN imagining it really existed that I didn't much care.

You follow the POV of Addie, a super nerd and professor of literature (or something along those lines) who has been hired to help a mercenary team go to the aforementioned island and take it back from the development team, as they have locked out the owner from any access. She has personal ties to the leader and her knowledge of fantasy fandom and culture will help them navigate the game.

It was full of so much nerdy awesomeness that if you have spent any time in one of those fandoms, you'll feel right at home. While I wished we had a little more time seeing the aftermath at the ending, for the most part, I really enjoyed the ride and had so much fun with imagining it could exist.

I gave Questland a 4 star rating and and enjoyed this quick but fun read. If the author decides to write a sequel for this, I will absolutely keep going in the series.

I enjoyed reading this latest story from Carrie Vaughn. Questland is a story for gamers and cosplayers and Dungeon and Dragons aficionados. If you aren't someone who has always wanted to go on a real life adventure in Rivendale or Camelot or search for the Ring, there may be moments that aren't as engaging for you as Ms. Vaughn's other stories. If you are someone who enjoys fantasy quest tales, you will not regret picking up this tale of a modern day island retreat where magic is really clever technology and someone has taken over.

Dr. Addie Cox is a literature professor who grew up reading classic fantasy and playing tabletop games and is the traumatized survivor of a school shooting. Harris Lang is the billionaire who has set up Questland as a combination of advanced R&D lab and future retreat for those who have always wanted to live a fantasy quest. Someone has taken control of Questland away from Mr. Lang, and it just might be Addie's first boyfriend. Addie and a team of former military mercenaries sneak into Questland to learn the truth and hopefully return control to Lang.

Some of my favorite moments involved clever nods to other iconic fantasy characters and stories. My favorite one involved The Witcher!

Thank you Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Netgalley for sending me this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I should preface this by stating that I'm not a "gamer" so if I'm blunt many terms I simply didn't understands so I had to approach this simply as an adventure story. Our protagonist is Addie and she my fellow reader is most definitely a "gamer" who has been approached (bamboozled ? ) into helping check out an island where her ex Dominic is working. Things have gone drastically wrong with a new and deadly barrier surrounding the island and the people living there strangely out of touch for months. Addie, together with a small elite team arrive but there the fun and games begin or should I say the madness ?
Before choosing to read this I checked out other reviews and was surprised that so many don't like Addie. I actually had empathy for her as her life has been turned upside down and yet she's a fully functioning adult surviving an horrific past. She doesn't see herself as the damsel in distress but instead as someone who wants to guide others towards better things. Yes at times she's impulsive and totally entranced by this world opening up around her but she pushes through although admittedly I didn't agree with all her choices.
The idea of something straight out of Jurassic Park or Westworld but with a heavy fantasy feel was very entertaining. I particularly enjoyed the juxtaposition of the armed mercenaries accompanying Addie as they outplayed the medieval/fantasy elements in this world fuelled by crazy, good old fashioned greed and just sheer longing. The team see everything as a job, a mission but Addie and indeed the islanders see the rabbit hole they want to jump down. I cannot say there's romance here although Addie does allow herself to get swept away. I think my favourite character was Torres who if I had to choose a romantic interest for Addie would win hands down but the character that surprised me the most was Rucker the gung ho soldier who actually developed as this story progressed.
I did enjoy this book although I admit I wanted slightly more as it ended concerning the billionaire tech genius behind the island but I guess the quest to shut down the island was over so hey ho on to the next project for this author.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

When an eccentric billionaire's fantasy theme park goes offline, Professor Addie Cox is called in to help take back control of the island. While she is an expert in world literature and role playing games, she is chosen because she has a history with one of the programmers who staged the coup.

I of course love the idea of really experiences a fantasy landscape, even if it is through technology and not actual magic. While the book explores the fun and wonder of such a situation it also deals with trauma and perseverance. This was a fun, quick read.

I have no idea how to review this book. This is a different genre than I'm used to. I love this author and thought that going outside of my comfort zone would be good for me. It was not a good idea. This book DID hold my interest, and I found no issues with finishing it. I did heartily dislike our female protagonist, Dr. Addie Cox. I understand that she has PTSD, but in the long run, she acts just like a spoiled child crying every time we turn around and for no apparent reasons. I found this to be very annoying.

I can say that if you love RPGs, quests, ultra-rich guys, not having all our questions answered AND Jurassic Park ( but a modernized version of JP), you will most likely love this book.

ARC supplied by the publisher, the author, and NetGalley. Thank yu.

I am not familiar with RPGs, don't know much about them ànd never played. Therefore, it took me some time to get into this book.

However, Carrie Vaughn is a skilled writer who know how to create relateable characters that draw the reader in.

She adds humor and mystery that also sustains interest.

I received a free ARC and I am leaving my honest review.

I've read some of Vaughn's YA novels, and this has a light, similar feel. Everything sketched out on the surface, without diving too deep. This will disappoint some, but not everything needs to be deep. Rather, it made it a quick, enjoyable read. I could see it all playing out as a movie while I read.

I consider this book great for readers like me - those who like and appreciate nerds or geeks, but who themselves are not nerds or geeks. I've played some of the classic video games (Zelda), watched both old and new Westworld, watched Lord of the Rings (although I didn't love it), and have rudimentary knowledge of Dungeons and Dragons, mainly gathered from those around me who have played a little in the past. So, I got many of the references and asides. But I'm not steeped in geek culture overall. I suppose I skim the surface, dipping in my toes occasionally, not unlike this book.

Clearly, Insula Mirabilis is inspired by Jurassic Park. I seriously heard the Jurassic Park theme each time I read the name. Equally clearly, eccentric millionaires don't learn from the mistakes of others, because you'd definitely know something was going to go wrong.

I sympathized with Addie's yearning for the island to be real. Haven't we all wished for our fantasy world? But like us readers, she views it with skepticism. It's nice to get lost in the fantasy, and understandable even, but you can't ignore that a fantasy is what it is. I'm glad she didn't get sucked in.

Addie has PTSD from surviving a school shooting. The way that she coped with that throughout the book seemed realistic to me. I liked all the characters well enough. Everyone was lightly sketched out, which made this a quick read once I could get into it.

I really enjoyed the ending. Again, exactly what I would expect if I were watching a movie.

I received an copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Oh, this was fun! I’m rounding up, it isn’t a perfect book but I had such a good time reading this. The target audience for the book is the die hard fantasy nerd that doesn’t take themselves too seriously. Suspend your disbelief and roll with the story.
The protagonist does need protection but I’ve been to a lot of science fiction and gaming conventions and well…. That’s the one place in this life I look kind of athletic and I’m Not athletic! If the **** goes down yes, I would like to be protected by a squad of soldiers thanks! Most of fandom does kind of fall more towards the professor than the fighter…
Given the trauma the character has experienced she holds it together pretty well under bad circumstances. One caveat, there have been a truly depressing number of school shootings and other mass shooting events in the US. If that hits too close to home for you and you would find it too painful to read a book about a survivor who does have PTSD this isn’t the book for you.

I've been reading Carrie Vaughn for years, and her writing just keep getting better over time. Big difference from her Kitty books, but enjoyable non the less. This novel about a uber rich man turning a private island into a fantasy theme park described a place I'd love to visit if it was real. Unfortunately the developers go over the top into believing the fantasy taking over the island and Addie is hired to go confront an old flame in an effort to regain control along with a crew of mercenaries. Addie's literature professor and role player background helps her navigate this fantastical and wondrous place.

This book was fun. I likes he set up to the quest. Most LitRPG just dump you right into the quest like they have a time limit. I like the female.phd lead and seeing her grow in confidence. I did not like the ending. It felt too quick. Like this was a weekday session of DND and the players had to finish it before bedtime. The ending. Just fizzled none of the fireworks I was expecting. Also there are a lot of LOTR references. Don't get me wrong. It is the ultimate quest but maybe they weren't all needed because they got old (like an inexperienced DM leading their first quest and not confident in their own story telling abilities).

Tech billionaire, Lang, decides he wants to create a real-life quest a la Lord of the Rings or Narnia. This includes hyper realistic mechanical ‘beasts’ like dragons and such that a quester would come across while ‘playing the game’. It also includes having people live on the quest island full-time. People that will be 100% invested into the story and will live and breathe that quest lifestyle. But what happens when one of these full-timers wants to take over the island for themselves? This is basically what this story is about. A group of full-timers have taken over the island and aren’t letting anyone onto it. A boat of individuals sent to the island to find out what’s going on is killed when they hit into a shield that surrounds the island. This sparks a larger issue and now we have a group of mercenaries hired by Lang to get onto the island and take it back. In tow the mercenaries have Dr. Addie Cox, a literature professor who also happens to be the ex-girlfriend of a man on the island who may be one of the dissenters.

For not being a fantasy fan I really enjoyed the first part of the book, with it’s quests, puzzles, traps and even a tavern right out of any fantasy video game. What I didn’t like, through the entire part of the story, was Addie herself. If this story is a kind of love letter to the fantasy nerds out there, then Addie was an absolutely horrible representative. Yes, she was SUPER into the lifelike world that Lang created, for which I can’t blame her. But she is absolutely one of the dumbest characters I’ve ever read about. She is so caught up in the fake/real world around her that she completely disregards any and all possible dangers. Even knowing that people have died and been seriously hurt (herself included!!) she has zero issue just tramping off into the woods while everyone’s back is turned. She is CONSTANTLY putting the group she is with in danger and making their jobs that much harder because she can’t, figuratively, keep it in her pants. It really doesn’t look good on the fantast/LARPing culture and honestly, I feel like it instead 100% proves all the negative stereotypes correct.

The further the story goes the more far-fetched it gets. Right till the end when we get an almost mustache-twirling villain scenario. Just super OTT.

I decided to give this 3-stars because I really enjoyed the idea of the story more than the execution itself. Although, if you’re a big fantasy fan, you may enjoy this more than I did. Addie’s complete stupidity ruined most of this story for me.

Releases June 22, 2021

Received from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing via Netgalley