Invitation to the game
1990
- science fiction
- dystopia
- children's fiction
The story
A secretive program, known only as "The Game, is devised by a controlling government for an unknown purpose. One day, a destitute youth, Lisse, and her friends are selected to take part in The Game. Their world becomes one of fascinating adventure, but as the challenges increase each time they play, The Game begins to take over their lives...
What it’s like
Clean, spare prose aimed at younger readers, with the unsettling calm of a world where everything is managed from above. The mood is brisk and watchful, a cool grey dystopian city that gives way to bright, dreamlike adventure, then tightens into quiet dread as the play begins to close around its players. Short chapters and steady momentum keep the pages turning, and the sensory world stays modest: crowded, underlit streets, the flat hum of institutional spaces, and the startling vividness of the game's invented landscapes. The emotional register is earnest and slightly anxious, with a teenage heroine learning to tell real freedom from a pleasant cage. Violence is minimal and off the page, with peril and fear carried by suspense rather than gore, and the content is gentle enough for younger teens. It suits a rainy afternoon, a long train ride, or a reader who likes a thoughtful, uncomplicated puzzle of a story about control, friendship, and choice. It is for readers who want accessible science fiction with a clear moral pulse and no graphic material.
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