The Reality Bug

Pendragon #4

by D.J. MacHale

Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here

VIRTUAL REALITY?

The territory of Veelox has achieved perfect harmony. Fifteen-year-old Bobby Pendragon arrives on this territory in pursuit of the evil Saint Dane, but all is peaceful on Veelox - because it's deserted. The inhabitants have discovered a way to enter their own personal dream worlds, where they can be whomever they want, wherever they want. Their bodies lie in stasis while their minds escape to this dream realm.

Fresh from his battle with Saint Dane in 1937 Earth, Bobby is confident that they can defeat whatever Saint Dane has planned for this world. But once Bobby enters the virtual world, will he be able to resist the lure of the ultimate in escapism?

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Science Fiction, Adventure, Childrens, Middle Grade

375 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2003

About the author

D.J. MacHale is a writer, director, executive producer and creator of several popular television series and movies.

He was raised in Greenwich, CT and graduated from Greenwich High School. While in school, he had several jobs including collecting eggs at a poultry farm, engraving sports trophies and washing dishes in a steakhouse...in between playing football and running track. D.J. then attended New York University where he received a BFA in film production.

His filmmaking career began in New York where he worked as a freelance writer/director, making corporate videos and television commercials. He also taught photography and film production.

D.J. broke into the entertainment business by writing several ABC Afterschool Specials. After moving to Los Angeles, he made the fulltime switch from informational films, to entertainment. As co-creator of the popular Nickelodeon series: Are You Afraid of the Dark?, he produced all 91 episodes over 8 years. He wrote and directed many of the episodes including the CableAce nominated The Tale of Cutter's Treasure starring Charles S. Dutton. He was nominated for a Gemini award for directing The Tale of the Dangerous Soup starring Neve Campbell.

D.J. also wrote and directed the movie Tower of Terror for ABC's Wonderful World of Disney which starred Kirsten Dunst and Steve Guttenberg. The Showtime series Chris Cross was co-created, written and produced by D.J. It received the CableAce award for Best Youth Series.

D.J. co-created and produced the Discovery Kids series Flight 29 Down for which he writes all the episodes and directs several. His work on Flight 29 Down has earned him both Writers Guild of America and Directors Guild of America award nominations.

Other notable writing credits include the classic ABC Afterschool Special titled Seasonal Differences; the pilot for the long-running PBS/CBS series Ghostwriter; and the HBO series Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective for which he received a CableAce nomination for writing.

In print, D.J. has co-written the book The Tale of the Nightly Neighbors, based on his own teleplay and penned the poetic adaptation of the classic Norwegian folk tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon.

The book series: Pendragon - Journal of an Adventure through Time and Space marks D.J.'s first turn as a novelist. He plans for this series of Young Adult adventures to span a total of 10 books.

D.J. lives in Southern California with his wife Evangeline and daughter Keaton. They are avid backpackers, scuba divers and skiers. Rounding out the household are a Golden Retriever, Maggie; and a Kitten, Kaboodle.

Reviews

[Ahmad Sharabiani · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Reality Bug (Pendragon, #4), D.J. MacHale
The Reality Bug is the fourth book in the Pendragon series by D. J. MacHale. The world is all about peoples' imaginations. People create their own fantasy worlds and live inside their dreams. Bobby begins on the territory of Veelox, with Gunny, where they land in the dark room outside the Veelox flume. Bobby and Gunny encounter Saint Dane and believe they have him cornered, however, twenty realistic holograms of the villain suddenly appear around him, but Bobby found the right one and fought him, but Saint Dane called out Eelong and Bobby was scared that he was going with Saint Dane so he let go, allowing Saint Dane to escape. Bobby and Gunny decide to split. Gunny will immediately go to Eelong and report back later with news while Bobby stays on Veelox because Saint Dane had mentioned that it is on the verge of destruction. Bobby hates the darkness and is worried if the inhabitants of Veelox are floating giants after meeting Aja Killian, the local Traveler, in the form of a massive holographic face. Bobby doesn't know if the huge hologram is life-sized. He meets up with a very ordinary, humanoid Aja in a city much like those on Second Earth, called Rubic City. The only differences are that it is deserted, and there is a huge structure called the Lifelight pyramid looming over the town. ...
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز ششم ماه دسامبر سال 2011 میلادی
عنوان: پندراگن: کتاب چهارم: ویروس واقعیت؛ نویسنده: دی.جی. مک هیل؛ مترجم: ویدا اسلامه؛ تهران، کتابسرای تندیس، 1390، در 471 ص؛ شابک: 9789648944983؛ موضوع: داستانهای خیالی از نویسندگان امریکایی - سده 20 م
تصویری کودکانه، از سرزمین آرزوهاست، قلمرو «ویلاکس»، در اوج آرامش و هماهنگی ست. «بابی پندراگن» پانزده ساله، در پی «سنت دین» شیطان‌ صفت، وارد قلمرو «ویلاکس» می‌شود؛ و درمی‌یابد، که: «ویلاکس»، در صلح و آرامش است. ساکنان «ویلاکس»، به راهی دست یافته‌ اند، که از آن راه، می‌خواهند وارد سرزمین آرزوهای خویش شوند، و در آنجا، هر کسیکه می‌خواهند، باشند؛ و در هر جایی که می‌خواهند، زندگی کنند. در حالیکه بدنشان، در جای ثابتی قرار دارد. ذهنشان، به گستره‌ ی خیال می‌گریزد. بابی که از مبارزه با «سنت دین»، در زمین سال 1937 میلادی، برگشته، باور دارد که می‌تواند نقشه‌ های «سنت دین»، برای این جهان مجازی را، نقش بر آب کند. اما آیا «بابی»، پس از ورود به این جهان مجازی، یارای پایداری در برابر وسوسه‌ ی گریختن از واقعیت‌ را دارد؟ ا. شربیانی

[Tina ➹ Woman, Life, Freedom · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Golden Stars

98%


welcome to virtual reality
the advanced territory where you can live in your dream life,
will you pass?

I know I wouldn't, at least not at first.

"imagine the most amazing video game you ever played. You know, great graphics, realistic sound, 3-D environments, excellent challenges, the whole deal. Now, imagine that game being about twelve billion times better. That's what they've got on Veelox. I'm not exaggerating. There's no way I could give you a quick description beyond that."

this is how technology in Veelox looks like, or at least after inventing Lifelight.

a territory that even Pendragon compared it to science fiction, which is irony, this book is a sci-fi itself, a sci-fi world in a sci-fi world! hehe, cool, aye?

well, it's dangerous, because the possibility to be able to live your dream life is tempting, isn't it? everything happening in its perfect way, everything is perfect. pleasant, whatever you call it.
& when the food problem was solved....

it's very tempting indeed, it could be addicting, leaving your real life behind to live your dream life, imagine everyone do that.
it will end in...
society fall apart

that's what threatening Veelox, Pendragon & his smart friend, the Traveler of Veelox, a girl who is bossy & a bit snappy at first, but I like her; Strong, clever & caring & trying to do everything she can to save her territory.

in 4th book of Pendragon's dangerous adventure as a Traveler to save Halla, we will see what will happen to them between the pages of this book, when reality was abandoned & dreams turned to individual's reality. & the simulations can be dangerous, life-threatening dangerous.
what Saint Dane had planned for this territory is obvious. how can they stop it is tricky.

(you know how the characters affecting our languages, now you see the proof, I'm talking/writing like Bobby! & proud)

[Halley Hopson · Rating 5 out of 5]

-- Reread 2016 --

This has always been up there in my favorites from the series simply because it has one of my book buzz words: virtual reality. It's something find incredibly interesting and am always eager to explore in stories.

This book in particular is sort of a turning point for the series because of the turn of events on Veelox, which I won't spoil for you here; you'll have to read it to find out!

As a side note as I stated in one of my updates; I did not remember shipping a particular couple back when I originally read this series almost ten years previously but I'm pretty positive I'm rooting for them now. I'm actually kind of enjoying that I don't really remember at all how this series ends seeing as I only read the last couple of books once as soon as they each came out. I am very much looking forward to finding out how this all wraps up by the end.

[Giselle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still great, but I didn’t like how Aja treated Bobby.

[Mohi Hajihoseini · Rating 1 out of 5]

.

[Pranta Ghosh Dastider · Rating 5 out of 5]

About half way through this book I thought it would definitely fail to impress enough. Plot was okay, and all things considered apart from the world setup it didn't felt too special. But what a great comeback! Twists and unpredictable turn of events made it a great success. Author surely knows how to keep things fresh. And as a reader I feel truly blessed.

Next book will be another success, hopefully.

[Jacob]

This book was amazing. I’m not saying it’s all pretty and sparkly or anything. It’s nothing like that. “The Reality Bug” by D. J. MacHale is by no means a little picture book for five-year-olds with unicorns and fairies and all that mushy stuff. It is, instead, a true masterpiece describing an entirely captivating, totally awesome, off-the-charts suspenseful and dramatic adventure. It is a mature book, though, so please don’t use it as a read-aloud to share with your preschooler sibling over winter break. There is some serious stuff in it, including blood and death and gore. Luckily, D. J. MacHale doesn’t go over the top with all of that stuff. He goes just to the point where it gives the book an action-filled plot, and not past that into the realm of sickening, graphic descriptions of battles and blood. That is one of the reasons why I like this book.

At this point, you are probably not very sure what the point is of you reading this review. All I’ve done so far in this review is ramble on about the blood and gore described in “The Reality Bug” even though you don’t even know what the heck this book is even about. That is what I am going to tell you. “The Reality Bug” is a book that follows the adventures of three courageous people: Bobby Pendragon, Mark Dimond, and Courtney Chetwynde. Bobby’s adventures are generally the most interesting. They contain most of the action that takes place in the book. This is because Bobby is a Traveler. He is a person who can travel through time and space with the aid of special wormholes called flumes. The flumes can transport him to any of the ten worlds (in the book, they are called territories) that exist millions of light years apart and millions of years before or after one another. The journey between territories in a flume only takes a few minutes, though.

Each territory has only one Traveler, destined to fight in the battle against an evil demon traveler named Saint Dane. Saint Dane wants to control Halla, and it is the Travelers’ job to stop him from doing so. If you want to know what Halla is, I will tell you. Very simply, Halla is everything. Every time, every place, every living being that ever existed are part of Halla. Saint Dane’s mission is to throw all of Halla into chaos, the results of which you probably now know would be devastating.

Each of the books in the Pendragon series describes a battle between Saint Dane and the Travelers. The “Reality Bug” is no different. It takes place on a territory called Veelox. The people on Veelox had discovered how to put themselves into a virtual reality world that they could customize however they wanted. All of the people got addicted to their own virtual worlds, called Lifelight. They rejected reality and retreated into their computer worlds, which many people stayed in for years. Saint Dane, trying to push Veelox into chaos, encouraged people to do this.

Bobby’s adventures are all about him, Loor (the Traveler from a territory called Zadaa), and Aja Killian (the Traveler from Veelox) battling Saint Dane to try and bring the people of Veelox out of their Lifelight fantasies. They did this by putting a computer virus called The Reality Bug into the supercomputer that runs Lifelight. The Reality Bug took away some of the perfection in Lifelight that people sought for in Lifelight that was nonexistent in the real world. For example, someone might have been skiing really fast down a mountain dodging trees in his or her fantasy. When the Reality Bug got put into that fantasy, the skier might have plowed straight into a tree and gotten a concussion, which would have happened in real life. When that happened, the hope was that Lifelight would lose its appeal for people. In case you are going to read this book, I will not tell you the outcome of the struggle on Veelox. You will have to read the book to find out.

Now, I will tell you about Mark and Courtney. Mark and Courtney are basically normal people compared to Bobby. They don’t fly off in flumes to battle demons and save the universe from destruction. They live in a normal town called Stony Brook, Connecticut. They go to a normal high school. They live practically normal lives, except for one thing. Bobby. Each Traveler has journals that they write to their best friend back on whatever territory they are from. The Traveler has a special ring, and so does his or her friend. The rings are like miniature flumes, and you can send journals through them. His or her friend(s) safe keeps the journals for their traveler friend, because if any given Traveler dies, his journals are the only description of what he has gone through in his life. Mark and Courtney are the people that Bobby writes his journals to. They keep them in a safe-deposit box at The Stony Brook National Bank.

Mark and Courtney aren’t just Bobby’s librarians, though. They are also his acolytes. An acolyte is the person/people who know the Traveler from their territory and keep that Traveler’s journals safe. An acolyte’s job is to tend to the flume and prepare it for when any Travelers might need to use it. That means that they have to leave clothing from their territory at the flume for Travelers to wear, along with any gear that is required on that territory. “The Reality Bug” also tells the story of the adventure Mark and Courtney go through to become acolytes.
Mark and Courtney were very eager to help Bobby in the battle against Saint Dane. I know that I would, too. If one of my best friends were off in an opposite dimension risking life and limb to save the universe, I would want to help, too. Reading about the Traveler’s terrible plight and not being able to do anything to help tortured Mark and Courtney very much. They found it impossible to focus on their own lives while the universe could have toppled into chaos at any moment. Because of that, when they had the opportunity to become acolytes and actually be a part of the battle for Halla, they were thrilled and accepted it right away. Besides, Mark and Courtney were nearly insane at the point at which they became acolytes. For all they knew, Bobby could have been dead without them knowing, because the territories exist in different time periods. As acolytes, they would be able to prevent injury and death from coming to their friend and his fellow travelers.

The entire book was really good, so it is really hard for me to choose a specific part that was really good. “The Reality Bug” was not a sort of book where there was one specific place that stood out from the rest. Instead of having most of the book build up to one big climax, this book was constant action. That was good and bad. It was good because you never felt like the book was boring, but it was bad because it was impossible to ever put the book down. When I was reading the book before bed, I ended up reading half an hour too long and becoming sleep-deprived. The end of every chapter—every page, even—was a huge cliffhanger in “The Reality Bug.” D. J. MacHale is a very talented author, because it must be extremely hard to keep coming up with super-exciting things to put in every single chapter.

When I had to choose one part from “The Reality Bug” that I liked the most, I didn’t choose it because of how much action there was in it. From what I said in the last paragraph, you probably realize would be an extremely difficult task. Instead, I chose my favorite part from how much importance it had in the book. In “The Reality Bug,” the parts with the most action were not necessarily the ones that you would remember. Since the entire book was filled with action, the very active parts basically are the entire book. The real plot-changing parts, though, still stand out from the rest. When you read a book, you don’t remember the scene when the main character runs a grueling marathon as much as the part where he is sitting after the marathon and contemplating what he had done, because that moment of contemplation was a big landmark in the character’s life. Perhaps he had been unsure of his capabilities before running the marathon, but afterward, he gained tons of confidence in himself. Then, maybe that confidence was just what he needed to go on some expedition that was the climax of the book. Even though the moment where he thinks about his capabilities did not have much action, it was a point where the plot took a major turn. That is why you would remember it more than the marathon.

With this in mind, I picked my favorite part of the book. I selected a part that did not have much action, but still helped determine the outcome of the book. My favorite part of the book was when the first person died from the Reality Bug. Yes, in real life, a person dying would be considered something with a lot of action involved. Compared to everything else that happens in “The Reality Bug,” it is not high on the action scale. It is my favorite part because of the significance it has in the storyline of the book. When Aja Killian and Bobby rushed into the man’s room and see his gaunt, pale, and totally dead face staring back at them, they realized for the first time the damage that their computer virus had brought upon Veelox and its people. Beforehand, they had known that the virus could have bad implications, but then it was still just a theory. Seeing it in reality with an actual person dead really brought a new light to their situation. Aja and Bobby realized that if they did not do anything, the entire territory of Veelox would be doomed to a terrible fate, considering that most of Veelox’s population was in Lifelight. Being in Lifelight at that time meant that you would almost surely die.

Facing these facts was especially bad for Aja. She was the senior phader of Lifelight. A phader is a person who monitors all of the jumps to make sure something doesn’t go wrong. The senior phader’s job is to coordinate all of the phaders and the jumps. Aja knew that it was her responsibility to make sure that people stayed safe in Lifelight. She thought that she had failed. Not only had she failed to make sure that the people stayed safe in their jumps, she had also been the person who had made their situation unsafe in the first place. Before the Reality Bug had corrupted Lifelight, Aja had been arrogant. Once Lifelight got messed up, though, she was humbled and realized that she was not perfect. Knowing that, she worked harder to respect other people and cooperate with them. That was very important, because all the Travelers had to work together to defeat Saint Dane and the Reality Bug.

I researched several sources, but I could not find a reason for why D. J. Machale wrote this book. Because of this, I am forced to make a logical assumption for why he wrote the book. I know that D. J. MacHale was born in Connecticut. I think that the author probably made the story take place in a setting similar to the one where he grew up. If I were the author, I would have had a little fun with writing and made up an awesome story out of my own personal background. I think that the town of Stony Brook would be a lot like the town where D. J. MacHale grew up. That is why I think the author wrote this book.

I connected with how the book was centered on computers. It seemed like the book went into a lot of detail about computers and how awesome they are. I also really like computers and I am very fascinated by them. The book described the computers like they were almost one of the main characters in the book. The computers that run Lifelight play as big of a part in defeating the Reality Bug as any of the human characters. I think that by making the plot like that, the author was trying to say how important computers are by focusing on them so much. If that is what the author is trying to say through the book, I completely agree with him. Sometimes we don’t realize how big of a part computers play in our lives. When they are taken away or corrupted, like in “The Reality Bug,” it can impact our lives in huge ways. That is how I connected to the book.

What I learned from this book was an important life lesson. I learned that even the most perfect and amazing things are flawed. Think about the Reality Bug. It was designed perfectly, and everyone involved with it was thrilled with it. The only problem was that it was designed too well. While creating it, Aja Killian focused too much on making sure that it did its job, and not enough on making sure that it could only go so far. It worked so well that people’s Lifelight fantasies were not only imperfect—they were also extremely deadly. I also learned that you have to make allowances for imperfection. You always have to think like something is going to go wrong. Do not always put your faith in a single thing; always have a backup plan at hand in case things go wrong. Otherwise, you can find yourself in a terrible plight like the Travelers got into with the Reality Bug. They put all of their faith into it, and did not think about what to do if it went wrong. I know that I will try not to make the same mistake that they did.

I would definitely recommend this book to people. It is a great fantasy and adventure book, so it is good if you are looking for something entertaining to read. During the book, there is also lots of character development, like what I mentioned with Aja earlier. After her computer virus failed, she developed greatly into a very kind and helpful person. All of the characters involved in this story change in ways like that, so you should also read it for that reason. As I said in the beginning, the book gets a little gory, so don’t read it if you don’t like that sort of action. Other than that, it is a great story in every aspect. If you are going to read it, make sure that you read the first three Pendragon books that come before it. The series is like one huge ongoing story split into separate volumes. In the beginning of “The Reality Bug,” the author kind of jumps right back into the story without much of a recap of what happened in the previous books. Without a proper understanding of the plot, I assure you that you will get completely lost. I hope that this review has persuaded you to read “The Reality Bug.” If you do, I guarantee that you will be amazed.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seriously... this one was so freaking good. I can't even begin to properly form my thoughts on this book, it was absolutely amazing.

I've always been a sucker for Virtual Reality stuff- the first season of Sword Art Online remains a favorite anime of mine- and this definitely didn't disappoint in that regards at all. I absolutely loved the premise of this, both good and bad.

Goodness though, the bad stuff in this one was very VERY bad and I'm still a little in shock. And now I need to get my hands on the next book or I'm going to go crazy.

This series keeps bringing up more questions but not answering any and it's driving me up the wall.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series because the bad guy is one we can associate with because he reminds me of satan and if you haven't read all of them stop right here!!!! I am serious!!!! This is a real spoiler alert!!!! Well, I warned you!!!! Scroll downn.

















It is an actual series in which the bad guy sometimes wins and this book is that start that. The good guy doesn't always win and I admire MacHale so much for having the courage to allow his characters to sometimes fail.

[Kylie Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite in the series. A little too preachy about the dangers of virtual reality. It felt like a simple plot that was stretched for far too long.

[~Cyanide Latte~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

While it certainly took me forever to get through this book, I do have to say I enjoyed it. I've not been highly enthused for this series, so I imagine a lot of my difficulty in making headway on reading this was probably a mental thing. Getting through this series will probably be a continuous struggle, but I think it's important that I give it the chance I denied it when I was younger.

That being said, I can easily say that this installment absolutely upped the ante, and I appreciated that. There's a lot going on in the lives of all the characters, not just Bobby, but things are growing more complicated for Mark and Courtney as well, which was nice to see. I'd say that the theme of this book has to do with a lot of mental/emotional challenges that occur for each of the characters, and the subsequent decisions they make dealing with those challenges, such as Mark and Courtney trying to take steps to become acolytes, or the Travelers being faced with the difficult decision to try to resist the lure of perfect fantasy in order to save the lives of many other people. I don't think feel as though that's something that always gets explored in middle grade fiction to such grave extremes as what we see here, and that was a nice change to the formula, in my opinion. It was also very interesting to see Saint Dane score a victory, and to understand that this has also changed the very foundation by which the Travelers have operated this entire time. Though I will say his ominous little speech when stepping through the flume to Mark and Courtney was exhaustingly obnoxious after just a few lines.

Either way, I'm glad I finally got through this book, because I've never had high expectations when taking this series into consideration, but this somehow managed to overcome that barrier for me as a reader.

[Alyssa Andrews-Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book because of its action and mystery. In the territory of Veelox, Bobby is sent there to defeat Saint Dane once again. The traveler from Veelox, Aja, thinks she is too smart for Saint Dane's manipulation. Saint Dane had been trying to mess with the territory's prized possession: Lifelight. Lifelight is like a virtual reality where you choose where you want to be, how to interact with, and who you are with. When Saint Dane tries to shut it down, Aja thinks of creating what is the reality bug. The reality bug is meant to make the virtual experience more realistic, but Saint Dane messed with the program. The Reality Bug becomes real and eats through the database of Veelox. When it finally emerges, Bobby figures out it feeds off the fear of reality. When Bobby and Aja become "fearless", the reality bug is starved to death. But that doesn't stop Saint Dane. Before the Reality Bug was starved to death, it had eaten almost all of the data in the alpha grid of Veelox. It ripped apart the grid and Veelox fell apart. Saint Dane had won his first territory. Bobby is then sent to Eelong to chase after Gunny to where Saint Dane had vanished to. And then the book ends there. This was an amazing book. I loved all the mystery and panic that came in some of the scenes. I love the character Bobby Pendragon, he is so brave even though he doesn't realize it. I loved the book, four stars on my account. There were a few jumps and parts where some things weren't explained very well, but overall a great book and a book I would definitely recommend.

[Dale Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bobby Pendragon had saved Earth. So, why did he feel that he had actually failed? Maybe it was the fact that he had to let people die to save the rest. The fear that he was failing as a traveler was with him all the time and now a new threat had raised its head and he would have to face it alone. Gunny, his partner, needed to pursue Saint Dane to another world leaving Bobby the task of traveling to Veelox where Dane has just left and was claiming victory. Veelox...a world of the ultimate technology. Where thought became reality and every one was happy. How then could Saint Dane be claiming that as his first victory? But Bobby and the local traveler Aja find out that the reality isn't what it appears.

Book 4 and Author D.J. MacHale continues his PENDRAGON series by introducing and building another whole new world. Some authors can create stories set over many books as this one is but that usually entails them worldbuilding a singular universe of their own. MacHale has become a master of building and blending all these multiple creations into one huge story line and giving the readers heroes that are courageous and yet plagued with their own flaws. That only adds to this great series.

[Marina Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now the adventure is really getting started! After defeating saint Dane 3 times, Bobby faces a situation in which he unfortunately lost. The captivating adventure continues as we explore a world where all your dreams can come true. But at what cost?

[Hajir · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5
I only liked the parts where Loor was in it.

[Britt · Rating 4 out of 5]

reaaallly liked this one, reminded me of the digimon movie a little bit, you know the part I mean ;) overall I'm really enjoying reading this series!!

[BeesBookHollow ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Follow Bobby as he arrives on Veelox, a territory built on imagination and the power of technology. The lead traveler encounters Aja Killian who has created a new virus that could be either the salvation or demise of her home territory but could it be that simple?

[Fletcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

MacHale’s “The Reality Bug” was a fresh take on the Pendragon series. It had the same mystery and action as the other books, but added a new sense of loss and confusion, which played off of the 3rd book “The Never War” very well. In the last book Bobby had some great character growth with the timeline of fate. When Bobby first tried out the “Lifelight” it had truly shown how much he missed his past life since the first book. It showed first hand experience of how alluring the Lifelight is and how it needs to be stopped. This experience really let Bobby start truly letting go of his past, and focus on the future. The traveler of territory Aja reminded Bobby and the reader of how Bobby was in the 2nd book, still scared of everything but very cocky and full of themselves. Only having one plan and not seeing the whole picture. This rubbed off on Bobby and made him return to his old ways for a short time. This book was mainly about moving forward and never staying in the past. When they insert the “Reality Bug” they finally thought they had finally won. I think this very well showed how narrow minded Bobby was in his ideals. And how little he knew about the world around him. When they reached Zetlin to shut down the reality bug, he said they had to go into his mainframe separate from the now shut down Lifelight. When he reveals himself as one of the opposing players in the mansions games, which I think really tied together the reality of wanting to leave your own reality, since he looked much and was much stronger. Once they had finally purged the reality bug, they thought they had fixed the problem and it would let the people return to reality. When Saint Dane revealed himself and Said he had made his first “victory” it really shocked him to his core, and made him question what he had been doing at all. This was amazing character growth for Bobby by showing him he is still human, and fate might not always be for the winning side. I am excited to see what happens in the next book and see if he gives up or fights harder.

[Jacob Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing with this YA series, I read the 4th installment in the series this week. Wildly imaginative, the fourth book in the Pendragon series provides further background on Bobby Pendragon's universe (which, of course, is our universe, only expanded). I find the series as a whole to be one of the most creative and imaginative I have ever read, written in a manner that can captivate both children and adults. The language is just complex enough without becoming pedantic, and the themes continue to mature throughout the series. As with the others in this series, I would highly recommend this entry in the series as well.

[Sharon Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of an Inception flair to this one. Up until now the last "chapter" of one book was the first chapter of the next book. I have 1~5 and have been checking each time I finish a book that the last chapter is indeed the next first chapter and have not bothered to read it as the last chapter since I was planning on immediately reading the next book. However, I don't know if it's because of a different edition or a sudden decision to change the format, but the last chapter of this book is not the first chapter of the next book, so be sure to check so you don't miss reading anything. The last chapter is like part of the prologue and part of chapter 2 or 3, something jumbled up like that. Kinda weird change.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main characters’ best friend and girl-friend are having troubles fitting in and the main characters girl-friend has issues about her self-esteem. The best friends name is Mark and the girl-friends name is Courtney. They both recently graduated from middle school. Mark is a super nerd, and he decided that he didn’t want to be a nerd any more. The first day of school he made an entire fool of himself. Courtney was a super athlete who never lost and was better at sports then anyone. The first day of soccer practice the other girls dribbled around her, stole the ball, blocked all her shots and made a bunch of shots past her. The next day is not as bad for Mark. Nothing bad happens and at the end of school, the sci-clops (a science team) ask him to join their team. For Courtney, it gets worse. She does even worse then the last practice and the coach cuts her down to Junior Varsity.

In real life, people feel like Courtney sometimes. I once took a test for getting into Hunters high school and it was way to advanced for me. I felt like I was getting worse at math and E.L.A. It lowered my self-esteem. And that is what people have issues about all of the time in the real world. People also feel like Mark sometimes to. When they can’t fit in, and they always end up messing up.

[Carsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

In yet another Pendragon installment, "The Reality Bug," the author, D.J. MacHale, brings Bobby Pendragon to the territory of Veelox. The world has made many advances in virtual reality- to the point that all of its inhabitants are addicted to it. Bobby meets Aja Killian, who, like him, is a Traveller. Together, they try to save the territory from killing itself from neglect using a virus called the Reality Bug. This turns out to be a trap from Saint Dane, the main antagonist, and things go very wrong, very quickly.

The book was a very good read (heh) with its interesting setting and storyline. The author really experiments with this book, because unlike the past books in the series, nothing really goes well for the characters. Just when you think everything is solved, it just gets worse. Eventually, Pendragon and friends come to the point where they fail, just when you think they've won. This was the first book so far in the series where everything wasn't solved, and I think helps the series continue to be even more interesting when you know that the good guys will not always win. These many twists in the plot keep the book, and the entire series, very interesting and keeps you reading on.

[Dexter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bit of a letdown. This one promised to be more scifi and futuristic and looked really cool, buuut I think I may have expected too much.

Bobby Pendragon travels to the territory of Veelox, where most of the inhabitants are in a fantasy world called Lifelight. Plug yourself in and you can live the perfect, but fake, life.

I think I was expecting it to be more scientific, which isn't Pendragon's style. This isn't a hardcore scifi series, it's scifi/fantasy/adventure/whatever, so the technobabble is limited. I tried to console myself with that, but the more involved they all got in the world of Lifelight, the harder it was to be okay with the situation. I feel like D.J. MacHale could've pulled it off, but the whole Reality Bug becoming corporeal and breaking out of Lifelight just...didn't work.

I'm hoping that the next Pendragon book won't tackle scifi, since that seems to be a sore spot for me. It's my favorite, and when it's not just right I'm left with an unsatisfied feeling.

[Weller C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grade/Intrest level: 5th - middle school.
lexile: 580.
Genre: fiction/adventure.
Main characters: Bobby Pendragon, Aja, Loor, Mark, Courtney, Vincent, Saint Dane.
setting(s): lifelight, second earth, and Zadaa.
POV: Bobby's journels - first person/ second earth - third person.

Bobby travels to Veelox to help Aja protect the territory from Saint Dane. He has released a "bug" into the lifelight system. Lifelight is a digital world that is controlled by the sleeping person like a dream world. Bobby travels into lifelight with Loor to revive Vincent, the long lost creator of Lifelight. Vincent went into Lifelight to be alone for ever though. They may have to make sacrifices to convince him of their cause...

[Jena.sohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Reality Bug"takes place on Veelox, one of the many territories in "Halla". Bobby Pendragon goes to Veelox to save the territory from Saint Dane, and meets the traveller of Veelox named Aja Killian, the most intelligent girl ever.Bobby realizes that Veelox is just like Second Earth except there are no people in it.He figures out that they are all in "Lifelight". Aja sets up a "reality bug"to save Veelox, not knowing that it would make it easier for Saint Dane to destroy Veelox...

[Jack von Quilich · Rating 5 out of 5]

The forth installment of the pendragon series. It's amazing. In this story after the crash of the Hindenburg, Bobby goes threw the flume once again to find the turning point of veelox. The hold plant to inslaved in reality jumps. Your own dreams in the feel of reality. Saint Dane plans to bring veelox down by killing all the people in the jumps. There is tons more action in this book but I will have you read it to find out.

[Parsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

به نظر من این دی جی مکهیل واقعا باید ایده هاشو منتشر کنه!اخه به ذهن کدوم ادمی میرسه که یه دستگاه باشه که تو رو به تخیلاتت ببره!لامصب این تخیلی نویسا عجب ذهن خلاقی دارن.اگه منم همچین ذهن خلاقی داشتم که الان مخترع بودم.این از این اینم از کتاب دوم پندراگون که توی اونم ایده هاشش عاللی بود.واقعا این پندراگون از همه ی تخیلی ها(هم سطح هری پاتر)سرتره

[Elizabeth Conway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any fan of science fiction will love this installment of The Pendragon Series! I haven't read anything quite like the world that MacHale created here! The new characters we meet and the fantastical concepts in this book really put it over the top! It was such a joy reading this book!

[QueenMasako · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my gods. What the hell was that??!! I'm still in shock.