The Book Adventures of Emily: Book Review: Escape from the Past – The Duke’s Wrath by Annette Oppenlander

Escape from the Past – The Duke’s Wrath

By Annette Oppenlander

Genre: Young Adult Historical Fiction – Medieval

Book Summary

When fifteen-year-old nerd and gamer Max Anderson thinks he's sneaking a preview of an unpublished computer game, he doesn't realize that 1) He's been chosen as a beta, an experimental test player. 2) He’s playing the ultimate history game, transporting him into the actual past: anywhere and anytime. And 3) Survival is optional: to return home he must decipher the game's rules and complete its missions—if he lives long enough. To fail means to stay in the past—forever. Now Max is trapped in medieval Germany, unprepared and clueless. It is 1471 and he quickly learns that being an outcast may cost him his head. Especially after rescuing a beautiful peasant girl from a deadly infection and thus provoking sinister wannabe Duke Ott. Overnight he is dragged into a hornets' nest of feuding lords who will stop at nothing to bring down the conjuring stranger in their midst.

Book Review:

Escape from the Past literally dragged me head-first into this amazing adventure. Honestly, I usually don't enjoy historically fiction, but this book is rad! I love the main character, Max, his story is really relatable and funny. I mean I totally got his back when he was getting dragged into the video game and his first thought was his mother and her reaction about seeing the video game.

I loved the whole concept of this book, I've never heard of anything like it. Being sucked into a virtual reality by a video game? AWESOME MUCH? I seriously loved Max's relationships with the other characters and also just his reaction to this insane place. Escape from the Past is written beautifully and I just love the story! Definitely a great YA book! Five stars!

Author Bio:

Annette Oppenlander writes historical fiction for young adults and anyone who loves stories set in the past. When she isn’t in front of her computer, she shares her knowledge through writing workshops and indulges her old mutt, Mocha. In her spare time she travels around the U.S. and Europe to discover amazing histories. The mother of three ‘former’ teens, Annette lives with her husband in Bloomington, Ind.