Adventures in a Video Game: My Friend from the Future

by Dustin Brady, Jesse Brady (illustrator)

Two years ago, Bentley Carmone’s dad invented a deadly video game. Now, Bentley must team up with the hero of that game to fend off a new threat.  

This is the first book in the Adventures in a Video Game series, a new series by bestselling author, Dustin Brady, where each book contains its own adventure in a different type of thrilling video game. ​

Bentley Carmone’s twelfth birthday party has been—without question—his worst. For one thing, no one wanted to come. That wouldn’t be so bad if those that did come had a good time, but everyone seems to be bored stiff. Finally, (and arguably most importantly), the entire party has just been captured by video game aliens. 

Now, Bentley must team up with Polly, a gas station girl mascot turned video game hero, to hunt down the aliens. Armed with a blaster and laser sword, Polly would be the perfect partner for this job if she could ever stop invading mini-golf courses and blowing up semi-trucks. Over time, Bentley learns that Polly may not only hold the key to saving his friends, but also solving a mystery that has haunted the Carmone family for years. Can Bentley get through to her before it’s too late?
 

192 pages, Paperback

Published September 10, 2024

Reviews

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bear with me on this plot summary, for it's on the zany and convoluted side and is probably too much for me to do it justice. Six years ago, at a fine birthday party, our hero Bentley had a great time, with laser tag, arcade games and everything else a major juvenile entertainment centre should provide. That day his dad, who built some of the arcade game worlds, entered a pact with the owner, an old man running the whole shebang as a tribute to a daughter who had passed. What happened after that involved a new game, and the loss of the old man, in ways that made an urban myth of it all. Now, a sad and lonely twelve, Bentley is trying to have another birthday party – he's showed a few friends how the new game was aced, but now it's got bizarre. For the dead girl, Polly, has turned up, in her game heroine space combatant clobber, and starting shooting at real space pirates. She thinks she's from the future, Bentley realises she is a game character come to life. But whichever it is, when the few friends at the party turn out to be Redshirts, they will have to collaborate and act as if they could win a real-life arcade game, or else...

This was much better than the dubious merits of the other launch volume for this series, "Don't Climb This Mountain" – and while on that topic, what is it with the naff titles that seem chosen in five seconds? Both books seem separate from each other, although of course linked by the same tech established in earlier books from the author. Here the writing still fumbles the descriptions in a search for concision that just ends up as a lack of clarity, but that and the melding of computer game and real worlds are both more satisfying. And ultimately we have a real roller-coaster of meaningful drama, as opposed to something mere throwaway. From the pair of books we get a sense the author has lost some reliability, but this is a strong piece, up there with his dramatic best.

[Tonja Drecker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Action drives this tale forward from one dangerous situation into the next, while adding a dab of heart.

This tale takes place two years after the first one in the series. While the technology from Bionosoft has further developed, it isn't available to the public due to a death in an arcade. The software now not only draws real people into the game but can bring things from the game into the real world...at least, for a time before they dissipate. When Bentley's birthday party has him and his friends sneaking into his father's room to use the XBox, they have no clue that his father is currently programming for Bionosoft and the game is a prototype. Bentley and his friends are drawn into the game and meet Polly, who the game was created for in memory of her death. And it soon becomes clear that there's a lot more at play than the simple game. Bentley not only has to work through the game to leave, he has to save the entire world in the process.

Like the first book, this one is very fast-paced and keeps action at the forefront. There's a bit more mystery, this time, as Bentley uncovers secrets surrounding the death at the arcade a year before. The cover-up harbors more than a few secrets, and he'll have to get to the bottom of everything as the game unleashes danger into the real world. Add a twist surrounding a man's grief after the death of his daughter, and Bentley's relationship with his father, and it's a packed read.

In some ways, this series reminds me of Spy Kids with its unexpected situations, high tension, and just a little bit of quirk to make it fun. The stakes are high and deaths occur, but as in the first read, these are handled in a way very fitting to the age group. The ending on this one will even draw a happy sigh.

While I'm not sure if there will be more books to come, I can only hope that this adventure continues.

[Alec Blythe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me apetecía leer algún libro infantil, así que me decidí por este y no puedo decir que me haya decepcionado. A pesar de que es cortito y todo se resuelve muy rápido (nada de lo que sorprenderse en un libro orientado, tal y como dice el autor, a «jóvenes que creen que odian leer»), es muy entretenido y mantiene más que enganchado.

Cuando un joven debe salvar a sus amigos de unos enemigos salidos, literalmente, de un videojuego con la única ayuda de Polly, la heroína de dicho juego, nuestro protagonista no duda demasiado en intentar rescatarlos.

Muchas gracias a NetGalley y a la editorial por prestarme una copia del libro. 🫶✨

(P.D. El libro incluye unas ilustraciones maravillosas y bastante frecuentes, ¡realizadas por el hermano (si no me equivoco) del autor! Razón de más para darle una oportunidad.)

[✧ Beanie Reads ✧ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this e-ARC!
3 stars

I liked this better than the other Adventures in a Video Game, mostly because there's less cringe characters xD There's definitely a looot of things I'm wondering the consequences of, but I think the book didn't want to deal with that, so just ended on a happy note xD It was a lot of light-hearted fun (writing style wise, not events) with video game nerdiness sprinkled throughout. The ending was a really nice little bow on everything, with all the feel-goods. I'd definitely recommend for young gamer readers!

[Goddess of Chaos · Rating 4 out of 5]

“We’re gonna win, and we’re going to do it by using our brains,…”

Bentley’s father is a video game designer, and he’s taught his son a thing or two about games, and how to play them, but it turns out there is more than one way to play, more than one goal worth achieving, and unexpected new friendships to be discovered.

This done in one book is a solid read, bringing in to play that interesting dynamic when kids want to stand up for their parents, or understand things happening in their parent’s lives… but are limited by the information adults feel is appropriate for kids.