Aaah what a cool book! And I already know that I'm going to have such a hard time explaining why. Might even be 4.5 stars after that almost impeccable ending, even though some parts of it felt a bit anti-climatic and too easy of an solution. But let's try to do this from the beginning. First of all, I just love when people gift me books that I've never heard of before (and enjoy nevertheless) because one, I really love surprises, and second, that's something that's very hard to achieve. Just take a look at my "want to read"-list on GR and you know exactly what I mean... (don't get me wrong though, I do love getting books from that list as well!) Anyway, I really can't believe I haven't heard of this one before! It‘s got to be because the author is Austrian and I'm not that familiar with German-speaking literature (the irony! I am Austrian after all), but when I read the blurb I knew immediately that I was gonna like this. I was super-intrigued and excited because the setting sounded simply amazing. Medieval RPG game? Sign me up please! Well, not literally...or maybe yes? I've used to visit quite a lot medieval markets in my teenage days, not because I'm super into castles and the like, but because my parents (particularly my father) are. And when you're a teenager, you're supposed to join your parents on these outings but you are so very determined to not even enjoy a single second of it because duuuh, you don‘t even want to be there! Well, medieval markets, they weren't really an exception in all of this. Everyone there saw me walking around with a sulky face, visibly annoyed by everyone's and everything's presence. But they always held some sort of charm to me. The people in costumes, the booths, the sword fights and the smell of fire...it's such a special atmosphere, even teenage me couldn't help but be impressed by those surroundings. And today me? Today me just really has a thing for RPGs (despite not partaking in a single real one, ha. I have my reasons). But oh my god, after reading this, medieval RPGs do sound damn tempting! (this is also quite ironic, given everything that happens in this book). So, because of my so very intriguing backstory that I'm sure you all definitely wanted to read and in order to finally come back to reviewing the actual book, I was just really excited to read something that takes place in that sort of setting. I want more RPG books please! Especially medieval RPGs! Give them all to me and make me a happy person! This book was the perfect mixture of Lord of the Flies and one of Friedrich Dürrenmatt's books, but which one I do not want to say because it may be too much of a spoiler. But trust me, it's such a good mixture. And oooh god, if there's something I really really love it's people discovering their real selves and (not) showing humanity when being stranded in a secluded life and death situation, completely remote from the rest of society and/or its technical inventions. Amazing. Perfect! And that may be a big reason why I enjoyed this book so much, it just gives you exactly what it promises on the blurb. Even though it's not a typical thriller, so everyone who expects that sort of thing may get disappointed. It's also not creepy at all, even though the author was trying so hard, but that's okay, I never expected it to be and am actually quite surprised that other reviewers got scared reading the book. Huh... Anyway, the plot wasn't entirely unpredictable, some things were pretty easy to guess early on, but others came as quite the pleasant surprise to me! I'm gonna say that it does have a very YAish feel to it which takes some time getting used to, but it was such a nice read overall. And I really enjoyed most of the characters, they all felt extremely real despite making some very...unconventional choices and the occasional eccentric and overall exaggerated-feeling mannerisms. Of course, my two favourite characters are once again the friendly, funny one and the problematic, sarcastic one, I really do have a type...Bastian himself was a very likable protagonist, not exactly the brightest, but still very amiable. I just can't get over the fact that he is called Bastian...or that most (or even all?) of the characters are German. I mean, sorry, but this is an Austrian author, would it really be to much to ask to feature Austrian people in a book, it wouldn't even matter too much for the context, it would just be a nice change for once! The setting was in Austria, so why not the people?! And Bastian is one of the most German names ever, please show me a Bastian in Austria that is not of German descedant (Sebastian and Basti as nickname do not count, I want to see an actual Bastian. No, you know what, actually I want to see several, because that name is just not popular here). It's just a little thing but it annoys me greatly and I really do not understand the author's decision there. Why, oh why. Apart from that particular pet peeve of mine, there were are also some clichés that I didn't enjoy too much, but given the whole plot of the book, I understand why they had to be there and I've found my peace with them. Especially since other things were a really nice change! Overall and I already mentioned it, my favourite "part" in all of this was the development of the characters and finding out how they react in extreme situations under pressure. I'd have wished for some of them to be more developed (I always had a hard time not mixing up Nathan and Lars, as well as Mona and Carina) and sometimes I had the feeling the author forgot about one or two characters in the occasional scene, but that is all okay. I don't really mind any of this or a little/lot predictability here and there (after all it‘s an YA novel and not an adult thriller), it still was a very interesting book and I had a fun time reading it! It annoyed me quite a lot whenever I got disturbed by real-life stuff and had to put the book down because I really didn't want to leave Saeculum yet. Also, the last couple pages were perfect, it felt like such a fitting completion to the story even though I'd have probably ended it differently (but I don't know for sure, I'd have had to change quite a lot of other stuff then as well). I already mentioned it at the start, I didn't really like how easy of a way out this all felt, too obviously trying for shock-value at the cost of realism whilst also being very underwhelming and predictable at the same time, but after having some time to gather my thoughts I find that it doesn't bother me too much or at least not enough to influence my overall positive opinion. It still feels very...smooth, all in all. Actually, it's probably part of why it feels so unique because you'd expect a more dramatic resolution to all of this, because we are used to things always ending as complicated and intense as possible. So that's how I am seeing it now. And after thinking about it even longer, I really don't understand why German-speaking authors usually get such a bad rap. When I told a work colleague that I was reading a book by an Austrian author he immediately said "Oh, then it has to be bad." And you know what, I used to be exactly like him. But that's such nonsense! I think it's mostly because we can't believe that someone from our country, someone with our language can actually write good stuff and that's really sad. I mean, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, everyone? A Swiss author and in my opinion one of the best that has ever walked the earth. And Daniel Glattauer has written one of my favourite books ever with Gut gegen Nordwind. Ursula Poznanski is another author that should definitely not be underestimated and after the wonderful experience of Saeculum I already added two other books of hers to my list, because while her writing style didn't feel particularly spectacular or outstanding, it just has such a pleasant feel to it after you get used to the YA part of it. Plus all of her books have these interesting and unique premises that really make me want to read them right. now. And my mum is gonna be very happy that she can finally borrow and read a book of mine since it's written in German. Win-win for everyone. Definite recommendation and I hope this book is going to be translated into English sometime because it deserves a wider audience! (and I really want to see a fancast. This would make such a nice quality movie if made by the right people, I know it) Again, just look at the premise! I'm still excited and super happy after reading this book, and I have no idea why. But a slow start turned into pure enjoyment. While I can't really justify rationally what's so great about it, my heart has had all the more to say and managed to overrule the entire rating/review. And in the end, doesn't that matter even more?
PS: The cover is perfect in conveying the atmosphere of the novel! Really well done.