Ben Reeves' "Kill Screen" is a highly creative novel that kept me interested throughout Jack Valentine's mysterious and personal adventure. Much of this is due to the pacing of the writing. Everything moves at a comfortable and steady clip, with each plot twist and turn complemented by perceptive and well-researched nuggets of philosophy, theology, and other information. Being without any education regarding the gaming industry (outside of what I've read in magazines and on websites), I was swiftly and competently educated on many different aspects of how game designers work. There is not a hint of dryness to the exposition, so don't expect to feel as if you're back in college listening to a boring professor.
Another thing that really impressed me was Reeves' handle on prose. While there are moments when I was reminded of the fact that I was reading a book from an amateur author, there were also a handful of times where I marvelled at his descriptions. I've been on a huge classics kick lately, so going from Dostoevsky and Dickens to Reeves isn't exactly a parellel line, but there were definitely times when I thought Reeves mastered his prose with a certain poetic quality (sounds contradictory, but I think you know what I mean). There is definitely skill and craft shown throughout action sections, with fun elements of dialogue mixed with uncertainty of situations. His prose had me on the edge of my seat quite often.
That said, his dialogue doesn't quite match up to his action. Most of the dialogue is written in a naturalistic style, flowing smoothly and quickly. Much of the expository dialogue is written very well. However, there are times when the dialogue seems too crafted and overwrought. There are moments of cleverness that clash with the naturalistic writing style. It wasn't quite on an eye-roll level, but it was there and noticeable.
Even with some stilted and tone-altering dialogue, Reeves' creates some memorable characters and plot turns. Without giving too much away (due to the fantastic mystery that Reeves taps), the most interesting character is Evi. With Evi, Reeve's creates a character that is as exciting and foreboding as HAL from 2001. Evi is incredibly well-written. Some of the supporting characters border on cliche, but have enough originality to keep them unique.
Reeves actually does a great job of subverting cliches, in terms of plot. There are moments that you feel like you can predict what is going to happen and you are brought right to the precipice of that prediction, before the rug is pulled out from under your notion. One element that wasn't quite as successful was mood. There were several chapters that were extremely successful in terms of mood, generally dealing with Jack's past, but sometimes the mood that was shot for may not have been achieved. The main character suffers from a type of insomnia, and we are reminded of his psychological struggles, but we don't feel them. His thoughts may be shown as faulty at many points, but he seems well aware of himself and not on the verge of breakdown, as I think we are supposed to feel.
A note on the Kindle version: there are a number of errors. I'm not sure if they are unique to the Kindle or not. Typically they are spelling errors, where a word is switched with a similar word.
All-in-all, I thoroughly enjoyed "Kill Screen". It was a fun and thrilling read, with many original ideas that worked well together. As a video game fan, I really enjoyed the little Easter Eggs that Reeves included within the names of the characters. Some are more obvious than others, but either way, it was a lot of fun to see that sort of bonus to the reading experience. I recommend this book to anybody that enjoys thrillers, video games, philosophy, implications of technology, and science fiction.
