Unknown Guardians

Pull out your cell phone and look closely. You can’t see it, but it’s there: a tiny sprite known as a “net elf,” generated by the man-made magic of the Internet, whose fate is irretrievably tied to your own—or, at least, your phone’s.

So eighteen-year old Max discovers when a stupid bet leads to a horrific car crash, leaving him in a coma. His body remains on Earth, but his soul is taken to the mysterious realm of Networld.

In Networld, wooden ships soar through the air on high-tech anti-gravity thrusters. Round-eared “elves” are never born and never die, yet only live for three years. Baby dragons are as cute as kittens but as intelligent as people. The mysterious hooded katari, who never show their faces, forbid Max to speak of his human origins.

Yet this fascinating dimension is also a doomed one. The net elves’ tenuous existence is threatened by a mysterious pirate invasion from the North, and hordes of monsters arising from the depths of the Networld. Whole elven settlements have been wiped off the map; others are stranded with few defenders and supplies. Soon, even the capital will fall.

Max is certain he’s been sent to save Networld. Problem is, he has no idea how. He can’t wield a sword, fly a ship, fire a cannon, battle dragons, or do any of the other tasks his new friends take for granted. He can barely string two words together in front of Leneyla, his attractive tutor. But Max must learn fast before it’s too late, or the net elves will vanish, and their entire world will fall into darkness.