GEEKHOOD: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind by Andy Robb

What's it all about?

In the Game, Archie is a level 5 Mage, and the storyteller to his merry band of geeks; in reality, he is battling much more serious things than vampires and evil warlocks. His world is full of conflict: his parents have separated and are not even speaking to each other, he is bullied by Jason Humphries and his grunts, and he is constantly fighting with his IM (interior monologue).




Interior Monologue?

Yep! This was one of the features of the book that I really liked. Archie is essentially a good kid who wants to keep everybody happy, especially his mum. This means tolerating her oafish boyfriend, Tony aka Tosser. His IM gives the reader an honest insight into what Archie is really thinking when his shields go up, but also shows us how low on self-esteem he is through the bitingly sarcastic comments directed at himself.

The Girl

Archie's world is rocked when he meets Sarah, the beautiful goth girl, in his favourite hangout 'The Hovel'. This is the shop where he and his kind like to buy miniature figures to play the Game, paint said figures and take part in competitions and tournaments. Oh, and it's really geeky! For some reason, Sarah is not put off by this, and even invites herself round to Archie's to play the Game! She really is the Holy Grail of girls, in Archie's eyes. But could she really fall in love with a geek like Archie?

Best Bits?

Without any spoilers, my hands down favourite bit was when Archie, discovering the voice of his Pyschic Self, fends of an attack by Humphries with a pink frilly handkerchief. Robb is a great descriptive writer, and I could see this farcical scene in IMAX 3D full-on glorious technicolor! I also loved his IM's real-time post-mortem as Archie finally asks Sarah out.

"...like a satanic morris dancer..."

What does she say? Whatdoesshesay?whatdoesshesay?

Well now, that would be telling...

Is it any good?

It really is. I'd seen people making comparisons with the Adrian Mole diaries, but apart from having a hero who's somewhat on the outside of the mainstream school society, I couldn't see that much in common. As a pre-teen, I loved reading The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 3/4, because I felt that I was really finding out what teenage boys were like; with adult hindsight, I realise it was more like watching The Inbetweeners - a gross-out, awkward comedy where you laugh at caricatures of teenage boys.  Robb is a lot more subtle than this, and I found myself laughing with Archie, rather than at him. Archie is a much more sympathetic character, who is aware of his flaws (well, some of them, but he catches up by the end of the novel) and learns from his mistakes.

The celeb endorsement (from the delectable Stephen Moyer) on the front of the novel reads, "this book makes being a geek sound pretty cool to me!" and I'm inclined to agree. Having grown up when the animated Dungeons and Dragons series was popular on TV, I was never interested in RPGs and generally was to be found outside with my bike, climbing trees and building dens with my friends. I have, however, grown into a geek, and now it all sounds rather more appealing. I particularly enjoyed reading Robb's descriptions of how Archie selects his figurines, paints them and plans how the story is going to unfold.  And I couldn't help but think of this episode of the IT Crowd when Archie is making preparations for the 'right' incense-infused atmosphere for Friday night's game.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Over to you:

• If Archie invited you the play the Game, what kind of character would you be? Warrior? Wizard? Priest? Rogue? (Check the Wikipedia page for a breakdown of role classes)
• Do you have an IM? If so, do you agree with it?
• What is Jason Humphries' problem?
• Is there a future for Archie and Sarah? (I haven't read the second book yet, so no spoilers please!)