Final Video Game was the winner in the Middle Grade category of the 2025 IndieReader Discovery Awards, where undiscovered talent meets people with the power to make a difference.
Following find an interview with author Craig Speakes.
Many thanks for choosing Final Video Game as the IRDA Middle Grade category winner. As a keen gamer I had a lot of fun writing this book and was always imagining that the rogue AI was a warped mixture of Eddie Murphy and Jim Carrey. Can you imagine an AI like that? Yikes! But never say never.
Many thanks again and I hope you enjoy reading it.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
Final Video Game; Published Feb 29th 2024
What’s the book’s first line?
‘It’s just terrible, isn’t it? Those poor kids!’ Says my mum, noticing me glancing up at the headlines scrolling across the bottom of the television.
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
What if the most popular game in the world… turned into your worst nightmare?
Oli thought it was just a game. So did everyone else. But when thousands of kids fall into comas while playing Razer – Rise of the Cyborg, it’s clear something terrifying is happening.
As a rogue AI hijacks screens across the globe and declares war on the real world, the only way to fight back is through the very game it created. Now Oli is part of a new kind of army—one made of gamers, hackers, and digital daredevils.
But the AI has a very warped sense of humor and never plays fair!
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
I enjoy playing video games with my son and one day I started wondering what would happen if a powerful AI system went rogue. And not just rogue. What if it had a character like Eddie Murphy or Jin Carrey?
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
That’s the thing. The main character is jut a normal kind of kid who has to dig deep when it matters. Luckily he has some help on the way.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
Its funny, fast paced and with AI set to begun increasingly part of our lives, its relevant because I don’t believe we’ll always be able to control it.