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...