Insignia
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4.8 • 6 Ratings
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
What if playing computer games could save the world...and the Government's secret weapon was you?
Tom Raines is suddenly recruited into the US Army to train as a virtual reality Combatant to see if he is good enough to help fight World War Three. Equipped with a new computer chip in his brain, it looks as if Tom might actually become somebody. But what happens when you start to question the rules?
In this first part of a fast-paced, futuristic trilogy, S. J. Kincaid asks significant questions concerning the use of technology and the value of life. 20th Century Fox have pre-emptively bought the film rights for the first book in the series.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Kincaid's debut novel, an ambitious, high-concept m lange of the teen hacker and teen spy genres (with some gaming elements included, too), occasionally struggles under its own weight, but still provides a fast-paced and exciting tale. Fourteen-year-old Tom Raines skips his virtual school, choosing instead to play VR games online and hustle other gamers. When one game turns out to be an audition for a military program, he ends up working for the Pentagonal Spire, with a computer chip embedded in his head, and hopes that he can one day become one of the elite students who guide unmanned drones in the ongoing war against the Russo-Chinese Alliance. Kincaid tosses a lot into her book romance, cyberpunk tropes, evil corporations, military academy subplots, a "Who's the traitor?" story line, and goofy humor (a subplot in which one student, Yuri, has been programmed to process classified information incorrectly is particularly over-the-top). It's too much, and leads to a too-long novel, but the strong action and spy sequences keep the core story entertaining. Ages 13 up.
