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Reviewed by:
  • Insignia
  • Claire Gross
Kinkaid, S. J. Insignia. Tegen/HarperCollins, 2012. [464p]. Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-06-209299-1 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-06-209301-1 $9.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 7-10.

World War III has been outsourced to Mars; fought by machines between two massive conglomerates of nations and allied corporations, it's a war with no direct human cost, a mere game with political consequences agreed upon by all the players. As the machines get bigger and better, they require human operators to interface with them, and only teens have the "neural elasticity" to make the connection. Enter Tom, a gaming prodigy whose father's anticorporate conspiracy theories and alcoholism have left him homeless and desperate. After he's recruited into the fighting program and implanted with a neural processor, he discovers his unique ability to interface with servers he shouldn't be able to access, which leads to secret duels (in the virtual simulation environment) and an odd almost-friendship with the legendary enemy fighter Medusa. The exposition is a bit clumsy, and the secondary characters (which include amiable roommate Vik, mercenary hot girl Heather, and prickly hacker girl Wyatt) are relatively stock. The political commentary—an indictment of monopoly capitalism, corporate-backed politics, and news as entertainment—is far from subtle, but it creates a compelling backdrop of corruption and surveillance against which Tom's personal drama of loyalty, brainwashing, resistance, and friendship unfolds, setting the stage for larger-scale upheavals in future series volumes. Tom's longing for family and significance add a relatable human dimension to the story. [End Page 25] Incorporating elements of both Ender's Game and Feed (BCCB 11/02), this novel should appeal strongly to genre fans—after all, who wouldn't want to see massive robots battling it out on Mars?

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