More than anything, Tom
Raines wants to be important, though his shadowy life is anything but that. For
years, Tom’s drifted from casino to casino with his unlucky gambler of a dad,
gaming for their survival. Keeping a roof over their heads depends on a careful
combination of skill, luck, con artistry, and staying invisible.
Then one day, Tom stops
being invisible. Someone’s been watching his virtual-reality prowess, and he’s
offered the incredible—a place at the Pentagonal Spire, an elite military
academy. There, Tom’s instincts for combat will be put to the test, and if he
passes, he’ll become a member of the Intrasolar Forces, helping to lead his
country to victory in World War Three. Finally, he’ll be someone important: a
superhuman war machine with the tech skills that every virtual-reality warrior
dreams of. Life at the Spire holds everything that Tom’s always wanted—friends,
the possibility of a girlfriend, and a life where his every action matters—but
what will it cost him?
I first heard about
this book last year at an SCBWI conference. It intrigued me, and I put it on my
to-read list. And then I got the chance to read an ARC! I snapped it up very
quickly, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s like a cross between Ender’s Game by
Orson Scott Card, Feed by M.T. Anderson, and Little Brother by Cory Doctorow.
The characters are the
best part. The dialog and camaraderie feel authentic, and I laughed out loud
more than once. Tom is likable and sympathetic, and fairly easy to relate
to. He also feels like your typical
teenage boy with hormones and the tendency to jump to conclusions. I thought
the author did a good job of capturing him as a person. The interactions between
Tom and his friends is the highlight of the story, actually. There is a section
where this is taken away, and I really missed it.
Another aspect which I
enjoyed was when Tom and his friends are learning how to write software
programs. I have to give props to the author because she clearly did some
research on the subject. Their first encounter with the value ‘null’ is
hysterical because it’s right on the money. I remember my first experience with
this when I was learning to program, and had the exact same reaction. Not
defining all your variables is a typical newbie mistake and the author captured
it well. If there had been some infinite loops, that would have made it even
better (an even more common newbie mistake).
For the most part, the
plot kept me reading and interested, with only a few moments of
head-scratching. Those instances were clear that the plot was driving the story
instead of the characters, which bummed me out because they felt a bit
contrived, but then the characters took over again later on. And Tom was most
definitely driving the story for the conclusion, which I loved. We already knew
this aspect of his character, but it was awesome seeing it in so blatant and
brutally ‘out there.’ Some may not like him for it, but I ended up liking him
more. I’m looking forward to the next book.
For a chance to win an ARC, go here and fill out the form. Good luck!
5 comments:
Everyone seems to like this one, but for some reason I keep hesitating. I can't quite put my finger on why.
I didn't know you knew programming! You are a jill-of-all-trades Miss Thang! :)
It feels pretty familiar on a high level, so I can see the hesitation. I was intrigued by the software aspect of things. Sometimes that's a disaster (because writers aren't usually programmers), but it was handled well. I think it's worth reading just for the characters.
And yeah, I learned software programming in college. My bachelor's degree is in math and computer science, so I learned a few different programming languages. :) Of course, being a jill-of-all-trades also means I'm a master of none! :)
I'm a little like Logan. Not sure if I'd like it more because of the military aspect which I'm not sure I'm into. But I think it's great that this is written from a guy's POV and the computer aspect is interesting. Thanks for the review.
Sounds interesting. thanks for the review!
It's not my usual kind of book, though I do love Ender's Game. Still, the good characterization makes me think I'll like it. It will be interesting to see how the author explains programming snafus in a way that makes sense to readers.
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