Monday, July 24, 2017

Insignia

Our hero is a delinquent who's only strength is excelling at virtual reality games. He uses this skill to earn some money off people in gambling parlors in order to get places for he and his father to stay. He is often in trouble for missing days at his virtual reform school. Outside, World War III is raging in a virtual world. Kids are used to control the vehicles virtually. (They have chips planted in their brains to assist - adults would not have the elasticity to accept the chips.) The world is dominated by corporate/government alliances. They use patent protection to extract money. One company had patents on genetically altered crops. As their crops had mingled with all naturally occurring crops, they asserted rights to all foodstuffs. Another had a chemical that became part of the water supply and thus asserted royalties on water. These corporates control the world, and manipulate the people and the governments to do their bidding. When people in he middle east didn't pay royalties, the company wiped them all out (thus ensuring "peace" in the middle east.)
Our hero gets invited to the special military school. He discovers this entails getting a chip implant. He has typical teenage encounters there and learns to work in the quasi-virtual world. They have "virtual workouts" where they appear to be chased by hoards of enemies. They also have "virtual battle rooms" where they take part in tactical actions. He makes friends, makes enemies and is attracted to girls. He has an extreme sense of loyalty to those he considers friends as well as a strong desire to seek revenge on those that cross him. (It does feel too extreme at times.) The instructor Blackburn draws the reader's sympathies, yet he is hated by the hero.
The first half of the book is a riveting read that I did not want to down. The book then made a few turns that caused me to lose interest. The end was fairly satisfying, but left the hero in a no so good light. At least he is trying.

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