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Summary
Summary
"Insignia expertly combines humor with a disarming and highly realistic view of the future. The characters are real, funny, and memorable. You won't be able to put this book down."--Veronica Roth, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Divergent and Insurgent
The earth is in the middle of WWIII in Insignia, the first entry in S. J. Kincaid's fast-paced sci-fi adventure trilogy perfect for fans of Ender's Game.
The planet's natural resources are almost gone, and war is being fought to control the assets of the solar system. The enemy is winning. The salvation may be Tom Raines. Tom doesn't seem like a hero. He's a short fourteen-year-old with bad skin. But he has the virtual-reality gaming skills that make him a phenom behind the controls of the battle drones.
As a new member of the Intrasolar Forces, Tom's life completely changes. Suddenly, he's someone important. He has new opportunities, friends, and a shot at having a girlfriend. But there's a price to pay. . . .
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Kincaid's debut novel, an ambitious, high-concept melange 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. Agent: David Dunton, Harvey Klinger. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Fourteen-year-old virtual-reality gamer Tom goes from hustling gamblers to training for "offshored conflict" warfare in space. Tom makes new friends and some enemies at the Intrasolar Forces academy, the Pentagonal Spire. As he goes up against his greatest opponent, he begins to discover his own superior combative talents. Fast-paced technological action, adventure, intrigue, and likable characters will appeal to sci-fi fans. (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Tom Raines is the 14-year-old son of an itinerant gambler. Luckily for Tom, he's also an accomplished gamer in a futuristic world dominated by corporate leviathans that spearhead global wars on a scale designed to minimize human casualties while maximizing profits. When Tom gets recruited into an elite fighting academy at the renowned Pentagonal Spire, he's first shocked yet delighted to finally gain the validation he's sought all his young life. But reality quickly sets in when Tom realizes he must accept a computer implanted right into his brain; some of the fellow Intrasolar Forces trainees he looks up to may have nasty hidden agendas that don't bode well for him; and people really do still bleed. Although Tom himself is a flat character created solely to carry the story-driven plot, strong technology and believable developments thrust the action forward with compelling intensity. Readers who gobbled up Veronica Roth's Divergent (2011) and Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game (1985) will naturally gravitate toward this debut novel already acquired by 20th Century Fox.--Trevelyan, Julie Copyright 2010 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-Tom Raines, 14, moves from casino to casino with his gambler father, generally paying for their lodgings from his winnings at virtual reality games. When he passes a surprise VR scenario, he is recruited by General Marsh to join the Intrasolar Forces. Teens from the IF are backed by multinationals to fight for the Indo-American Alliance by remotely piloting spacecraft in battles around the solar system. He jumps at the chance to do something with his life and is whisked off to the Pentagonal Spire. There he learns that he must have a computer implanted in his brain to be able to fulfill his responsibilities. He also learns that his mother's hated boyfriend, Dalton Prestwick, is an important and ruthless figure among the corporate sponsors. Meanwhile, a new Combatant, call sign "Medusa," has joined the Russo-Chinese Alliance and is reaping victory after victory. Tom finds himself strangely intrigued by Medusa and violates protocols to seek her out over the Internet. He eventually discovers that he has an ability above and beyond his comrades to interface directly with machines around the Earth and beyond. It is only with this ability and the help of his friends that Tom is able to escape Prestwick's reprogramming, find the mole in the Spire, and defeat Medusa. Kincaid combines a Harry Potter-like teen discovering that he has unknown abilities being sent to a special boarding school with the Ender's Game plotline of humanity's space battles being fought remotely by juveniles. She adds espionage and corporate skullduggery along with multiple mysterious enemies to create a blockbuster of a debut.-Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids, WI (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Excerpts
Excerpts
Heather rested her chin in her palm. "Of course he's trying to manipulate you, Tom."Tom blinked, surprised she'd just admitted that."General Marsh even ordered me to come here and talk you into it, just as you guessed. Can you blame him? He doesn't want you to turn this down after you've found out the big secret about the neural processors." She tapped a finger thoughtfully on her lips, studying him. "Good thing you won't.""I won't?" Tom said, feeling out of his depth with her."Mmm, no. You won't," Heather said matter-of-factly. "You know exactly what it means if you come here. They stick an expensive, multimillion-dollar computer in your head. They invest tens of millions more training you. Then they give you control of billions of dollars of military machinery and a critical role in the country's war effort. You're valuable. So yes, the military has an agenda when it comes to dealing with you. And so does General Marsh. But that's really what you have to put up with if you want to be one of us. The question is, Tom, do you want to be one of us?" She leaned closer, her eyes gripping his. "Do you want to be somebody important?"And there it was.There it was.Tom leaned back in his seat and tipped his drink to Heather-but really to salute the man who wasn't there but who had just won this match. Well played, General Marsh. Well played.Because, more than anything, Tom wanted to do something. Something other than move casino to casino, something other than turn into his dad.He'd give anything to be important. Excerpted from Insignia by S. J. Kincaid All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
