And the Fight Continues...

Review by Guest Reviewer, Andre Q. 

There are hundred of thousands of book in the world, although fantasy is one of dominate series, they appeal to both children and adults a like. They want a world that is not reality and all the pain it brings with itself. Many people escape into the world of fantasy, through Esther Hicks’s Vortex is a great example of such a book. It is a futuristic time period where the world is at war for resources and fighting has been replaced with machines shooting each other into oblivion. The best kind of a book is one where anyone could read the first few pages and instantaneously become addicted to the story.

Vortex takes place is a futuristic world that many hope to be a reality some day. Tom Rains, the main character, lives in the state New York at the Spire. He lives with a computer chip embedded within his cerebral cortex. This chip allows Rains to posses inhuman characteristics that essential to the success of his country and her allies. They fight as a combatant who drives a drone into space that is used as warfare than the traditional guns and knives. Rains is a maverick when it comes to actually training but when the matter is serious enough, he manages to pull through being assassinated, Having being a rough kid for a kid surrounded anyone in his neighborhood.

The character of Tom Rains, is a willful and private and sometimes the feeling of general resentment of his life because all of him family abandoned him to die all alone. One interesting quality that Rains never bow down to another man nor take any kind of insults to him and his friends. Rains stands firmly on the ground and refuses a solution that didn’t work out with his favor. He goes through the companies that sponsor all the combatants, that will chose their fate of whither he can become a Combatant or a walking database. Rains will always consider his actions but is also a troublemaker that lead to his humiliation numerous times. Rains does, sometimes, have his good ideas that allow him to move on and gain results from his actions that will change the outlook for the entire world that is engulfed with war.

Rains is a very dynamic character, he rushes in at first without thinking of the consequences, while later on he develops self control of his own emotions. Rains has many adventures and suffering, though his undying determination to change the world for the better. Having the same power as the Indo-China's ace pilot, Medusa, he uses his power in further better himself, though at times he uses that power for self benefit. Rains, though impulsive and often childish, puts his friends before him and does what is need to be done to protect them. Rains might have been a troublemaker and often poked fun at his enemies that later kicked him in the teeth, but he was able to turn all his misgivings around to achieve the goal of becoming a combatant. When he became a upper class of the combatants, even that was an act to save a friend from the clutches of multi-billion dollar company thats only aim was to unlock the secrets of Rains and Medusa’s hidden talents that even they can’t explain.

Overall, the book of Vortex was filled with extremely action packed and drawn me into reading more of the book. I wanted to read more of the adventures of Tom Rains, so every chance I got I picked up the book and began to read. The pilot had many turns and unsuspected events that they never ceased to amaze me. The character of Rains interested me because of his witty comments towards every event, but also his care and concern for his friends. Vortex was the one of the best books that I have read in a while.    

When the Game Gets Real

I hear adults complain all the time about kids playing video games. But what if the world's safety rested in the hands of kids who were essentially gamers, but who were given control of military space ships fighting an interstellar World War? Would you want to pry them off the couch then? Or would you recognize their skills for what they are: soldiers on the front like. S.J. Kincaid takes teens and makes them heros (and villains) in Insignia.

Tom Raines doesn't live your normal life. An invested gamer with an addicted gambler for a father means he bounces from city to city with nothing in the way of stability except his Virtual reality games. His mom left his deadbeat dad for a corporate snake, and on a larger scale, the world in embroiled in an war fought in the stars and controlled by private companies. The times of governments fighting governments and ravaging Earth's precious resources are gone, but the war in space still has its casualties. With the world split in two, companies controlling the world will stop at nothing to win, even if that means implanting computers in the brains of teenagers.

Tom has watched the space war rage on, but he never thought he'd ever have a chance at getting to know Camelot Company from the inside. When he is recruited to join the ranks, he sees it as his one ticket out of his pathetic nomadic life. What he doesn't expect is to become part computer and be transformed into a super human. Add to that the ability to actually make friends and the government becomes the driving force that Tom needed to change his life around. But he is different from his fellow plebes. They are all decorated with special achievement after special achievement, so why is Tom, poor, achievement-less Tom, here in the first place? And how far are these companies willing to go to win this war?

As we, as a society, become more and more "teched-in" we find ourselves trying to juggle the world we once lived in compared to the world we currently live in. Teachers complain about video games the same way teachers when I was young complained about comic books as source of "intellectual decay" amongst our children (ironic if you think about how socially accepted comics and graphic novels have become by now!). And it is no secret that many of our kids love to play video games, so how do we navigate this new plugged in world? We start iPad programs and use apps for "educational" games (because those are deemed acceptable). We have teacher websites and communicate with parents via email and use our SMART Boards. If we have recognized the need to be tech-savvy, why to we begrudge our students the opportunity to play their video games for entertainment? Well, Kincaid wasn't afraid to ask those tough questions in this book.

Insignia isn't just a fun a science fiction novel. It was also an examination into the high-tech lives we lead. How far is too far when it involves our children and technology? Are video games ok? iPads as a means to keep your kids occupied when you need them to be quiet? Video games? Installing super processors in their brains to help fight our wars? We know that is wrong, but it is also hard to find the exact line where we reach too much technology. By using an extreme example like making teens into super-soldiers, Kincaid has invited us to have this conversation, and I can guarantee you it is one children and adults alike will speak of with strong opinions. 

As a non-gamer (barring a small college obsession with Snood and Tetris) who is married to a gamer (I so dread the new World of Warcraft expansions), I can see the constant struggle between generations who have never enjoyed video games and generations who do. Like any generational gap, there is tension and people don't see eye to eye. That is the reason I liked this book as much as I did. If you took out the tech and war and "cyborg" effect, you have a simple story about a boy who has never fit in until he found his purpose. Sound familiar? I bet it does, as it is an age old story told in an infinite amount of ways. But that doesn't make this story trite, by far. Instead, it is retold in a way that will get your video-game playing children reading and engaged. The characters are relatable and the story is familiar, but the message is modernly universal. So, ask yourself. How much technology is too much?