This war is fought on the nano level – but is no less gruesome for it.
BZRK
by Michael Grant
Egmont
ISBN: 978 1 60684 312 3
What if, behind the scenes, two large corporations developed the technology to change the way people think? To control the masses of humanity by entering their brains and making tiny connections that make huge differences in the “macro”? That’s the world of this new teen novel, in which the biot technology of BZRK group is preparing to do battle with the nanobots of the Armstrong Fancy Gifts Corporation for control over the minds of great leaders.
In the “macro” world, the tiny warriors are run by “twitchers” who run them much like playing a video game, and we meet a bizarre collection of people committed to their side for a variety of reasons, including two teens who have newly been drafted/kidnapped to be part of BZRK. The defense of their position also has to take part in the macro world as well, where you can disrupt a twitcher in a whole different way, so this book contains not only nano-level battles, but also real-world dangers, making for plenty of chaos and mayhem.
The author doesn’t shy away from violence, certainly, and the opening of the unseen war going on in this novel involves a horrific plane crash in a stadium, complete with burning bodies. It’s worth a mention, because the squeamish will not appreciate his descriptive powers here, and there is some further violence later, but along with that comes some great action, and a convincing atmosphere of desperation to win this battle, which is a major step toward the end goal for both sides. It’s a great read, and fast-paced, probably a perfect pick for guy readers, but yes, definitely not for the faint-hearted, who will be put off by the realistic-feeling descriptions of being “down in the meat,” not to mention the brutality of some scenes.
looks like something i should put in my summer reading bag! i still have to catch up with the hunger games and game of thrones first i guess 🙂