Jeff Norton

This review first appeared on The Book Zone(For Boys) blog

Why does the phrase 'more of the same' seem to sound more negative than positive. In my review, I described Fight For The Future, the first book in Jeff Norton's Metawars series, as a "super fast-paced and well plotted story that sucks readers in from the very first chapter" and the sequel is, to coin a phrase, more of the same. So I put it to you that in this case, 'more of the same' is far from negative and is in fact high praise indeed.

The story picks up very soon after the climactic finale of the first book, with Jonah and Sam still in Australia. Jonah is spending a huge amount of time inside the newly formed Changsphere, enjoying the company of his father, who, like the rest of the Uploaded, has somehow recovered most of his memories. However, Jonah very quickly discovers that there is something not quite right with the Uploaded, and at Gamescon, now newly relocated from the Metasphere to the Changsphere, everything hits the fan. The Uploaded, with their newly regained faculties, now realise that they are dead in the real world, and they are hungry for life. And the only way to get it is to consume the avatar of a living person, and in doing so usurp that person's body in real life.

Whilst all this is going on, Matthew Granger is up to his old tricks, and this time he is out for revenge. Having escaped from the Guardians as the end of Fight For The Future, he has managed to make his way to Manhattan Island, now an independent republic, and a safe-haven for anyone who has enough money to be able to afford to live there. His solution to the Changsphere is an extreme one, with little care for the avatars that have moved over to the rival virtual world, and it isn't long before Jonah and Sam find themselves heading for Manhattan to attempt an invasion of the Western Corner, although the real world journey from Australia, via Hong Kong, is fraught with danger.

As with the previous instalment, The Dead Are Rising, is much more than just a science fiction action adventure story. It raises a number of question regarding identity, and Jonah continues to find his conscience twisted and torn as he struggles with the various moral dilemmas that come his way. These books are ideal for book groups as they would encourage young people to debate on a number of issues related to technology, virtual worlds, global corporations and eco-terrorism.

Metawars: The Dead Are Rising is already available in book stores, and the good news is that the third in the series, Battle of the Immortal, is less than six months away, with a provisional release date of 2nd May.… (more)

This review first appeared on The Book Zone(For Boys) blog

You would have to be some kind of hermit living in a shack on a remote Pacific island not to have noticed the glut of YA dystopian novels that have flooded the market of the past couple of years. If I'm brutally honest, I'm getting more than a little bored of them, but there is still one sub-genre of this that still excites me - tech. Over the past year or so I have had the pleasure of reading Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (written for the adult market but potentially just as exciting for older teen boys); Bzrk by Michael Grant; Insignia by S.J. Kincaid; and now Metawars: Fight for the Future by Jeff Norton. Every one of these books has the potential to turn a certain type of reluctant reader boy (or girl) on to reading, as they all have huge appeal for gamers.

Metawars starts off with protagonist Jonah Delacroix racing through the night time streets of London on his trusty rollerblades, desperate to win the sizeable meta-dollar prize that will keep him and his mother in food foe the next few months. Unfortunately for Jonah, as he is in spitting distance of the finish line he is thrown off his feet by an huge explosion - the terrorist Guardians that he hates so much have struck again. Meanwhile, across the other side of the Atlantic the US government has fallen, and Matthew Granger, creator of the Metasphere and long incarcerated leader of the Millennials is released from his prison by his armed supporters. Jonah does not yet know it, but both of these events are about to change his life immeasurably.

The world in which Jonah lives is not hugely different to ours in many ways. Millions live in poverty and can't help but see their future as being particularly bleak. To escape the day-to-day depression of their lives they spend increasingly more hours plugged into the Metasphere, a virtual world where people have jobs, socialise with each other, and in Jonah's case, attend school. Every person who enters the Metasphere has their very own avatar, constructed for them by the software, based upon the owner's own sub-consciousness. There are unicorns, dragons, robots, animals, and some even more bizarre avatars, but Jonah is stuck with a humatar, i.e. his avatar looks just like his real world self.

In discussions at school Jonah is always the first to defend the Millennials (his father used to be Granger's personal pilot) and just as quick to damn the Guardians, who he believes murdered his father in a terrorist attack some years ago. However, very soon Jonah's world is going to be rocked as everything he believes is challenged, and the lines between good and evil become increasingly blurred. As events begin to unfold he finds himself on the run with the people he previously hated, not really knowing who to trust as he crosses both the virtual and real worlds, fleeing for his life.

Metawars is a super fast-paced and well plotted story that sucks readers in from the very first chapter, and I would have finished it in a single sitting if I hadn't already made plans to go out with friends. As it was, we were late arriving as I kept on telling my wife I wanted to read one more chapter. And then another. And another.

Jeff Norton has filled his story with a great number of cracking concepts and ideas that will fire up the imaginations of young people, and I think it would make a really good class reader for English lessons as there are so many elements that make great points for discussion. Both the Millennials and the Guardians feel that they are morally right, and every action they make is justified, whatever the collateral damage, and readers will find themselves challenged just as much as Jonah does. Although it is science fiction, many of the concepts are only a few jumps on from web and gaming technology that so many people, young and old, enjoy today and this makes the story all that more credible as a possible future world that may be experienced by today's teens.

If you have boys or girls that prefer sitting in front of a screen with a game controller in their hand to reading then this might be the book that gets them turning their console off, even if just for thirty minutes at a time. It is the first in a series, and although Jeff Norton brings this instalment to a satisfying end, it leaves enough questions to make kids hungry for more.… (more)

Fight for the Future is a good YA novel. It takes place in the near future. Someone has invented a new way to surf the net. It plugs directly into your nervous system, kind of like the Matrix. You lose all awareness of your surroundings as a virtual reality is forced into your senses. In some ways the world is modeled like 2nd life only you can immerse yourself like the matrix.

Many people dedicate their whole lives on the virtual reality called the Metasphere. People go to work, school and socialize all in the Metasphere. Part of the reason is the real world is in shambles. Global warming has messed up the ecology, many oil fields are dry and global economies are collapsing and the governments right behind them.

Who controls the Metasphere? It was invented by Matthew Granger. Granger was arrested a few years ago and each country that had one of the farms confiscated it and runs it now, though Granger has recently escaped prison. There is also a group of freedom fighters called the Guardians who want the Metasphere to not be controlled by anyone. Along with many other differing groups who have different ideas about access.

Overall, this was a pretty good book, lot of action and a decent story. We primarily see everything through Jonah and how he views his world. The story is good, but since I know a lot about technology and programs, there are parts that made me roll my eyes. However, most won’t notice them and these ‘restrictions’ were pillars the story was built on and so accepting them allows the story to exist.

One of the cooler things I found, that often is lacking in YA novels is a sense of ambiguity in who the ‘good guys’ are. The story tries to make the reader see that not all issues are black and white and that you should find out what you can and make up your own mind. This IMO was the greatest part of the book. It is the first book in a series and I think it will be worth following.… (more)