2 out of 5: INSIGNIA by S.J. Kincaid

Insignia (Insignia #1) by S.J. Kincaid

Summary:
The earth is in the middle of WWIII in Insignia, the first entry in S.J. Kincaid’s fast-paced sci-fi adventure trilogy. The planet’s natural resources are almost gone, and the 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...

Review:
The idea is somewhat original, however, most YA readers will pick up this book without realizing it does sprout from a movie. There is a very interesting start, unfortunately, the plot progresses slowly.

When I first read the synopsis (summary) for this book, I thought it ways an interesting topic. For most YA readers now, it's seems pretty cool to simply plug in a memory card and over night instantly learn a whole years worth of education. Along with this, the characters also virtually travel to different realms and can "become" something else. But this summer, I decided to watch older movies (i.e. Catch Me If You Can, Gladiator, etc.) and within that list was The Matrix. Many root ideas in this book seems to have been copied from the movie The Matrix. However, if you haven't seen that movie, I'm sure you will find this book highly entertaining and enjoyable.

The characters aren't horribly boring and annoying. In fact, after the first chapter, I already started liking Tom and the small ways that he defies administrators. The friends he makes are easy to connect to and are very funny. Within the first week that Tom arrives to his new home, Vik introduces him to everyone and welcomes him right away.

It's a good start to the series, but if you've watched/read something similar, you might find Insignia a tad repetitive.

Find Insignia on: Goodreads | Amazon