Warcross (Warcross #1)

I was hesitant to pick this up, I have not had good luck with video game novels in the past, I’ve either not liked or hated the three or so I’ve tried (Ready Player One and Armada by Ernest Cline, and Arena by Holly Jennings.) and now tend to just outright skip them. But I thought that if anyone could write a video game novel that I would actually like it would probably be Marie Lu. This book surprised me more than any book has in a long time, I’m just not usually one to be surprised very often and actually tend to really enjoy figuring out what is going to happen next in books, movies and shows. But wow I did not see a lot of this book’s twists coming, I expected one thing to happen, and then it didn’t, instead there was a twist I did not expect, and that alone made this a rare read for me.
I loved a lot about this novel, but one of the biggest things was that it has a heavy mystery vibe to it. Our main character is a bounty hunter, but she has to do a lot of investigating to figure out who Zero is and she’s pretty much a digital detective. And I loved that, it’s been a while since I’ve read any mysteries or books with mysteries and I’ve missed them. Though I knew who Zero was about half way through, but there were other more surprising twists. I loved the characters, Emika is a great heroine to follow and Hideo was also a rare kind of character. The background characters were interesting as well and I’m looking forward to learning more about them in the next book. And speaking of this being the start of a series, holy crap that ending. That was a huge surprise and again I didn’t see it coming. The last 30 pages were a roller coaster and I’m still thinking about it. Overall this was a great sci-fi read with great world building, action, characters, and twists. I would recommend it if you’re looking for a new YA sci-fi novel, and I’m looking forward to the next book.

I picked up this book because I normally enjoy authors visions of the future of VR gaming.

This book started with some interesting ideas, but quickly became absurd and ended with no resolution, purely setting up the next book in the series.

In Warcross the majority of humanity spends a great deal of time in VR/AR, although beyond some standard AR uses (language/sign translations, advertisements) the majority of the use seems to be the Warcross game, and this is where things start to stumble. The game is a team based arena competition where two teams of 5 face off against each other to collect the artifact floating above one of the enemies heads. There are a handful of these matches described in the book, and they go on and on and then just end with someone deciding to walk up to the enemy with the artifact and grab it. It sounds incredibly boring to be so popular. Its made even worse by the fact that in some of these matches you can buy idiotic power ups that just win you the match.

So the game within the book is just incredibly poorly though out, and the sections that describe it are hard to get through.

The central mystery is introduced about half way through the book, and is a bit interesting initially, but all of that interest is continually eroded until the last 10% or so of the book where every bit of intelligence jumps off a cliff and the book becomes a complete mess.

As I read a book I will normally think through how I would review it. By the halfway point I was thinking this book would be a strong 3 star, its got some serious problems with the game that is at its center, but it is still interesting. As I approached the end I was shocked with how poorly thought out everything was, and with the final twist I almost put the book down with only pages to go. The final handful of pages make almost everything that previously happened in the book seem completely idiotic, none of it makes any sense with what is revealed. I dont believe I have ever read another book that so quickly nose dives to a zero star rating (unfortunately Amazon doesnt allow zero stars, so this book received one star because it is in fact a book I guess?)

Skip this one and read anything else.

2.5 stars. This is a mashup of quidditch and MMORPGs and materialism. Then, there is a big dollop of teen romance (of the idolizing kind) thrown in, which is mixed up with some cybercrime and hacking. The characters are all Mary Sues (beautiful, extremely talented, amazing human beings) and the plot is sort of present at times (in between intense hacks and match-ups). There is a sort of glossy appeal to it all, so if you are looking for something light, and if you like reading about beats dropping at night clubs, working together as a team to overcome (alleged) obstacles, or falling for a pretty face with a secret past, this might be it.

I was so apprehensive about reading this – I read The Young Elites by Marie Lu a few years ago and didn’t think it was that great – but this was SOOO good. I expected it to be really similar to Ready Player One, which I loved, but other than being about video games, they are completely different. This is one of the best YA books I’ve read all year.

Teenage bounty hunter, Emika Chen, spends her life working as a bounty hunter on Warcross, tracking down players who bet on the game illegally. Needing to make some money quickly, Emika takes a risk and accidentally hacks herself into the worldwide Warcross championship game, and her whole world is turned upside down. She is surprised when the games creator, billionaire Hideo Tanaka contacts her and offers her a job to uncover a major security problem, and she is quickly whisked off to Japan into a world of fame that she could never have imagined. Very soon, however, her investigation uncovers a sinister plot, with major worldwide consequences.

The setting of this book really pulled me in, particularly after Emika reaches Tokyo. The descriptions were brilliant and I could easily imagine Emika walking around the city. Warcross itself was really interesting – it seemed so well thought out and the fact that people could be connected 24/7 and that it could be used over their view of the real world really helped to show just how much of a phenomenon it was. People used it for EVERYTHING they did; it was more than just a game.

Emika was a great main character. She was strong and determined to succeed in the task that Hideo sent her. As soon as she and Hideo met, however, I just knew where their story was going to go – they were going to fall in love and something was going to keep them apart. Although I couldn’t really be bothered with this part of the plot, it really helped put the events at the end into perspective. I won’t say any more, other than I was soooo shocked. Both of their backstories were really interesting. Zero, the main villain was really mysterious, but the fact he didn’t really pop up in the real world made him seem a lot less threatening and less real. I did have an inkling early on as to who he would be – and for once I turned out to be right, and it still blew my mind.

I’m really looking forward to reading further books in the series. It ended so well and with such a cliffhanger that I can’t wait for the next one.

4/5 stars.

I have actually come back after finishing this book to lower my review. This is based on the fact that this entire book is entirely predictable and uninspiring.

Firstly I should mention that the book is clearly written for younger teens – the writing is basic and a little poor.

Next, the plot itself. It is a shame because the idea was clearly very well thought-out, the premise to the book is original and exciting. However the author tries to excite the book through throwing in some awkward romance which doesn’t really fit or work, and is cringy at times. There is little to no character development, and the plot is highly predictable. At times I actually almost wanted to stop reading as it reminded me so much of a secondary school project.

Great idea, but better execution needed.

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