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|summary=Forgive the slightly derivative elements to this adventure, and let the action and energy sink in - it provides a powerfully creative ride.
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What's also appealing is the balance of characters. Adults are not just annoyances to Jonah, nor remain one side of the friend-or-foe divide. His family history comes to the story in very, very clever ways. Nor does the appearance of some children turn this into a tale of indestructible kids saving the world. In fact, a lot of this shows a lot of thought and work has gone into creating a new series that must have legs. When it allows any time for thinking at all in the pell-mell rush of action, you just can't tell how much of the rest of the plot or the other books you can safely predict - and the tiny teaser for book two seems to show a very different first sequel than that you might have foreseen.
With the highest quality of drama here, and a global reach that would make for a fine movie (bar the bizarre avatars featured at times in the world of the Metasphere), this is a series that lads, and lasses with an eye for great action and clever narrative, should eagerly jump on board with. Heck, adults can even see the whole plot as a metaphor for Facebook gazumping Myspace! I must thank the publishers for my review copy. We also have a review of [[The Dead are Rising (MetaWars) by Jeff Norton]].
For other virtual worlds and how to demolish them, [[The Reality Bug (Pendragon) by D J MacHale]] just about works as a stand-alone book for the same audience. For teens, [[Gamerunner by B R Collins]] keeps the cyber-world more firmly as a game than an existence.