Insignia (Insignia Trilogy, #1)

by S.J. Kincaid

Tom, a fourteen-year-old genius at virtual reality games, is recruited by the United States Military to begin training at the Pentagon Spire as a Combatant in World War III, controlling the mechanized drones that do the actual fighting off-planet.

• ISBN10: 0062092995
• ISBN13: 9780062092991
• Publish Date: 10 July 2012
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 464
• Language: English

Reviews

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

Insignia is a gripping sci-fi dystopian featuring incredibly involved world-building. Kincaid introduces readers to a society run by a corrupt government controlled by a conglomeration of companies, who are also waging an interplanetary war over the solar system’s resources. Back on earth, the military is training a group of teenagers made superhuman with the addition of computers to their brains. All this—corruption, technology, and war—leaves room for the big questions that characterize the best science fiction, and also for lots of action. Kincaid does not disappoint, hurdling readers headlong into this brave new world with Tom, where nothing and no one is quite what they seem.

Read the rest of this review.

[inlibrisveritas]

I decided to delve into this one for a read-along hosted by Epic Reads (*book shimmy*) and it turned out be a seriously good idea! When someone says sci-fi adventure I don’t really picture anything but now I think I’m going to have Insignia as a good to mental image. Some have likened this to Ender’s Game, but as I’ve never read it I have no idea if that’s true or not.

Tom Raines is a fourteen year old kid with nothing to claim but his gaming skills, which are top-notch and end up getting him a sought after spot in the Intrasolar Forces. Intra is basically one of the coolest military ideas I’ve read in a YA book, think along the lines of gamers with control of high tech space fighters and virtual reality simulators. The over all use of the technology in both everyday and military aspects really gives this one some major points in my book, because honestly I wish I could do some of the stuff mentioned. The world-building is really great in terms of the new way the government works, the technology, and the premise behind World War III which I thought was pretty unique.

Back to Tom! He’s a kid with no special talents or skills (other than gaming) and he’s not some drop dead gorgeous hunk, he’s refreshingly normal! I also like that he was a well rounded character in terms of personality. He grows over the course of the book but maintains his essential personality throughout. His friends Vikram, Wyatt and Beamer are really awesome as well. Beamer was definitely my favorite though because almost every scene he showed up in had me giggling to myself. He’s an absolute goofball. Vikram is definitely Tom’s right hand man, with a huge sense of humor and a great sense of loyalty. Some of the side characters definitely had me on edge and guessing about their motives like Medusa, Heather, Blackburn and Elliot. They all surprised me in some way and I definitely look forward to finding out more about them in Vortex, especially Medusa!

Overall Insignia is a fast paced, enveloping read that pulled me in and made me jealous that I don’t have a job where I get to use virtual realty. I have Vortex waiting for me on my shelf and I can’t wait to dig in!

[ladygrey]

This is a really fun book; fast paced and well plotted. I liked the characters quite a bit, almost despite myself at first. But Tom is oddly admirable even when he's being an idiot. The secondary characters were all flawed in good ways that made them interesting. Also, very, very funny without being jokey.

In some ways it's The Matrix but I couldn't quite condemn it for that. Just roll my eyes a little and keep reading. Turning off his growth annoyed me because the doctor said there's only a finite amount of material to build with. Umm no that's why we eat food. We get new bones every seven years and new blood all the time. You could say they couldn't get nutrients in him at a rate that would keep up with his accelerated growth. But there's nothing finite about it. Politically it's very interesting because war between corporations rather than countries is plausible. And it creates this really interesting idea because the war is being fought by teenagers with no malice toward each other. It could very easily weaken any alliance they have toward their sponsors and then they could turn the war on the establishment. They've put a lot of power in the hands of a bunch of kids but they also made them incredibly vulnerable.

I like this book because eventually I liked Tom and I really liked all his friendships but mostly because it made me laugh.

[Jo]

Originally posted on

[Ashley]

booknook — Young Adult book reviews

This book! OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD! I need to sleep with it under my pillow so no one steals it! And then put it in a vault during the day! Because it is amazing and I love it and—

*** ONE MOMENT... ADJUSTING SANITY LEVELS AND ESTABLISHING "NORMAL, CALM HUMAN BEING" MODE... ***

Before I picked it up, I knew I was going to love Insignia. I'm a huge video game nerd so that aspect appealed to me, plus the science fiction and dystopian elements... hello awesome! And luckily, Insignia did not disappoint!

Insignia is technological in the same way that Harry Potter is magical. Fantasy lovers see Harry Potter as the epic magical world that they always wish existed. Gamers and tech geeks will view Insignia as an amazing world with technological advancements that we hope will one day be possible. Imagine a future where gaming feels real, with virtual realities embedded in our lives, with machines that can be implanted in our brains to enhance our memories, processing powers, and even change the way we perceive the world. Plus, imagine math class being only 20 minutes long and you being able to download the concepts into your brain (hello, Matrix)! Insignia shows us the amazing possibilities in the world of technology, but also warns us of the dangers of going too far.

I just adored the world that S.J. Kincaid created and I love how the book was set up in a school-type environment. The recruits at the military compound "Spire" have dormitories, classes, and cliques, but then there are the "not quite so normal" things like virtual simulations and exercises. Kincaid found the perfect balance between relatable normal teenager stuff (friendship, love interest, school), and things we can only fantasize about (incredible technology). That's what made the story so intriguing and captivating. I could imagine our world being like that.

Tom is such an awesome and very likable character because he's a fairly regular guy. He's kind of in his awkward teenage years so he has the acne thing going on, and he doesn't know what he's going to do with his life. He doesn't have a structured upbringing and all he has in his life are games (and his conspiracy theorist and gambling addict father). But he's really skilled at games. I love how Tom is kind of cocky about his abilities in the way that he knows when he's going to win a match, but that cockiness doesn't spill over into the normal social aspects of his life. He's not annoyingly arrogant and he's not the kind of guy who thinks he's better than everyone else. He just knows that he's great at games and he can tell when his skills are better than someone else's.

Plus, Tom is just so relatable. He's a very real character. We can feel Tom's ambitions, his doubts, and his insecurities, and know immediately how real and raw they are.

But it's not just Tom — all the characters in Insignia are amazing, unique, and have their own colourful personalities. I wanted to be friends with them all! Tom and Vik in particular are so hilarious together! They're such guys and I Z0MG LOVE the way they rip each other apart and fantasize about hot girls and plan absurd vengeance attacks that only guys would think of! And Wyatt! Ohmygod Wyatt! I totally want to have an epic programming standoff with Wyatt—I mean Man Hands—I mean Evil Wench—I mean—

*** ERROR! REESTABLISHING "NORMAL, CALM HUMAN BEING" MODE... ***

There was a lot more programming in this book than I expected, and I absolutely loved it! I wouldn't call myself a programmer, but I have taken several programming classes and I am a web designer (which isn't programming, but it's similar!). I really enjoyed reading about the hacking, firewalls, viruses, and so on!

Another thing I loved about this book was the "online" romance. I could totally relate to this because I met my boyfriend online! Tom connects with a woman who goes by the name "Medusa." They spend hours engaged in a virtual reality together where they play games and fight each other. It starts out as a personal challenge to Tom. He wants to prove himself against the most skilled combatant. But soon, we see the beginnings of a romance start to unravel. There's very subtle flirting and playful banter that had me giggling with delight and cheering for more.

I was a little worried about the ending, since those are so often messed up.. but Kincaid spun it beautifully! I kind of didn't see it coming but it was so perfect.

At the end, I was afraid that Tom was suddenly going to be amazing and overtake Medusa. If that had happened, I would have been disappointed because it's just so unlikely. He fought her hundreds and hundreds of times and lost each time. It would have been too perfect if he suddenly won because of sheer skill. But instead, Kincaid kind of surprised me! She managed to find the perfect balance. Tom did show some skill, but nothing out of the ordinary. In the end, he won because he was a bit cruel to Medusa and struck her emotional weak spot. He showed us that he really can fight dirty when he has to. But I love how it wasn't done in a cruel way. He wasn't vicious because he loved it — he was vicious because he had to be, and we saw how much he regretted it.

But it still all worked out and ended on a very positive note. I don't think the ending could have been more perfect!

This book has become one of my all time favourites. Insignia lit up all the passions and dreams in my life and left me in a state of wonder. I'm still kind of dazed after reading it. Like I have no idea how much time has passed because I was so in the zone. I vaguely recall my parents coming in and speaking to me, but I didn't even stop reading as I waved them away. Now excuse me while I hop over to the gamer community I frequent and rave about this book!

YOU BETTER GO BUY IT RIGHT NOW OR I WILL GIVE YOU AN EVIL VIRUS THAT WILL MAKE YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH A PODIUM—

*** SYSTEM FAILURE!! TERMINATING CONNECTION... ***