Warcross, by Marie Lu (ages 12 & up)

Are your teens looking for fantasy books with a high dose of adventure and adrenaline? In her newest book, Warcross, Marie Lu combines fast-action video game battles with intriguing underworld mysteries in a perfect series-opener. "Absolutely immersive. Cannot put this down," is what I wrote to myself as I zoomed through this.

Warcross
by Marie Lu
G.P. Putnam's Sons / Penguin, 2017
Amazon / Public library
Google Books preview
ages 12 and up
*best new book*

Emika Chen has lived on her own in New York for six years, making money as a bounty hunter, surviving on ramen, and trying to avoid trouble. Facing a debt of $3,450, she hacks into the universally popular video game Warcross, an immersive virtual reality game that's played real-time by millions of people worldwide. When Emi uses a Warcross bug to glitch into the championship games, she's suddenly exposed in front of millions. Instead of getting into trouble, she's invited to meet Hideo Tanaka, the game's creator, who's picked her for a top-secret job.

The setting swiftly moves to futuristic Tokyo, as Emika is asked to join this year's Warcross championship tournament as a spy for Tanaka. As she uncovers a sinister plot and gets close to Hideo, Emi must choose whom to trust. Lu balances mystery, action and suspense, pulling readers through and leaving them wanting more.

This short book trailer will give you a great sense of the opening setup:


Marie Lu portrays the immersive video game world so well precisely because of her experience in the video game industry. After graduating from USC, Lu dove into the video game industry as an artist. As Wired wrote,

"Creating the immersive digital realm was a dream job for Lu, who infuses the Warcross universe with all the futuristic capabilities she longed for as a player. 'I approached the writing process like a game studio with an infinite budget,' she says. Though the book takes inspiration from the insularity of Silicon Valley, Lu’s virtual world is low on bros—it features a ­rainbow-haired, ­Chinese American hacker-­heroine, as well as disabled and gay characters."

I devoured Marie Lu's Legend series, but I went into Warcross with little knowledge of video game worlds. I loved Emika's character, her courage but also her insecurity.

The review copy was kindly sent by the publisher, Penguin. If you make a purchase using the Amazon links on this site, a small portion goes to Great Kid Books. Thank you for your support.

©2017 Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books