I picked this up with pretty low expectations, a product of dystopia fatigue. Woah boy was I proven wrong. Mark my words, this one should hit big. Hopefully Harry Potter or Hunger Games big. I blew through over 400 pages in a single afternoon, forgoing dinner in order to find out what happened next.Insignia is everything that the dystopian genre was made for. Kincaid cribbed right from the headlines: countries run by dirty corporate money, wars fought with public funds for private wealth, and a world nearing ecological collapse, where food and even water itself is copyright protected.The plot dragged me at a breakneck pace towards the triumphant finish: a high-stakes battle fought by teenagers piloting spaceships with computers implanted in their brains. The rest is just as enthralling: high-stakes hackers, diabolical corporate fatcats, and grizzled war veterans vie for the exploitative control of the young soldiers billed as the charismatic face of a war fought for corporate profit. While the battlefields are in space, the war is over Democracy and free will -- both for sale to the highest, and most ruthless, bidder.The Occupy Wall Street generation will find plenty here to mesh neatly with their political ennui, bleak economic futures, and lives ruled by technology. Plus, with a full cast of vibrant secondary characters, teens are sure to find someone to relate to.Highly, highly recommended.

Tom's never really had the chance to make friends, to live a life of routine or attend a proper school. He and his father are constantly on the move, town after town, feeding his father's gambling addiction. Waiting for that 'big break' that will set them up for good. The break that never comes. But then Tom's incredible gaming talent is noticed by the military, who manage to track him down and offer a once in a life time opportunity. The chance to train at the exclusive Pentagonal Spire to become a future combatant, a soldier in World War Three. A war like none before it, fought by teenagers through virtual-simulation, with real-life effects. Kincaid has clearly put a lot of thought and effort into crafting this world and making it feel 100% completely believable given our current scientific and political status. While it all could be information overload for the reader, she manages to lay it all out for us to easily follow along and become just as swept up in this fascinating way of life as Tom does. The technology is seriously so freaking COOL. It's been years since I've played a video game, but Insignia? It made me want to find the nearest port, grab a virtual-sword and jump into the fray. VR simulations allow students to plug into a port (through a handy chip implanted in their brains) and literally find themselves in a 3D gaming landscape, all as part of their training for the simulations that actually play a part in the future of our world. Fly a spaceship to Mars? Battle in the Trojan War? Find yourself in a woman's body (er.. avatar) when you're actually a guy in reality? (OH MY GOD I JUST REMEMBERED A SCENE. Pause review while I giggle. Giggle some more. And a little more. Okay, we're good to continue). Psh. Easy as plug-and-play. With such a creative tool in providing a varied landscape, Kincaid never fails to make her action scenes exciting, fresh and exhilarating. And the technology is not just limited to gaming-simulations - the ways in which Kincaid has adapted it into their everyday lives will tickle your awesome-o-meter.Tom is a brilliant main character. He's not perfect. He's far from being a genius, but he's smart in a different kind of way. Thanks to years spent having to fend for both himself and his father, hustling the unwary out of their money, he's developed a talent in observing. He picks up on things that others don't. Tom knows how to play the game and loves every minute on it, thriving on the action and desire for victory, to be seen, to be known, to be important for once in his life. He can be a sneaky little bastard at times and I love him all the more for it. He has his moments of sweetness, moments of zero-tact and sometimes there's a downright devilish glee in his eyes (Tom + Vik = bad, BUT OH SO GOOD), but his heart is truly in the right place. From the loner kid who considered himself a loser, to a boy who shone in a beautifully rebellious light, Tom has definitely made it onto my Favourite Character List.Insignia is nothing like Harry Potter in plot, but what it does share is that essence of friendship, wit and sense of growing up. Behind the awesome technology and corrupt politics, this book has spirit, thanks to its outstanding characters. Tom, Vik, Wyatt and Yuri are all so different, a band of misfits who slowly come together to form fiction's newest Awesome Foursome. I LOVE THESE GUYS (and girl) so much. I kid you not, they had me CRYING tears of laughter at times. And the best part was, some of those weren't even intentional on the characters part, they were just total screw up moments that blossomed into some of my most memorable scenes of the book. Tom and Vik are like Harry and Ron 2.0 with a healthy dosage of Weasley twin mischief. If they don't have you cheering, "Doctors of Doom!" by the end of the book, then you have no sense of humour.  I am beyond excited to continue reading this series to watch as all their friendships strengthen, alive with insults and banter, arguments, respect and secrets.  There wasn't one thing alone that I made me love this book, it was a multitude of AWESOME, all blended together to form one of my new favourite reads. The action and imagination, war and cleverness, comedy and personality; it will appeal to boys and girls, reluctant readers and those with too many books on their to-be-read pile. It has something to suck everyone in. If you're tired of the same old stories, if you want something new and innovative, a book that POPS out amongst others in it's genre, a book that will make you think as much as it has you snorting laughter, or sitting wide-eyed and attentive, then INSIGNIA is for YOU! And you! And yes, YOU YOU YOU! Go! Order it! Now!

Insignia by S.J Kincaid is set in the future, however the year is never specified. Tom Raines is fourteen and travels from casino to casino with father who is an ex-professional gambler. He occasionally attends Rosewood Reformatory School by logging in virtually, but he often forgets or doesnt have a connection to the internet because his father cant always afford a motel room. World War Three is currently being played out in space. Countries have aligned together: India-America, supported by Euro-Australia against Russia-China, supported by the African nations and South America. Most governments are now controlled by multinational corporations, the two biggest are Dominion Agra and Harbinger. Both have influence due to their control of the worlds food and water supplies.One day Tom is set up by a girl he thought was just another classmate. It turns out that Heather Akron is a Combatant for the India-America alliance and General Marsh wants Tom to join due to his skills as a video gamer. Tom joins, even though his father is against it, and is whisked off to the Pentagonal Spire, the India-America training base, built on top of the Old Pentagon. Its here Tom realises that he must consent to having a neural processor, a super computer, implanted in his brain and he does so with reluctance. He then meets his room mate and starts attending classes, hoping to do as well as he can so he too can eventually join the Camelot Company, a highly skilled group of Combatants.I started hearing about Insignia recently and I initially dismissed it as I have little to no interest in books set in space or about gaming. But I read a lot of really positive reviews from sci-fi fans as well as fellow contemporary fans and decided I had to check it out.Tom is just an average teen: hes short, has acne and has no special abilities other than being good at video games. It was refreshing to read about a regular kid and I appreciated the male point of view. I felt sorry for him, its clear that he and his dad get along but his needs are being neglected, so I was happy when he got a chance to escape and make something of himself. I like that Tom was hesitant when he found out about the neural processor implantation. He took some time to think about his options: remain average or potentially become awesome and he also thought about the fact that the General had manipulated him by bringing him to the Spire and not mentioning the implant until he was sure he had Tom hooked. Tom goes ahead with the procedure and spends eighteen days in bed recovering, having strange thoughts and what he assumes are dreams.Tom is assigned to the Alexander Division and soon meets his roommate, Vikram, as well as new friends Beamer, Yuri and Wyatt. I really enjoyed the dynamics of their group and watching them become good friends was very entertaining. Vik and Tom get along so well and are always joking around. Beamer isnt as focused as the rest of them and slacks off during classes. Wyatt is an intelligent girl with no friends because she doesnt know how to interact with anyone but shes keen to help out people who need a hand. Yuri was born in Russia and has had his neural processor tampered with because the higher ups dont trust him completely.There were a few other characters that played a large part such as Medusa, Heather, Blackburn, Elliot and Dalton. These five kept me guessing, sometimes I was sure I knew who the bad guys were, like Dalton, and sometimes I was sure theyd turn out bad but they ended up being one of the good guys which is always a nice surprise.The plot was strong and the story moved along quite quickly but it is a fairly long book and while I wasnt bored, there were a lot of details and many descriptions of the day-to-day goings-on at the Spire. The idea of having a computer in my brain is not appealing to me at all and how it was used in this book had me feeling worried and a bit creeped out. The government owns the processors so they effectively own the Combatants. Once its implanted it can only be removed for serious reasons and after some time the brain and processor will have integrated so much that to remove it would be dangerous, possibly fatal. Its also something that only works on teens, experiments on adults resulted in schizophrenia or death. Youd never catch me saying yes to having one implanted in my brain, but I could definitely understand the appeal it held to Tom and his fellow Combatants.I was pleased with how the book ended, it felt more conclusive than most books that are part of a series but it does leave a few questions open for book two to answer.Insignia is an action-packed, futuristic story, featuring realistic characters. Im sure that fans of sci-fi will enjoy this book and even if you dont consider yourself into sci-fi, I urge you to give it a read!