In this middle grade science fiction story, all the adults died on the spaceship that was taking them to Orbis. That left two hundred embryos. The computer - Mother - brought them to birth in two batches. Johnny, or JT as he's known to his friends, is the only one who has a younger sister who was part of the second batch. JT is also the only one who can talk to Mother without being at a computer terminal.

When they ship arrives at Orbis, the kids find out that they are going to be slaves for a variety of aliens until they have paid off their debt. Orbis is an interesting society which is managed by a supercomputer. After JT and the other kids arrive, the computer begins experiencing glitches. Because JT has been identified as a softwire - someone who can communicate with computers without an implant - many want to blame him for the glitches.

The kids all find that they have landed in a complex political situation. There are traders who manage businesses and Keeper who monitor travel, create the rules for Orbis, and grant citizenship. It is supposed to be a balanced system but someone is trying to tip the balance.

This was an exciting science fiction story. JT's talent lets him go inside the supercomputer where he finds an alien who might be the one causing all of the glitches. He also has to deal with the possibility that the Keepers will make him live in the computer forever and let his body die. Of course, the story wouldn't be complete without friends and enemies. HIs best friend is his little sister Ketheria but he he is also good friends with Max who is a girl who is a good hacker and Theodore who is his roommate. The resident bully is Randall Switzer who delights in picking on JT and making trouble for him. I enjoyed the variety of aliens in this story from the two-headed Keepers to Weegin who is the scavenger who buys up some of the kids' contracts and has them picking junk.

This is the first book in a four book series. ( )

Excellent creation of a new world...I had to read the rest. ( )

Soft wire is a four book series that fallows Johnny Turnbull and his friends and sister on their journey on their new home Orbise. When they arrive strange thing begin to happen to the planets main computer that controls every thing. Johnny begins to find out that he is a soft wire and can access and control computers with his mind. But their troubles have only begun.
This was a really interesting book i cant wait to read the second and find out what happens next. This book has its ups and downs but through it all it has a good story line. But i wish it would explain what happen to earth before they started the story.
It's a good book for most ages and i recemand people read it. ( )

A group of kids, raised on a spaceship by a computer program, have finally reached their new home of Orbis 1 only to find out that their destiny is to be enslaved in order to pay off their parents’ debt. While trying to make the most of the life that’s been thrown at them, JT comes to find that he has a special gift that is not only rare to anyone, but has never before been seen in a human. JT is a softwire. He can communicate with machines in a way that no one else can: by physically up-linking his mind without any cords or interface. However, as JT arrived on Orbis 1, so did the problems with the central computers causing many of the citizens to turn on him, the only softwire and the only one that could be ruining their precious computer. It is up to JT, with the help of some of his friends, to figure out what is causing all the computer glitches and stop it before Orbis 1 is taken down.

I downloaded this book when it was offered for free on amazon.com and didn’t expect too much based on the length, and well, the fact that it was free. I was pleasantly surprised when I began to read and found the topic riveting. Just think of how much you could do in life as we know it now if you didn’t have to use a mouse/keyboard to do anything on a computer. Instead you simply thought of what you wanted to do and it was done. The ability to interface with a computer in that fashion could bring all kinds of opportunities, not to mention free up so much time in our day. Main topic of the book aside, I truly enjoyed getting to know the various characters and species found on Orbis. I think the author has a real thing for slime covered/goey aliens, because they seemed to come up a lot in the story. I loved Keithera’s character, even though she couldn’t speak her personality truly shined. She got quite a few chuckles out of me as I pictured her chasing her toy or getting excited when offered food. I was glad to see she played a bigger role in the end (don’t worry I won’t say what it is).

This was a very quick read, but I liked it a lot. I’m going to have to go out and get the next three books in the series. ( )

I got this book free from B&N. I liked it so much that I bought the second one in the series and will buy the other ones as well.
Recommended for Grades 5 - 9. (I'm a middle school teacher.)
I don't read a lot of SC-FI, but this is good! ( )