00001498

This is a bit of an odd book - the cover, spine and title is plastered with "CREATED BY TOM CLANCY AND STEVE PIECZENIK" but no where, not on the cover, title, spine or fine print on the title reverse does the book state who the actual author is.

This aside, this book is a straight up 1990s wet dream of futuristic computing (set in 2025), it's all about virtual reality systems (spelt/conveyed through the made up word of veeyar throughout the book, apparently using the abbrevation VR was too passe) and the weird idea of a law enforcement arm called the Net Force who apparently enforce the law in virtual reality/on the internet. Net Force Explorers is the youth group arm of such, made up of school kids, it is one of these kids who is the main protagonist of the story.

Yeah, by today's standards it's entirely absurd, yet even though it's got the cringey spelling of veeyar throughout the book and the entire premise is out there it actually doesn't do too bad a job of entertaining. Like a terrible B movie it manages to be so absurd that it's actually kind of entertaining, it certainly doesn't hurt that it's a very light read and rather quick at a mere 216 pages.

I wouldn't say rush out and buy it, but if you stumble across it there are worse things to pick up and read. ( )

Old Children's Book. Liked it as a kid, but haven't read it in years. ( )