Catalyst by S.J. Kincaid
Insignia series. Hot Key Books, 2014. ISBN 9781471400711
(Age: 10 +) Recommended. Catalyst is the thrilling
conclusion to the Insignia series which has seen 16 year
old, Tom Raines, reeling from the events of his year training to
join the Intrasolar Forces. He is now in the Pentagonal Spire
determined to keep out of trouble, but devotees of this series would
well predict that this is all but impossible for the headstrong Tom.
Like his colleagues and friends he has been fitted with a neural
processor which has enabled him to download a world of information
and his fingers, frozen off from his experiences in the Antarctic,
have been replaced. In his absence the world of Pentagonal Spire has
greatly changed. Marsh has been replaced by a more militaristic
General Mezilo who has set up a regime against which Tom would
naturally react. But the real changes are going to prove much more
drastic as Tom discovers Vengerov's plan to control the world by use
of insidious nanomachines implanted in everyone's brain. How to stop
this maniac becomes the prime focus of the story until it reaches
its exciting, fast moving climax.
Catalyst is not just a world of technology: simulations, avatars,
exosints, census devices and 'Austere Grade processors' it is also a
world of friendship, loyalty, romance and love. Kincaid creates her
characters with as much authenticity as she does her cyber
technology. Tom's friends are each unique in their personalities and
their relationships with each other could be played out in any
school campus. The book is not without humour when Tom's choice of
The Holocaust Museum followed by a hamburger for his first date
proves less than successful.
While this novel abounds with action and seemingly impossible acts
of bravery and stress on the human body it is not without its
humanitarian side. Tom questions whether 'we should all just kill
each other all the time' p 123. Throughout the tumultuous times
friends remain loyal and the reader is treated to numerous examples
of the power of friendship and love. In the end Tom also discovers
that revenge is not as sweet and clearly defined as he would have
first imagined.
Catalyst has something for everyone.
Barb Rye