Warcross Book Trailer and Mini-Review

(Transcript: "To the average player, Warcross is just a game. But to a bounty hunter like me, it's about the thrill of the chase. But now I'm the target, and I'm learning that some games you play, others you survive. I'm a player, a hunter, and a hacker. Warcross is more than a game-- it's a revolution.")

I picked up the ARC for Warcross by Marie Lu at the ALA book conference this June and even got it signed by the author (who was really awesome to talk to!). I read it as soon as I got home, and I loved it. Then, when I saw the trailer for it, I loved it even more. The trailer perfectly captures how I had imagined the appearance of the main character, 18-year-old Emika Chen, with her rainbow hair and the tattoos lining her arms. It captured her personality wonderfully and it made me want to read the book a hundred times more. I did feel that it didn't do much to explain what Warcross, the game, actually was, so here's a bit more explanation:

Warcross is, as you may have surmised, a virtual reality game not unlike an MMORPG (Mass Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) in which players compete in games to capture an object from the other team, like a fancy version of Capture the Flag. In certain countries, like Tokyo, you can even gain in-game experience from shopping and interacting with others in real life. To play the game, you put on simple glasses or, later, contacts, and you are immediately transported into Warcross. The game was created by billionaire Hideo Tanaka (see sketch by Marie Lu below!) when he was thirteen, and as such a massive system, it's amazing that he created it at such a young age. Now twenty-one, he is the CEO of Henka Games, and he continues to update and improve Warcross for the millions who play it. Every year, Henka Games hosts a Warcross tournament where all the top Warcross players compete-- a championship of the champions, if you will. The whole world tunes in, and it's one of the most popular events of the year.

A post shared by Marie Lu (@marieluthewriter) on Mar 27, 2017 at 3:31pm PDT

Sketch of billionaire and technical genius Hideo Tanaka, drawn by author Marie Lu. (Instagram)

Emika Chen is a bounty hunter in that she tracks down people who illegally gamble on Warcross-- people the police are too busy to catch. How does she find them, you might ask? Well, she hacks into Warcross. But even an experienced bounty hunter like Emika is pressed for cash, especially when the last person she's caught has been reported by someone else first, she hasn't paid her rent in three months, and she has thirteen dollars in her bank account. When she hacks into the opening game of the Warcross championships to make some cash, she finds herself not only talking to her idol Hideo Tanaka on the phone, but also being invited to compete in the Warcross championships as a wild card.

Warcross has been one of my favorites of 2017 so far, with great character development, changing alliances, and a plot that will have you fighting to reach the end. Marie Lu does a great job of immersing the reader in a world not that different from our own-- a few technical advances, and we could be there now. At the same time action-packed and head-spinning, Warcross is a book you'll never want to set down, and that you'll think about for days after. As a bonus, Warcross is the first in what will eventually be a series. Once you read this stunning hit by Marie Lu, you'll just keep wanting more!

(Also, check out the official Warcross website!)