Virtual War by Gloria Skurzynski, who lives in Salt Lake City, was copyright
February 1999. It is a book of the science fiction genre. It is based in the
future around 2053. By now the earth’s population is only around 2 million
because of disease, chemical and nuclear war-fare have made much of the planet
unsuitable for living. Now city’s people live in huge bubbles for ozone and
toxin protection. They no longer fight wars. There are too few people. They
instead wage virtual wars where a team of three of their finest fight for them.
(They are now fighting for an island that has recently became safe for
inhabitancy, Havi.) The main character, Corgan is a boy. He is only 14 years old
and has lived in a “aerogel” box for all his life. The world he knows is all
holographic. He was genetically made for one purpose, the virtual war. Corgan
has acquired the traits of Loyalty, Honorability, and Trustworthiness from the
box. He has genetically superior traits of coordination and quickness. He is to
be the team leader. He does not know much of the outside world, except for what
“Mendor teaches him.” Corgan’s box provided him with everything he needed.
A program was written to act as a mother and father to him, called the Mendor.
It mended back and forth as parents depending on the situation. His team was of
great excellence. The two chosen to be on his team are much different than he,
however their roots are very similar. Sharla, he finds out, is to be his code
breaker. She was from the same batch of babies as he was. She had golden blonde
hair, and blue eyes. Corgan felt embarrassed but he liked her. She was unruly
however, and escaped from her box many times as a result of being a code
breaker. She was experienced and knew of the outside world first hand. She did
not care for nobility and Honor like Corgan, she just wanted it over with. His
other teammate was a genetic experiment gone wrong. He was a mutant with a huge
head and a small frail body. He was regarded as useless until they discovered
his brilliance. It wasn’t until that time they took him from the “aerogel”
and put him in his own chamber. He was to become the strategist. Because of his
size and history, he came off as a rude, cry baby. He was younger than Sharla
and Corgan being only 10. However, he talked like a old man. They trained
together and it seemed victory eminent. Corgan asked before the war if they
could live on the island when they win. The council, who controls their city
state, agrees and after the 9 hours of battle, they become victorious.
Afterward, they are celebrated as heroes. After the war they are to go to a
Reception. At the Reception, Corgan finds out that people placed bets on the
event, like it was a game. It was more than a game it was a realistic recreation
to show people mistakes of the past. The virtual war was held so people realized
what man was like and how he had to learn from his lessons. The people had
learned nothing I would not recommend this book. It had a simple plot and lame
characters with simple logic it was like recalling old goosebumps books. Perhaps
it would be a good book, however for your little bother or anyone you dislike.