Catalyst

by S. J. Kincaid

Story summary: Computers in brains! Military take-overs! Teenagers being hilarious! Great trials and great triumphs!
Sequel to Insignia and Vortex.

Thoughts: I read this far too long ago to have write the type of review I wanted to. Soon as I catch up and write my top ten lists for the year and everything, I should get back to normal mode of reviewing soon after reading. But for now, here's what I remember thinking about this book:

• Wyatt is still awesome. So's Medusa. I mean, how she treated what Tom did at the end of Vortex... She had an unexpected common sense that many girls adventure stories don't seem to. Yeah, I like the female characters in this one.
• The end was a little unexpected. Not sure if I entirely liked it. Maybe it seemed a bit too epic a scale to fit the rest of the story? Not sure. It was bad. And epic, grand-scale endings are fun and enjoyable. I think I was just not quite as satisfied with the consistency as I wanted to be.
• The main scene I remember was when Tom figure out the fake reality, and proceeded to... do what he did. Don't want to give too many spoilers. Reminded me of Ender's Game a bit. It was intense enough and interesting enough that it's the primary scene to stick out in my mind, as I mentioned.
• Second main remembered scene was the torture and isolation part. Is it bad that I found this really fascinating? Reminded me of Mark Vorkosigan's torture in Mirror Dance, except written for a teenage readership, so less intense.
• All in all, great series, though. Really funny, with some unique characters, great friendships, cool futur-y computer stuff, and gripping plot. Worth it.

Grade: 3 stars