A brief re-cap: In a dystopian future the real world has collapsed under the weight of global warming, overpopulation and the end of oil, and a new virtual world called the Metasphere has become the place where people spend their day-to-day lives. But two warring factions are locked in a battle for control of the Metasphere. The Millenials represented by 'big corporates' who want to control it and everything in it, and The Guardians who believe it should be free and open to all. The ensuing war revolves around the takeover of the four 'corners', the servers that control the metasphere and in book one Jonah Delacroix, our erstwhile hero, ends up leading a battle and successfully taking control of the Southern Corner server, in Australia.
In book two we see the first consequences of that success. A new virtual world, The Changsphere, originally offered as a safe haven for the 'Uploaded', the virtual dead whose minds and memories have been stored in their own virtual world, has helped them to grow and thrive and recover lost memories, the net effect being that the Uploaded become restless. No longer content in their virtual world they begin using the extra power to attack ordinary avatars, infecting them and taking over their personalities in order to be reborn in the real world.
Which brings us on to book three. On top of the battle for the metasphere and control of the four servers that control it, things have escalated into a full scale war between the living and the massed ranks of the Uploaded, the virtual dead, who are escaping the Metasphere completely by taking over the bodies of living people, effectively being re-born into the real world. When Sam, Jonah's best friend and something of a romantic interest, has her body taken over by an Uploaded, the need for a proper solution really hits him, but when he finds himself on the opposing side to his dead father, the battles - and the hard choices - become much more personal.
It's gratifying to see Jonah, the hero of the series, have to grow up in this book. The last two outings have seen him spend a lot of time as a bystander, reacting to situations and to people rather than actively taking control. He's also acted, as most kids do, quite selfishly, seeing things in black and white, good and bad, not thinking of the broader consequences of his actions. Don't get me wrong, he's a good kid and he does what he thinks is best for his friends and family, but now he's going to have to deal with the fallout from what he's done on a much bigger scale and see that things are not so simple. He's let a genie out of a bottle it won't so easily go back into and he will have to make very tough decisions to put things right.
Interestingly the action in this book takes place as much in the real world as the virtual world, something of a departure from the previous Metawars books, and the problem of the Undead has The Millennials and The Guardians with a common goal for once, fighting the same battle albeit with different approaches. I think this serves the story well as it's too easy to see this as a 'battle of avatars for a virtual world when it's important that readers recognise that there are consequences in real life that need to be considered. It's notable also that against the threat of the ReBorn, both factions are equally ineffective in the real world for the most part and only really have dominion in the virtual world. The net effect on Jonah is to see that there are shades of grey in the world. We see and hear this during some exchanges he has with Sam, but more importantly a conversation he has with Matthew Grainger, the man he regards as the enemy, opens his eyes in ways he hadn't previously considered which bodies well for the final confrontation.
Once again Jeff Norton has really pulled out all the stops to bring us another ripping yarn. As usual the action comes thick and fast, the pacing is relentless and, given that the series is drawing to a close, some story threads are starting to get nicely wrapped up. Norton has managed to develop his characters really well as they grow from children into adults and the dialogue and moments of introspection reflect that growth, all-in-all a great addition to the series and it'd be well worth your time joining the fans.
Metawars: Battle of the Immortal is published by Orchard Books, and is available with free delivery from The Book Depository and on the high street from Blackwell and all good book stores.