THE SOFTWIRE

JT’s journey through the unpleasant Rings of Orbis finally starts to come together into a coherent narrative (Betrayal on Orbis 2, 2008, etc.). JT and his shipmates, all children indentured to a series of vile aliens, seem finally to have hit upon some luck. Their new master is Charlie, a recently wealthy human who insists on sending them to school instead of to work. While it may not be work in the factories or mines, however, school is hardly pleasant; the self-satisfied children of Citizens make sure JT and his friends are miserable. Fighting for his place in school, JT is drawn into Wor’an’ain, the deadly game of strategy which provides a pecking order among the Citizens and gives structure and tension to this novel. JT’s participation in the game reveals more about his own powers and the interstellar intrigue surrounding him that he’d ever expected. This series entry wisely focuses on JT, the game and JT’s mysterious back story, spending little time on thinly developed B-plots and secondary characters. A pulpy (if disorganized) reward for those who have made it this far. (Science fiction. 10-12)