Book Break-ups: Guest Review: BZRK by Michael Grant

Title: Bzrk

Series: BZRK

Author: Michael Grant

Publisher: Electric Monkey

Publication Date: 28 Feb 2012

Synopsis from Goodreads

Set in the near future, a conspiracy is afoot to create a perfect and perfectly controlled world. The Armstrong Fancy Gift Corporation is a front for the conjoined Armstrong twins, Charles and Benjamin, and the plot to create their own version of utopia.

A shadowy guerilla group known as BZRK form a nascent resistance movement. Both sides develop sophisticated nanotechnology to achieve their goals:

-The Armstrong twins develop the nanobot, a stealth device that latches onto the brains of unsuspecting citizens

-BZRK's DNA-derived biots are deployed to search out and destroy the insidious bots. If biots are destroyed, the brain cells of their DNA-donor also die. Hence the name BZRK.

GUEST REVIEW BY ANDREW OF THE PEWTER WOLF

I owe Rhys from Thirst for Fiction for making me aware of this book. Last year, he released a video (HERE) where he chatted about the book and read a teaser from it. He had to get permission to read it as it’s embargoed and after hearing him chat excitedly about this book, I thought “I want to read this. It’s different to my normal reads. And I want to read more “boy” books” (oh, how I hate that term. There’s no such thing as “boy” books and “girl” books. There are books you like and books you dislike). Anyway, so when Emma asked if I wanted to read her copy, I jumped out the chance. So, quick thanks to Rhys and Emma.

BZRK... I’m not 100% sure how to describe this book as this is a ... well... a hard thing to explain. But here’s my attempt. BZRK, the first in a new series, is about nanos and biots. Not sure what these are? These are nanobots and biots, the biological counterpart of nanos. And here, it seems the world is in danger from these. Or rather, the group known as AFGC, who want to “rewire” the most powerful minds of the world: the President of the United States and the British Prime Minister, to name two. But BZRK has to stop them. Enter Sadie and Noah, the teenagers with their private reasons to join. But with the stakes so high and failure meaning they might lose their sanity, losing isn’t an option...

Now, this is my first Michael Grant book (never read his Gone series, though I have been told I should loads of time in the past), I don’t know what my reaction would be. And, I hate to say, I’m a bit “muh” over it. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it. I’m just in the middle, not sure with myself if I like or not.

Ok, let’s talk about this book’s good point. Once you got your head into this, it was a fast thriller that played out on two levels: in real life and in nano (or “down on the meat”). And with technology at the level it is at the present moment, you sometimes go “This could/might be possible...”

But, there are problems with this book. The first problem I had was when the story or the action scene jumped for human to nano/biot. For the first half of the book, I sometimes had to reread paragraphs to go “OK. Where am I again?” so I didn’t get confused. And near the end of the book, I suddenly started seeing the nanos and the biots like the robot-cookies from Despicable Me.

Another problem I had was the characters. I’m sorry, but I want to be gripped by the characters very quickly. I want to read their story and want to rush back to the book because of them. And with these characters... it took a long time to warm to them or the situation. And the reason I feel for this was that I never felt like I had time to get to know the characters. I would have a chapter (at the most) with one character before it jumped to another character, whether they were the good guy or the bad guy. I never “clicked” with any of the characters.

I’m still unsure on how I feel about BZRK. This wasn’t my cup of tea. But I’m sure all the Gone fans will love this and am sure that some of you guys will enjoy it a lot more than me. So please, don’t let me review put you off. If you want to read this book, READ IT!

Huge thanks to Andrew for his honest review and to Lori of Pure Imagination for the use of the Break-ups Button.

Saturday Spotlight: Amazing New Storytelling Experience with Michael Grant

I am really having trouble expressing myself with the details about this amazing project so I may cut and paste the press release so you can understand the concept better than I can explain it lol.

 

 

Press Release:

BZRK (bə’zərk)

A unique transmedia storytelling experience that brings together the worlds of gaming and YA fiction

Egmont has teamed up with Michael Grant, author of the bestselling GONE series and media studio The Shadow Gang to launch BZRK.

This unique storytelling experience brings together the worlds of gaming and YA fiction and is backed by a team of digital specialists including Rich Silverman, writer on Alternate Reality Games for Heroes (‘Evolutions’) and The Dark Knight (‘Why So Serious?’). 

BZRK is a thriller aimed at the Young Adult. It is an edge-of-your-seat story delivered in a new way that will engage digital natives, gamers and readers. Grant describes the story as, ‘A battle for the soul and freedom of the human race carried out simultaneously in the world we know, and in a very different world that is both familiar and utterly strange. It's a world where a single mistake can lead to death or, perhaps worse, to irreversible, shrieking madness.’ 

The story begins this September with an Alternate Reality Game (ARG) and will unfold across multiple channels including an iOS/Android game app and a storyline delivered through the web and social networks. GOBZRK.com, a comprehensive hub website, will provide continuity for the entire experience leading up to and beyond the release of BZRK book one in February. 

‘A key principle of the BZRK experience is that each piece is original,’ said Michael Grant. ‘We are not interested in essentially telling the same story over and over again in different formats. Each piece of this - the ARG, the app, the site and the books – is a story unto itself, each revealing an aspect of the world of BZRK.’ 

Cally Poplak, Managing Director, Egmont Press said: ‘BZRK is a brilliantly original thriller. What particularly excites me is that it shows that a cracking story is what matters, and all formats, whether digital or print, serve that story, taking it to where the audience is.’  

‘It’s an approach that encourages a community to form and participate in the story as it unfolds, which is a new way to publish for teenagers,’ added Mike Richards Head of Marketing for Egmont Press. ‘Layers will be added through different media over six months before BZRK book one is even released.’ 

Grant says, ‘You have never seen this before. That’s my promise. You have never seen anything like this world, you’ve never seen this action, you’ve never seen this level of disturbing intensity. By the time you are through the world of BZRK you will be crawling out of your skin.’   

‘You may think you know what to expect.  You don’t.’

This is a fantastic concept and I am racking my brains to see how I can incorporate into the library especially as we now have the screen and projector. Hopefully with the multi-media experience it is going to get a whole lot more people reading *crosses fingers* 

If you have any ideas on how to incorporate it in the library please let me know [ : D ]