Book Info
ebook, 400 pages
Published February 28th 2012 by EgmontUSA (first published February 21st 2012)
original title BZRK
ISBN 1606843133 (ISBN13: 9781606843130)
edition language English
series BZRK #1
characters Charles Armstrong, Benjamin Armstrong
literary awards The Inky Awards Nominee for Silver Inky (2012)
other editions (24)
Source:Kindle version borrowed from Public Library

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BOOK SYNOPSIS

Set in the near future, BZRK is the story of a war for control of the human mind. Charles and Benjamin Armstrong, conjoined twins and owners of the Armstrong Fancy Gifts Corporation, have a goal: to turn the world into their vision of utopia. No wars, no conflict, no hunger. And no free will. Opposing them is a guerrilla group of teens, code name BZRK, who are fighting to protect the right to be messed up, to be human. This is no ordinary war, though. Weapons are deployed on the nano-level. The battleground is the human brain. And there are no stalemates here: It’s victory . . . or madness.

BZRK unfolds with hurricane force around core themes of conspiracy and mystery, insanity and changing realities, engagement and empowerment, and the larger impact of personal choice. Which side would you choose? How far would you go to win?

My Thoughts

This was probably one of the weirdest stories have read in a long time, not in a bad way exactly but still not quite what I was expecting.

At the core this is quite simply a book about technology that we better hope never becomes reality, that being said that very technology would have a phenomenally positive impact on healthcare issues if used correctly for healing rather than destruction.

If you are into gaming, interested in the possible uses of nano technology, are a fan of strangely named characters with even stranger mental abilities and enjoy conflicting opinions on what is best for the human race as a whole than you should really find yourself a good spot and sit down and read a copy of BZRK!

[Kindle version borrowed from Public Library]

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I received a free pre-read copy of the Dutch translation of this book via www.ezzulia.nl. Thank you!

 

It took me so long to figure out BZRK is supposed to mean Berserk. (I saw that it is already stated in the English blurb; but in the Dutch one it wasn't). I just read it as letters and not as a word. I felt very stupid afterwards...

 

A war is going on, the only problem is, it's so small you can't see it. The two sides are using different types of nano-robots to control synaptic junctions in people's brain and thus control their actions (or so they explain it in this book; it's a fictional SF work, so I won't digress on the biological possibility and everything). And not just any person's brain, no, think politicians, UN members etc. Besides, they also fight on this nano level for control over certain people. This is extra tricky because some of the robots are linked to the actual people who control them and losing that robot will mean the controller goes Berserk...

 

This is a very action-packed, fast paced book. In other ways though, i was less similar to Michael Grant's popular Gone series. We still get many POVs (on both sides of the war) and a lot of plot lines are going on on the same time, but it didn't really feel as good though. Sometimes it felt a bit hasted, unrealistic and the ending was very chaotic. It's the start of a new series, and this book really ends on a cliffhanger (there is a short epilogue to make it possible to just read this book, but really, it doesn't answer the questions I had). So, basically, you'll have to continue the series. I haven't done so yet, but I'm planning on at least reading the second book, and see just how the story is going to develop.

 

Nice touch from my real life. I went to the University campus just a day or so after finishing this book and they had just placed new posters revealing that the new building they're building is going to be 'one of the world's leading state of the art centres in nano technology' xD Looking forward to it already.

 

Note: I read a Dutch translation of this book

I very rarely DNF a book, and it really pains me to do this, but I just couldn't get into this book.

I bought the two books available in this series, thinking of them as a cheaper way to "test the waters" with Mister Grant's writing than buying the six books in the Gone series. At that stage I didn't know there was going to be a third one, and maybe more.

I had been eyeing off the Gone series for YEARS, telling myself that one day I would buy them, and sit down and read them. People love them, they devour them, they keep coming back to the store for more, and the concept is really interesting.

It took me a week to push myself through the first one-hundred pages of BZRK, and then I decided that it was causing me more suffering than it was worth.

I didn't feel connected to the characters, I had a hard time keeping track of who was who, and which who was on what team. And... Something about the writing sat a bit weirdly with me. Disjointed, disconnected.

When the series is complete, I might try it again, but for now it's not my cuppa.

On the plus side, I have heard from other people who really didn't like this one, that Gone is much easier to get into. I'll probably still give Gone a go, though maybe I'll actually read the first book before I go buying the rest of the set.

Each day this week, EgmontUSA will feature one of their new eShorts – short stories in some of their popular series available only in ebook format. Today I'm lucky enough to feature BZRK ORIGINS by Michael Grant. To celebrate, I am giving away one set of the print series: one hardcover copy of BZRK and one hardcover copy of BZRK RELOADED.

 

Since this is in celebration of eShort week, this will be an eShort giveaway. You'll have until Midnight (CST) on Friday, December 13th to enter. Fill out the Rafflecopter below to enter.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Download BZRK: ORIGINS for $1.99 from Amazon.