This powerful YA story is the first part of the Aeon Trilogy. The story takes place in an America of the future, after a food crisis has forced the use of Central Park as farmland, while communications infrastructure has been decaying and new energy reactors have been developed. FALSE IDOLS begins inside one of these reactors as the staff get the shock they never expected - a hacking intrusion which starts a meltdown.

While I found the early part of the story less geared towards young people, once the true nature of the hackers has been realised, an effort is made to recruit a team of elite young minds to fight the Aeons as they are known. The first Aeon we meet is Laura who uses a fighting game to represent the hacking manoeuvres she actually does; this provides an exciting battle scene for the reader.

A less dramatic battle is undergone by teenagers; lonely, bullied Nick is hoping to get one of the new neural net implants so he can live a better, if virtual, life. We can't but identify with Nick, and with Sarah, who arrives for training in a government-run desert cadet school without any knowledge of the challenge she faces. They're has on opposite sides: Sarah's from an orphanage while Nick been genetically engineered by his prosperous, luxury- loving parents who have developed more efficient food production. Nick doesn't know boundaries and the selfish Aeons pick him right up.

I enjoyed the Neuromancer-like exploration metaphors for the Aeons' hacking and the VR games played by the students. There's a pleasant multicultural atmosphere and vivid imagery which will make us all want a go, plus some Second Life-like socialising. Contrasting with this is the warning that the VR-working brain can overheat as the computer chip can't shed heat fast enough... are you worried yet?

With oil a dying commodity and empty highways, the world seems bleak, yet we still have the very rich as well as the working poor and ambitious traders. As the scenario gradually unfolds the dystopia becomes more apparent and clashes occur. We encounter some profound questions, such as where does a resident of the neural mindscape really live, and whether they owe loyalty to a country. With global business complexity added to the power play, dark outcomes and paranoid ranting, this isn't for the younger readers but it's a great set of lessons about today's world for maturing young adults. I've got to congratulate Alexis Grove on creating FALSE IDOLS which had me on the edge of my seat on more than one occasion. The next books are to be called Do No Evil and The God Reborn; I can't wait.

Book Summary

In the year 2047 neural implants have given a small slice of the population superhuman abilities. Are these Aeons brilliant humanitarians dedicated to saving civilization, or venal psychopaths bent on its destruction?

When Sarah Fenton is recruited out of her orphanage into a mysterious government program, this question becomes her mission. Answering it incorrectly could spell the end of the human race.

Her only path to the truth lies in beguiling an Aeon named Nick Lal, the reclusive scion of one of the planet’s wealthiest families. Even as Sarah realizes she’s falling in love with him, she begins to fear that he is not as innocent as he appears.

As famine and religious strife threaten to push the nation into a three-way civil war, Sarah’s time runs short. Will she be wily enough to choose correctly and save the world?

Read an Excerpt