Virtual War Essay, Research Paper

Virtual War by Gloria Skurzynski, who lives in Salt Lake City, was

copyright February 1999. It is a book of the science fiction genre. It is based in

the future around 2053. By now the earth?s population is only around 2 million

because of disease, chemical and nuclear war-fare have made much of the

planet unsuitable for living. Now city?s people live in huge bubbles for ozone

and toxin protection. They no longer fight wars. There are too few people.

They instead wage virtual wars where a team of three of their finest fight for

them. (They are now fighting for an island that has recently became safe for

inhabitancy, Havi.)

The main character, Corgan is a boy. He is only 14 years old and has

lived in a ?aerogel? box for all his life. The world he knows is all holographic. He

was genetically made for one purpose, the virtual war. Corgan has acquired the

traits of Loyalty, Honorability, and Trustworthiness from the box. He has

genetically superior traits of coordination and quickness. He is to be the team

leader. He does not know much of the outside world, except for what ?Mendor

teaches him.?

Corgan?s box provided him with everything he needed. A program was

written to act as a mother and father to him, called the Mendor. It mended back

and forth as parents depending on the situation.

His team was of great excellence. The two chosen to be on his team are

much different than he, however their roots are very similar. Sharla, he finds

out, is to be his code breaker. She was from the same batch of babies as he

was. She had golden blonde hair, and blue eyes. Corgan felt embarrassed but

he liked her. She was unruly however, and escaped from her box many times as

a result of being a code breaker. She was experienced and knew of the outside

world first hand. She did not care for nobility and Honor like Corgan, she just

wanted it over with.

His other teammate was a genetic experiment gone wrong. He was a

mutant with a huge head and a small frail body. He was regarded as useless

until they discovered his brilliance. It wasn?t until that time they took him from

the ?aerogel? and put him in his own chamber. He was to become the strategist.

Because of his size and history, he came off as a rude, cry baby. He was

younger than Sharla and Corgan being only 10. However, he talked like a old

man.

They trained together and it seemed victory eminent. Corgan asked

before the war if they could live on the island when they win. The council, who

controls their city state, agrees and after the 9 hours of battle, they become

victorious. Afterward, they are celebrated as heroes. After the war they are to

go to a Reception. At the Reception, Corgan finds out that people placed bets

on the event, like it was a game. It was more than a game it was a realistic

recreation to show people mistakes of the past. The virtual war was held so

people realized what man was like and how he had to learn from his lessons.

The people had learned nothing

I would not recommend this book. It had a simple plot and lame characters with

simple logic it was like recalling old goosebumps books. Perhaps it would be a

good book, however for your little bother or anyone you dislike.

Bibliography

Virtual war book