Veteran

In a world where a nightmarish future war is waged against an alien menace on Earth’s colony planets, veteran Jakob comes home to find life there isn’t much better: the rich live inside beautiful parks, and everyone else is crammed into lawless, violent slums. Jakob is sent to kill a captive alien, but Morag, a telepathic teen who swears she can sense its friendly intent, gets him to rescue it instead. With a motley crew of hackers and veterans, they set out to stop the war by turning the Internet into a self-aware god. Despite interesting characters and moments of hilarious creativity—New York is a notorious pirate haven; corporate samurai duel for promotion—the cyborg hackers, hideous mutants, starving masses, and endless war (all the fault of “fat old rich guys,” of course) never develop beyond dystopian cliché. This is a beach read for the Warhammer 40,000 crowd. (June)